By: Stephanie Rouse, AICP

The American Planning Association’s 2025 Trend Report, now in its fourth year, serves as a critical resource for planning professionals navigating an increasingly complex future. In our recent conversation with Petra Hurtado on the Booked on Planning podcast, we explored the report’s insights and what they mean for communities nationwide.

The report’s most consistent finding might be the accelerating pace of change itself. As Hurtado notes, “The only constant is really accelerating change at this point, and things are just really moving so fast.” This acceleration makes the practice of foresight increasingly crucial for planners who risk “getting lost” without systematically tracking emerging trends. The work involves a diverse team of trend scouts who monitor developments year-round, ultimately winnowing hundreds of observations down to the most impactful topics for planners to consider.

Artificial intelligence continues to evolve rapidly, presenting both remarkable opportunities and significant challenges. While AI tools can enhance planning processes in countless ways, the environmental costs are substantial. The massive energy and water consumption required to power data centers is “literally insane,” according to Hurtado, exacerbating climate challenges we’re already struggling to address. The million-dollar question remains how to balance AI’s benefits with its negative implications when we don’t yet fully understand the technology’s potential or limitations.

Climate change appears prominently in the report through the concept of “cascading impacts” – the recognition that natural hazards don’t occur in isolation but trigger interconnected effects. Heat waves, drought, wildfires, and air pollution create compounding challenges that affect transportation networks, energy grids, and food production. One interesting example involves carbon offsets – what happens when forests designated for carbon offsets burn in wildfires? These cascading hazards require planners to develop more sophisticated mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Some emerging trends offer more optimistic possibilities. The report highlights experiments with fungi-based materials that could potentially replace environmentally damaging concrete and plastics. Though still in experimental stages, these sustainable alternatives represent important innovations worth monitoring. Similarly, mass timber construction and carbon-capture technologies that transform captured carbon into building materials show promise for more sustainable development approaches.

The post-work era represents another significant shift as automation and changing work patterns create more leisure time for many people. This trend creates both challenges and opportunities for planners. On one hand, it could revolutionize community engagement by giving residents more time to participate in shaping their neighborhoods. On the other, increased tourism can strain community resources and exacerbate housing shortages when residential units are converted to vacation rentals.

The report emphasizes scenario planning as a valuable tool for navigating uncertainty. This approach isn’t about predicting a single future but exploring multiple plausible futures based on emerging trends. The scenarios in the report serve as examples to inspire communities to develop their own context-specific scenarios. This process engages residents in creating preferred futures and developing concrete plans to achieve them.

Public spaces continue evolving to meet changing needs. From accommodating the growing pet population (there are now more households with pets than with children in the US) to addressing gender-related needs like public restroom availability, communities must reconsider how public spaces function. Libraries increasingly serve as multi-purpose community hubs, while digital and physical experiences continue to merge in new ways.