Introducing the Randstad: A polycentric metropolis

The Randstad and polycentric regions generally are not only vehicles to create critical economic mass. The geography of the Randstad is unmistakably deltaic, with expanses of flat open land crisscrossed by watercourses and historic windmills that remain from a former network of more than 10,000. The development of extensive physical and soft...

Governance and power in the metropolitan regions of the Randstad

This chapter focuses on the nature and powers of governance arrangements in two Dutch metropolitan areas, both situated in the Randstad: the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam (Metropoolregio Amsterdam) and the Metropolitan Region Rotterdam The Hague (Metropoolregio Rotterdam Den Haag ). It considers the power of process by analysing the actor...

The Institutionalisation of a Creative Practice: Changing Roles of Regional Design in Dutch National Planning

This chapter discusses the organisational setting of regional design in the realms of spatial planning and territorial governance. As a starting point, it argues that rules on how imagined design solutions function in an abstract, simplified ‘planning world’ are an important regional design product. When focusing on these rules, regional design...

COMPASS – Comparative Analysis of Territorial Governance and Spatial Planning Systems in Europe. Applied Research 2016-2018: Final Report

The objective of the COMPASS project was to provide an authoritative comparative report on changes in territorial governance and spatial planning systems in Europe from 2000 to 2016. This Final Report presents the main findings, conclusions and policy recommendations. The COMPASS project compares territorial governance and spatial planning in 32...

Transformations of Planning Rationales: Changing Spaces for Governance in Recent Dutch National Planning

Dutch national planning has acquired an international reputation because it provides strong planning guidance while simultaneously being responsive to the particular spatial and political circumstances of different regions and areas. Spatial concepts, like the Randstad, are important vehicles for sustaining this approach. Such concepts...

The innovative potential of central regulation: The case of urban development in the Markermeer-IJmeer Natura 2000 area

This paper draws attention to a case in which Natura 2000 regulation, problematic ecological conditions, governance congestion and the aim to develop large urban projects are to go hand in hand in the Markermeer-IJmeer area, a 30 by 25 km lake in the centre of the Netherlands. The key interest is how central regulation is interpreted to fit...

Features of good territorial governance in the flood management along the Dutch-German border

Bringing central regulation and local governance interaction together: The case of the Markermeer-IJmeer Natura 2000 area

This paper draws attention to a case in which Natura 2000 regulation, problematic ecological conditions, governance congestion and the aim to develop large urban projects are to go hand in hand in the soft space of the Markermeer-IJmeer area, a 30 by 25 km lake in the centre of the Netherlands. The key interest is how central regulation is...

Design in the context of fragmented regional governance: Studio South Wing (abstract + presentation)

In European regions, such as the Randstad Holland, emerging patterns of interaction and movement result in increasing spatial fragmentation. This development creates enormous challenges for the governance of territories. Classic forms of government, based upon clear-cut divisions in terms of administrative levels, policy sectors and the public...

Megacorridors in North West Europe: Investigating a new transnational planning concept