Making Sense of Competing Expectations – Paradoxes in Strategic Spatial Planning

Abstract

Societal challenges have made strategic spatial planning an up-to-date topic. Strategic spatial planning tends to be of participatory character, where diverse stakeholders’ expectations need to be acknowledged, understood and handled. Sweden is offering an interesting complex case on participatory planning, origin from reforms aiming at strengthening regional planning. This research aims at capturing diverse stakeholders’ expectations through paradox identification and understand these paradoxes through sensemaking theory. The main empirical material are observations and interviews. The study concludes with pinpointing the importance of creating a shared understanding among stakeholders where sense giving stand out as especially important.