The following master’s thesis examines the conditions given by the Danish planningenvironment for sustainable transition and holistic urban development by making inquiries about the dynamics of achieving sustainable transitions as well as the wicked problems that follows attempts of holistic urban sustainable transition.
By positioning the thesis through the optics of pragmatic humanism, drawing upon the UN Sustainable Development Goals and inspiration from S. Campbells planners triangle, the thesis discusses the possibilities and complexity of achieving sustainable city development.

Co-Author: Maria Kathrine Povlsen & Sarah Laustsen Larsen.

By asking why this type of case [Stenløse Syd] is seen in such a low frequency compared the presence of sustainability in today’s societal debates, we uncover the specific conditions present in ‘Stenløse Syd’ which shows that they succeeded not by their ability to govern through the spatial planning system but by their ownership of land and private public partnerships. Therefore, the study conducts a genealogy which tracks the Danish history of legislation tied to sustainability through planning in the past 30 years.

This casestudy explores the practice and context of the planningprocesses regarding Lynetteholmen. The study makes enquiries into the large scale contruction project about the related stakeholders and their networks, the democratic proces (or lack thereof), environmental problems and associated national and supranational law as well as the broader context og the project concerning the economy, housing policy and future og Copenhagen city.