I. A Conceptual Framework for Soft Spaces 1. Soft spaces, planning and emerging practices of territorial governance Phil Allmendinger, Graham Haughton, Jorg Knieling and Frank Othengrafen II. Soft Spaces in France, Germany, The Netherlands and England 2. Merseybelt (Manchester-Liverpool) Ian Deas, Stephen Hincks and Graham Haughton 3. Governance Arrangements in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region: Between Hard and Soft Institutional Spaces Marta Jacuniak-Suda, Cormac Walsh and Jorg Knieling 4. The Sillon Lorrain (Nancy, Metz, Epinal, Thionville) Anna Geppert 5.Evolving regional spaces: shifting levels in the southern part of the Randstad Marjolein Spaans and Wil Zonneveld 6. Ashford and Cambridge - two Growth Areas, three soft spaces Phil Allmendinger III. Cross-Border Soft Spaces 7. Soft Spaces across the Fehmarn Belt: Cross-border Regionalism in Practice Cormac Walsh, Marta Jacuniak-Suda and Jorg Knieling 8. Cross-border soft spaces of the Upper Rhine. Overlapping initiatives from the Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Orthenau to the Trinational Metropolitan Region of the Upper Rhine Anna Geppert 9. Creating a Space for Cooperation: Soft Spaces, Spatial Planning and Cross-Border Cooperation on the Island of Ireland Cormac Walsh IV. Conclusions and Outlook 10. Conclusion: What difference do soft spaces make? Frank Othengrafen, Jorg Knieling, Graham Haughton and Phil Allmendinger