Territorial forecasting or mapping power? A comparison of forecasting maps for spatial planning in France and the United Kingdom

Nowadays, the production of forward-looking knowledge is common in policy processes, especially for spatial planning. Maps are key elements of these forecasting and planning reports, enabling forward-looking scenarios to be spatialized and territorial forecasts to be made visible. But how do these maps represent the future? And what does this tell us about these institutions’ self-projection into the future? While the narrativization of the future focuses on the notions of the long term, integrated governance, and inter-territoriality, these maps further reflect the scope of management and the present issues of the institutions that produce them. It thus appears that territorial forecasting is less about the projection of “possible futures” and more about the projection of power.