Soils and subsoils support our land uses such as agriculture, forestry, nature, urban and industrial land use and provides them with essential ecosystem services. However, soil health is currently highly under pressure in Europe, and the soil’s ability to deliver these ecosystem services must be improved to cope with urban challenges such as land take, pollution, erosion and climate change, and meet societal needs such as a healthy living environment, food production and clean water provision.

Mission Soil (EC,2021) recognizes spatial planning as one of the promising practices to support land degradation neutrality. Yet, (sub)soils are literally hidden and unseen in the current practice of and education about planning and design. Policy and decision makers, landowners, and the planning community are often not aware of the opportunities (benefits) and boundary conditions (costs) of (sub)soils.

Spatial planning and design are practices that, when enriched by soil care, can enhance the current status of soils and support societal challenges and needs, while avoiding unwanted trade-offs of towards other areas, generations or functions. To be able to make a transition in spatial planning and design towards healthy soils, a fundamental understanding of both the interaction between the natural system and land use, as well as the current mechanisms, is key.