Soft spaces and governance: The transformation of planning

Soft space governance arrangements are emerging all over Europe and at all geographical scales. Soft space approaches complement, but do not come in place of statutory planning. They are a reaction on and reflection of the changing context in which planning aims to be effective and as such indicate a reworking of the boundaries of the planning profession and the transformation of planning practice. As of yet little is known about soft space governance. This paper presents examples of soft space governance, develops a conceptual model to asses planning in its context and presents a first attempt to developing a research agenda in order to critically assess soft space planning