NAVIGATING UNCERTAINTY IN REGIONAL SOFT PLANNING : The Interpretive Dynamics of Emerging Planning Practices

Abstract This study investigates how uncertainty shapes the emergence and implementation of a new regional soft planning practice. While soft, non‐statutory planning has been widely discussed, less is known about how actors interpret these new regional planning practices and how uncertainty persists beyond formal adoption. The article addresses this gap by conceptualizing uncertainty as foundational, relational and temporal, and examining how these dimensions structure collaboration between a regional authority and its municipalities. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews with municipal and regional planners in Region Östergötland in Sweden, the analysis shows how unclear starting conditions and institutional ambiguity made it difficult for actors to understand the purpose and implications of the new regional planning practice. We demonstrate how uneven capacities between large and small municipalities translated interpretive openness into asymmetrical influence at first, how uncertainty was consciously used as a deliberate tactic to allow for more open discussions, and how uncertainty endured after adoption as actors struggled to relate the non‐binding strategy to statutory planning instruments and implementation responsibilities. We argue that uncertainty is not only a hindrance but a constitutive feature of regional soft planning, simultaneously enabling experimentation and risking reinforcing power asymmetries.