Spaces of neoliberal experimentation: soft spaces, postpolitics, and neoliberal governmentality

Abstract

This paper examines the proliferation of soft spaces of governance, focusing on planning. Moving beyond functional explanations, it explores the politics of soft spaces and their role as integral to processes of neoliberalisation. The paper highlights how such state forms facilitate neoliberal governmentality through flexibility and variability, discusses recent restructuring of the planning sector in England, and reflects on emerging trends for soft spaces under the UK Coalition government. It situates soft spaces within broader debates on postpolitics and state spatial restructuring.