Interlacing Planning and Degrowth Scholarship

Abstract

Due to the persistent pursuit of economic growth, contemporary Western societies are inducing an increasingly deep economic, environmental, and social Crisis. Planning has significantly contributed to the pursuit of growth and, as a consequence, urban areas have experienced a number of problematic transformations. The establishment of an alliance between planning and degrowth scholarship could contribute to address these issues. To clarify the potential outlines of this alliance, some of the key principles of both progrowth and degrowth scholarship are critically reviewed. Following this, insights are offered in particular for planners and planning academics wanting to promote the formation of this interdisciplinary alliance.

Acknowledgements

The work conducted by the first author of this article was financially supported by: Project POCI01-0145-FEDER-016431 – funded by European Structural and Investment Funds (FEEI) through Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização COMPETE2020 and by national funds through FCT Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

António Ferreira

António Ferreira is a Senior Researcher at CITTA – Centre for Research on Territory, Transports and Environment of the University of Porto, Portugal. In the past he has worked as a private consultant and coach in various European countries (self-employed), as a Research Fellow at the University of Leeds (UK), as a Post-doctoral Researcher and Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and – before his PhD in Civic Design at the University of Liverpool (UK) – as a Full-Time Higher Education Teacher at the University of Coimbra (Portugal). His research interests are at the moment focused on radical planning theory and practice. In the past he has conducted research on transport and accessibility studies, emotions in planning, and planning education.

Kim Carlotta von Schönfeld

Kim Carlotta von Schönfeld is a PhD Candidate in Planning at Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands. Her main research interests relate to planning, governance and critical perspectives on learning, innovation and economics. She seeks radical, creative and artistic approaches to academic study.