Designing the Future

Urban planning deals with the strategic planning of the physical arrangement and condition of a community with considerations on the development and use of land, developmental approval, protection and use of the environment, public welfare, and the design of the urban environment. In simpler terms, urban planning ensures that condominiums, subdivisions, shopping malls, theme parks, and other infrastructure are not built irresponsibly.

There are numerous cities or communities that have been planned from the beginning. Conflicts involving land use are uncommon in these planned spaces. Examples of planned cities include some of the world’s capital cities such as Canberra, New Delhi, Islamabad, Ankara, and Washington.

Urban planning can be challenging for urban planners when they are pressed by the need to keep up with the rapid growth of cities and at the same time, the need to create thorough and well-examined development programs. Many urban planners are often challenged by the need to determine the qualities of society that should be valued the most and the people whose interests should be prioritized.

Many factors shed light on what is to be the future of urban planning. One is the growth of the human population. Most cities face the overwhelming responsibility of accommodating and giving a high quality of life to people from other cities or countries. It is the duty of urban planners to ensure that facilities are up to the task as populations in cities get denser.

Another factor is climate change. The extreme weather patterns that many regions in the world experience today pose great risks to many cities, huge or small. For one, urban planning has a huge role in building cities that would be resilient to calamities. There is a great need for improvement of infrastructures in cities frequently hit by natural calamities like storms, earthquakes, flood, etc. Efforts in combating climate change also drive the future of urban planning.

These days, there is a growing emphasis on alternative transportation especially in megacities. Development plans will have to accommodate such changes in transportation.

For some countries, like Mexico, urban planning is an important tool for reducing inequality. Urban planning in Mexico is seen as an access to a dignified life, an engine for development, and an incentive for development. With housing, climate change, risk reduction, sustainability
, and governance policies in mind, urban planning efforts target the improvement of the lives of at least a hundred million slum dwellers.