Urban Sustainability in the Making. Aalborg’s Transformation Projects, Processes and Reflexive Practices

Abstract

Aalborg is internationally known for the 1994 Aalborg Charter, yet its transformation into a reference point for sustainable urban development extends far beyond this landmark. This book explores Aalborg as a dynamic, situated case of urban sustainability in the making – not a model to be replicated, but a city that has navigated industrial decline, socio-ecological crises, and spatial restructuring through strategic planning and context-sensitive governance. Bringing together Urban Political Ecology, Just Sustainability, Phronetic Planning, and Urban Sustainability Governance, the authors introduce the Urban Sustainability Compass, a conceptual tool structured around the logics of urgency, legitimation, implementation, and experimentation. Through eight chapters, the book traces Aalborg’s transformation – from its industrial roots and post-industrial reinvention to green infrastructure, sustainable mobility, and institutional innovation. Grounded in long-term collaboration with local planners and supported by interdisciplinary research, the book offers a critical and hopeful narrative of how sustainability becomes embedded in place. It invites scholars, practitioners, and engaged citizens to learn from Aalborg – not as a best-practice blueprint, but as a source of reflection on how values, decisions, and practices coalesce in shaping urban futures. This is a book for those who study, plan, govern, and inhabit cities in a time of deep transformation.