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‘Therefore, the question is who decides on urban investment priorities,
based on which criteria and for whose benefits?‘

It is maybe this question arised by Jean-Claude Bolay and Éléonore Labattut which could introduce their article ‘Sustainable development, planning and poverty alleviation‘, included in the ISOCARP Review 15 – Planning for Metropolitan Area. According to the authors, two issues represent the founding elements for urban planning designed to create sustainable and inclusive cities. The first one is urban poverty, and thinking urban planning as a way of fighting poverty. The second one is the focus on small and medium-sized cities, where actually half of the world urban population lives. Moving from this starting point, Bolay and Labattut see the necessity of rethinking urban planning in developing and emerging countries, rejecting the reproduction of ‘Western cities’ methodologies and techniques, and the pure profitability of urban investments. The alternative is a more participatory urban planning, where dialogue, communication and training can lead to the implementation of real collective decisions.

‘We must therefore bear in mind the idea of the common good,
of going beyond individual dynamics and being rethinking
urban planning in a vision of shared urbanity‘

The articles is also supported by some direct fieldwork experiences from the authors in South America.

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