Interlocking climate and nature crises demand urgent departures from dominant pro-growth development trajectories, exposing the limits of three decades of weak sustainability-oriented planning. Yet while previous research highlights land-use conflicts and planning exceptions as moments of challenge, we lack an adequate account of how and under what conditions change occurs, and whether it endures. To address this gap, we apply Boltanski and Thévenot’s neo-pragmatist ‘orders of worth’ framework to examine how planning exceptions arising from contested situations - where the fit between rules and cases is disputed - contribute to remaking the social order.

This argument is developed by analysing the Welsh Government’s 2019 decision to refuse consent for a major, 22km, M4 motorway extension project and its legacy, drawing on policy documents, media reports, and stakeholder interviews, collected from the period 2013-2026. Our analysis shows how ecological justifications became elevated in relation to market and industrial orders of worth, disrupting the institutionalised transport planning logic centred on economic growth and predict-and-provide. Furthermore, the refusal decision produced a significant rupture in Welsh transport planning, in which the ecological critiques of the previous development trajectory have ‘risen to generality’ (after Boltanski). This change in direction has been institutionalised in new appraisal tests for road projects and shifting transport investment priorities. The article demonstrates the importance of exceptional environment-driven project refusals in creating conditions that facilitate the birth of new norms. It also points to the roles that planning can play in shaping legacy effects, notably by ‘locking in’ a changed reality.

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) have become an increasingly prominent and contested feature of transport and planning policy within the United Kingdom. Existing research has largely focused on their impacts on traffic reduction, air quality, active travel and public health outcomes, whilst comparatively limited attention has been paid to questions of personal safety and perceptions of safety within transformed street environments.

This paper expands upon a limited but emerging body of research assessing the relationship between LTN interventions, street crime and perceived safety. Whilst existing studies suggest LTNs may contribute towards reductions in crime, calmer streets and improved neighbourhood conditions, research remains limited, particularly outside of London. Any evidence demonstrating improvements in safety associated with LTNs provides further support for what remains a frequently controversial planning intervention.

Using Birmingham as a case study, the research combines quantitative analysis of police-recorded violent and sexual offences over time with qualitative investigation through surveys, interviews and participatory mapping exercises involving local residents and workers. The study examines how perceptions of safety are influenced by changes in traffic permeability, street activity, visibility and informal surveillance following LTN implementation. Particular attention is given to women’s experiences of public space and how this can change within LTN environments.

Planning is increasingly called upon to address health inequalities, yet the analytical tools used to measure accessibility are often under‑examined. This paper focuses on the methodology used to construct walking isochrones for people aged over 65 in Northern Ireland, demonstrating how methodological choices fundamentally shape understandings of access to community pharmacies.

Drawing on doctoral research, the paper critically interrogates the widespread application of the “20‑minute rule” as a benchmark for accessibility. Despite its prominence in planning discourse, the rule is rarely defined or empirically grounded, particularly in relation to older populations. This research develops a walking isochrone methodology that incorporates age-sensitive assumptions, including adjusted walking speeds, network-based routing, and the influence of terrain. These refinements enable a more realistic representation of how older adults navigate the built environment.

The findings illustrate how standard approaches, often based on simplified speeds and uniform thresholds, risk overstating accessibility, particularly when applied uncritically to walking. Small methodological variations produce markedly different isochrone outputs, reshaping the geography of perceived access and revealing spatial inequalities that are otherwise concealed.

The paper argues that isochrones are not neutral technical tools but constructed measures that embed assumptions about mobility, capability, and space. By making these assumptions explicit, the research contributes to methodological innovation within planning and calls for more reflexive, context-sensitive applications of accessibility metrics. In doing so, it aligns with the conference theme by demonstrating how strengthening methodological foundations can enhance planning’s capacity to identify and address inequality in ageing populations.