Integrated Models: Planning Urban Sustainability

This policy brief offers local and regional planners an introduction to the world of integrated urban modelling. It provides information on their potential benefits, implementation process and current use in the Nordic city-regions.

Integrated urban models (IUMs) provide planners with a decision-making support tool that allows them to visualise urban development strategies and assess their socio-economic and environmental impacts. This type of tool is valuable for planners faced with the difficult task of balancing the many social, economic and environmental issues that affect spatial plans and strategies. They are also act as a useful support in dialogue with the diverse group of stakeholders involved in transportation, land use planning and urban development.

Nordregio’s research into these types of models has been carried out in cooperation with WSP Analysis & Strategy, and was commissioned by the Nordic Working Group on Green Growth – Sustainable Urban Regions.