Urbanisation as Fragilisation? A Systemic View on Some Compelling Issues in Urban Planning and Policies

In the light of an expectedly relentless urbanisation, matched with resource scarcity and an overall uncertain century, some critical considerations are offered towards a pause for reflection about the actual feasibility of such a phenomenon. In the present contribution, urban metabolism and systems thinking and diagramming are used to help frame some crucial questions about the possible fragility of urban systems in a changing era, and start to suggest—within an open discussion and elaboration—possible paths and compelling issues in resulting appropriate urban design, planning, policies, and governance.