Sustainability 2024, 16, 5586. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135586 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Article Scenarios in an Urban Planning Studio: The Perception of Multidisciplinary Students Maycon Sedrez 1, *, Ali Cheshmehzangi 2 , Linjun Xie 3 and Yimeng Wang 3 1 Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment, School of Architecture and Built Environment, Waterfront Campus, Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Australia 2 Network for Education and Research On Peace and Sustainability (NERPS); Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, St. Lucia Campus, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia; a.chesh@uq.edu.au 3 Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Ningbo Campus, University of Noingham Ningbo China, Ningbo 315100, China; linjun-xie@noingham.edu.cn (L.X.); yimeng.wang@noingham.edu.cn (Y.W.) * Correspondence: m.sedrez@deakin.edu.au Abstract: With the ongoing development of increasingly complex and uncertain urban contexts, imagining and envisioning future scenarios have become essential competences in the education of urban planners. We applied scenario planning in a postgraduate studio titled Sustainable Urbanism Project that aimed at facilitating students’ learning and improving their ability to craft context-based and future-oriented urban solutions. We believe that this method effectively guided students with multidisciplinary backgrounds to engage with the subject, enhancing their creativity and capability in co-designing sustainable futures. This paper investigates the expectations and challenges faced by students throughout the project process, discussing the applicability of the method and its out- comes, pitfalls, and advantages. The study highlights the reflective role of scenario planning in ur- ban planning studios to guide students in recognising sustainable and unsustainable scenarios for the future. It is important that scenario planning allows students to fully understand the planning process rather than just focusing on generic planning solutions or interventions. Keywords: scenario planning; urban planning; sustainable urbanism; pedagogical tool; design studio; multidisciplinary 1. Introduction The definition of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations at the 2012 conference in Rio de Janeiro set a new agenda for contemporary urban planners and designers. More than 10 years later, the adaptation to societal shifts and ecological con- cerns still requires substantial effort (see, for instance, Cheshmehzangi [1] and Chesh- mehzangi et al. [2]); thus, planning for uncertain futures is now essential to urbanists. However, overarching complex conditions of the built environment affect our capacity to plan [3], and the low level of disciplinary integration prevents the generation of more comprehensive urban designs. To cope with such complexity and uncertainty, urbanists sought multidisciplinary methods to develop projects that are responsive to global trans- formations and structured based on reasoning and a capacity for adaptation. An example of these approaches are scenario methods [3,4], which can help articulate comprehensive discussions based on research to achieve designs of urban plans that are embedded in a complex multitude of factors [5]. In this respect, scenario methods are a powerful design tool, because they project ideas as descriptive storylines, allowing planners to explore future possibilities and spe- cific desirable or feared outcomes [6]. This can impact the resilience, regenerative qualities, Citation: Sedrez, M.; Cheshmehzangi, A.; Xie, L.; Wang, Y. Scenarios in an Urban Planning Studio: The Perception of Multidisciplinary Students. Sustainability 2024, 16, 5586. hps://doi.org/10.3390/su16135586 Academic Editors: Xiangyun Du and Aida Guerra Received: 22 April 2024 Revised: 12 June 2024 Accepted: 24 June 2024 Published: 29 June 2024 Copyright: © 2024 by the authors. Submied for possible open access publication under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons At- tribution (CC BY) license (hps://cre- ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).