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The need for new forward looking tools in urban planning is immense: The new functional relations and structures are stretching beyond our capacity to 'rationally' capture modern metropolitan spaces (Neuman & Hull 2009). At the same time cities struggle to find tools to help manage a long-term transition towards a low-carbon, resource smart economy.In 2006-2007 municipalities in the Helsinki metropolitan region organised an international ideas competition called Greater Helsinki Vision 2050. The competition aimed at being "a visionary adventure […] [t]he chance to dream afresh, to accept current realities, not as negative restraints but as spurs to the imagination." The competition drew a good number of entries and triggered a subsequent analysis process to harvest the most fruitful ideas of the competition, which brought together awarded participants of the competitions, local planning professionals and citizens. (Ache 2011) This paper explores the role of (normative) visions on the future of metropolitan spaces as a tool for facilitating transition. This is done through a 'thick description' (Geertz 1973) of one example case, namely the Greater Helsinki Vision 2050 ideas competition and subsequent vision process. This thick description is based on a backdrop and an elaboration of a literature-based mapping of tools for managing long-term transformation in metropolitan spaces.The focus of this paper is the question of strategic learning by the actors involved in an urban transition process. How can different tools of the imagination (long-term goal on GHG emissions reductions, backcasting scenarios, participatory visioning exercises) bring something un-manageable like metropolitan spaces and the wicked problems they face within the domain of managing? How can different actors experience strategic learning on renewed perspectives of different opportunities that alternative futures could provide? What would a new integrated 'incrementalism with perspective' (Ganser, Siebel & Sieverts 1993) approach to managing metropolitan transitions look like? This paper extends the idea of 'emancipatory backcasting' as a generic tool for engaging stakeholders in transition processes to cover metropolitan futures (Neuvonen et al. 2014).

Carbon-neutral targets are a 'new normative' for cities and regions around the world. Such targets call for rapid system transformations, far beyond the previous scope of urban-regional planning. In response we propose a framework of theory and practice, in three parts: 'trading zone' concepts for collaborative planning; 'scenario backcasting' for longer horizons; and 'synergistic thinking' for systems transformation. We demonstrate this with the case study of Greater Manchester and its many phases of carbon-neutral policy. The results suggest the 'new normative' for cities and regions, can be greatly facilitated by 'synergistic scenario planning', in theory and practice.

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