A non-straightforward archipelago

speculative strategies for enriching the ecological and cultural landscapes of the Dutch Southwest Delta

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Abstract

A possible consequence of the contemporary re-evaluation of Dutch flood and water management strategies could be a return to more naturalistic estuarine conditions within the Southwest Delta. This has the potential to re-animate natural systems and habitats as well as bolster cultural connections to, and across, this landscape.

But how could this re-naturalisation benefit the urban landscapes and economies that negotiate the transition between one of Europe’s densest urban, industrial and logistics corridors (from Brussels and Antwerp to Rotterdam) and the equally congested territory of the southern portion of the North Sea?

Could a new spatial typology of augmented ecologies prompt a re-orientation of both naturalistic and urban ecosystems within the delta towards greater social, economic and ecological efficacy and resilience?