JustPlanning – Integrating environmental justice in spatial planning: Current uptake and future opportunities

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Christian Albert; Dr. Carl Cyrus Anderson
• Subject Area: City Planning, Spatial Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Landscape Planning
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 558684615

Environmental justice (EJ) is increasingly recognized as a necessary consideration for achieving an equitable distribution of environmental benefits (e.g. green spaces for cooling) and burdens (e.g. air pollution). The spatial distribution of benefits and burdens can intersect with that of social disadvantage, exacerbating existing injustice and health and well-being disparities. This relates to ‘distributive justice’, which is influenced in part by ‘procedural justice’ (participatory and inclusive decision-making processes) and ‘recognitional justice’ (respect for different needs and values). Spatial planning is well positioned to advance EJ outcomes as it influences how environmental benefits and burdens are considered in planning and decision-making processes. Research on EJ in planning has recently gained momentum, including in the German context, but important knowledge gaps remain in the field of spatial planning. These include how planning theory intersects with EJ, how spatial planners understand EJ, concepts and methods for assessment of EJ, and the potential influence of greater EJ uptake on planning procedures and outputs. JustPlanning aims to enhance the scientific understanding of ongoing trends, future opportunities, and potential impacts related to integrating all three dimensions of EJ in German spatial planning. Based on empirical findings, we will further advance planning theories and methods. Four interconnected objectives (O) guide the research. O1 focuses on the current uptake of EJ. O2 is to develop a multi-dimensional EJ assessment and apply it in the Hannover Region, while O3 determines the potential impacts assessment outputs and information on planners’ decision-making. Finally, O4 develops an integrated understanding of challenges, opportunities and potential impacts of stronger consideration of EJ in spatial planning and distills insights for theory and method advancement in a research agenda. The research design consists of four corresponding work packages (WP). In WP1, planners’ understandings, awareness, and degree of consideration of EJ are assessed using a large-scale representative sample and follow-up interviews. In WP2, we develop and apply both a desktop and participatory mapping (PPGIS) method for a planning-oriented spatial assessment of EJ. In WP3, an online survey experiment and participatory workshop are conducted to test the degree of consideration given to EJ information in a simulated planning process. In WP4, we organize an international symposium to critically reflect on findings in relation to other ongoing research and develop a future research agenda. The expected results include an enhanced understanding of the uptake of EJ in planning, a planning-oriented method for assessing EJ and insights on the effects of EJ information in planning decisions. Finally, we develop a conceptual model for integrating EJ in spatial planning and contribute to the advancement of relevant theories and methods.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants