Reimagining Urban Planning Education in the Meta-Crisis: Pedagogical Pathways for Development Education

The contemporary meta-crisis - marked by climate breakdown, widening social inequalities, democratic erosion, and the commodification of higher education - demands a radical rethinking of how we educate future urban planners. Urban planning education, traditionally rooted in technocratic and formalist models, often privileges economic growth and instrumental evaluation frameworks over critical reflection, social justice, and ecological sustainability. This article argues that development education (DE), grounded in Freirean praxis, provides a vital pedagogical lens to reshape planning education so that it can respond meaningfully to interconnected crises. Drawing on global debates and case studies from the global South, the article explores how urban planning curricula can shift from narrow professional training to spaces of critical pedagogy that interrogate systemic drivers of inequality, ecological degradation, and authoritarian governance. It analyses the performativity of neoliberal teaching practices in planning schools - where employability targets and growth metrics override transformative dialogue - and highlights how DE-inspired approaches can re-centre values of participation, equity, and interdependence. The article further considers the policy context shaping planning education, particularly the pressures of results-based management, accreditation systems, and global ranking regimes. It argues for new policy frameworks that legitimise alternative pedagogies, strengthen alliances between DE and urban planning educators, and support partnerships with social movements advocating for the right to the city, climate justice, and democratic accountability. In advancing this perspective, the article situates urban planning education within the broader struggle for emancipatory pedagogy, proposing that the integration of development education principles into planning curricula.