Outlook: Exploring the Void Between Planning from Above and Planning from Below

Exploring the Void Between Planning from Above and Planning from Below

Abstract

This paper argues that regional planning has lost much of its practical relevance as strategic decision-making has become increasingly centralised while participatory governance has shifted attention toward the local scale. Positioned between top-down regulation and bottom-up initiatives, the regional level has become an underexplored arena of spatial planning. Drawing on debates in strategic spatial planning and regional governance, the paper revisits the role of planners as facilitators, moderators, and agents of transformation rather than producers of regulatory plans. It proposes a renewed approach to regional development based on cooperation between actors from above and below, combining public support, civil-society engagement, and experimental governance. Building on examples such as the German Internationale Bauausstellungen (IBAs), the paper advances the concept of regional laboratories as temporary, flexible institutions capable of addressing complex territorial challenges beyond administrative boundaries. Finally, it argues for a reorientation of European cohesion policy toward strategically selected functional regions of European significance, where collaborative experimentation can foster innovation, resilience, competitiveness, and territorial cohesion. The paper concludes that the future of regional planning lies not in restoring traditional hierarchical approaches but in creating institutional spaces that connect strategic vision, local initiative, and transformative action.