Literature planning for
sustainable cities
Inhoud
1. Introduction to the course, Urban Sustainability, and Urban Planning ....................... 5
Næss, P. (2001). Urban Planning and Sustainable Development. European Planning
Studies, 9(4), 503–524. https://doi.org/10.1080/713666490 ..................................... 5
Purvis, B., Mao, Y. & Robinson, D. Three pillars of sustainability: in search of
conceptual origins. Sustain Sci 14, 681–695 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-
018-0627-5 ......................................................................................................... 10
Marco Rudolf, Mario Schmidt (2025) Efficiency, sufficiency and consistency in
sustainable development: Reassessing strategies for reaching overarching goals,
Ecological Economics, Vol. 227, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108426. . 13
2. Are cities sustainable? ........................................................................................ 16
Angelo, H., Wachsmuth, D. (2020). Why does everyone think cities can save the
planet? Urban Studies 57(11): 2201-2221.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098020919081 ......................................................... 16
McPhearson, T., M Raymond, C., Gulsrud, N. et al. (2021). Radical changes are
needed for transformations to a good Anthropocene. Npj Urban Sustainability, 1(1), 1-
13. https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-021-00018-w ................................... 20
Krähmer, K. (2020). Are green cities sustainable? A degrowth critique of sustainable
urban development in Copenhagen. European Planning Studies, 29(7), 1272 1289.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2020.1841119 ................................................. 22
3. Sustainability: A planning dilemma ...................................................................... 26
Campbell, S. D. (1996). Green cities, growing cities, just cities? Urban planning and
the contradictions of sustainable development. Journal of the American Planning
Association, 62(3), 296–312. doi:10.1080/0194436960897569 ............................... 26
Campbell, S. D. (2016). The Planner’s Triangle Revisited: Sustainability and the
Evolution of a Planning Ideal That Can’t Stand Still. Journal of the American Planning
Association, 82(4), 388–397. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2016.1214080 ....... 34
4. & 5 Spatial Planning Systems across Global Contexts: Planning for sustainability in
Dutch Cities (Optional) ........................................................................................... 40
Patrick Witte, Bart Wiegmans, Erik Louw (2025) More claims than land: Multi- ......... 40
, facetted land use challenges in the port-city interface, Journal of Transport ............ 40
Geography, Volume 124, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2025.10418 ........ 40
6. Planning for sustainability in African cities (Optional) ............................................ 41
De Satgé, R.; Watson, V. 2018. Urban Planning in the Global South: Conflicting
Rationalities in Contested Urban Space. Palgrave Macmillan, https://link springer-
com.proxy.library.uu.nl/book/10.1007/978-3-319-69496-2.Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 1-34.
.......................................................................................................................... 41
7. Planning for sustainability in Chinese cities (Optional) ........................................... 48
8. Urban Sustainability Transitions ........................................................................... 48
Hodson M, Geels, FW & McMeekin, A. (2017): Reconfiguring Urban Sustainability
Transitions, Analysing Multiplicity. Sustainability. 9(2):299.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su9020299. ..................................................................... 48
Monstadt, J., Colen Ladeia Torrens, J., Jain, M., Macrorie, R., & Smith, S. (2022).
Rethinking the governance of urban infrastructural transformations: a synthesis of
emerging approaches. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 55(4), 1-9.
[101157]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101157 ....................................... 54
Hölscher, K., and Frantzeskaki, N., (2021), Perspectives on urban transformation
research: transformations in, of, and by cities. Urban Transformations, 3, 2.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-021-00019-z ........................................................ 57
Frantzeskaki, N., Broto, V. C., Coenen, L., & Loorbach, D. (2017). Urban sustainability
transitions: The dynamics and opportunities of sustainability transitions in cities. In:
Frantzeskaki, N., Broto, V. C., Coenen, L., & Loorbach, D. (eds.): Urban Sustainability
Transitions. Routledge, pp. 1-19,
https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/279141503/9781315228389_preview.pd f. 60
9. planning with nature ........................................................................................... 62
Hansen, R., et al (2022), Transformative or piecemeal? Changes in green space
planning and governance in eleven European cities, European Planning Studies,
31(12), 2401-2424, https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2022.2139594 ..................... 62
Frantzeskaki, N., (2019), Seven lessons for planning nature-based solutions in cities,
Environmental Science and Policy, 93, 101-111,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.12.033........................................................ 68
Frantzeskaki, N., Wijsman, K., Kabisch, N., McPhearson, T., (2025), Inter- and
transdisciplinary knowledge is critical for nature-based solutions to contribute to just
urban transformations, Proceedings of National Academy of Science (PNAS), Vol.122,
No.29, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2315911121 ................................................. 70
, Grabowski, Z. J., T. McPhearson, and S. T. A. Pickett. (2023). Transforming US urban
green infrastructure planning to address equity. Landscape and Urban Planning 229:
104591. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104591. ................................................. 73
10. Digital Planning for sustainable urban future ....................................................... 75
Lin, Y. L., Geertman, S., Patrick, W., Pinto, N. (2025) Editorial: Digital planning for
sustainable urban future. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 122, 102334.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2025.102334 ......................................... 75
Geertman, S. and Witte, P. (2024) From PSScience to digital planning: Steps towards
an integrated research and practice agenda for digital planning. Computers,
Environment and Urban Systems, 114, 102183. .................................................... 78
11. Artificial intelligence, planning, and sustainability ............................................... 83
Li, X. Y., Dang, A. R. (2025). Comment: the disruptive effect of AI on urban planning.
Nature Cities, 2(7), 568-570. ................................................................................ 83
Yigitcanlar, T., Desouza, K. C., Butler, L., & Roozkhosh, F. (2020). Contributions and
Risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Building Smarter Cities: Insights from a
Systematic Review of the Literature [Review]. Energies, 13(6), 38, Article 1473.
https://doi.org/10.3390/en13061473 .................................................................... 87
12. Planning for post-growth cities ........................................................................... 94
Durrant, D., Lamker, C. W., & Rydin, Y. (2023). The Potential of Post-Growth Planning:
Re-Tooling the Planning Profession for Moving beyond Growth. Planning Theory &
Practice, 24(2), 287–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2023.2198876 ............ 94
Jin Xue (2022) Urban planning and degrowth: a missing dialogue, Local Environment,
27:4, 404-422, DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2020.1867840 .......................................... 98
Savini, F., Ferreira, A & Carlotta von Schönfeld, K. (2022). Uncoupling planning and
economic growth: towards post-growth urban principles: an introduction. In: Savini,
F., Ferreira, A., & von Schönfeld, K. (eds.). Post-growth planning: cities beyond the
market economy. Routledge, pp. 3-18. .................................................................104
13. Urban Experimentation and co-creation ............................................................108
Bulkeley, H., Marvin, S.J., Voytenko Palgan, Y., McCormick, K., Breitfuss-Loidl, M., Mai,
Q.L., von Wirth, T., and; Frantzeskaki, N., (2019), Urban Living Laboratories:
conducting the experimental city?, European Urban and Rural Studies, 26(4), pp.317-
335, DOI: 10.1177/0969776418787222 ...............................................................108
Frantzeskaki, N, CollierM., Hölscher, K., et al, (2025), Premises, practices and politics
of co-creation for urban sustainability transitions, Urban Transformations, 7:7,
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-025-00075-9 ......................................................114
, Raven, R., von Wirth, T., Bai, X.et al. The future of urban experimentation through ten
critical lessons from decades of practice. Nature Cities 3, 210–217 (2026).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-026-00398-z .......................................................121
sustainable cities
Inhoud
1. Introduction to the course, Urban Sustainability, and Urban Planning ....................... 5
Næss, P. (2001). Urban Planning and Sustainable Development. European Planning
Studies, 9(4), 503–524. https://doi.org/10.1080/713666490 ..................................... 5
Purvis, B., Mao, Y. & Robinson, D. Three pillars of sustainability: in search of
conceptual origins. Sustain Sci 14, 681–695 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-
018-0627-5 ......................................................................................................... 10
Marco Rudolf, Mario Schmidt (2025) Efficiency, sufficiency and consistency in
sustainable development: Reassessing strategies for reaching overarching goals,
Ecological Economics, Vol. 227, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108426. . 13
2. Are cities sustainable? ........................................................................................ 16
Angelo, H., Wachsmuth, D. (2020). Why does everyone think cities can save the
planet? Urban Studies 57(11): 2201-2221.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098020919081 ......................................................... 16
McPhearson, T., M Raymond, C., Gulsrud, N. et al. (2021). Radical changes are
needed for transformations to a good Anthropocene. Npj Urban Sustainability, 1(1), 1-
13. https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-021-00018-w ................................... 20
Krähmer, K. (2020). Are green cities sustainable? A degrowth critique of sustainable
urban development in Copenhagen. European Planning Studies, 29(7), 1272 1289.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2020.1841119 ................................................. 22
3. Sustainability: A planning dilemma ...................................................................... 26
Campbell, S. D. (1996). Green cities, growing cities, just cities? Urban planning and
the contradictions of sustainable development. Journal of the American Planning
Association, 62(3), 296–312. doi:10.1080/0194436960897569 ............................... 26
Campbell, S. D. (2016). The Planner’s Triangle Revisited: Sustainability and the
Evolution of a Planning Ideal That Can’t Stand Still. Journal of the American Planning
Association, 82(4), 388–397. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2016.1214080 ....... 34
4. & 5 Spatial Planning Systems across Global Contexts: Planning for sustainability in
Dutch Cities (Optional) ........................................................................................... 40
Patrick Witte, Bart Wiegmans, Erik Louw (2025) More claims than land: Multi- ......... 40
, facetted land use challenges in the port-city interface, Journal of Transport ............ 40
Geography, Volume 124, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2025.10418 ........ 40
6. Planning for sustainability in African cities (Optional) ............................................ 41
De Satgé, R.; Watson, V. 2018. Urban Planning in the Global South: Conflicting
Rationalities in Contested Urban Space. Palgrave Macmillan, https://link springer-
com.proxy.library.uu.nl/book/10.1007/978-3-319-69496-2.Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 1-34.
.......................................................................................................................... 41
7. Planning for sustainability in Chinese cities (Optional) ........................................... 48
8. Urban Sustainability Transitions ........................................................................... 48
Hodson M, Geels, FW & McMeekin, A. (2017): Reconfiguring Urban Sustainability
Transitions, Analysing Multiplicity. Sustainability. 9(2):299.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su9020299. ..................................................................... 48
Monstadt, J., Colen Ladeia Torrens, J., Jain, M., Macrorie, R., & Smith, S. (2022).
Rethinking the governance of urban infrastructural transformations: a synthesis of
emerging approaches. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 55(4), 1-9.
[101157]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101157 ....................................... 54
Hölscher, K., and Frantzeskaki, N., (2021), Perspectives on urban transformation
research: transformations in, of, and by cities. Urban Transformations, 3, 2.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-021-00019-z ........................................................ 57
Frantzeskaki, N., Broto, V. C., Coenen, L., & Loorbach, D. (2017). Urban sustainability
transitions: The dynamics and opportunities of sustainability transitions in cities. In:
Frantzeskaki, N., Broto, V. C., Coenen, L., & Loorbach, D. (eds.): Urban Sustainability
Transitions. Routledge, pp. 1-19,
https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/279141503/9781315228389_preview.pd f. 60
9. planning with nature ........................................................................................... 62
Hansen, R., et al (2022), Transformative or piecemeal? Changes in green space
planning and governance in eleven European cities, European Planning Studies,
31(12), 2401-2424, https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2022.2139594 ..................... 62
Frantzeskaki, N., (2019), Seven lessons for planning nature-based solutions in cities,
Environmental Science and Policy, 93, 101-111,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.12.033........................................................ 68
Frantzeskaki, N., Wijsman, K., Kabisch, N., McPhearson, T., (2025), Inter- and
transdisciplinary knowledge is critical for nature-based solutions to contribute to just
urban transformations, Proceedings of National Academy of Science (PNAS), Vol.122,
No.29, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2315911121 ................................................. 70
, Grabowski, Z. J., T. McPhearson, and S. T. A. Pickett. (2023). Transforming US urban
green infrastructure planning to address equity. Landscape and Urban Planning 229:
104591. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104591. ................................................. 73
10. Digital Planning for sustainable urban future ....................................................... 75
Lin, Y. L., Geertman, S., Patrick, W., Pinto, N. (2025) Editorial: Digital planning for
sustainable urban future. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 122, 102334.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2025.102334 ......................................... 75
Geertman, S. and Witte, P. (2024) From PSScience to digital planning: Steps towards
an integrated research and practice agenda for digital planning. Computers,
Environment and Urban Systems, 114, 102183. .................................................... 78
11. Artificial intelligence, planning, and sustainability ............................................... 83
Li, X. Y., Dang, A. R. (2025). Comment: the disruptive effect of AI on urban planning.
Nature Cities, 2(7), 568-570. ................................................................................ 83
Yigitcanlar, T., Desouza, K. C., Butler, L., & Roozkhosh, F. (2020). Contributions and
Risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Building Smarter Cities: Insights from a
Systematic Review of the Literature [Review]. Energies, 13(6), 38, Article 1473.
https://doi.org/10.3390/en13061473 .................................................................... 87
12. Planning for post-growth cities ........................................................................... 94
Durrant, D., Lamker, C. W., & Rydin, Y. (2023). The Potential of Post-Growth Planning:
Re-Tooling the Planning Profession for Moving beyond Growth. Planning Theory &
Practice, 24(2), 287–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2023.2198876 ............ 94
Jin Xue (2022) Urban planning and degrowth: a missing dialogue, Local Environment,
27:4, 404-422, DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2020.1867840 .......................................... 98
Savini, F., Ferreira, A & Carlotta von Schönfeld, K. (2022). Uncoupling planning and
economic growth: towards post-growth urban principles: an introduction. In: Savini,
F., Ferreira, A., & von Schönfeld, K. (eds.). Post-growth planning: cities beyond the
market economy. Routledge, pp. 3-18. .................................................................104
13. Urban Experimentation and co-creation ............................................................108
Bulkeley, H., Marvin, S.J., Voytenko Palgan, Y., McCormick, K., Breitfuss-Loidl, M., Mai,
Q.L., von Wirth, T., and; Frantzeskaki, N., (2019), Urban Living Laboratories:
conducting the experimental city?, European Urban and Rural Studies, 26(4), pp.317-
335, DOI: 10.1177/0969776418787222 ...............................................................108
Frantzeskaki, N, CollierM., Hölscher, K., et al, (2025), Premises, practices and politics
of co-creation for urban sustainability transitions, Urban Transformations, 7:7,
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-025-00075-9 ......................................................114
, Raven, R., von Wirth, T., Bai, X.et al. The future of urban experimentation through ten
critical lessons from decades of practice. Nature Cities 3, 210–217 (2026).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-026-00398-z .......................................................121
