To Infrastructure the Future

ABSTRACT This commentary describes how geographers can consider the intersection between infrastructural systems and future‐making. The ability of different groups to envision the future varies significantly. The stakes are high as certain futures made available to some are denied to others. Questions regarding who has the capacity to imagine and materialise infrastructural futures—as well as who can see what futures over what spatial and temporal horizons—are both inherently political and profoundly challenging. The commentary offers a simple heuristic framework to suggest how geographers might conceive and unlock the potential of alternative modalities of infrastructure‐based futuring to make a difference to how policy and action unfold in spatial future‐making. Arising from empirical research on regional infrastructure planning, we focus on how regional diverse publics and planners understand and materialise infrastructural futures, paying particular attention to (1) who gets to think about what futures; (2) with what tools; and (3) over what timeframes. In doing so, we consider opportunities to bridge disconnects between top‐down planning and everyday usage and enhance the long‐term viability of regional infrastructure futures.