New urban planning challenges under emerging autonomous mobility: evaluating backcasting scenarios and policies through an expert survey

•Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to transform urban systems.•Respondents were sceptical about the positive impacts of AVs.•Strengthen active and public modes and restrict AVs access were supported policies.•Reuse released areas for alternative modes and public facilities was also supported.•Policies to prevent urban sprawl were, however, seen as probably less effective.