W. Timmermans

Sustainable green urban planning: the workbench spatial quality method

Purpose – Amersfoort Local Municipality implemented the workbench spatial quality method (referred to as workbench method) to enhance participation in green‐planning processes.Design/methodology/approach – As part of the Valuing Attractive Landscapes in the Urban Economy project (made possible by INTERREG IVB North West Europe, European Regional Development Fund, European Territorial Cooperation, 2007‐2013), the method was evaluated based on its contribution to three core issues: understanding the value of green spaces; identifying these values; and planning for the enhancement of thereof.Findings – Based on case studies conducted in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, this interactive method invites people to think about the use and experience values of spatial aspects and rate them according to importance and vulnerability. The method focuses on participatory planning and quality identification.Research limitations/implications – Assessment of the value of green space will differ between users, experts and bet...

Sustainable green urban planning: the Green Credit Tool

Purpose – The Green Credit Tool is evaluated as a method to quantify the value of green‐spaces and to determine how these green‐space‐values can be replaced or compensated for within urban spatial planning projects.Design/methodology/approach – Amersfoort Local Municipality created the Green Credit Tool to ensure protection and enhancement of the urban green totality. The tool is described and evaluated based on three core elements: the value matrix, the collection of values and green compensation. Findings were based on case studies in Parkweelde and Randerbroek (Amersfoort, The Netherlands).Findings – Green‐planning is not just about flora and fauna, but also about planning for economic benefits and thus needs to have a quantifiable value. The Green Credit Tool enhances integrated green‐planning by means of the value matrix (identifying values of green), collecting values (participation and stakeholder‐identification) and compensation (protecting green spaces).Research limitations/implications – Assessm...

Green Place-making in Practice: From Temporary Spaces to Permanent Places

Current spatial planning and sustainability approaches attempt to create competitive, lively and sustainable cities. This paper argues that place-making approaches and green-planning approaches can assist in this regard as these approaches focus on creating qualitative, socially viable and environmentally friendly spaces. These approaches furthermore assist in transforming temporary spaces to permanent places by introducing green-initiatives as captured from pilot studies included in this paper, namely city-trees, green roofs, green graffiti, green walking routes and green impulses. The objective as captured in this paper is to transform public space and reclaim public space for public use, by means of green-planning initiatives.

Transition and Transformation

In this chapter it is argued that fundamental change in society is required, because environmental problems are serious and ask for a factor 10 or more shift in society, the resilience approach (as outlined in Chap. 2) implies change to higher resilience systems and current spatial planning is unable to facilitate fundamental change. Transition of an existing system into a better version of the same system does not comply with the demands of fundamental changes. Instead of choosing for the pathway of change, a change of pathway is required. This transformation of the existing stable regime (system A) into a fundamental other regime (system B) is able to meet the urgency to change. However, Transformation of a system is only possible when the new system is fundamental separated from the original and is capable to develop its own growth curve. The proposed pathway courses via B-minus. A predecessing state of system B consisting of rudimentary spatial elements, which can be observed as critical early warning signals and can be created at specific intersections in the network. These signals require a spatial translation to become useful in spatial planning. Network analysis is needed to determine the locations where to create starting points for a system change.

Institutional Change in Land Planning: Two Cases from Galicia

Why do societies implement land policies? A number of arguments have been put forward in the literature, ranging from economic conceptions based on market failure and the problem of negative externalities to a more social conception based on welfare distribution and collaborative planning. However, neither all societies with similar market failures or negative externalities develop and implement land planning nor implemented land planning always results from collaborative planning. The arguments found in the literature seem not to fit the reality and, in most cases, cannot explain why societies create or undertake innovations in land planning. Within the framework of institutional change theory and based on the analysis of the emergence of two land planning devices—a land use law and a land banking law—in Galicia, Northwest Spain, this paper argues that land planning is developed to tackle negative outcomes of former institutional setups. However, the negativity of such outcomes is measured not in terms of economic performance, but in terms of social acceptance. The search for a workable definition of property within the Galician society seems to be the main driver of institutional change in land use planning analysed in this paper.

The Landscape As A Source Of Inspiration ForPainters: Paintings As A Source Of InspirationFor Land Development?

In today’s landscapes, development policy is mainly directed towards the blacktailed and bar-tailed godwit. We are of the opinion however that the development of the landscape should be more inspired by famous works of art. Try not to be too concerned: if you look closely, godwits are frequently incorporated into these masterpieces. The Netherlands, as a pioneer in landscape paintings, has had a long tradition of recording them on canvas, and agricultural landscapes have always been a key subject. Paintings are therefore a significant source of information as to how the agricultural landscape looked in former times and are thus important when considering the cultural historical value of the cultivated landscape. But the question ‘Is there more?’ still arises. Apart from the historical register, can these works of art have a more significant meaning for the Netherlands? In this article we will first investigate the relationship between art and the Dutch landscape, and will demonstrate that in the past the romanticism of the disappearing natural landscape was an important source of inspiration. We will continue by investigating the interaction between art and the economy.

Transforming spaces into lively public open places: case studies of practical interventions

Abstract Urban public open spaces are an important part of the urban environment, creating the framework for public life. The transformation of open space into successful public places is crucial in this regard. In the context of target-driven performance it is essential to identify the value of successful public open places, along with characteristics that define them. This research evaluated three case studies in Belgium (Namur, Wavre and La Louviere) which successfully transformed spaces into lively public open places. The transformation was captured by means of before-and-after imagery and analyses, and evaluated in terms of space-usage prior to, and after redesign, along with the experience and added value that the redesign brought to the area.

Complexity Theory, Spatial Planning and Adaptation to Climate Change

This chapter analyses several concepts of Complexity Theory as regards their usefulness in spatial planning processes that aim to foster adaptation to climate change. The conditions under which a complex system is likely to change to higher levels of complexity are seen as important when this system needs to deal with and adapt to climatic changes. This understanding is used to develop a framework in which these changes can be examined and explained. Supported by examples from various European countries, four different planning strategies (planning for mitigation, sectored adaptation, integrated adaptation and flexible adaptation) are positioned within the framework. We conclude that each of these strategies fills its own niche in the framework, that all strategies together describe the behaviour of a complex system and that flexible adaptation planning is most likely to facilitate a system change. When this reasoning is reversed and the question concerns which planning strategy fits in best with the demands imposed by climatic change (e.g. for a system change), flexible adaptation planning is seen as the most suitable option.

Artificial Green Corridors Crossing Large Infrastructure In Metropolitan Areas

Metropolitan areas have a growing need for better connections with inter-urban green areas, which are better dissected by large infrastructure networks. This chapter analyses the planning process of the green Craailo bridge in the Netherlands, the world’s largest artifi cial and a very expensive nature bridge. The planning process appears to have been far from linear. In fact, many incidents, sudden changes and unexpected opportunities were evident during the planning process, not described in common planning literature. The complexity perspective and planning process of the Craailo bridge were analysed based on several policy documents that were scrutinised, along with 19 interviews conducted with key players. A new perspective on highly complex planning processes in the spatial planning practice was introduced as a fi nal result of this research.

Designing public spaces through the lively planning integrative perspective

Abstract The current sustainability-driven urban reality is complex. Planning for such a multidimensional environment is even more complex. Alternatives to traditional planning approaches are sought in an attempt to create liveable and lively urban public spaces. The lively planning approach is based on the principles of place-making, planning scales and within various planning dimensions, with the aim to design successful public spaces. This paper evaluates the role that lively planning integrated approach can play in creating sustainable, liveable and lively public spaces, by determining the scale of implementation and identifying the dimensions of lively planning that could be incorporated in public space design and planning. The scale and dimensions of the lively planning integrative approach are linked to each another, and examples of elements to be incorporated in the design of a public space are included as a conclusion of this research.