The spatial transformation of the Netherlands 1988-2015

The release of the Fourth Policy Document on Spatial Planning in 1988 was the start of a new and highly dynamic age of spatial development in The Netherlands. The policy document itself embodied a major reorientation of the national spatial policy strategy. Development of the economy and infrastructure became the new goals of spatial policy, and thereby replaced the focus upon the public housing sector of the years before. The national airport Schiphol and the port of Rotterdam both expanded and became important focal points for the Dutch economy, new transport infrastructure including High Speed Railway was planned. In the cities, dilapidated districts were transformed into new urban residential areas and new suburban districts were built close to the cities. In the countryside many projects were started in order to transform agrarian land into ‘new nature’. On top of this, the Dutch spatial planning system itself faced a partial ‘regime shift’. Spatial development projects became more market-based instead of financed by public resources. But at the same time, the national government kept its central position in the planning system. Only fifteen years later, at the beginning of the new millennium, decentralization of spatial planning towards regional and local government became a major trend.This paper will focus upon the spatial transformation of the Netherlands during the 25 years after the release of the Fourth Policy Document on spatial planning. In order to assess the influence of the national spatial policy, I will give a brief review of the Fourth Policy Document. But the changes in the spatial policy strategy of the Fourth Policy Document did not came out of the blue. They were both result of and response to political and economic trends. Therefore, I will start with two major and interrelated trends: the urban crisis and globalization

Income segregation in The Netherlands - trends and analysis

Dutch society does not accept high levels of income segregation. This tendency has repeatedly been revealed in public opinion surveys. Dutch government intervenes on different levels trying to mix low and high income groups both between cities and suburbs, as well as within city neighborhoods. The question is to what extent the assumptions on actual concentration and differentiation of different income groups hold true if compared to real figures. This paper publishes income data at 500 by 500 meter cells, showing significant spatial patterns of distribution and growth of low and high income groups. Remarkably, high income groups appear to be more segregated than low income groups. All Dutch central city areas have regained high income groups in the period 1995-2000, while the reverse happens in all other city neighborhoods. Despite those tendencies, large parts of the cities have a mixed composition of low, medium and high income groups.

Stad van de Toekomst: Tien ontwerpvisies voor vijf locaties, verbeelding voor een vierkante kilometer stad

The design study The City of the Future addresses the major challenges that our cities are facing. Ten teams of professionals from a broad range of disciplines conducted research by design into a square kilometre of one of the five largest cities in the Netherlands - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, and Eindhoven. Their outcome is inspiring visualization and concrete prospects for action suggest ways in which the major transitions of our time can play out in our cities. They show a city of the future thet is climate-proof, energy-, and mobility-smart, thet stimulates encounter and is a pleasant place to live and work for everyone.'The City of the Future: Ten Design Strategies for Five Locations' presents the results of the study in word and images. The work of teams is accompanied by articles and interviews with those involved in The City of the Future project. It is supplemented with work by students from Delft University of Technology. The study shows the city of the future through the eyes of designers and offers challenging views that we can start working with today.ProjectsUrban DesignTheory & TerritoriesEnvironmental Technology and DesignUrban Development ManagementPractice Chair Urban Area Developmen