Design in the planning arena : how regional designing influences strategic spatial planning

Regional designing is a form of spatial design that engages with the future physical form and arrangement of regions, including its aesthetic appearances and how it can come about. As such it is closely entangled with spatial planning. This thesis studies the influence of regional designing on strategic spatial planning and how this influence is realized. From the case studies, four categories of influence emerge: regional designing influences 1) the aims, 2) the process and 3) the conditions of spatial planning, and it can impact 4) the planning and design disciplines. However, not every regional design effort has similar effects. Regional designing is highly responsive to its context. The expertise of the designer, the interaction with stakeholders, and the context in which regional designing is embedded, are critical factors, making the design process the breeding ground for the influence of regional designing.</p

Regional design ateliers on ‘energy and space’:systemic transition arenas in energy transition processes

In light of the challenges imposed by climate change, many countries are ‘planning’ for energy transition. Interactions between different actors in transition arenas, help shift the current complex socio-technological energy system towards a new sustainable one. A critical issue is integrating the new energy system with other land-uses and spatial issues. In the Netherlands, regional design ateliers were organized to explore and address these challenges. We conceptualized the regional design ateliers on energy and space as systemic transition arenas in planning for energy transition and analysed their contribution to the regional energy transition process. The design ateliers played an important role in creating insights into regional energy transition and its spatial implications. This raised awareness and affected the perspectives of several stakeholders on energy transition. Our study also showed that some important (spatial) aspects, such as smart combinations with other land-uses and the transport and storage of energy, received little attention during the ateliers, leading to unfinished conversations. We argue that regional design ateliers should also be organized in the upcoming stages of ‘planning’ for energy transition to further fuel the transition process and fully exploit the benefits of regional design ateliers as systemic transition arenas.</p

Boundary spanning in design-led strategic spatial planning:lessons from post-Sandy rebuilding efforts

In complex area transformations, strategic planning tends to include a collaborative approach that invites a wide range of stakeholders. But because the perspectives and interests are diverse, partly conflicting, and dynamic, a unifying plan of action will not emerge without good process design and proper facilitation for dialogue. Designers are increasingly considered as helpful for pursuing a shared vision of a complex challenge, as they are expected to unify across organizational and cultural boundaries. We interviewed 11 professionals who worked on the Rebuild by Design programme (restoring hurricane Sandy damage in and around New York) for more than five years. The interviews reveal how these designers supported reaching across boundaries as well as the conditions that are vital for designers to achieve their intended added value in a collaborative strategic planning process.</p