Regional planning in Iran has historically been shaped, on the one hand, by a problem-oriented logic and, on the other hand, by a framing of the region as a spatial–statistical container for technical interventions. These two parallel configurations have, in practice, reinforced the primacy of problem over possibility and reduced the region to an objectified spatial entity. Consequently, a persistent gap has been reproduced between the region and its actors, as well as between actors and the planning process itself, thereby weakening the realizability of plans. In response, this article adopts a conceptual approach, drawing on documentary analysis and purposive selection of relevant literature, to examine how regional planning can be rethought through appreciative inquiry. Within this framework, the region is understood not as a pre-given unit, but as an emergent construct of interwoven relations, narratives, and practices, in which regional consciousness gradually forms through social interactions embedded in multi-scalar structures. Appreciative inquiry shifts both emphasis and precedence from problem to possibility, enabling the co-production of meaning and action while conceptualizing subjectivity as an outcome of collective and interactive processes. The findings suggest that the fivefold process of this praxis (Definition, Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny) constitutes a recursive and intertwined cycle of learning, reinterpretation, and collective reconfiguration, unfolding across multiple regional scales and ultimately generating action grounded in both learning and regional consciousness. The outcome of this process is a shift from planning for the region to co-engagement with the region, where actors and the very constitution of the region are continuously redefined within a generative and relational process. In this sense, planning knowledge is produced in a bottom-up and co-constructed manner. However, the study also highlights the conditional nature of this potential, emphasizing its dependence on institutional context, facilitation quality, and the handling of narrative plurality.