Unpacking revaluation in regional restructuring: the case of post-carbon Lusatia

This paper explores how processes of valuation and revaluation shape regional restructuring during the post-carbon transformation of Lusatia, a former lignite mining region in eastern Germany. It addresses the issue of ongoing polarisation between top-down transition policies and local resistance stemming from economic and cultural marginalisation. Conventional regional analyses, focused on governance or structural adaptation, have overlooked the influence of differing value systems and their revisions on pathways of change. This paper introduces a pragmatist theory of valuation to investigate how stakeholders – i.e. local actors, external experts, and policymakers – negotiate the various meanings of progress, sustainability, and belonging within experimental planning settings. Empirical research draws on the ‘Planning Lab Lusatia 2050’, an innovative participatory project which provided a temporary arena for revaluating local resources, practices, and identities. The findings show that revaluation processes enable new alignments between differently situated values, foster recognition of alternative post-growth initiatives, and stimulate mutual learning across institutional and social boundaries. The paper contributes to regional analysis and discussions on regional shifts in economic geography by proposing “geographies of valuation” as a distinct conceptual framework that sheds light on the drivers of regional change. This approach highlights valuation as a dynamic social practice that can easily trigger regional transitions. It offers a novel lens through which to understand and facilitate context-sensitive, value-based transformations into locally acceptable futures for regions that have previously been contested.