The New Urban Profession: Entering the Age of Uncertainty

Rob Roggema,Robert Chamski

doi:10.3390/urbansci6010010

Abstract

The context of urbanism is changing rapidly. The context for working in the field of urban design and planning is influenced by the pace of change; uncertainty; and massive transitions. The urban professional, however, is still used to planning for small changes and repeating traditional approaches. In this paper, we have investigated major future tasks and problems that require rethinking the skills required from people working in the urban arena. By conducting in-depth conversation with leading thinkers in the field, the tension between idealism and the urgency to act versus realism and the trust in current systems dominated by economic laws is present. This results in the conclusion that a different skillset is required in order to face future complexities and to be able to connect design creativity with process sensitivity in short- and long-term periods and at small and large scales.

Highlights

Urbanization has, amongst many other factors, an impact on nature and health [1], avian diversity [2] and biodiversity in general [3]; groundwater quality [4]; soil [5]; prices and affordability of housing [6]; energy consumption [7]; land-use change and climate [8]; the regional climate [9]; and urban heat impact [10]
Climate variability and change can exert profound stresses on urban environments, which are sensitive to heat waves, droughts and changes in the frequency and magnitude of flash floods [18]
With over 50% of the global population living in cities [21], a number that is expected to rise to 70% in 2050 [22], these impacts deserve attention from urban professionals

Summary

Introduction

Urbanization has, amongst many other factors, an impact on nature and health [1], avian diversity [2] and biodiversity in general [3]; groundwater quality [4]; soil [5]; prices and affordability of housing [6]; energy consumption [7]; land-use change and climate [8]; the regional climate [9]; and urban heat impact [10]. With over 50% of the global population living in cities [21], a number that is expected to rise to 70% in 2050 [22], these impacts deserve attention from urban professionals Future problems, such as climate impacts [23,24]; social unrest [25,26] and migration [27,28,29]; increased inequality [30,31,32]; and the limitations of natural resources [33,34,35], i.e., the limits to growth [36,37,38], potentially accelerate the need for urban responses. The question raised is as follows: what can the urban professional act on in order to deliver a distinguished contribution to creating urban environments that are providing a sustainable, resilient and healthy place for people to live in?

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion