Just Planning

Environmental justice (EJ) is gaining increasing attention international and in Germany, as cities and regions seek to ensure fair access to environmental benefits while minimizing burdens, especially for vulnerable communities. The JustPlanning project explores how spatial planning can better integrate EJ principles, ensuring that green spaces, clean air, and other environmental benefits are equitably distributed while reducing exposure to burdens such as air and noise pollution and climate risks. In Germany, spatial planning plays a crucial role in balancing competing demands for land use, making it a powerful tool for advancing social and environmental equity.

JustPlanning focuses on the regional level, where spatial plans shape long-term development and have a high potential to embed EJ considerations. By examining existing planning practices, conducting a national survey of planners, and focusing on the Hannover Region as a case study, JustPlanning will identify both current gaps and future opportunities for integrating EJ. The Hannover Region was chosen due to its diverse socio-environmental landscape, its ongoing regional plan revision, and the strong collaboration between the research team and local planning authorities. This partnership ensures practical insights and facilitates the involvement of local communities in the research process.

JustPlanning approaches EJ through three interconnected dimensions: distributive justice, ensuring fair spatial allocation of benefits and burdens; procedural justice, promoting inclusive decision-making; and recognitional justice, respecting diverse needs, values, and lived experiences. The project employs a mixed-methods approach, combining geospatial analysis, surveys, interviews, focus groups, and participatory GIS (PPGIS) mapping to capture both objective data and subjective community experiences. By bridging scientific insights with real-world planning practices, JustPlanning aims to develop actionable recommendations for planners, enabling future spatial plans to enhance EJ across Germany.