Looking ahead to 2026, planning will be shaped by forces from politics to technology to demographics. As the federal government dramatically shifts policy, changing funding criteria and revoking grants, state and local governments are scrambling to take initiative and step in to fill gaps. Cities and states are also tasked with developing regulatory frameworks for entirely new technologies like autonomous vehicles and making communities more resilient to climate disasters and extreme weather.

Federal funding vanishes

With federal subsidies and incentives for electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, and clean energy revoked or suspended, active projects have been thrown into uncertainty. The Trump administration has also eliminated or reduced environmental and equity considerations for federal grants. In California, after the federal government canceled millions in funds for the state’s High-Speed Rail project, the CAHSRA abandoned efforts to work with federal agencies altogether, looking instead to private partners. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recently issued budget proposal includes $200 million for electric vehicle incentives designed to replace the now-dead federal credit. And despite the reversal of federal policy, U.S. wind energy projects are on the rise.

The Trump administration’s effort to rid government programs of “DEI” is forcing housing agencies and other organizations that receive federal housing grants to change the language they use in applications or adhere to different grant criteria. In some cases, entire departments that deal with issues such as fair housing were eliminated, and equity programs saw their budgets slashed. Around the country, housing authorities and service providers are implementing stopgap measures to continue offering services — and in some cases being forced to suspend programs — as they await the decisions of lawsuits over the loss of federal funding and potentially unlawful changes to grant requirements. These adjustments will likely continue this year as local governments and organizations work to shore up their own resources to make themselves more resistant to shocks at the federal level.

Image: Maxim Elramsisy

The housing crisis draws proposals from every level

Housing costs remain a top concern nationwide, with policymakers at local, state, and federal levels all proposing new laws aimed at liberalizing housing construction, protecting tenants from unfair evictions and rent hikes, and making affordable housing more available to those Americans who need it most.

A slow but steady movement toward zoning reform that acknowledges the need for more diverse housing types and denser development seems to be taking hold, with developers designing for multigenerational households and other less conventional households. Recognizing the need, cities are legalizing accessory dwelling units, duplexes and multifamily housing, and manufactured housing in more areas. State legislators are taking a stronger role in guiding development with mandates that hold cities accountable for making zoning and policy changes that encourage more affordable housing development. In some cases, states are setting specific housing targets for each municipality, causing backlash and lawsuits. At the federal level, President Trump recently attempted to address housing affordability, promising to prevent corporate buyers from purchasing single-family homes.

Image: Susan Law Cain

Grappling with climate threats and a water crisis

Drought, coastal erosion, flooding, and wildfires are making more places more dangerous, threatening communities and impacting transportation and energy infrastructure. On the West Coast, California must figure out how to protect or relocate coastal railways and roads that are falling into the sea or sinking into wetlands. In New York, major projects are underway to shore up the city’s coastal defenses and prevent devastating floods. While most U.S. communities have not yet broached the subject of large-scale ‘managed retreat,’ some low-lying, flood-prone areas and regions with severe wildfire risk are becoming unlivable, forcing residents to consider relocation. The increasing frequency of wildfires and other disasters is upending the home insurance industry, driving up premiums and prompting insurers to leave certain markets, such as California, altogether.

In the arid Southwest, new development is coming up against the limits of water supplies and infrastructure. Talks between the seven states along the Colorado River Basin are ongoing, with a federal deadline for an agreement on water distribution looming. Arizona, one of the nation’s fastest-growing states, is coming to terms with the limits of sprawl. In October, the state halted development on almost 500,000 new homes due to concerns over groundwater demand. However, the state quickly backtracked on the moratorium, approving up to 60,000 new housing units later that month.

Image: Ovidiu Hrubaru

A resurgence of passenger rail?

Public transit systems continue to struggle, facing massive budget gaps and federal funding cuts. The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to cut (or actually suspended) funding for transit systems and transportation in cities including New York, Boston, and Chicago over purported security concerns. On the flip side, new sources of transit funding are emerging. New York City’s congestion pricing program, long-awaited and still under attack by the Trump administration, is showing indisputable success one year in, leading to significant reductions in traffic, improved air quality, and faster transit times. The program’s success could help break down resistance to congestion pricing in the United States and prompt more cities to consider it.

For regional rail, the tide could be turning. Amtrak saw record ridership and revenue in 2025, and despite the clawback of transit investment at the federal level, several passenger rail projects, both public and private, are moving ahead. While California’s north-south HSR languishes, work on the Brightline West line between the Los Angeles area and Las Vegas is moving along with a projected opening date of 2029. The California High-Speed Rail Authority dropped a lawsuit that challenged the Trump administration’s cancellation of $4 billion in federal funds for the project, opting instead to move forward with new, private partners.

Image: rblfmr

Thirsty data centers power the robots taking over city streets

Artificial intelligence plows forward, integrating into daily life in new ways, prompting professionals from architects to planners to social workers to evaluate its potential to support their work — and its potential pitfalls. Whether the technology is on the precipice of a bubble or the cutting edge of a new era, it is undeniably shaping the world in new ways. For planners, AI offers boundless possibilities: deeper data analysis, more effective community engagement and outreach, and faster processes. But it’s crucial to remember the technology isn’t neutral: by being fed existing information, it is inherently prone to building the same biases and blindnesses into its own processes.

Spurred by the rising popularity of AI, data centers’ thirst for water and energy is also driving up costs for surrounding communities and creating a new, resource-intensive industry with little oversight that is putting the security of the electrical grid at risk. Some cities and states are moving to regulate or ban them. On city streets and sidewalks, autonomous cars and delivery robots are learning to navigate — sometimes with little success — urban spaces, complete with their unpredictabilities, human interference, and power outages. Aside from their safety issues, autonomous vehicles could also encourage sprawl and create more congestion.

Image: Phil Pasquini

Self-driving cars, most notably in the form of Waymo’s white robotaxis, are becoming a fixture on big city roads, dividing opinions and causing confusion among police, first responders, and city officials unsure of how to handle the driverless vehicles when something goes wrong — or when they break the law. During an hours-long power blackout in San Francisco, Waymo taxis stalled in intersections, not knowing how to respond to downed traffic signals. Incidents like this highlight the importance of human oversight (Waymos contact human operators for remote guidance, but in the San Francisco case, the volume of calls meant many of the cars were forced to wait, blocking traffic, until they could be guided to safety). In Santa Monica, the city is suing Waymo over its right to use a charging facility overnight after complaints from neighbors about nighttime noise and traffic.

A smaller autonomous vehicle now shares urban right-of-way with pedestrians: delivery robots that roll along sidewalks to bring food or grocery items to urban households. Like other new mobility devices, the robots are causing some unexpected — and some easily expected — complications. First deployed on sidewalks, some companies are considering moving the robots to bike lanes. Their proliferation, like all new forms of mobility, calls for new regulations that most cities have yet to develop.