Advancing Sustainability Visioning Practice in Planning—The General Plan Update in Phoenix, Arizona

Sustainability visioning—creating descriptions of sustainable and desirable future states—has become a prominent tool in urban planning to guide how cities are structured, how they function, and how they are governed. In this article, we present the application of a sustainability visioning approach (SPARC) in support of the City of Phoenix's General Plan Update. The study strove to overcome deficits in current visioning practices, including sufficiently accounting for systems relationships, conflicting values, sustainability principles and stakeholder input; combining public participation with capacity building; and linking creative with analytical activities. We discuss and draw conclusions from this study on how to improve professional and civic capacity for visioning as well as how to bridge the gap between advanced planning practice and research.