Urban agglomerations show different development patterns and stages. Here, we describe, discuss and compare urban agglomerations in different continents. The introduction section gives a general overview of specific issues of urban agglomerations. Different characteristics in Europe, Asia and America are discussed as experienced by the article’s co-authors, living in or working for urban agglomerations in these continents. First, the history of urbanization and agglomeration evolvement is described, then patterns, functional structures and relations, drivers as well as social and demographic characteristics are discussed (e.g. migration, aging, household structure, housing patterns, workplaces, etc.). Transportation infrastructure (roads, public transport systems) is also addressed as trigger for spatial dynamics causing certain effects (floor space, office and apartment rents releasing urban sprawl or hyper-densification), as well as gentrification. Further topics are urban governance and its impact on agglomeration development. Recent state and future trends will be debated, if important. A conclusion section summarizes the comparison of state, dynamics, drivers and trends.

In this article, we take stock of the findings from conceptual and empirical work on the role of transition initiatives for accelerating transitions as input for modeling acceleration dynamics. We applied the qualitative modeling approach of causal loop diagrams to capture the dynamics of a single transition initiative evolving within its regional context. In doing so, we aim to address two key challenges in transition modeling, namely conceptualization, and the framing of empirical insights obtained for various case study regions in a consistent modeling framework. Our results show that through this systematic approach one can translate conceptual and qualitative empirical work into a transition model design. Moreover, the causal loop diagrams can be used as discussion tools to support dialogue among researchers and stakeholders, and may support a comparison of transition dynamics across case-study regions. We reflect on main limitations related to empirical model validation (lack of data) and to model structure (high level of aggregation), and describe next steps for moving from a qualitative single transition initiative to a quantitative multiple transition initiatives model.

Planning is faced with the challenge of designing public open spaces that meet the diverse needs of everyday life. Gender-sensitive planning can facilitate the development of gender-responsive public spaces by considering the specific needs of different groups. Innovative digital tools are available for collecting and analysing the use of open spaces. However, most of these tools do not integrate group-specific requirements. This article explores what such integration might entail in terms of tool use and the design of the participatory process. It describes the typical planning phases and provides an overview of digital tools classified according to the intensity levels of participation. The application of the tools is then described based on two use cases. The research findings indicate that the primary advantage of using digital tools is the multiple use of the gender-disaggregated data generated. To fully exploit the benefits of digitally supported participation processes, it is necessary to develop seamless tool chains that allow for differentiated data collection and processing.