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Cultural impacts in planning increasingly receive attention from both academics and practitioners around Europe. However, comparative planning cultures studies face the challenges of lacking systematic comparison and empirical evidence, especially at the micro level of planning actors' behaviour in interaction. This article aims to fill these gaps by (1) operationalizing the concept of planning culture; and (2) measuring and comparing it. We base our operationalization on the culturized planning model (Knieling, J., & Othengrafen, F. (Eds.). (2009). Planning cultures in Europe: Decoding cultural phenomena in urban and regional planning. Farnham: Ashgate). We complement its explanatory power by building a link between planning culture and planning outcome through attitudes of planning actors. This article focuses on three attitudes: risk, trust and co-operation. To measure and compare these attitudes, we adopt three experimental economic games and conduct an experiment with public and private planning practitioners in three European countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway. Both cross-country and public-private differences in these attitudes are tested in the experiment. Our experimental findings suggest that Dutch planning actors value risk aversion and trust; Norwegian planning actors value cooperation; while (French-speaking) Belgian planning actors do not value these variables that much. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the extent to which the introduction of four new regional planning and land policy instruments in the Netherlands improves the delivery of regional planning objectives. On the basis of case-study research, we identify why and to what extent the Dutch regional authorities--the provinces--have adopted these new instruments and assess whether or not the instruments offer opportunities for improving the delivery of regional planning objectives. The study shows that regional policies and plans are often implemented without consideration of their consequences for national or local planning objectives. As a result, the instruments may not address current policy delivery needs, and may even compound local policy failures. We conclude that the use of such instruments should be accompanied by a more thorough discussion of regional planning tasks and objectives, and a debate on the role of regional authorities within the multilevel governance setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This chapter aims to share the Dutch experiences with the transformation of urban and regional planning practices towards sustainability. Design/methodology/approach -- The chapter does so by answering the following research question: What were the main problems with the integration of environmental considerations in Dutch urban and regional planning practices, and how have these been overcome? This question is answered through a historical analysis of policy changes in the Netherlands, and through the presentation of two case studies. Findings -- The chapter shows that initial attention for sustainability resulted in the enactment of competing practices for environmental planning and water management planning, next to existing practices for urban and regional planning. The coordination of the resulting planning practices proved difficult due to opposing cultures of thought, and attempts to overcome these differences through comprehensive plans turned sour. The chapter illustrates how alternative solutions at the regional and urban level were eventually successful. In the Gelre Valley region, an open project approach translated in a sustainable regional plan. And in Schalkwijk neighbourhood in Haarlem, an environmentally sensitive conceptual framework - the Strategy of the two Networks - let to the incorporation of environmental considerations in urban planningpractices. In both cases, the insistence of the principal actor - provincial and municipal government -- on sustainability issues was crucial. Originality/value -- This chapter introduces experiences with a transformation to sustainable urban and regional planning in the Netherlands. It will be interesting for practitioners and researchers of urban and regional planning practices and sustainable cities around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the case of Dutch regional planning in the 1950s to investigate how ‘urban space’ and ‘rural space’ have traditionally been perceived as opposing concepts. During this decade, politicians, planners and policy-makers constructed an image of an overdeveloped, urban, industrial centre on the one hand, and an underdeveloped, rural, agricultural periphery on the other. Rooted in a debate about the ‘harmonious’ development of the Netherlands, this image made a substantial contribution to the schematic understanding of urban and rural space. Examining this frame as an historical construct helps to reveal the anachronistic character of many of the urban-rural differentiations that are made today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Regional planning and development is continuing to take an important role in planning agendas throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom (UK), the planning system has been reformed during the last decades, marking a noticeable shift from a development-led towards a more plan-led system. In the Netherlands, strictly regulated growth-control policies have been abandoned to some degree, in favor of more decentralized planning policies featuring negotiated development. Dutch planners have been specifically interested in a more British approach, that is, a more discretionary and development-led type of approach to spatial planning. In this paper, we will discuss current efforts in Dutch regional planning to adopt new principles for planning delivery and will provide a comparative perspective between spatial planning in the UK and the Netherlands. This paper discusses the changing structure of planning delivery in both countries. At the same time, it establishes a framework for identifying critical lessons for Dutch regional planning practice as opposed to planning in the UK. Three characteristics are pivotal for the comparison: (1) the establishment of comprehensive principles for project coordination; (2) options for the settlement of planning gain, packaging interests, and regional redistribution; and (3) the institution for development-oriented planning and discretion for planning decisions. The evidence used is based on a literature review of recent debates in both countries and illustrative cases, including the Dutch ‘Heart of the Heuvelrug’ plan. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Not only in the Netherlands, but also elsewhere, there is stalemate between modern and postmodern/post-structural planning, or alternatively, between state-controlled and neo-liberal planning. Since the 1980s at least, modernist, state-controlled planning has been fundamentally debunked as a highly regulatory and prescriptive operation, resulting in syrupy planning processes, which are very costly, inflexible and inefficient, and suppressing all new and creative initiatives that do not fit within the set framework. Postmodern and post-structural alternatives developed since then have been very effective in counter-attacking the alleged virtues of that planning strategy, but less fruitful at promoting effective and/or sustainable practices. The article assumes that this is related to the fact that time and again these alternatives continue to be formulated from within the existing planning framework, from a specific governmental, or at least a government influenced, view of planning: in essence from the inside-out. From this position, the article goes on to describe the possible outlines for a practical outside-inward, actorrelational- approach. It has been developed from experimental case studies in concrete planning practices, for example, a case study in Southern Limburg in the Netherlands. Concurrently, it has also been derived from a fundamental interaction with behavioural, urban regime and actor-network/network actor theories, with an extensive evaluation of the latter. The article concludes with a call for a new fundamental, but proactive, reassembling of spatial planning in an actor-oriented, as opposed to a government-oriented, way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the centrality of comprehensive plans to the profession of city and regional planning, there is a gap in knowledge about the quality of plans as they are not routinely evaluated against best practice standards. We discuss plan quality evaluation, an emerging methodology for assessing the quality of plans. We review the evolution of the concept, the dimensions covered, and the principles and criteria used. We then provide a comparative meta-analytic analysis of the findings from published plan quality evaluations, ranging from research studies in the United States to national planning policy applications in Holland and New Zealand, and offer recommendations about future directions in improving content analysis of plan documents and research design in plan quality evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the substratum and infrastructure networks as relevant components of spatial planning. Since 2001, in Dutch government documents on spatial planning the Layers Approach has been presented, with three layers: substratum; networks; occupation patterns. The Layers Approach assumes that the characteristics of the substratum provide conditions for infrastructure networks and that these infrastructure networks then condition the occupation patterns, including the locations for housing, business activities and related services. These more or less hierarchical relationships are supposed to produce clear ground rules for the spatial planner. The Layers Approach seems to offer a robust methodology for spatial planning. This contribution presents the background of the Layers Approach, adds some critical notes and proposes an amendment: the Network Approach, connecting different spatial scales. After the presentation of a typology of networks a preliminary overview of the dynamics of transport networks is given. The spatial relevance of information and communication technology (ICT) networks, that support transport networks, is discussed. Nodes are presented as links between infrastructure networks and occupation patterns. The paper concludes that actors, dealing with regional spatial plans in a decentralized planning system, have to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the technology, economy and governance of current networks and the qualities of the substratum, which form a conditioning and stimulating framework for the spatial planning of urban and regional areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the traditions of urban and rural land development in the Netherlands. The author provides different reasons behind the emerging practice of regional development planning which is said to unite both traditions. Two case studies have been analyzed to provide further insight of the new practice. The implications of regional development planning for the institutional capacity of Dutch provinces are also discussed.

The physical appearance of the Netherlands is rapidly changing. The land of prosperous towns and villages embedded in rich, flat and open agricultural land is turning into a metropolis. A distinctive quality of this metropolis is the mix of highly urbanized centres and open, green areas that come in different shapes and sizes. But how to design an appropriate planning system for this environment? Mixing ‘red’ (urban) and ‘green’ (rural) land uses, for instance, now becomes problematic as Dutch spatial planning has always focused primarily on the urban domain whereas planning of green areas has its origins in agricultural land consolidation policy. A genuinely integrated approach to the planning of built-up areas and green areas in the open spaces is a distant ideal in this setting. In addition, the regional administrative level, being so important for metropolitan spatial challenges, needs reinforcing. The authors make a plea for a reframing of the notion of spatial planning at the national and provincial geographical and administrative scale. It takes a new object for planning, design and analysis to do the trick. The traditional rural-urban opposition is traded for ‘metropolitan landscape’, a new image reflecting the integration of built-up and non-built-up distinctively urban and rural land uses. Planning for the metropolitan landscape requires a reassignment of duties and responsibilities among national, provincial and municipal governments and other stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last few decades mixed-use development has become an important planning paradigm in various European and North American cities. However, the concept of mixed-use is ambiguous in both theory and practice. In this paper a typology of mixed-use developments is revealed to identify its major components. This typology is then applied to the case study area Eastern Docklands in Amsterdam which is a major urban transformation area in which the concept of mixed-use development has been implemented. It is concluded that in this area there is a good deal of mixing between housing and employment, but it is still unclear whether the strategic goals are reached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban planning in many Western cities in the period 1945–1970 has been defined as modernist. Although this is generally true, it is an oversimplification. This paper presents a more complete picture by identifying urban ideal images in the public debate in Rotterdam in 1946 and comparing them with popular international ideas about the ideal city at the time. Several groups of participants are identified on the basis of their urban ideal images. Both within and between these groups there was great variation in the number and character of modernist elements used, derived from various international urban developers and as a result of the differences between their urban ideal images. It seems, however, that these images did not influence the final plans. Had the planning authorities been aware of these ideal images, they could have not only improved the quality of their urban planning, but also increased public support for their plans. In order to extend the knowledge about urban modernist post-war planning, this paper identifies different urban ideal images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Randstad planning concept is primarily known as a concept aiming to control urbanization, this article shows that world city ambitions have been inherent in the concept right from the beginning and that spatial planning for the Randstad over the past 50 years can also be seen as a prolonged attempt to give shape to these ambitions. Throughout much of this period it has proved politically impossible to turn these ambitions into concrete policies, although the recent turn to Deltametropolis' adds a rather interesting new chapter to this history. For the first time since its introduction, local and regional actors have themselves taken the initiative to frame and reframe the Randstad concept—by Dutch standards quite a remarkable sign of capacity building at the Randstad level. By spotlighting this particular dimension of the planning history of the Randstad this article touches upon some of the more notorious dilemmas planners may come across while pursuing world city ambitions for polynuclear urban regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The planning of the Amsterdam metropolitan region is presented as a case of interorganisational coordination, focusing on coordination structures and strategies. An overview of regional governance traces the trend towards the establishment of a metropolitan regional 'City Province' and the effects of its unexpected reversal in 1995. Integrative metropolitan regional planning, special area planning and sectoral planning are reviewed, including the metropolitan regional body and national, provincial and local governments, and their interactions in developing metropolitan regional plans and policies. The case study reveals a metropolitan regional planning system of unexpected complexity and attributes the relatively successful outcomes to the intensive role of consultation and the proliferation of coordination structures in Dutch planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the use of analytical tools to help identify the potential for public transport-oriented urban-regional development in the Netherlands. Dynamics of public transportation nodes; Components of accessibility in public transportation nodes; Characterization of station access in the Amsterdam and Utrecht agglomerations.

Planning in the Netherlands is practiced at National, Provincial, and Municipal levels. Regional approach to planning has also been given recognition at the macro- and micro-levels. Industrial stimulation to the less developed areas constitute the main content of macrolevel regional planning, whereas comprehensive approach forms the essence of microlevel regional planning. Mesolevel planning (for the metropolitan areas) has currently gained ground, but it has still to make its headway. In spite of meager natural resources, the material prosperity of the Netherlands is largely owing to its economic and physical planning endeavors at different levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing public space is a big and important blind spot of urban and regional planning and design. Important, because major transition challenges, such as climate adaptation, energy transition, circular economy, mobility, and governance require substantial changes in public space – both physical and social changes. Big, because managing public space entails enormous budgets and potentials over a long period of time in which management and maintenance takes place, which are largely spent operational and sectoral. A more integral and strategic management of public space entails huge potentials, which are hitherto neglected in the academic debate on public space in general and that of cities in particular. This contribution builds on explorative work on management of public space in academia and on a survey of Dutch managing public space practice and pleads for a more systematic academic debate and research on management of public space. • Due to urbanization and densification the importance of optimal use of public space in society is increasing. • Windows of opportunity for major urban transitions arise are at the end of thelifecycle of public space. • There is a need in society for an effective management of public space and a demand for a more integral-strategic approach. • Challenges in managing public space show similarities to the academic paradigm shift in spatial planning in the 1970s. • The academic community need to embrace managing public space as an academic and societal challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Urban and regional planning is a strategic policy making process responding to the big challenges of our time. • Pleas for more adaptivity when making plans have resulted in a hesitation to act even in countries with a strong planning tradition. • This paper shows that the degree of adaptivity can differ between topics, geographical scales and time spans. • The case of the Dutch IJsselmeerpolder project illustrates how long-term decisions enable learning cycles of short-term decisions. • The land use challenges of our time need the stability of main concepts for the long term that are pragmatically implemented Strategic spatial planning is a governance practice pursuing coordinated improvement of mobility, housing, food production and other functions with a spatial impact. The institutions in this practice marry long-term thinking in the light of societal challenges with strategic action. These activities are intertwined, visionary and pragmatic at the same time. The currently prevalent association within strategic planning of long-term polical determination with rigid, top-down blueprints has prompted reduced national and regional planning efforts in the Netherlands and other European countries. Adaptivity and resilience within planning processes are promoted as novel and more suitable ways of steering spatial conditions within societies today. Adaptive is defined as 'being open for reconsideration'. Choices that were considered good yesterday, may need to be reconsidered tomorrow. The notion of adaptivity in planning, and the desirability of it, needs more nuance. Because, (1) Do changing long-term perspectives imply a need for adaptivity in the strategies used? (2) To which precise aspects of deliberate strategies can adaptivity apply? (3) Does the pursuit of adaptivity require a new planning approach, as is often claimed? We applied these questions within a critical case study: the creation of the Dutch IJsselmeerpolders, prototypes of rigid rather than adaptive planning, a strategy pursued for over 50 years. Despite radically shifting long-term perspectives, the governance practice of plan-making appears to have been capable of serving evolving purposes. Within this masterplanned mega-project we identify five forms of adaptivity associated with different geographical and time scales. We conclude that an enduring strategic governance effort can support shifting long-term perspectives when it is applied pragmatically with regard to selected topics. Rigidity and adaptivity are equally indispensable and inevitable for strategic action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]