2026 Trend Report for Planners
APA Foresight helps planners navigate change and prepare for an uncertain future. With foresight, planners can guide change, create more sustainable and equitable outcomes, and establish themselves as critical to thriving communities. Foresight is not about predicting the future — it is about understanding drivers of change that are outside our control, how we can prepare for them, and when it is time to act. APA Foresight identifies emerging trends and how scenarios stemming from each may impact the world, our communities, and the planning profession in the years to come.
This is the fifth Trend Report for Planners developed by the American Planning Association (APA) in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. As in previous years, the 2026 Trend Report features a list of over 100 existing, emerging, and potential future trends that the APA Foresight team and our Trend Scouting Foresight Community identified as relevant to planning. The trends are structured within three timeframes (Act Now, Prepare, Learn, and Watch), which indicate the urgency of planners’ actions. Within each timeframe, trends are grouped into themed clusters. For each trend, the report gives insights and explains why it is important for planners to know about and consider the trend in their work. All trends and signals are based on facts and are neutrally described without judgement.
This report was developed in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.