Nudging Planning Processes: Soft Planning and Behavioural Shifts for Inclusive and Sustainable Urban Mobility*
In contemporary urban planning, we often take it for granted that improved infrastructure, new bike lanes, bus lines, and digital apps will be enough to shift mobility behaviours. But experience shows that without addressing deeper cultural, emotional, and psychological factors, change is irrelevant and short-lived. Through my experience in URBACT S.M.ALL and several other European and non-European projects, I have learned the transformative power of what I call soft planning: a way of thinking about urban change that prioritises process over product, relationships over regulations,
policies over normative or technical plans, and empowerment over enforcement.
Within this frame, nudges, those gentle behavioural signals that shape decisions without limiting citizens' choices are among the most powerful planning tools at our disposal.
