Geodesign: (a personal) retrospective, and perspectives

The paper presents a critical retrospective of the author’s experiences on the application of the geodesign methodology in spatial planning research, education, and practice. Referring to two main case studies re-iterated along several years in different contexts, the benefits of the approach are highlighted, as well as limitations. The benefits are particularly evident in relation to both the knowledge-building and design process, and the development of skills, capacity building, and innovation of practices, multi-actor collaboration, and consensus building. However, more time will be needed for careful ex-post evaluation which may confirm in the future the quality of the final design products and their implementation, as well as the ability of the involved local communities to support adaptive processes of sustainable transformation of the territory in the medium and long term. The future research directions, therefore, beside covering the monitoring and evaluation of the ex-post impacts of the results of past experiences, should focus on the current challenges of sustainability, and, on the impact of the design on climate change. While early geodesign studies proved effective in integrated strategic spatial planning and design and adaptive planning and governance of urban and territorial systems, integrating the principles and the values of strategic environmental assessment, further research is still needed to understand the applicability of the concept in different contexts with regards to scale, or in the making of traditional planning instruments which still characterize consolidated planning systems, or vice versa, to what extent, geodesign may affect it evolution, and under what circumstances.