Strategic planning of urban infrastructure for environmental sustainability: Understanding the past to intervene for the future Shirin Malekpour ⇑ , Rebekah R. Brown, Fjalar J. de Haan School of Social Sciences, Water for Liveability Centre and Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia article info Article history: Received 2 November 2014 Received in revised form 15 January 2015 Accepted 7 May 2015 Available online 16 May 2015 Keywords: Strategic planning Public infrastructure Sustainable development Sustainability transitions Scoping study Historical review abstract Urban infrastructure systems have long lifespans and influence the state of the environment for extended periods of time. Processes of strategic planning for urban infrastructure are thus instrumental to materi- alizing environmental sustainability visions. Continued investments in infrastructure with adverse envi- ronmental impacts imply that sustainability priorities are not embedded in planning processes, as these processes tend to follow the path-dependent legacy of older planning paradigms. This study identifies the cognitive framings that underpin the evolution of strategic planning over the last century, to reveal the path-dependent attributes of strategic planning thinking that undermine alternative solutions. To do that, a scoping study of the literature on strategic planning of public infrastructure, from 1900 through 2013, was conducted. The findings reveal how the scholarly paradigms for infrastructure planning have transformed over time, from optimization to sustainability. While the planning practice in cities has often taken up the sustainability discourse in line with the scholarship, its actual attributes might lag behind. Knowledge about these attributes is scarce since the contemporary scholarship often contains aspira- tional proposals for change and little detail on how planning is undertaken in practice. It is likely that the incremental approach to infrastructure planning, which has been the dominant approach for decades, perpetuates a planning culture which contradicts the requirements for sustainability transitions, by lim- iting the scope of alternatives to optimizing the status quo instead of creating conditions for change. To develop effective planning interventions towards sustainability transitions in urban infrastructure sys- tems, the paper calls for diagnostic tools that examine the realities of planning practice, and, operational frameworks for bridging historically-entrained modes of practice to sustainability aspirations. Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Since the rise of the notion of sustainable development more than 2 decades ago (WCED, 1987), decision makers and planners in cities across industrialized countries have been trying to figure out its practical implications for development of long-term strate- gies (Malbert, 1998). In this respect, strategic planning of public infrastructure is in a central position to operationalize environ- mental sustainability visions. Urban infrastructure systems, such as sewerage systems or electricity supply systems, have significant impacts on the environment, and as the scholarship on large tech- nical systems highlights, they attract huge investments and can survive long after they have been proved to be problematic (Walker, 2000). Despite the internationally agreed vision for sustainable devel- opment, the latest assessment report of the United Nations Environment Programme, amongst others, reveals that the world continues to move down an unsustainable path (UNEP, 2012). Wonthaggi seawater desalination plant in Australia, Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Brazil and extension of the Kaunertal hydro- power plant in Austria are just a few examples of contemporary large infrastructure projects that have raised concerns regarding adverse environmental impacts. Truffer, Störmer, Maurer, and Ruef (2010) argue that, despite the call for sustainability transfor- mation of infrastructure sectors to confront global environmental problems, current strategic planning approaches in these sectors tend to perpetuate conventional infrastructure investments (Truffer et al., 2010). Walker (2000) explains this as an ‘entrap- ment’ or a ‘lock-in’ phenomenon (Walker, 2000). Lawrence, Reisinger, Mullan, and Jackson (2013) explain this lock-in with ref- erence to planning and highlight that conventional planning approaches are entrenched within current decision-making frame- works and long-term planning follows the path-dependent legacy http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2015.05.003 0264-2751/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author at: Water for Liveability Centre, Robert Menzies Bldg., 20 Chancellors Walk, Clayton Campus, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia. E-mail addresses: shirin.malekpour@monash.edu (S. Malekpour), rebekah. brown@monash.edu (R.R. Brown), fjalar.dehaan@monash.edu (F.J. de Haan). Cities 46 (2015) 67–75 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cities journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities