Foreword
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In early 2025, plaNext – Next Generation Planning achieved a significant milestone: its indexing in the Scopus database. This event marks a pivotal moment for the journal and for the broader publication strategy of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP). It is a recognition of the collective efforts made by successive editorial boards, contributors, reviewers, and above all, by the young scholars who believed in a journal that could serve both as a platform for emerging voices and as a vehicle for innovation in planning scholarship. More than a celebratory note,...
Research article
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Beginning with UN Agenda 2030, the European Commission has recently adopted many strategic policies, such as Farm to Fork, Biodiversity Strategy, and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). These documents set up important objectives to cope with environmental and climate challenges. The study uses a quantitative and qualitative research methodology to provide an empirical analysis of the land-use changes and landscape modifications in an important area of apple production in Italy, such as Val di Non in the Trentino Region. The aim is to reflect upon the gap between...
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Major urban development projects are pivotal to connect financial and real estate markets through the ‘financialization’ of strategic lands and the ‘deterritorialization’ of actors, practices and instruments. Milan is currently facing several large-scale property operations delivered by global developers and investors. Among these, this article problematizes the Milano Innovation District (MIND) by reconstructing its spatial development, showing how property financialization generates a deterritorialization of this project from the city planning system. Milan’s...
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Rapid and uncontrolled processes of urbanization expanded cities boundaries and generated a new type of space that can offer rare opportunities. These Terrain Vague spaces are abandoned and open spaces where urban, rural and wild dimensions mingle. They could play a significant role in addressing urgent urban socio-ecological challenges related to sustainable, resilient and inclusive development. These spaces have great value and potential as rare intersections of social and ecological interests. Despite their value, these spaces are constantly at risk of disappearing due to...
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This article explores the pedagogical value of urban design within planning education, framing it as a distinct mode of inquiry that strengthens spatial, analytical, ethical, and collaborative competencies. Drawing on a review of the literature and insights from teaching practice, it identifies six core contributions: (i) experiencing space through studio-based learning, (ii) enhancing spatial reasoning, (iii) fostering critical reflection, (iv) learning through co-production, (v) engaging with public needs and institutional structures, and (vi) developing sensitivity to both local...
Essay
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Planning theory has done much, during the last decade or so, to broaden and enrich its own geographies: thanks to the engagements with critical urban studies and post-colonial theory, planning theorists have problematised the disciplinary insistence on certain modernist ideas and universalist approaches. Much less has been done to problematise the relation of planning with time—its ontology of action. This short essay takes step from my personal experience of editing a special issue of plaNext with Patsy Healey to argue for a different—dialectic, open, experimental—engagement of...
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What does it mean to publish ethically in a world where knowledge production is shaped by human rights violations, social inequalities, colonial legacies, and systemic exclusions? This reflection draws on ten years of experience with plaNext, an open access journal created by the Young Academics Network of the Association of European Schools of Planning to support early career scholars. It explores how ethical publishing can act as a form of resistance to dominant academic norms, the marginalization of alternative epistemologies, and the politicization of knowledge. Through...
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This reflective article marks the tenth anniversary of plaNext – Next Generation Planning, tracing its evolution as a critical platform for spatial planning discourse, particularly in humanitarian and Global South contexts. Drawing on personal editorial and field-based experience, the author explores how plaNext has shifted spatial planning discourse toward inclusion, ethics, and contextual sensitivity. Focusing on contributions from Volumes 9 to 11, the article highlights planning’s potential as a transformative tool in humanitarian settings, centering community...
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The editors of this special issue invited me to reflect on the planning task and, given the 10th anniversary of plaNext, to provide an outlook for the next ten years or more regarding urban futures, all in connection with artificial intelligence (henceforth, AI). A fine call to develop a piece of speculative future, seasoned with armchair evidence from actual debates about cities, futures, and artificial intelligence. I will do so in nine movements, starting by briefly addressing what the urban is made of, a clarification which is essential for our view on the makings...
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This article reflects on the ten-year journey of plaNext – Next Generation Planning, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal initiated by the AESOP Young Academics Network (AESOP-YAN). First published in 2015, plaNext has served as a platform for early-career researchers to engage in planning debates, publish their work, and foster professional development. As the journal approaches its tenth anniversary, this reflection examines its history, legacy, and future directions, highlighting its role in promoting inclusive, critical, and innovative scholarship in the field of...
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plaNext – Next Generation Planning journal is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access e-journal founded by the AESOP Young Academics network. Established as a platform to amplify the voices of emerging scholars, plaNext enables early career researchers to contribute to international planning debates and make their work accessible to a global audience. The journal welcomes a wide range of contributions, including empirical research, theoretical discussions, innovative methodologies, case studies, and book reviews, fostering both academic engagement and professional...
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This paper presents reflections and experience-based perspectives on the potential of young researcher-led journals, such as plaNext – Next Generation Planning, to generate a space for learning from and networking with peers and senior scholars, as well as empowering young researchers and creating new ideas. Its original dialogue-based format is drawn from a two-hour online conversation that took place on March 7, 2025, between founding and current editorial members of plaNext. The discussion was recorded, then transcribed and polished, while leaving the main core of...
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This dialogue between the old and new editorial board marks the 10th anniversary of plaNext – Next Generation Planning, reflecting on its evolution as an experimental and inclusive platform for early career scholars. Born out of the AESOP Young Academics Network, plaNext has advocated the principles of open peer review, aiming to foster constructive, transparent and mentorship-driven academic publishing. As a fully online and open-access journal, it has served as both a publishing outlet and a pedagogical space where academic writing is cultivated...
