Reflections on Post-Growth Planning: Practices of ‘Undoing’ (De-Urbanisation and Deconstruction) and Methodology for Eco-Social Transition

Abstract

Current planning promotes growth. However, there is an incompatibility between physical and economic growth and the just eco-social goals of a new paradigm for the planet (Meadows et al., Citation1972). The global systemic crisis is now a chronic problem born out of the combined problems of climate change, biodiversity loss, peak oil, inequality, and illiberal democracies. These problems are connected to the dominant growth paradigm. The debate about overcoming growth-dependent planning is necessary for the future of humanity and the planet, and for its transformation. Degrowth and post-growth theories suggest changing the growth paradigm through a just eco-social transition by proposing a reduction of unnecessary urban metabolism (Durrant et al.,2023; Hickel,2023; Latouche,2013). But it is difficult for planners to envision and even imagine futures compatible with the new paradigm, and it is even more difficult to imagine this paradigm being possible in overdeveloped and overbuilt places (Romero-Martínez et al,2024). On this basis, the intervention of planners is fundamental for the transformation of the paradigm from the growth to a post-growth system. The involvement of planners in debates that reflect on the mindsets, procedures and tools of planning, and their implementation, will facilitate the transition. Building on our research on tourist saturation, degrowth, and chronic emergencies in touristified coastlinesFootnote1 (Navarro-Jurado et al,2019; Romero-Martínez et al,2024), our analysis is applied to case studies of ‘not doing, redoing, and undoing’ in the Spanish tourist Mediterranean, where non-action itself has become a valid technical response, freeing the territory from urban pressure in pursuit of ecological transformation and social justice. To describe possible planning transitions, the article applies a methodology structured around systemic processes, encompassing the various roles planners assume and identifying key points for transformative efforts based on an analysis of dynamic and complex systems (Meadows,1999). We consider ideologies (imaginaries), procedures (strategies), and practices (tactics) as pivotal levers for transformation.