The infrastructure we design, the buildings we construct, and the public spaces we create are not inert backdrops; they are active agents in the daily lives of communities. They determine how we connect, consume, interact with each other, and how we relate to and support our natural world. Every decision made by architects, engineers, planners, and allied professionals can reverberate through society for decades. 

If we want thriving, low-carbon, climate-resilient communities, we must deliberately consider and imagine these spaces, and then wire what we learn into day-to-day briefs, budgets, and decisions. Yet paradoxically, we spend remarkably little time imagining what positive futures could look like before making the incremental decisions that will create them. 

The pressures of delivery, compliance, and client expectations often push long-term visioning to the margins. As climate change accelerates, social inequalities persist, and urbanisation intensifies, the sector must reclaim its role not only as problem solvers but as future makers. That shift begins with something deceptively simple: making deliberate time for imagination. 

The foundation already exists. Built environment professionals are, by definition, creative practitioners. The challenge is to make the space to imagine – and to apply that thinking in our work every day. 

Built environment professionals are inherently creative 

The built environment sector is often described in technical terms: engineering standards, planning regulations, procurement frameworks. Yet at its core, this is a profoundly creative profession. Every engineer, architect, planner, surveyor, and landscape designer is engaged in the same essential act – shaping something that does not yet exist. 

Every building, bridge, or urban plan starts as an idea. Before construction begins, professionals envision structures, systems, and spaces, translate them into drawings and models, and communicate these visions to clients and communities. This capacity to conceptualise the “not yet real” is already embedded in practice. 

Likewise, built environment professionals work daily within complex constraints -physics, regulation, material science, financial limitations. These are not barriers but parameters that focus ingenuity. This skill is precisely what is needed to navigate the grand challenges of our time. Decarbonisation, biodiversity loss, and social inequality are simply constraints of a different type. 

Yet we tend to confine imagination to the scale of the individual project. We imagine the building, but not the thriving community it could enable. We imagine the transport corridor, but not the equitable, regenerative society it could serve. Reclaiming imagination at the systems level allows us to see projects not as isolated interventions but as levers within wider social, ecological, and economic systems. 

The importance of imagination 

Without deliberate time spent imagining positive futures, we risk defaulting to incrementalism shaped by past assumptions rather than future needs. 

Real-world examples show the power of imagination. Copenhagen’s transformation into a cycling city was not inevitable; it was the result of a deliberate vision for a healthier, low-carbon urban future. Singapore’s “City in a Garden” emerged from a bold reimagining of what a dense city could be. 

When professionals take time to imagine positive futures – cities with clean air and thriving public life, infrastructure that regenerates ecosystems, buildings that enhance human wellbeing – these visions become north stars. They inform material choices, design decisions, and conversations with clients and their stakeholders. Without this vision work, default thinking prevails, and the future becomes simply an extension of today’s constraints. 

Without a clear and shared vision of a better future, our efforts become fragmented and defensive. We focus on doing less harm rather than proactively doing more good. Compelling visions of carbon-positive, socially just, and ecologically vibrant futures are not utopian fantasies; they are prerequisites for meaningful action. 

The components of our positive futures already exist 

There is a persistent myth that imagining the future requires radical new ideas. In reality, innovation is often incremental. The components of better futures already exist in pilot projects, award-winning work, community initiatives, and emerging technologies. 

Consider the “15-minute city” concept, popularised by Professor Carlos Moreno and embraced by cities like Paris. The components – local shops, cycle lanes, green spaces, mixed-use zoning – were not new. The imaginative leap was to weave them into a coherent, compelling vision for a more liveable, low-carbon future. 

The task is not always to conjure unprecedented solutions but to identify the best existing ideas and expand them into wider practice. This incremental approach also reduces perceived risk. By scaling what is already proven rather than inventing from scratch, we make future-focused design more feasible for clients, regulators, and delivery partners.  

Importantly, incremental steps build confidence and understanding to support step-change innovation when opportunities are created for bolder action.  

The challenges for imagination 

Despite its importance, imagination is difficult to prioritise in professional practice. 

Project timelines, procurement pressures, and delivery expectations often leave little room for exploring alternative futures. Early-stage option development is frequently compressed, limiting the ability to consider transformative solutions. 

Imagining positive futures often requires conversations that cut across disciplines, sectors, and worldviews. These conversations can challenge assumptions and are often slower and less conclusive than the technical consultations we are used to. 

Professional liability, client expectations, and regulatory frameworks often reward precedent over innovation. Imagining different futures can feel professionally risky when projects depend on proven methods and familiar solutions. 

Individually, these barriers can feel insurmountable. But they are not barriers to imagination itself, they are barriers to imagining alone. 

This is why it’s important to do this together 

These challenges diminish when approached collectively rather than individually. Collective imagination is more powerful, and more resilient, than individual vision. When professionals come together to explore positive futures, they create shared reference points and language for thinking differently. 

Working together also distributes the cognitive load. No single engineer or planner can hold the full complexity of future societal, environmental, and technological change. By testing ideas in our day-to-day projects and sharing what we learn, we spread the load and the risk while expanding collective understanding. 

Industry associations, professional networks, and collaborative forums create spaces where imagination can be bigger, tackling and testing the blue-sky ideas that are beyond individual projects. In this way, we can explore positive futures together. 

Change doesn’t require everyone 

A common barrier to action is the belief that change must be universal to be meaningful. But history shows that small groups of committed professionals can shift entire sectors. Early adopters of green building standards paved the way for widespread uptake of tools like Green Star and the Infrastructure Sustainability rating tool. 

We don’t need everyone to imagine positive futures. We need enough people willing to test ideas in their own practice – engineers trialling new materials, planners exploring alternative land use patterns, architects embedding regenerative design principles, project managers creating space for community voices. These small acts accumulate. They create evidence. They shift norms. 

A call to action 

The built environment shapes the daily realities of millions of people. With that influence comes responsibility. Not only to deliver projects efficiently, but to imagine futures that enable communities and ecosystems to thrive. Imagination is not an indulgence; it is a professional obligation in a world facing rapid environmental and social change. 

Carve out the time to ask “What if?” What if this project regenerated the local ecosystem? What if this building strengthened community bonds? What if this infrastructure plan made this city the most equitable in the world? 

Do it with others. Draw on the best ideas already emerging around the world. Test them in your own work. Share what you learn. 

The future is not something we wait for. It is something we design. 

Join The Sustainability Society in 2026 as we create spaces to imagine Positive Futures together.