Clusters and spatial planning - Towards a research program

Land is regarded as an important location factor by business firms. Firms change location due to internal and external factors and these changes should be accommodated by spatial reservations, subsequent land development and finally building of offices, plants or transhipment sheds. Business use of land competes with other uses of land, such as housing, leisure or nature. Spatial planning tries to balance these demands. Its success depends on finding criteria to justify a certain balance between economic and ecological interests or between different economic interests. Land-use should be included into a discussion about environmental sustainability. Spatial optimization would come at the agenda of firms and governments more often than is the case now. Yet, there is the issue of economic dynamics, which could be reduced if not all demands for new land are accommodated, at least according to business. This paper introduces a research program into the linkages between regional-economic-and spatial planning. It discusses the main ideas of this research program.

Modelling goods city distribution in the Netherlands

The interest in data collection and modeling of urban freight transport is rising. This paper describes a recently developed method for data collection, analysis and modeling that has been applied in several Dutch cities. By treating urban freight transport in an integral way, important relations between transport demand, traffic, economic-, social- and environmental variables are uncovered. The paper is interesting for local policy-makers and researchers in the field, by improving their understanding about urban freight transport and its specific research requirements

Options for sustainable passenger transport: an assessment of policy choices

If the current trends in transport are not changed, a sustainable transport system is not feasible. In order to achieve such a state, new technologiesmay be an interesting option. In this context several success and failure factors for the introduction of new technologies are analyzed in this article. These possibilities are identified in different areas, notably economic, spatial, institutional, social/psychological and technological fields. Withinthis context the following new options are discussed: the electric car, people movers, subterranean infra-structure, telematics, the high speed train,the high speed maglev train, shuttles in vacuum tunnels and alternative fuels. Finally , some policy choices, which maystimulate future technical developments, are discussed. It is concluded that anactive government policy may stimulate the introduction of new technologies, which may give a substantial contribution to achieving a sustainabletransport system

Verzilveren van de waterbeheerfunctie van natuurgebieden

Beleidsmakers op het terrein van natuurbeheer zijn gebaat bij kennis over wie er profiteert van natuur, en in welke mate. Dit inzicht vormt het uitgangspunt voor het inventariseren van de mogelijkheden om de financiering van het natuurbeheer breder te verankeren in de samenleving. In deze studie is specifiek ingegaan op de vraag welke vormen van watergebruik 'leunen' op de aanwezigheid van natuur. Uit het onderzoek is naar voren gekomen dat een deel van het watergebruik aanzienlijke schade aan natuur toebrengt. Er is gebleken dat watergebruikers in dergelijke gevallen veelal reeds betalen voor de toegebrachte schade. Echter, van een rechtstreekse, kosteneffectieve betaling van veroorzaker aan gedupeerden is in de huidige situatie over het algemeen nog geen sprake