Equitable Urban Planning in a Changing Climate

A new Lincoln Institute Policy Focus Report, Planning in a Polycrisis: Equitable Urban Strategies for a Changing Climate (Oscilowicz, Connolly, and Anguelovski 2026) positions cities as the place where the housing and climate crises most intensely exacerbate one another—and, conversely, where there is the greatest opportunity for disruption and positive change. To address this polycrisis, the authors argue for de-siloed planning approaches that meaningfully integrate housing, economic development, and climate action. An equitable climate urbanism framework offers planners actionable, justice-oriented strategies to balance affordable housing production and preservation, displacement pressures, climate risk, and economic development—even in contexts of constrained funding and institutional capacity. The recommendations presented are rooted in novel empirical research based on interviews with 32 community, municipal, and regional planners across five mid-sized North American cities conducted in May and June 2024.

Planning in a Polycrisis: Equitable Urban Strategies for a Changing Climate, online at https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/policy-focus-reports/planning-in-polycrisis