We consider three failed cases of urban corridor strategic spatial planning in Southern England. These cases remind us that there was a future in England’s dreaming given incremental coalescence of settlements. They pose questions of theories of state rescaling given the historic poverty of strategic spatial planning imagination in England. Planners of all descriptions have failed to appreciate the institutional contexts into which ideas have been pitched and to persuade politicians and the public with words and images. In conclusion, we note the need for, and challenges of, spatial planning to be taught and accredited as a discipline and practice of imagination.
Phelps et al. (2025) studied this question.