Session

As cities and regions grapple with rapid urbanization, climate change, and widening socioeconomic gaps, the question of justice has become central to the pursuit of sustainability. This is particularly urgent in the Global South, where degraded urban environments such as slums and informal settlements are marked by physical deterioration, inadequate infrastructure, and systemic neglect. Often home to vulnerable communities, these areas bear the consequences of critical events and planning decisions that overlook the embedded injustices within the built environment. This session critically explores how planning, governance, and participatory design practices can address these challenges. Specifically, it invites contributions that examine how human-centered and justice-based approaches can transform degraded urban environments into inclusive, equitable, and resilient environments. It seeks to explore how planning can move beyond technocratic solutions to tackle historical and structural inequalities, and what tools and processes are needed to foster procedural justice, spatial redistribution, and recognition of diverse community needs, particularly related to gender, cultural identity, and lived experiences. Key theoretical frameworks shape this session’s exploration of spatial justice and urban transformation. Henri Lefebvre’s concept of the Right to the City stresses the democratization of space and the right of all urban inhabitants to shape their environment. David Harvey connects urban injustice to capitalist urbanization, arguing that economic systems producing inequality must be addressed. Susan Fainstein proposes a framework for The Just City, centered on equity, democracy, and diversity in planning. Edward Soja, in his concept of Spatial Justice, underscores how urban spatial arrangements reinforce inequalities. Ananya Roy focuses on Southern urban theory, highlighting how planning marginalizes yet also empowers urban poor communities. Loretta Lees addresses the exclusionary impacts of gentrification and urban renewal policies, advocating for more inclusive planning. Finally, James Holston examines how residents in marginalized urban areas of the Global South challenge exclusionary governance through insurgent citizenship. Through these theoretical lenses, this session aims to contribute to building new pathways toward the just city, where even the most neglected urban spaces become environment of empowerment, dignity, and sustainable transformation.