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This article reflects on dimensions of power that occurred in visioning workshops with different stakeholder in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The overall argument developed in the article is that the visioning process—especially signs of spatial and institutional dimensions of power—occurred in both cases in a rather similar way, even though the conditions for planning and visioning are significantly different in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The visioning process illustrated that planning indeed shows signs of mediating space and power. Those power struggles are deeply rooted in the Palestinian planning history, the long-standing separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and the protracted conflict between Israel and Palestine. Experiencing oneself the 'dark side of planning' makes clear that planning is not benign and that planning can be a powerful tool for either progressive, pluralistic practices or oppressive ones, as means of regulation and control.

This article reflects on dimensions of power that occurred in visioning workshops with different stakeholder in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The overall argument developed in the article is that the visioning process - especially signs of spatial and institutional dimensions of power - occurred in both cases in a rather similar way, even though the conditions for planning and visioning are significantly different in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The visioning process illustrated that planning indeed shows signs of mediating space and power. Those power struggles are deeply rooted in the Palestinian planning history, the long-standing separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and the protracted conflict between Israel and Palestine. Experiencing oneself the 'dark side of planning' makes clear that planning is not benign and that planning can be a powerful tool for either progressive, pluralistic practices or oppressive ones, as means of regulation and control.

A transition from a fossil fuel based energy system to a more sustainable energy system based more on renewables has been of increasing concern worldwide over the past decade. Such a transition has considerable spatial-physical and socioeconomic implications, suggesting area-based perspectives and related decentralized governance approaches as being crucial to complement, or partly replace, traditional centralized governance approaches. In response to implementation barriers to energy policies, China has also begun to experiment with more decentralized governance structures through the launch of national pilot programs. In the meantime, international studies have disputed the widely assumed benefits of decentralized approaches. Scholars have especially cautioned that decentralization needs to be informed about the degree to which local stakeholders are willing and able to cope with newly acquired responsibilities or tasks. This research investigates the willingness and ability of Chinese local authorities to perform tasks indicated in the pilot program 'New Energy Demonstration City (NEDC)'. This research, involving four case study cities and over 20 expert interviews, noted only modest willingness and ability. Local performance is constrained by inadequate local technical and managerial ability and a possible weak profile of renewable energy compared to other local priorities, and a limited local scope of influence over energy transition-related challenges as well decreased local willingness and ability. This research concludes that decentralization under energy policies should take place within a context of central support and stimuli, highlighting the importance of national policies and regulations to enable and activate local authorities and stakeholders in pursuing energy transition policies.

Environmental concerns and potential social-economic impacts associated with fossil fuels have turned cities into indispensable entities for supporting energy transitions in China. Pursuing a transition towards a sustainable energy system has become a major policy concern for the Chinese central government. In response, and on the basis of a top-down and conformance-oriented system of policy implementation and evaluation, the Chinese central government has launched various policies and targets on energy efficiency and production that lower levels of government have to follow. However, the translation of top-down targets and the measurement of conformance-based targets have both proved to be problematic. This paper investigates Chinese state policy on energy efficiency through four empirical case studies. It identifies how policy design of target setting and evaluation is both impacting and driving the implementation of energy efficiency at the local urban scale. We demonstrate how local authorities are faced with constraining barriers that can inhibit the implementation of centrally issued targets and policies. These barriers may even undermine local performance in the pursuit of ambitious energy efficiency goals, resulting in potentially harmful consequences.

As games and gamified applications gain prominence in the academic debate on participatory practices, it is worth examining whether the application of such tools in the daily planning practice could be beneficial. This study identifies a research-practice gap in the current state of participatory urban planning practices in three European cities. Planners and policymakers acknowledge the benefits of employing such tools to illustrate complex urban issues, evoke social learning, and make participation more accessible. However, a series of impediments relating to planners' inexperience with participatory methods, resource constraints, and sceptical adult audiences, limits the broader application of games and gamified applications within participatory urban planning practices. Games and gamified applications could become more widely employed within participatory planning processes when process facilitators become better educated and better able to judge the situations in which such tools could be implemented as part of the planning process, and if such applications are simple and useful, and if their development process is based on co-creation with the participating publics.

The sustainable supply of raw materials to an expanding global population and rising consumption requires novel governance approaches. Such approaches have recently come to include the topic of 'minerals safeguarding'. In Austria, the objective of minerals safeguarding has translated into an internationally recognised policy instrument, the Austrian Raw Materials Plan. Our paper investigates how the novel policy approach of safeguarding is translated into provincial and regional land use planning policy in Austria. Following a comparative approach of nine Austrian provinces via document analysis and interviews with policy makers, the analysis indicates diverse forms of implementation: We identify different degrees of uptake and implementation in land use planning policy across goals, instruments and mechanisms. Given the limited amount of research about safeguarding, this paper contributes to a broader understanding of safeguarding practices in public policy (goals, process and instruments), offers insights of' strong, mixed, and soft' safeguarding approaches, and provides input for a conceptual model of safeguarding. Our study highlights the importance of political agenda setting for the deployment of land use planning instruments, the need for coordination and communication (between and amongst different levels of government) in the policy process, and a need to assess effectiveness of safeguarding policies.

With the increasing interest of local governments in civic participation, it becomes important to address inherent asymmetries in existing public participation processes, such as inclusion, time availability and long-term commitment, and knowledge and power differentials. Game-based participation has the potential to enhance public participation processes and lead to civic learning. At the same time, games tend to reproduce and even reinforce existing assumptions about stakeholder roles, procedures and political agency and social dynamics. We argue that urban planners will be able to improve the coherence and overall experience of participatory processes by thinking in terms of separate game mechanics, which when used in balance, create a successful player/participant experience. In doing so, some of the asymmetries observed in the existing participatory framework can be addressed. The potentials and challenges of game elements' applications are discussed in the framework of three case studies in the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium.