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The paper aims to present a pedagogical model tailored to the development of key competences in the urban planning profession in post-socialist transitional countries that is based on the creation of an integrated platform for dialogue and the development of professional competences as part of the process, whereby students produce their final projects.

The pedagogical model is based on the principles of education for sustainable development and focuses on the establishment of a repeatable platform for dialogue between students and mentors, members of the mentoring team, the local community, external members of the consulting team of experts and foreign master’s degree programmes, in the process of producing students’ projects. The proposed method addresses several dimensions, including: the education of students, teachers, professionals and local experts, the establishment of a network for cooperation and collaboration and the delivery of practical and usable results.

The paper provides a comparative overview of the pedagogical model’s application in producing the final master’s degree projects of three generations of students, as well as its alignment with the needs of re-defining the role and reach of the profession of urban planner in an environment of post-socialist transition. The model was improved, enhanced and optimised through this process and then corroborated with its practical implementation.

The innovative pedagogical model comprises an instrument to enhance the professional capacities of all participants in the production of final master’s projects: academics, practitioners and future professionals/students, through discussions of topical issues, innovative modes of work and new professional responses grounded in the local context and tested by a broad range of stakeholders. It is of particular importance for countries in transition experiencing a shift in the paradigm of professional action, especially as the proposed pedagogical model establishes a problem-solving platform that surpasses academia.

The purpose of this papers is to highlight the applicability of integrated simulation models for national development planning to different issues and contexts. Specifically, the authors describe one such model, the Millennium Institute’s T21 model, which is used to support planning in various countries, and explore in detail the case of Swaziland to demonstrate the model’s usefulness at different levels in the planning process.

Integrated sustainable development planning models using the system dynamics (SD) modeling method have been designed to help overcome these obstacles and support decision-makers in the assessment of alternative policies. Such models are laboratory replicas of the critical mechanisms driving development in a country while being grounded in the historical data available. They can be used to perform simulation-based policy experiments that are otherwise impossible in the real world.

The proposed approach has facilitated the reporting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as well as on the cross-sector long-term ex ante evaluation of the country’s “Economic Recovery Strategy” and a proposed “Fiscal Adjustment” policy. These assessments provided essential information for improving the quality of the decisions made. Such information cannot be obtained by the application of purely economic models or sectoral tools, that are not including the fundamental feedback structures that shape development in the long run and determine its sustainability.

The new generation of global long-term Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) covers a far broader range of issues and indicators than the MDGs. The T21-Swaziland model only offers a limited subset of such issues, and future research will focus on achievements and challenges in expanding its scope to encompass the SDGs.

The T21 model has become one of the fundamental planning instruments of the country, and it has been used to evaluate national planning documents and other suggested strategies with respect to whether they are sufficient for reaching the long-term goals. Such information is then used as a basis for revision of development plans and adoption or rejection of suggested policy packages.

The MDGs (and their expanded follow-up, the SDGs) have been important step toward better governance, as they quantify key indicators of development and thereby allow for an evaluation of the degree to which these quantified aspirations are actually achieved. In addition to such hind-sight evaluations, ex ante evaluations are equally important for improvement of the quality of the decisions made. The authors propose and test a tool to support such type of evaluation, supporting integrated planning and model-based governance.

This paper aims to propose an integrated urban planning framework to achieve sustainable urban development (SUD) in the Malaysian context.

In the course of developing this framework, this paper reviews the related literature and Malaysian policies, programs and plans.

The findings highlight the importance of developing an integrated urban planning framework with respect to the processes, content and outcomes to achieve SUD in the Malaysian context. Successful SUD planning should be participatory and based on building consensus. Moreover, the content of the plan should include economic growth, social inclusion and development and environmental protection components.

This study makes a valuable theoretical contribution to the SUD and urban planning literature by proposing an urban planning framework for the promotion of SUD. In addition, this study has a number of practical implications for the Government of Malaysia and local authorities aiming to facilitate SUD.

Urban heritage areas are under significant pressure as a result of increasing populations and significant visitor growth. The growth in visitor numbers is of particular concern as this is leading to the phenomenon of overtourism. In Asia, although the issue of overtourism requires immediate attention in order to avoid the loss of tangible and intangible heritage, many of those responsible for managing urban heritage areas lack the skills and competencies to prevent it or mitigate its effects. The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory competency framework for managing urban heritage areas sustainably, for thereby preventing and/or mitigating overtourism.

In developing this framework, the authors examined how the context needs to change in order to implement sustainable urban heritage management, and they identified the particular competencies and associated skills and knowledge that are required of the stakeholders responsible for urban heritage areas to manage, prevent and/or mitigate overtourism. This analysis was based on a series of case studies examining the planning and management of urban heritage areas in Asia.

It was found that meeting three key objectives was essential in improving the competencies of stakeholder heritage area planners and developers as it relates to overtourism: integrated team approach, a mindset change on the part of key stakeholders and a common vision guiding the development process.

It was found that in order for urban heritage managers to sustainably manage the heritage under their responsibility and prevent and/or mitigate overtourism, a fundamental shift in mindset is required on the part of key stakeholders, moving away from a “silo” approach and towards an integrated approach to urban heritage management, in which the team leaders and management teams have an interdisciplinary set of competencies and are supported in the planning and management process by subject/discipline specialists. The authors found that the set of competencies that are required by heritage management teams lie at the intersection of the four key areas of policy and planning intervention in urban heritage areas, which are: community economic development, urban planning and design, urban heritage area planning, and tourism planning and management. The competencies can be categorized under three headings: interdisciplinary perspective, soft management competencies and technical competencies.

This paper was developed based on the authors’ experience in planning and tourism initiatives throughout Asia and on a long history of urban heritage tourism and planning work around the world. Most of the discussion focusses on how urban destinations can prevent and/or address the issues associated with overtourism by enhancing the competencies of the teams and practitioners who are responsible for managing urban heritage areas.

In recent years, Costa Rica has experienced increasing economic loss from numerous climate disasters. To meet the challenge of reducing local vulnerabilities, it is necessary to incorporate the potential impacts of current and future climate disaster events into DRM policy, planning, and practice, both at the national and local levels. This chapter evaluates the current status of policy initiative on incorporating the climate disaster risk aspect in DRM planning at the national level in Costa Rica and discusses whether this initiative provides any answers to reduce climate disaster risk. The study applies a “checklist” as a means of evaluation.

This paper aims to explore the effects of collaborative innovation (CI) in urban planning practice by investigating the influence of a platform for collaboration between academia and external partners (practitioners and community groups). Unlike previous research on learning outcomes from the perspective of students (Fokdal et al., 2020), the aim of this article is to investigate the transformative learning (TL) experience from the perspective of the external partners.

The outcomes of the TL experience were assessed through four elements: disorienting dilemma; critical reflection; engagement in discourse; and reflective and critical taking action.

The claim that collaboration with multiple actors through TL processes can help promote innovative ways to view and practice planning outside of academia has to a certain extent been confirmed. This paper provides evidence that such transformative processes can have an impact on the individuals involved and shows the importance of individuals acting as change agents – or drivers of innovation. In addition, the importance of a collaborative platform – acting as an intermediary – in facilitating TL processes in planning practices is highlighted in the context of Serbia.

This paper is a continuation of existing research on educational initiatives that attempt to integrate sustainability into the curricula and bring innovation to urban planning practice; showcase outcomes of the TL experience for sustainable development, especially when addressing the innovative ways that planning is practiced outside of academia; and push for change toward a more sustainable future not only within and but also outside of academia.

The purpose of the study was to determine the major criteria for a credible integrated development planning (IDP) process in Mbombela municipality, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.

The study utilizes a combination of sequential exploratory and explanatory mixed methods. About 120 key informants participated in the structured questionnaire, and a further seven interviews were conducted as elite interviews. Four multistakeholder workshop sessions with up to sixty-six participants each were conducted.

To strengthen the integrated planning in local government, the study recommended “stakeholder participation and ownership,” “leadership and accountability,” “impact and outcome-based focus,” “a compact value chain” and “monitoring and evaluation.”

The IDP process is a tactical planning gadget designed to achieve transformation and introduce new systems of governance. IDPs currently tend to lack standard criteria to measure their performance in promoting public leadership and responding to community needs, which is a major challenge in many municipalities across South Africa. Since its introduction in 2000 to fast-track service delivery, concerns have been raised about why there are still constant protests alleged to be caused by poor service delivery.

This study aims to determine and consolidate the multi-scale components that inform anticipatory action for resilience; propose a conceptual framework for the collaborative and holistic design, delivery and management of resilience at both the macro and micro scale; and test the efficacy of the framework to deliver sustainable (sustained) resilience.

A conceptual framework was proposed by consolidating what was learnt from literature review. Case studies were then used to explore the efficacy of the framework to deliver resilience. The applicability of the specific measures was also examined to determine the extent by which they support anticipatory action and resilience capacity.

It was found that a combination of active, latent, evolving and to some extent improvised yet integrated solutions can support anticipatory flood resilience at the micro, meso and macro scale, as well as the physical and social domains.

Socio-physical resilience improves when policy makers, designers, planners and engineers work together to deliver anticipatory solutions prior to a natural disaster. Further, findings confirm that resilience can be achieved in both new and existing urban contexts.

The multi-scale, integrated strategies can inform anticipatory practices, which, in turn, may reduce social vulnerability during and after natural events such as flooding.

This work lays the foundation for further theoretical and practical work on socio-spatial resilience and provides the learning-based structure within which policy makers, planners and architects can administer interventions for the practical delivery of planning-scale and building-level resilience.

Here's the answer to “why” and “how” “global” manufacturing strategy should be integrated into corporate strategy.

This paper aims to present the process and results of a local‐level South African action research project on introducing foresight methods into a local government planning process.

The paper outlines the evolutionary process followed, and documents the practical insights gained and lessons learnt in relation to the concept of pro‐poor foresight.

Positive outcomes in the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) foresight process included a high level of stakeholder engagement and senior management buy‐in, supported by positive evaluations by diverse participants. The learning was subsequently incorporated into long‐term development plans and proposals such as the ten‐year development plan for the region. The experience yielded key lessons about the recruitment of participants, policy alignment, communication in diversity, active participation, facilitation as learning, the influence of technical inputs, and the importance of integration.

Further academic research could build upon this case study to investigate longer‐term impacts of the initiative in KSD, tracking replications and adaptations of the KSD experiment, comparative research between contexts where foresight is used and where it is not in development policy and planning processes, enquiry into how foresight might be formally incorporated in the routine development policy and planning processes of municipalities, and undertaking more theoretical enquiry on the “localising foresight” concept and experience, including the development of guiding criteria and indicators for procedural and outcome success.

The case focuses on learning in a developing world context where foresight is less advanced than in other contexts. The results of the exercise in KSD suggest that it is possible to embed pro‐poor foresight in a large‐scale policy programme to enhance the resilience of communities, supported by appropriate plans and budgets.

The long‐term nature of foresight can create a “safe” platform for an otherwise difficult engagement, as is this case where three levels of government and various segments of civil society are to be beneficially engaged.

This was a unique action research project in South Africa, where foresight has tended to be mainly at a top or central level – that being the level of corporate executives, national government, or national‐level stakeholders.