Dutch land development institutions in the face of crisis: trembling pillars in the planners’ paradise

The 3 pillars of Dutch planning and development culture – integration (of land uses, actors and financial sources), comprehensiveness and the support of these by an active municipal land policy – are trembling. The crisis of 2008 has shown (rather than caused) that the large scale and interconnectedness of land-development projects have created a ‘tightly coupled system’ in which a shock in one part travels to other parts and causes the whole system to shake or even collapse.

Organic development

Organic forms of urban land development, with an openended plan, a greater role for smaller private actors and an enabling role for government, are better at allowing for adapting to changing circumstances. Experiments with organic development can be found in abundance, but whether this type of development will institutionalize in the long run and lead to a culture shift depends on the vitality of existing power structures.