Marine Planning and Urban Development: Traditions and Transitions

Dear Colleagues,

Urban/terrestrial and marine development and activities have one thing in common: they both rely on planning processes, including plans to guide the use of space. One concerns land, the other concerns the sea. What else they share in common, if anything at all, is as clear as mud.
 
Indeed, regardless of this very basic commonality, they are both disciplines in their own right. This makes sense. Concerning oneself with a city or country is simply very different from the sea. Moreover, marine planning is the younger of the two disciplines, only surfacing in the last few decades. Marine planning needed to develop and evolve in its own way.
 
These observations suggest that both disciplines could be, should be, and probably have already been, learning from each other. Many urban or terrestrial planners stepped into marine planning when it started, transplanting practices and perspectives from one to the other. As marine planning has since evolved, surely some practices and perspectives could now be transplanted back to urban/terrestrial planning as well.
 
Simultaneously, urban/terrestrial and marine planners have a common concern: sustainability transitions. Transitioning our use of space to achieve environmental sustainability is undoubtedly their top priority. In the meantime, they will need to contribute to society by preventing and adapting to climate change. 

Hence the conference MUD: Marine | Urban | Development was proposed. Researchers, practitioners, educators, consultants and students of urban/terrestrial and marine planning and development should come together, discuss their commonalities and differences, and share their insights. 

This Special Issue will include the top 5–10 papers presented at the MUD conference in Breda, the Netherlands, based on a call for contributions on the following topics:

• Where do we come from? 
  The similar and differing theoretical underpinnings of, and perspectives behind, strategic-level urban, terrestrial or marine spatial planning and development.
• What are we doing? 
  The methods, tools, techniques and best practices of strategic-level urban, terrestrial or marine spatial planning and development, and how these compare to each other.
• Where are we going? 
  The transitions that strategic-level urban, terrestrial or marine spatial planners and developers need to work on together, notably sustainability transitions and preventing and adapting to climate change.

Only papers accepted and presented at the MUD conference are eligible for this Special Issue.

Please visit the conference website www.buas.nl/mud for more information and to submit an abstract by 31 March 2022. We hope to welcome you in Breda, the Netherlands!

Dr. Harald Warmelink
Dr. Stephen Jay
Guest Editors

Malena Ripken
Guest Editor Assistant

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• marine planning
• marine spatial planning
• maritime spatial planning
• urban planning
• urban development
• terrestrial planning
• terrestrial development