Planning in an Era of Polycrisis: Challenges and Pathways for Climate and Housing Justice

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Social and climate injustices are deepening as climate disasters, affordable housing emergency, and economic precarity disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Legacies of racialized exclusion and housing financialization in the United States and Canada compound these crises, demanding an evolution in equity planning. We have synthesized research on climate action, urban inequities, and green gentrification by analyzing shifts in planning through qualitative interviews with practitioners in Vancouver (Canada), Portland (OR), Denver (CO), Boston (MA), and Washington (DC). We examine here how planners perceive their practice adapting to polycrisis, highlighting barriers and calls for reparative climate and housing justice amid systemic and structural constraints. Our findings do not represent the wide representative sample of all cities within the United States and Canada; however, we investigated and explored the evolution of a diverse set of cities facing a variety of climate changes and housing pressures. Key tensions between climate adaptation, housing affordability, and economic development are revealed, as well as emerging strategies to align these agendas. Takeaway for practice: Planners navigating the polycrisis must contend with persistent tensions between climate and housing goals, as funding is unstable and responses are historically reactive. A justice-oriented future requires small, strategic steps; cross-departmental collaborations; and shifts in planning education to prepare professionals for more agile and adaptive equity-focused practice. Our study shows that planners’ own perceptions, viewpoints, opinions, and experiences shape choices, highlighting the need to critically reflect on how perspectives can shape what challenges are prioritized and which solutions are pursued.