Rethinking cities: A systems approach to sustainable urban futures

Published on 18 June 2025

from: Planetary Emergency Impact Hub, Club of Rome

As cities grapple with climate change, housing crises and widening inequality, a new report by The Club of Rome and the Hot or Cool Institute makes clear our current approaches to urban planning cannot meet today’s complex challenges. 

Transforming the Built Environment: A Systems Approach to Urban Planning, calls for a fundamental mind shift in how we design cities. Instead of focusing on individual parts like housing, transport, or energy, it urges us to look at how these elements interact as part of an interconnected living urban system.  

The report presents a framework to rethink policy to drive the deep societal transformations needed for urban systems to enable thriving lives within planetary boundaries 

From Barcelona to Belfast, real-world case studies show this approach isn’t just theoretical—it’s already driving change. 

Shaped by inputs from urban policy and planning experts, the report aims to support cities to:  

• Shift from reactive, siloed decision-making to integrated planning, supported by systems thinking tools  

• Address the root causes of social disconnection, inequality and carbon lock-in

• Create opportunities to rethink how cities and urban spaces are designed and explore new ways to involve communities and stakeholders in the process. 

• Create healthy, inclusive and climate-resilient urban spaces 

More than a report, this is a practical roadmap for redesigning cities so both people and planet can thrive. 

🔗 Read the full report here: https://www.clubofrome.org/news/report-transforming-built-environments 

Valuable insights. Thank you for sharing. It resonates messages for policy makers we had tried to make in our publication. https://www.adb.org/publications/rethinking-cities-for-resilience-and-growth-in-the-post-covid-19-world