Futures Workshop Using foresight techniques to identify trends shaping urban planning

Synopsis:

Foresight describes a set of approaches, tools and skills that help organizations and governments envision and prepare for the future.

Foresight methods have featured across multiple disciplines since the early 40’s; gaining prominence in the 70’s when Shell adopted this method closely to inform long-term strategy. Since the pandemic, the need for future proof has gained prominence amongst policymakers.

Urban planners are futurists in their own right, planning and designing urban centers to improve liveable outcomes within a set of bespoke parameters. Distilling those practices towards informing policy discussions, this workshop aims to achieve three main objectives,

1. Introduce futures thinking and foresight methods

2. Co-develop a set of trends incorporating key planning principles

3. Identify and prioritize key challenges for urban planning