When uncertainty is interpreted as risk: An analysis of tensions relating to spatial planning reform in England

The UK Labour government's planning reform (2001-2010) intended to create a more proactive, creative and flexible planning culture. However, as the reforms progressed, public-sector planners increasingly lacked confidence. This article explores texts and contemporaneous interview material through an analysis of uncertainty and risk to present the tensions within the reform narratives, the continually changing context and the provision of contradictory advice from multiple outlets. We demonstrate how the proactive flexible planning message came to be read through a message of performance targets and consider how the various factors coalesced to produce an uncertain practice environment which many public-sector planners interpreted as 'risky'.