2023 Trend Report for Planners
By Petra Hurtado, PhD, Sagar Shah, PhD, AICP, Joseph DeAngelis, AICP, Alexsandra Gomez
APA Foresight helps planners navigate change and prepare for an uncertain future. With foresight in mind, planners can guide change, create more sustainable and equitable outcomes, and establish themselves as critical to thriving communities. Foresight is not about predicting the future — it is about understanding drivers of change that are outside of our control, how we can prepare for them, and when it is time to act. APA Foresight identifies emerging trends and how scenarios stemming from each may impact the world, our communities, and the planning profession in the years to come.
The 2023 Trend Report for Planners features more than 100 existing, emerging, and potential future trends that APA identified as relevant to planning. The trends are structured within three timeframes (Act Now, Prepare, Learn and Watch), which indicate the urgency of planners' action. For each trend, the report gives insights on what the trend is about and explains why they are important for planners to know about and consider in their work. Additionally, the report describes "trend patterns," which explore the bigger-picture developments rooted in the variety of trends observed and how they affect planning. Ultimately, this report addresses the future of planning, explaining how the planning profession will have to evolve to keep up with a continuously changing world, what new skills planners will have to develop, and which new tools are worth trying.
Planners can use the trends listed in this report as input for their long-range and current planning processes, to practice strategic foresight during community visioning processes, for scenario planning, or simply to inform future decision-making.
This report was developed in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Details
About the Authors
Petra Hurtado, PhD
Petra (Stieninger) Hurtado, Ph.D. is the Chief Foresight & Knowledge Officer at the American Planning Association, leading APA’s foresight practice to leverage knowledge as a catalyst for innovation and resilience in the planning profession and the organization.
She has a Ph.D. in urban planning from the Vienna University of Technology. Her areas of expertise and research include strategic foresight, futures literacy, urban futures and emerging technologies, urban sustainability, and environmental psychology.
Before joining APA, Petra worked as an advisor, planner, and educator in the global sustainability arena. As an adjunct professor, Petra has taught courses on planning with foresight at the University of Maryland and on urban sustainability and environmental psychology at the Vienna University of Technology. She has presented as a keynote speaker and subject matter expert at numerous conferences across the globe and guest lectured at Harvard GSD, Virginia Tech, among other universities.
Passionate about empowering people to thrive in dynamic environments, Petra combines academic rigor with practical wisdom to inspire action and drive positive change.
Sagar Shah, PhD, AICP
Sagar Shah, Senior Manager of Knowledge and Career Programs at the American Planning Association, is a prominent advocate for health equity in planning. He collaborates with foundations and federal agencies to shape planning practices and is an active member of APA’s Foresight Team, focusing on emerging technologies like AI. Sagar leads APA's 'Upskill Planners' initiative, equipping professionals for a dynamic future. He shares his expertise on national and international stages and contributes to the field through published research and book chapters. Sagar holds a PhD in Regional Development Planning and a Master’s in Planning.
Joseph DeAngelis, AICP
Joe DeAngelis, AICP, is a planner and research manager at the American Planning Association, where he manages projects on climate adaptation, natural hazard risk, and community resilience. Joe has co-authored a variety of publications while at APA, including the 2020 Planning Advisory Service Report “Planning for Infrastructure Resilience” and since 2021, APA’s annual Trend Report. Joe is also the co-author of the upcoming report “Exploratory Scenario Planning for Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation.” Before coming to APA in 2016, Joe worked as a Resilience Planner for the New York City Department of City Planning, where he focused on post-Hurricane Sandy recovery and long-term redevelopment. He holds a Master of Urban Planning degree from CUNY-Hunter College.
Alexsandra Gomez
Alexsandra Gomez is a policy analyst at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Her work is primarily in the Safe and Complete Streets program. She formerly worked as a research associate at the American Planning Association, where she supported sponsored and strategic research projects and write for APA publications. She has a background in cultural geography and anthropology and applies these disciplines to planning research and practice. Her research interests include urban political ecology, geographies of power, and equitable community-led development.
Table of Contents
The Framework
About this report
About the American Planning Association, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
Contributors
Methodology
Trend Patterns
The Trends We Need to Act on Now
Climate Policies, Funding, and Action
The Digital Era
Federal Funding and Local Priorities
Gender Expansiveness and Gender Mainstreaming
Policy Impacts on Health
The Housing Crisis, New Roommates, and Solutions
Social Media Use and Media Literacy
Equitable, Environmentally Responsible Transportation Younger Generations and Social Challenges
The Trends We Need to Prepare For
Blockchain, Crypto, and NFTs
An Upside-Down Economy
The Metaverse
Amazonification and Other Retail Trends
The Future of Work
The Trends We Need to Learn and Watch
Geopolitical Dynamics
Green signals
Outer Space
Potential Game-Changing Tech
The Future of Planning
Planning Competencies and Skills
Plan Tech
Conclusion