Planners and the new urban agenda: will we lead the agenda, or will the agenda lead us?

Abstract

The United Nation’s New Urban Agenda has created a playbook for planning advocates. It opens possibilities for building inclusive, integrated urban planning in countries where planning has been top-down and limited in scope. Yet it raises concerns about ignoring the power of industry and imposition of global ideas inappropriate to national contexts. Success will require strengthened capacity building for the urban professions, and sensitivity in adapting global best practices to national contexts.