Editorial: plaNext and planning in transition (2015–2025)

Abstract

This editorial introduces the special issue plaNext in Transition (2015–2025), marking the tenth anniversary of plaNext – Next Generation Planning. The authors reflect on how the journal and the planning discipline have evolved over the past decade amid major global shifts, including the climate emergency, movements for social and spatial justice, digitalisation, and the rise of artificial intelligence. The editorial outlines the aims of the issue: to revisit the journal’s development, explore its future directions, and examine contemporary challenges in planning scholarship. It highlights contributions from senior scholars and early-career researchers, spanning themes such as ethical publishing, urban design pedagogy, critical and environmental planning theory, financialisation in urban development, socio-ecological approaches to Terrain Vague spaces, and the journal’s internal evolution in peer review and editorial practice. The authors reaffirm plaNext’s mission as a community-driven platform supporting emerging scholars, promoting critical and inclusive planning debates, and experimenting with new forms of scholarly engagement as it enters its second decade.