Does sustainable development offer a new direction for planning? Challenges for the twenty-first century

The practice and scholarship of planning has shifted from physical design to process. Process emphasizes diversity, openness, and consensus but is not fully equipped to offer a shared vision in political arenas dominated by fragmentation and conflict. New urbanism has revived the idea that planning is about physical design, but this concept does not fully embrace a holistic vision of community building. This article explains how sustainable development extends the positive attributes of the first two approaches and offers a multigenerational vision of community building. This vision integrates multiple societal values and enhances local imagination, understanding, and commitment to defining solutions for the common good.