From the Alps to the Swiss Plateau, Switzerland is updating how it manages land use. The latest reforms focus on sustainable growth, compact urban development, and balancing public interest with property rights—giving cantons, municipalities, and citizens a stronger role in shaping the future of Swiss settlements.
On 29 September 2025, the members of the ARL International Working Group "Resilient Metropolitan Regions – Spatial Planning and Management for Urban Transformation" met online for a plenary meeting.
The group will work for three years (2026–2028) to explore how European countries can move toward No Net Land Take (NNLT) by 2050 — a core EU objective aimed at avoiding, minimizing and compensating land consumption.
With the objective of reflecting on persistent tensions in spatial planning theory members of the ARL Working Group “Beyond the Process: Finding Common Ground for a Discussion on Planning's Substantial Foundation” came together with external experts for a roundtable discussion.
On 18 September 2025, VASAB hosted a hybrid workshop in Iława, Poland, and online, bringing together project partners of the Planners’ Forum project, and other key stakeholders involved in spatial planning in the Baltic Sea Region.
Montenegro’s dramatic geography and EU aspirations shape its evolving planning system, balancing tourism-driven growth with regional development and rule-of-law reforms.
The aim of this special issue is to better understand and shape the role of cultural, social and spatial dynamics in the regional and local implementation of the energy transition.
From 29 August to 7 September 2025, the ARL is once again launching an open call for innovative working and transfer formats within its newly structured online application procedure.
This book by Eva Purkarthofer serves as a guide to navigate the connection points between EU policies and spatial planning by introducing the logics of EU policymaking and European spatial planning, outlining the most important EU policies with relevance for spatial planning.
A new publication developed within the Leibniz Research Network “Earth and Societies”, led by Dr. Barbara Warner with a team of authors from the Leibniz Research Network Earth & Societies has recently published in Environmental Science & Policy.
As part of the RSA Regional Futures conference (Dublin, 12–14 November 2025), this Special Session invites contributions exploring the future of city-regions.
