Collective for leading common spaces beyond growth
Welcome – great to have you here!
Post-Growth Planning: A planning in which growth is neither a necessary starting point to plan nor a goal that must be achieved by means of planning. It works on change but does not set economic growth (especially in GDP terms) or competition among public entities (especially for population and for economic numbers) as its goal. Post-growth planning aims to enhance the quality of life for a diversity of people, but not with more of the same growth solutions. It acts within available resources (including land) and planetary boundaries through a multiplicity of roles to enable a good life for all. To achieve this, critical post-growth planners engage and motivate to take honest, just, and democratic decisions.
Starting from open questions in 2016/17, the exploration of #postgrowthplanning continues…
Recent readings
- Verweij, S., Lamker, C. W., & Groot, B. de (2025). To Transport or not to Transport: Post-Growth Avenues for Transport Infrastructure Planning. Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy, 6(1), Article e12035, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1002/jci3.12035 (Critical Perspectives).
- Lamker, C. W., & Terfrüchte, T. (2024). Post-Growth Ambitions and Growth-Based Realities in Sustainable Land-Use Planning. Urban Planning, 9, Article 7881. https://doi.org/10.17645/up.7881
- Lamker, C. W. (2024). Raumplanung und das Ende von Wachstum und Fläche: Wachstumsbias und Postwachstumskritik. RaumPlanung, 226(2), 34–40. [ Full text at ResearchGate ]
- Durrant, D., Lamker, C. W., & Rydin, Y. (2023). The Potential of Post-Growth Planning: Re-Tooling the Planning Profession for Moving beyond Growth. Planning Theory & Practice, 24(2), 287–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2023.2198876 (Comment).
- Lamker, C. W., & Schulze Dieckhoff, V. (2022). Becoming a post-growth planner: inner obstacles to changing roles. In F. Savini, A. Ferreira, & K. C. von Schönfeld (Eds.), Post-Growth Planning: Cities beyond the market economy (pp. 189–202). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003160984-20
Podcast series
Watch episodes of our podcast series: “Becoming a post-growth planner: obstacles and challenges to changing roles and practices“. The episodes interview inspiring thinkers about contemporary planning and potentials for a transformation towards growth-independent roles and practices.
Further episodes upcoming…
Readings
- Rydin, Y. (2025). Planning Without Growth. Policy Press, an imprint of Bristol University Press.
- Greaves, S. (2024). Spatial Critiques of Growth. In J. Becker, J. N. Bergamo, A. Fortuny Sicart, S. Greaves, N. Keurhorst, J. Lloveras Gutiérrez, M. Pansera, B. Robra, E. Schramm, & B. Suárez Eiroa (Eds.), Critiques of growth: an introduction (pp. 74–92). Universidad de vigo.
- Savini, F., Ferreira, A., & Schönfeld, K. C. von (Eds.). (2022). Post-Growth Planning: Cities beyond the market economy. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003160984
- Ache, P., Lamker, C. W., & Veil, K. (2023). (Post-)Wachstum in Stadt und Region: Editorial. RaumPlanung(3-4), 6–7. https://ifr-ev.de/raumplanung/post-wachstum-in-stadt-und-region (Editor’s of Special Issue).
- Friends of the Earth Europe. (2023, May 15). A post-growth Europe critical to survive and thrive, urge over 400 civil society groups and experts. Open Letter published all over Europe on day 1 of the EP Beyond Growth Conference (15 May 2023). Brussels. https://www.enar-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/EN-BG-Open-Letter.pdf
- Lamker, C. W. (2021). Becoming a Post-Growth Planner. Rooilijn(September). https://www.rooilijn.nl/artikelen/becoming-a-post-growth-planner
- Lamker, C. W., & Terfrüchte, T. (2021). Postwachstum nach der Pandemie: Gleichwertige Lebensverhältnisse ohne Wachstumszwang. RaumPlanung(3-4), 34–39. [ Full Text at ResearchGate ]
- Lange, B., Hülz, M., Schmid, B., & Schulz, C. (Eds.). (2021). Social and Cultural Geography: Vol. 49. Post-Growth Geographies: Spatial Relations of Diverse and Alternative Economies. Transcript; transcript Verlag. https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839457337
- Brokow-Loga, A., & Eckardt, F. (Eds.). (2020). Postwachstumsstadt: Konturen einer solidarischen Stadtpolitik. oekom verlag. https://doi.org/10.14512/9783962386962
- Lamker, C. W., & Schulze Dieckhoff, V. (2020, April 9). Post-growth planning for post-corona times: Reinventing a growth-independent planning in times of crisis. Discussion paper. Groningen, Dortmund. Collective Post-Growth Planning. https://www.postgrowthplanning.com https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.28096.07680
Post-growth planning for post-corona times
DISCUSSION PAPER | 09 APRIL 2020
Post-growth planning for post-corona times: Reinventing a growth-independent planning in times of crisis
What might the current Corona crisis mean from a post-growth planning perspective? This short discussion paper aims at supporting a debate within society and spatial planning about imagining positive growth-independent spatial futures and finding ways to plan and organize for them.
Sechs Thesen einer Postwachstumsplanung
Seit Ende 2016 arbeiten wir an der Entwicklung von Rahmenbedingungen für die räumliche Organisation und Planung in einer Postwachstumsgesellschaft. Seit April 2017 haben wir den Begriff Postwachstumsplanung hierfür gefunden. Die Diskussionen der letzten zwei Jahre und das Aufeinandertreffen von Postwachstum und Stadt-/Raumplanung fassen wir in sechs Thesen zusammen:
- Postwachstumsplanung braucht neue Erfolgskriterien als Handlungsgrundlage!
- Postwachstumsplanung bedeutet gerechte und demokratische Entscheidungen!
- Postwachstumsplanung stößt große Transformationen durch kleinteilige Veränderungen an!
- Postwachstumsplanung braucht experimentelles und künstlerisches Handeln!
- Postwachstumsplanung muss aus Scheitern lernen!
- Postwachstumsplaner*innen sind wir alle!
Die Thesen von Christian Lamker und Viola Schulze Dieckhoff wurden in der vorliegenden Form am 29. Juni 2019 auf dem ARL-Kongress „Postwachstum und Transformation: Planen – Steuern – Wirtschaften“ mit einem Sonderpreis des Förderkreises für Raum- und Umweltforschung e. V. (FRU) und der Akademie für Raumforschung und Landesplanung (ARL) ausgezeichnet.
Stay informed, contact & discuss!
You can find #postgrowthplanning on the following channels. Connect, stay tuned – and, most importantly, discuss with everyone!
Facebook – Postwachstumsplanung
YouTube – @postgrowthplan
BlueSky – @postgrowthplan
Twitter/X – @postgrowthplan
Mastodon – @postgrowthplan@mastodon.green
Instagram – @postgrowthplan
Spotify – Post-growth planning
Google Podcasts – Post-growth planning
Also visit the Post-Growth Cities Coalition (since 2023).
Schaut auch bei unseren Freunden von Postwachstumsstadt vorbei.
Postwachstumsplanung – Kollektiv für wachstumsunabhängige Räume
Post-Growth Planning– collective for leading common spaces beyond growth
Impressum
Dr. Christian Lamker
E: christian@postwachstumsplanung.de | T: +49/160/4440410
Stand: September 2023
