RC21 Board Meeting

Within the recently adopted SDGs, the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and the Paris Agreement (2015/ 2016), cities are considered ‘powerful actors’ with a role to play in seeking a more sustainable and resilient world. There is agreement on the strategic role of local governments to achieve these ambitious goals (Parnell, 2015; Davis, 2016) and on the need to transform existing urban development patterns. Yet, the discussion on the impacts of this transformative turn on urban societies (Anguelovski et al. 2016) and on the urban planning approaches required to transform existing development paths is in its infancy (Watson, 2016). The relationship between these transformative challenges and the theme of the conference can be exemplarily demonstrated by SDG11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’.) SDG11 addresses the conference theme: violence is considered in the intention of creating safer cities whereas justice and power are embedded in the idea of ‘inclusive’ cities. What does it mean to seek ‘safe’ and ‘inclusive’ cities and what theoretical discussions support these definitions? How is this normative discourse to cities linked to theoretical concepts such as ‘Just city’ and ‘the right to the city’? This session invites contributions which critically reflect on the objectives and impacts of global sustainability transformations on urban society and planning. We search for theoretical works for example on the SDGs or the New Urban Agenda and its underlying understanding of urban governance and planning as well as empirical research on the local impacts of implementing sustainability transformations.