Towards an integrated approach for sustainable city planning

Nowadays cities are seen as motors for the sustainable development of European regions, and are thus of crucial importance for the future of Europe as a whole. Because the social, economic, ecological and institutional development of a city are increasingly interwoven, city management has become a complex enterprise. Management of complex systems such as cities requires the use of innovative, sophisticated planning tools that can assist in monitoring current conditions and projecting future developments. It also requires a well-structured participatory process of creating social support by stakeholders for long-term city visions. In this paper an integrated approach is proposed towards: (i) the development and implementation of a generic city planning tool that in principle can be applied to any kind of city. The proposed tool is a combination of an information system and a dynamic model, which enables the instrument to be used in both strategic and operational manners; and (ii) the development of long-term integrated visions for a more sustainable city through a participatory trajectory in which the integrated city planning tool can be supportive in developing stakeholder-based long-term visions for a more sustainable future of cities. To illustrate the planning tool for sustainable cities the case for Maastricht, a middle-size town in the Netherlands, is described, which will be carried out in the next 3 years.