Trends and opportunities in adaptive planning for the built environment: A literature review

Abstract

Adaptive planning supports long-term decision-making under uncertainties, such as those arising from the dynamics of complex systems such as the built environment. This article presents a bibliometric and literature analysis of the adaptive planning paradigm in the context of planning for the built environment. Using the CiteSpace software, a document co-citation analysis of adaptive planning literature was conducted that outlines its temporal and structural evolution. This analysis revealed three distinct disciplines: 1) the Pathways Approaches, arising from climate adaptation, 2) Real Options, arising from financial analysis, and 3) Adaptive Management, arising from the environmental sciences. Subsequently, the literature analysis identified interdisciplinary core elements and recommended best practices for adaptive planning, in addition to frequently discussed challenges and state-of-the-art progress in addressing those challenges. Four emerging challenges that require further exploration were identified, which are: multi-scale considerations, institutional rigidity and uncertainty avoidance, organisational capacity development, and the science-policy gap. By highlighting the parallels across multiple disciplines, this work unifies the different bodies of literature through a synthesis of theoretical insights, clarification of core principles, and identification of barriers and future research directions for adaptive planning in the built environment.