Participatory foresight and regional place attractiveness: evidence from Halland, Sweden

Abstract Regional development is increasingly challenged by climate and demographic change, technological transformation, and growing uncertainty, requiring planning approaches that extend beyond short-term decision-making. While participatory foresight is widely used to explore alternative futures in regional planning, its contribution to understanding future place attractiveness remains underexplored. This study examines how participatory foresight can support the articulation of future place attractiveness and its integration into municipal planning. The study draws on a multi-case analysis of the FramHall project in the Halland region of Sweden, involving three municipal planning contexts. Empirical data were collected through stakeholder workshops, project documentation, educational activities, and follow-up interviews, then analysed using thematic analysis guided by a multidimensional framework of place attractiveness. The findings suggest that participatory foresight can shift discussions of place attractiveness from current place characteristics towards shared visions, long-term priorities, and strategic development pathways. The process revealed competing stakeholder values and trade-offs between social inclusion, environmental resilience, mobility, and economic development. The analysis further highlights participant diversity, educational support, methodological sequencing, and political engagement as important conditions for embedding participatory foresight in municipal planning. The study extends existing research by providing empirical support for understanding place attractiveness as a dynamic, relational, and future-oriented construct negotiated through participatory foresight. It further suggests that participatory foresight can support anticipatory capacity and more integrated approaches to regional development under conditions of uncertainty.