Proceedings of CITTA 14th Annual Conference on Planning Research: Safe, Equitable and Just Communities

Community, equity, fairness, and social justice have traditionally been key principles in spatial and transport planning. However, the ongoing planetary transformations – such as those driven by climate change, global urbanization, sociodemographic, cultural and political change, technological transition and the restructuring of finance, labour, and welfare – introduce complex and, in some ways, unprecedented challenges. These transformations not only call into question how we define and apply those principles but also test the ability of spatial and transport planning and policy to enact impactful change.

In this context, CITTA chose Safe, Equitable, and Just Communities as the theme for its 14th Annual Conference on Planning Research, held on June 17, 2022. This decision highlights the significance of continuously reflecting on our research concepts, strategies, and methodologies, as well as their ability to describe and explain real-world processes accurately. It also acknowledges the critical connections between knowledge production and collective action, underscoring the importance of normative discussions around values and aspirations.

The Conference benefited from the inspiring contributions of Jennifer Robinson on Settings of community engagement: What role for planning in social justice?, and of Pierluigi Coppola on Planning the future of urban mobility: Green smart and fair solutions, and brought together 53 papers, organised around four main topics, each expressing how the theme of the Conference intersects the current CITTA’s research: Planning for social and environmental justice; Equitable and just urban policies; Accessible and inclusive transport systems and mobility services; and Safe and  efficient transport systems.

This Book of Proceedings includes six papers, which in a way represent and record the diversity of perspectives and debates that shaped the Conference. The papers show a wide range of research topics, spanning from autonomous vehicles to public transport, from socio-spatial segregation to citizen engagement, and from active ageing to sports facilities planning. They highlight the variety of geographical contexts and scales of intervention, as well as the global mobility of concepts and policies. Their diversity extends to the research approaches as well, ranging from more conceptual debates to more applied research.

This Book of Proceedings is thus a (small) contribution to the more general challenge facing the renewal of planning research, from the perspective of building Safe, Equitable, and Just Communities which lies precisely in the ability to work and learn globally from the diversity – but also from the interconnection – of spatial and social contexts.