Openly Caring: Integrating Sustainability and Inclusion in Urban Education Chapter in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • The challengesEducation that cities currently face have opened reflections on the competencies needed by those who manage them, highlighting the importance of Education for Sustainable DevelopmentEducation for sustainable development. At the same time, the lack of diversity in pedagogy in urban planningUrban planning has been questioned, due to its lack of representation of both the student body and the needs of citizens. Despite efforts and advances towards a decolonial, intersectional educationEducation in relation to race and disability, the incorporation of the feminist care framework in urban planningUrban planning pedagogical agendas is still limited or relegated to elective courses. Using a case study approach, we analyze the results of the implementation of a mandatory urban designDesign course for a postgraduate degree in architectureArchitecture and urban designDesign at a private university in MexicoMexico. Sustainability, inclusion, and early childhoodEarly childhood needs are integrated as theoretical content and are focused through activities, reflection, and feedback to students. The spatial and written integration of sustainability and inclusion in their final projects, as well as in student perception surveys, was coded and analyzed. The findings suggest that most students openly engaged with sustainability and inclusion, with varying levels of integration in the projects and their professional practice. Our findings emphasize how, despite decades of academic reflection on the importance of education for sustainable developmentEducation for sustainable development and inclusion, spatial expressions of genderGender issues as an integral part of sustainability and inclusion can still be perceived as strange by urban designDesign and planningPlanning students. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

publication date

  • January 1, 2025