Planning

Metropolitan
Landscapes
Concepts, Demands, Approaches

Editors: Gunther Tress, Bärbel Tress,

Bert Harms, Peter Smeets, Arnold van der Valk

DELTA Series 4, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 2004

Delta series 4 2004 | 1

Contents

Introduction to Planning Metropolitan Landscapes 6

Gunther Tress and Bärbel Tress

I. Concepts of metropolitan landscapes

Uncertainty in planning metropolitan landscapes 12

Marc Antrop

Metropolitan matterscape, powerscape and mindscape 26

Maarten Jacobs

Leadership literacy: Public interest in land-use governance 39

David S. Fushtey and Moura Quayle

II. Demands and problems of metropolitan landscapes

Between two cities: The ecological footprint of Vancouver

and Seattle in Northwest Washington 62
Paul Sommers

The inverted compact city of Delhi 79

Ashok Kumar

Metropolitan delta landscapes 103

Peter J.A.M. Smeets, W. Bert Harms, Madeleine J.M. van Mansfeld,
Arjen W.C. van Susteren and Marco G.N. van Steekelenburg

Impact of land use change in Bangkok Metropolitan and Suburban Area 114
Nitayaporn Tonmanee and Parida Kuneepong
III. Approaches to plan and manage metropolitan landscapes

Overconsultation breeds contempt: Lessons in participatory watershed

planning from the Lake Pontchartrain Basin of Louisiana, USA 128
Kate Sherren

Modelling approaches for metropolitan landscapes 144

Paul Schot, Aat Barendregt and Martin J. Wassen

Planning nature conservation in Dutch metropolitan landscapes 166

Roul Beunen, Ronald van Ark, Arnold van der Valk and Rinus Jaarsma

New planning concepts and regional cooperation: Responding to the

challenges of new urban landscapes 178
Andrea Hartz and Rainer Kestermann

Spatially explicit risk analysis: A new solution to contamination

problems in the metropolitan delta 199
Nico van den Brink and Hans Baveco

Cost-benefit analysis in interactive planning processes 213

Mireille Woud, Stijn Reinhard and Aris Gaaff

Hydropolitan: An interactive tool for hydrology management

in metropolitan deltas 236
Janneke Roos-Klein Lankhorst, Jan van Bakel and Arend Ligtenberg

Sustainable land use planning and valorisation of the natural and cultural
resources in the metropolitan area of Milan, Italy 254
Giulio Senes and Alessandro Toccolini

IV. Epilogue

Metropolitan landscapes: Contours of an emerging concept 276

Gunther Tress and Bärbel Tress

Acknowledgments 288
 Introduction to Planning lems of metropolitan areas that are studied at three Dutch institutes: the Alterra
Green World Research institute in Wageningen, the Land Use Planning Group at the
Metropolitan Landscapes Environmental Science Department of Wageningen University, and the Agricultural
Economics Research Institute in The Hague. Funding for these activities came from
Gunther Tress and Bärbel Tress two major research programs: the KAP program – developing planning approaches
Alterra Green World Research, Wageningen University and Research Centre and concepts for the regional-specific implementation of multiple use of land (Tress
Land Use Planning Group, Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University et al., 2003a), and the DELTA program – investigating interdisciplinarity and trans-
Wageningen, The Netherlands disciplinarity in landscape research and planning (Tress et al., 2003b).
[email protected] The contributions in this book derive from papers presented at the international meet-
ings in Bellingham and Darwin as well as from research conducted at the above-
mentioned institutes. Additionally, we invited some selected experts to contribute to
“Can we plan metropolitan landscapes? Do metropolitan landscapes exist? What this book. The first part of the book presents conceptual papers on defining and un-
makes them different from urban landscapes? Where does a metropolitan land- derstanding metropolitan landscapes. The second part deals with the demands and
scape start and where does it end? Who is planning metropolitan landscapes? How problems that exist in several metropolitan landscapes around the world. The third
are these plans made? Will the plans ever be realized?” Readers will have these and part presents a broad selection of papers that discuss approaches how to plan and
many other questions when reading the phrase “planning metropolitan landscapes”. manage metropolitan landscapes. Finally, the book concludes with a reflection on the
It is the aim of this book to discuss some of these questions, however, when looking concept of metropolitan landscapes as presented in this book and in current land-
for answers often new questions arise. scape research and planning.
The book was initiated at two recently held scientific meetings. The first was the 4th Bärbel Tress & Gunther Tress ,
workshop of the International Study Group of Multiple Land Use (ISOMUL), held at Wageningen, November 2003
Western Washington University in Bellingham (USA) in June 2002. The meeting was
entitled “Collaborative Planning for the Metropolitan Landscapes” and discussed References
planning and research aspects related to metropolitan landscapes, mainly in the USA Tress, G., Tress, B., Smeets, P., 2003a. A brief re-
Haaland, K., Smith, B. (Eds.), 2002. Collaborative
and the Netherlands (Haaland & Smith, 2002). The second event was a symposium planning for the metropolitan landscape; regional view of the KAP research and development pro-
strategies for smart growth: when city and country gram. In: Tress, G., Tress, B., Bloemmen, M. (Eds.).
on “Landscape Dialogues in Metropolitan Delta Areas” held during the 6th World From tacit to explicit knowledge in integrative and
collide. Conference proceedings from the workshop
Congress of the International Association of Landscape Ecology (IALE) in Darwin of the International Study Group on Multiple Use participatory research. DELTA Series 3, Wagenin-
of Land (ISOMUL), Bellingham, USA, June 2002, gen.
(Australia) in July 2003. This meeting brought together researchers and planners to Tress, B., Tress, G., Valk, A.v.d., 2003b. Interdisci-
Western Washington University.
discuss specific problems of metropolitan areas located at large river deltas (Pear- Pearson, D., Hobbs, R. (Eds.), 2003. Crossing fron- plinarity and transdisciplinarity in landscape stud-
tiers: Landscape ecology down under. Building ies – the Wageningen DELTA approach. In: Tress, B.,
son & Hobbs, 2003). bridges between cultures, disciplines and ap- Tress, G., Valk, A.v.d., Fry, G. (Eds.). Interdisciplinary
and transdisciplinary landscapes studies: potential
A third motivation to this book came from the research interest in planning prob- proaches. Book of Abstracts, 6th World Congress of
the International Association of Landscape Ecolo- and limitations. DELTA Series 2, Wageningen, pp.
gy, Darwin, Australia, July 2003. 8-15.

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 Concepts
of metropolitan
landscapes

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 Uncertainty in planning lated to the application of GIS and spatial analysis is various domains.
Longley et al. (2001) relate uncertainty to the different steps involved in
metropolitan landscapes the representation of geographic phenomena, in particular when using GIS
and applying spatial analysis and mapping (Figure 1). The first source of un-
Marc Antrop certainty (U1) comes from the conceptualisation of the real world and the
Geography Department definition of geographical data. Is the reality conceived as natural objects or
Ghent, Belgium units, or by a more abstract representation? Much has to do with the possi-
[email protected] bility of a physical delineation or bordering of units and the classification of
continuous phenomena with vague borders and complex transitions into
discrete categories. In GIS this implies also the choice of the data model; rep-
resenting reality by objects, vector or raster structures; reducing real things
Introduction into points, lines and polygons. Conceptualising reality also depends upon
Planning metropolitan landscapes means dealing with many sources of culture, perception and language. The classical examples are the types of
uncertainty simultaneously. This article discusses conceptually the nature of snow or seasons recognized by locals in comparison to the more general and
the uncertainty involved with metropolitan areas, landscape and planning. less refined categorisation by outsiders.
The key issue is that uncertainty cannot be avoided, but appropriate methods The second source of uncertainty (U2) is partially the immediate conse-
must be found to deal with it. quence of the conceptualisation. It involves the choice of the level of meas-
urement used (nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio) and of the data quality,
Defining uncertainty both qualitative and quantitative. Techniques and methods of data collection
Uncertainty is related to many different things such as data quality, the- and description contribute to this aspect of uncertainty. Also sampling is-
ory and conceptualisation, model formulation, decision making and of course sues are important here.
error and risk issues in each of these. This complexity is expressed by many The third source of uncertainty (U3) relates to all manipulations of the
terms such as uncertainty, fuzziness, vagueness, precision and accuracy. Some data during analysis and combination of different data. The choice of (leg-
terms have, according to the context, a very specific definition or are used in end) categories and their operational definition is part of this and also the
a more general sense, sometimes even as synonyms. classification of the data. Here the specific character of geographical data is
Uncertainty and risk are most formally and clearly treated in statistical essential, in particular aspects of fuzzy borders, spatial autocorrelation, and
analysis, in particular in relation to the probability of occurrence of errors of size and scale dependency. Overlaying and combining data and modelling in-
type I or II in statistical tests and in working with fuzzy sets. These concepts volve complex patterns of error propagation depending on the data quality
become more complex when dealing with spatial data and geographical and the nature of algorithms used. Geostatistics offer a theoretical basis for
analysis. Much of the discussion of uncertainty and risk assessment is now re- this, as well as tools for analysing spatial patterns in GIS.

12 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 13

 The final source of uncertainty (U4) is the representation of the reality McDonnell (1998) list seven main factors that affect the quality of spatial
by the results of the analysed data. This is part of the reporting, the choice data that can be sources of uncertainty:
of indices, graphical presentation and most importantly the visualization, in (1) currency: are the data up-to-date?
particular by cartographic and computer means. Different languages of com- (2) completeness of areal coverage,
munication are involved and communication is the key issue in any kind of (3) consistency,
planning process or decision-making. (4) accessibility,
(5) accuracy and precision,
(6) error of the data (due to entry, sampling, processing),
(7) error due to analysis and modelling (error propagation).
The conclusion is that uncertainty cannot be expressed by a single
attribute or variable, but a set of criteria must be used.

Defining a metropolitan area

A metropolitan area refers to the agglomeration associated with a large
city. The core problem is defining the urban area as opposite to the rural or
the countryside. Today for the first time in the history of humankind, more
people live in urban areas than in the rural countryside (Pacione, 2003). How-
ever, ‘urban areas’ varies a lot in meaning (United Nations HABITAT 2001,
1996). As the degree of urbanisation approaches worldwide an apparent sta-
bilization level between 80-90% (United Nations HABITAT, 1996; Pacione,
2001), the pattern is very specific in different world regions, resulting is very
different relationship between urban areas and the countryside. In North
America and Australia, urbanization can be expressed by a percentage of
Figure 1 : A conceptual view of uncertainty (after Longley et al. 2001)
approximately 90% of the population spatially in rather well defined urban
places with vast areas of countryside and wilderness in between. In Europe
Eastman et al. (1993) discuss uncertainty and risk assessment in relation and Japan on the contrary, a similar proportion of the population is urban-
to fuzzy sets and decision making using GIS. They define risk as the likelihood ized, but the urban agglomerations occupy also a much larger area of the
of making a wrong decision and which can be assessed by the combined es- country and the distinction between urban and rural areas becomes fuzzier,
timate of uncertainty caused by different sources. Two main sources are rec- in particular in the smaller countries (Frey & Zimmer, 2001). Urbanization
ognized: database uncertainty and decision rule uncertainty. Burrough & processes can affect rural areas in many different ways and accessibility of a

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 place is a key factor (Antrop, 2000b). The relation between urban and rural mation of ‘built-up’, which makes indicators describing an urban area, based
becomes extremely complex and receives a growing attention in spatial and upon land cover highly uncertain (Antrop & Van Eetvelde, 2000).
environmental planning (SPESP, 2000). Cities form also networks and Func- A second source of uncertainty results from the highly dynamic nature of
tional Urban Areas are created that influence their surroundings in various urbanisation and urban areas. The lack of reliable and up-to-date information
ways (Antrop, 2003; Bryant et al., 2001; Cheshire, 1995). A multifunctional about the urban environment and landscapes is demonstrated several times
complex of very diverse land use types, which have a highly fragmented mor- in the first Assessment of Europe’s Environment (Stanners & Bourdeau, 1995).
phology, characterizes the urban fringe or suburban landscapes. The delimi- Land cover and land use change rapidly in urbanized areas. Satellite remote
tation between urban and rural becomes a difficult task involving a lot of sensing and image interpretation are very often the only means to keep in-
uncertainty and it is very unlikely that land zoning borders remain a stable ventories up-to-date. Urban land cover categories are increasingly defined
delineation even for a short time. by the technical possibilities of satellite image classification and the accura-
Several approaches to define an urban place are possible. It can be based cy that can be obtained (Sugumaran et al., 2002; Herold & Menz, 2002;
upon (1) the size or spatial extent of the built-up agglomeration, (2) the Hung, 2002). Nevertheless, consecutive assessments of land cover are not
population size, (3) morphology and (4) various functional characteristics. All always comparable because also definitions of categories shift as well as data
definitions demand specific data and use different sources, depending also quality, due to new technology in data capture and analysis that is used.
upon data availability. The most basic distinction is between data based Landscape diversity and heterogeneity, as well as fragmentation are re-
upon physical phenomena and their morphology and data based upon arti- lated to uncertainty as well. Larger diversity, heterogeneity and fragmenta-
ficial constructed spatial units. An example of the first group is the use of land tion result in more complex forms of multifunctional land use. Larger the com-
cover; an example of the second group is the use of statistical census units. plexity implies more uncertainty about the real situation and processes at a
The delineation of the urban area often results in a very different outcome us- precise moment. There is a basic logic in defining landscape heterogeneity
ing the one or the other approach. Frey & Zimmer (2001) refer in this context or complexity by the Shannon-Weaver diversity, which is based upon the in-
to over- and under-bounded boundaries of an urban area. Over-bounded ur- formation entropy (Antrop & Van Eetvelde, 2000).
ban areas are the ones where the urban agglomeration extends morphologi- Clearly, urban areas are difficult to comprehend and to be defined in a
cally beyond the administrative, political or census borders that are used to practical operational way.
define the urban place. Under-bounded urban areas still contain a lot of open
(rural) space within their administrative boundary. Thus, also the uncertain- Landscape and uncertainty
ty involved with land cover classification is a source of uncertainty in defin- The European Landscape Convention defines landscape as “an area, as
ing urban areas. The best example is the definition of built-up land: it can be perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interac-
defined as a pixel in a digital imagery classified as such, it can be the foot- tion of natural and/or human factors” (Council of Europe, 2000). The defi-
print of a building, it can also be the complete cadastral lot on which build- nition is a mix of two very different views, which Cosgrove (2003) describes
ings are situated. Each definition results in a very different result of the esti- as two different landscape discourses. The ecological approach focuses upon

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 the interactive processes between nature and human activities, where the lat- Uncertainty in planning and decision-making
ter is increasingly considered as disturbance to the ecological balance. The Essentially, spatial planning is a complex of activities that aim to steer on-
second discourse is called semiotic and focuses on the cultural meanings, con- going processes that structure our environment, and so our landscapes. Basi-
text and processes in the shaping of the landscape, intimately related to the cally, the actual situation or trends are considered as unsatisfactory and
landscape perception. Consequently, landscape research and applications in should be improved. Scenarios of the future development can be defined
planning use and combine very different methods from natural and social sci- and visions for the future are formulated. Decision-making implies making
ences. Objectivity and subjectivity are both involved and the approach to- choices between the possible outcomes that are proposed or expected. As a
wards uncertainty may be very different. complex process dealing with a hardly predictable future, a lot of variables
Landscapes are also dynamic and evolve almost continuously (Antrop in and stakeholders, planning implies a lot of uncertainty. At least following fac-
press). Urban landscapes are highly dynamical and rapid changes introduce tors related to planning uncertainty should be considered.
a growing uncertainty related to the processes involved, data gathering and Spatial planning aims to steer or (re)direct the ‘natural’, autonomous de-
monitoring. Today, the speed and frequency of changes pose problems to peo- velopment in a predefined and selected area to achieve a preconceived goal.
ple to adapt to their ever-changing new environment, hence a crisis of the The autonomous development is the overall result of all actions taken by nu-
landscape is created (Lemaire, 2002). Changes are seen and evaluated as im- merous and very different actors with little concertation. The impact of indi-
provements or deterioration of the previous or existing state. However, this vidual stakeholders (in particular landowners) depends upon their status, re-
judgement is mainly based upon a particular view of utility or in referring to flected by the size of their property and the means to maintain or transform
the realization of a particular goal or condition. Consequently, not everyone it. The impact of small landholders will be restricted to small areas, such as
does perceive changes in the same way always and one type of change can their garden or the places they use for recreation. Although the effect upon
result in conflicting positive and negative evaluations. the change of the global landscape might seem minimal, the large number of
Highly dynamical landscapes, such as metropolitan ones, can be seen as individual landowners multiplies these small impacts. Inevitably, a large num-
complex systems in a state far from equilibrium as defined by Prigogine (Pri- ber of forces act mostly independently and increase entropy and chaos, the
gogine & Stengers, 1987). Trends for future development become then hard- opposite of a well-organized and planned situation (Antrop, 1998). Thus,
ly predictable and processes of chaotic development and self-reorganization planning basically implies restoring order and reducing entropy. The scale of
are likely to occur (Portugali, 1999). Prigogine & Stengers (1987) applied the autonomous development always transcends the individual actions that
their theory even on processes of urban sprawl. often refer to the individual property and aims specific goals. The future of an
The holistic nature of landscape, which integrates the complex reality of autonomous development is described as a trend with a rather vague and un-
the physical environment with perception and psychological meaning, which certain outcome. In most cases, these trends are often extrapolation of case
combines different hierarchical scales of complexity of highly dynamical sys- studies or samples using available information, which is often incomplete, im-
tems, is basically uncertain. precise and often outdated. Decision-making is based upon this kind of im-
perfect knowledge and has to deal with uncertainty and risk.

18 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 19

 A first factor on uncertainty resides in planning itself. In the attempt to ‘naturally’ because new needs or functions demand adapted spatial struc-
steer the autonomous development, the planner becomes part of the process tures and initiate a continuous iteration (Forman & Godron, 1986). The driv-
itself and thus planning is changed as well. During the 1960s-1990s, physi- ing forces are generally well recognized: urbanization, changing accessibility
cal planning was based upon the realization of master plans, which fixed the and mobility patterns, and globalisation. However, detailed information of
possible land uses in the future for each tract of land (Albrechts, 2001). Their the mechanisms involved, the interactions and the impact at a detailed local
realization was mainly based upon sector logics and a lot of lobbying. Many level is often lacking. Planners and policy makers are in growing need of up-
different forms of planning exist and referred to in various ways such as land to-date and significant data and scientific knowledge.
use planning, town and countryside planning, regional planning physical A third source of uncertainty in planning comes from the delay between
planning and urban planning. Differences in meaning do exist between coun- non-concerted decisions or actions and the physical emergence of the results,
tries. The term spatial planning was introduced in the early-mid 1990s (Tewd- i.e. becomes expressed in the landscape. The overall change of a landscape,
wr-Jones, 2001). It was adopted at the European level as an encompassing of its character, is the result of numerous small, consecutive changes in land
neutral term to avoid confusion with more specific national terminology. Spa- use on small tracts of land, which each of them, separately, hardly influence
tial planning is seen as a reference to a range of public organizations, policy the character. Typical examples can be seen in the new landscapes of suburbs
mechanisms and institutional processes all involved in the future use of space and holiday resorts. Many examples illustrate this concept. How many trees
at various scales (Tewdwr-Jones, 2001). Since the 1990s, strategic spatial must be felled before a characteristic tree row or alley loses its character and
planning was generally introduced as a new approach to the more static only clumps of solitary trees are seen. One building will not transform a rural
planning of the master plans. It proceeds in a different, participatory and con- landscape in and urban one, but what if the rule is applied that new build-
sensus model and acts at several levels of policy making simultaneously, but ings are acceptable when they are located at a close distance of already ex-
not always in a concerted manner (Albrechts, 2001). When in the past, mas- isting ones? Landscape ecology provides in the percolation theory a theoret-
ter plans gave some certainty of the future land use, at least for a predefined ical background to understand and analysis problems as these (Klopatek &
period, the new mode of strategic spatial planning involves more uncertain- Gardner, 1999; Turner & Gardner, 1990), but are hard to apply in planning.
ty in many aspects as its participatory method involves many stakeholders. A fourth source of uncertainty in planning resides in the methods and
A second group of factors is related to the characteristics of the ongoing techniques used. Technically; planning is making choices between alternative
changes. Their speed, frequency and magnitude increased unprecedented in options or scenarios. The decision-making process involves very different
the second half of the 20th century (Antrop, 2000a). Many new elements methods and techniques, which each have proper characteristics regarding
and structures are superimposed upon the previous, traditional ones, which uncertainty. A typical example is the frequently used method of multi-crite-
become highly fragmented and loose their identity. Certainly in densely ha- ria evaluation. Each step in the process has distinct contribution to the final
bituated regions, many complex, new landscapes are created, which are high- uncertainty of the decision.
ly dynamic and little is known about the ongoing processes (Brandt et al., Step 1: choice of the criteria: mainly related to data uncertainty involv-
2001). A basic principle in landscape ecology states that landscapes change ing data quality and definition of categories and classification rules

20 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 21

 Figure 2: Autonomous and planned development. Step 2: defining the decision rule: mainly related to model uncertainty
and error propagation in the selected method
Step 3: defining the weights: related to the definition and selection of the
criteria, but also to the participatory method and rules used
Step 4: defining the risk and trade-offs: what is acceptable? This involves
stakeholders, politicians, experts and the population in general.

Finally, the autonomous evolution and the planned development interfere

and make that the initially intended planning is seldom achieved and many
parallel but not planned developments are possible (Antrop, 2000a) (Figure 2).
Consequently, the new state of the landscape is the result of planned ac-
tions mixed with processes of autonomous development. This new state then
forms the reference base for future changes, which behave more or less chaot-
ic in some general planned direction. This process can be referred to as the
‘step by step’ rule (Figure 3).

Conclusions
Uncertainty is an essential part of life and is an essential characteristic
Figure 3: the ‘step-by-step’ rule of planned development.
in landscape change and planning. Adequately dealing with uncertainty is
applying the precautionary principle (Mitchell, 2002). Numerical methods
to assess uncertainty are available, but do not reflect the overall uncertainty.
A model of assessing uncertainty in planning metropolitan landscapes could
be based upon consecutive steps of evaluation. First, the uncertainty related
to concepts and definitions involved in metropolitan (urban) areas, landscape
and planning should be analysed. Clear concepts and definitions will reduce
already a lot of uncertainty and will give a more precise reference for the in-
formation needed and the quality of the data to be used. Critical analysis of
data quality and error propagations in the analysis can be achieved with
more technical and tools resulting in a more numerical expression of uncer-
tainty. The assessment of uncertainty induced by processes of change in land-

22 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 23

 scapes, in particular in metropolitan areas, is largely based upon data avail- Interfaces. Cultural heritage in changing land- SPESP, 2000. Study Programme on European Spa-
scapes. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, tial Planning (SPESP). Final Report 31 March
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scape Convention. Firenze. Europe’s Environment. The Dobris Assessment.
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 Metropolitan matterscape, In the Deltametropolitan area, spatial planning is confronted with some
peculiar problems, like (a) density of people and activities, (b) landscape
powerscape and mindscape beauty, and (c) intensive agricultural use. In the perceptions of these prob-
lems as brought up by scientists, debaters and policy makers, different phe-
Maarten Jacobs nomena of landscape are often intertwined, making the concept of landscape
Alterra Green World Research obscure. This leads to conceptual problems with problematic practical conse-
Wageningen, The Netherlands quences, like coming up with expensive solutions that may never work, as will
[email protected] be shown in this paper.
The aims of this paper are (1) to explain a threefold landscape ontology
(ontology is about the nature of being) used to deconstruct the obscurity of
the concept of landscape, (2) to discuss its epistemological (epistemology is
Introduction about gaining valid knowledge) consequences, and (3) to use this theory as
The north-west European delta metropolitan area includes the Ruhr area a tool to point out fallacious claims and sharpen problem perceptions in dis-
in Germany, the biggest part of the Netherlands, and the north-western part courses about the Deltametropole.
of Belgium (I will refer to this area as the Deltametropole). In this region, ap- For the sake of clarity, the theory will be posed first, and defended later.
proximately twenty million people live in a relatively small area. Landscapes In section two, I will explain a threefold ontology of landscape. The next sec-
in the Deltametropole have changed dramatically over recent decades. Gen- tion is about the accompanying epistemology. In section four, the philosoph-
erally, social processes develop more rapidly, mainly influenced by the mo- ical background will be briefly described. The landscape theory will be ap-
mentum of economic growth, technological achievements and the ever-in- plied to disentangle complicated discourses about Deltametropolitan land-
creasing flood of information (Harvey 1989; Castells 2000). The result is that scapes in section five.
much has changed spatially.
The world of research and policy making focuses a great deal of attention A threefold ontology of landscape
on the quality of Deltametropolitan landscapes (e.g. Zoest, 1994; Mansvelt & We can divide reality into three modes of reality: physical reality, social re-
Lubbe, 1999), although the term evokes much ambiguity. It is a collective ality and inner reality (e.g. Habermas, 1984; Störig, 1990a). Phenomena in
term that recurs in studies that embrace a large variation of aspects of inter- these modes of reality are different with regard to their existence.
est, like ecological quality, economic quality or aesthetic quality. Moreover, Phenomena in physical reality are made of matter. The existence of phe-
the way in which quality is expressed also differs: scientists try to come up nomena in physical reality is objective, in the sense indicated by Searle (Sear-
with measurable quantities (e.g. the magazine ‘environmental quality’), poli- le, 2000): the existence of objective phenomena does not depend on an in-
cy makers and planners with norms (e.g. Giorgis, 1995; Ministerie van Volks- dividual subject’s desires, moods, intentions of awareness. Therefore, only one
huisvesting en Ruimtelijke Ordening, 2001; Nohl, 2001), and among citizens, physical reality exists. For example, trees or rocks exist, whether I am aware of
quality is a matter of worthwhile experience. them or not, whether I like them or not.

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 Social reality consists of implicit or explicit rules, regulating the behaviour Mindscape is the landscape as people experience it and one that is very
of people belonging to the group to which these rules apply. For example, in personal in meaning. It is the landscape produced by imagination and mean-
many societies it is forbidden to cut a tree growing at a public place, without ing-giving processes. Mindscape is a system of essentially individual values,
official permission. These rules are constituted by, and expressions of, power. judgements, feelings and meanings that are related to the landscape. It ex-
Without power, rules don’t make any sense; one can just cut the tree without ists in the minds of individuals.
any consequences. Social reality is intersubjective, that is, it is created be-
tween subjects forming social groups. Because many different groups exist, Epistemology: truth, justness and truthfulness
many different social realities exist. An individual can be a member of many How can we gather knowledge and when is this knowledge valid? This is
groups on different scales, involuntary or voluntary. For example, a person the domain of epistemology. Habermas makes a distinction between three
be a state citizen of the Netherlands, by birth, and be forced to respect the of- fundamentally different validity claims (Habermas, 1984). Statements are
ficial laws. The same person can be a member of the local skateboarders-cul- true if they correspond with an objective state of affairs (e.g. it is true that wa-
ture, and take over the habits that organise the kinds of clothes to wear. ter runs from up to down). Statements are just if they correspond with or fit in
Inner reality is constituted by consciousness or states of mind. For exam- with norms that groups of people follow (e.g. it is just not to pollute water in
ple, the experience or imagination of a tree and the associations it involves. our community). Statements are truthful if they correspond with the con-
Inner reality is subjective, it exists in the minds of subjects only. The number tents of consciousness of the subject: all that occurs in the conscious mind,
of inner realities is exactly the same as the number of conscious subjects in the domain of the thoughts, wishes, intentions, desires and feelings (e.g. it is
the world, since inner reality is the product of consciousness. truthful that I find water fascinating).
Landscape appears in these realities as three different phenomena, which These validity claims correspond with the three modes of reality. Knowl-
I will call matterscape, powerscape and mindscape. edge about the landscape as it appears in physical reality is valid if true,
Mattercape is the landscape in physical reality. We perceive this land- knowledge about the landscape as it appears in social reality is valid if just,
scape as a material reality, described as a system of facts and laws of nature. and knowledge about the landscape is valid if truthful. Hence, the epistemo-
It is the landscape in which one can walk about in, for instance, get wet in logical correlates of matterscape, powerscape and mindscape can be called
and fall down on the ground. the true landscape, the just landscape and the truthful landscape, respec-
Powerscape is the landscape in which we act according to specific norms. tively.
Powerscape is produced in society as a system of norms and objectives. These Scientific knowledge creating the matterscape image is gathered by dis-
norms and objectives are sometimes clearly formulated in the form of laws, ciplines investigating the external nature, like ecology, geology, hydrology,
rules and regulations, and (government) plans, and are sometimes embod- soil science and environmental science. The facts and laws that describe the
ied in customs and traditions. Powerscape is a system of norms that regulates true landscape apply to everyone. Naturally, there can be disagreement as to
how members of a particular society are required to behave with respect to whether a certain assumption is true or not. Many modern epistemologists ar-
the landscape. rive at convincing conclusions that the truth is essentially unknown, following

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 the ground-breaking epistemological theories of Kuhn (1970) and Feyer- Table 1: A threefold theory of landscape
abend (1975). Moreover, a basic perspective underlying postmodern thought landscape phenomenon matterscape powerscape mindscape
is the assumption that all true claims are human constructions, and there- mode of reality physical reality social reality inner reality
fore include historically developed conditions and contingent propositions. In validity claim true just truthful
philosophical terms, epistemological objectivity does not follow from onto- science natural sciences social sciences ‘experience sciences’
logical objectivity (Searle, 2000). This however does not mean that the truth,
constructed or not, applies to everyone. If it is true that water flows down- Table 1 may create the misconception that social scientists and ‘experi-
wards, then it is true for everyone regardless of what an individual thinks. ence scientists’ are not involved with the truth but with the just and the truth-
Scientific knowledge creating the powerscape image comes from disci- ful, respectively. This is not the case: they, like all scientists, also seek the truth,
plines involved in research into social reality, such as sociology, social geog- but not the truth about landscape.
raphy, ethics and economics. These disciplines gather knowledge about the When sociologists investigate the way in which a group of people deals
norms and interests that connect different groups of people to the landscape, with the landscape, they focus on the group of people and not on measure-
and the accompanying social processes that often have to do with spatial in- ments of the landscape. A sociologist attempts to get to the bottom of the
tervention. The norms that shape the just landscape are not universal: what truth about the group of people. Within this group powerscape appears as a
one group of people thinks is just can differ from the opinion of another system of norms. The scientist who registers the norms of an organisation
group. Different systems of norms exist alongside one another, like rough with respect to the landscape, expounds about powerscape as constructed by
camping is allowed in the one country and not in the other. this particular group of people.
Scientific knowledge creating the mindscape image is found in disciplines Like a sociologist, an ‘experience scientist’ (e.g. an environmental psy-
involved with the inner world, such as environmental psychology and human chologist) would not assess the landscape, but the experiences of people. The
geography, which I would like to call ‘experience sciences’. These disciplines environmental psychologist investigates the truth of the inner-self, the con-
investigate how people experience landscapes and what these landscapes tent of the person’s consciousness. Mindscape is manifested through the ex-
mean to people. Values that people attach to the landscape are only appli- periences of the person. The environmental psychologist investigating a per-
cable to the individuals themselves, though different individuals can have son’s experiences of the landscape, therefore, mindscape as that person con-
similar preferences, or they can be influenced by images that are socially ac- structs it. So, social scientists and ‘experience scientists’ derive their answers
quired. It can be that almost all people have a strong appreciation of land- from groups of people or individuals and not from landscapes, and are thus
scapes with water, but that does not stop an individual from perceiving them not primarily concerned with matterscape, though they are still concerned
as not beautiful: the criterion for judgement of this kind is whether it corre- with the truth.
sponds with the inner convictions of the individual that expresses an opinion, We can use the three phenomena to describe every landscape or ele-
and not whether it is in agreement with the majority. Table 1 is a summary ment of landscape, the descriptions being non-transferable from one to the
of the basic properties of the three phenomena of landscape. other in any logical way. For instance, in matterscape, a road can be described

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 as a strip of concrete or asphalt of a certain thickness; in powerscape as a calls his differentiable provinces the first, most universal and natural subdi-
place where rules apply; and in mindscape as a phenomenon that one can ei- vision of the objects of human understanding, entirely different and separa-
ther consider as unsightly or beautiful. A garden in matterscape has a certain ble from each other (Locke, 1959). In other words: knowledge about the one
size, while in powerscape it is a piece of private terrain where access is denied domain says nothing about the other domains, for instance, no norms can
to just any and everybody, and in mindscape it is a place that people have be derived from facts. People can let their thoughts shed light on the things
feelings about and where they can let their imagination run free to their themselves (physica), on their own actions (practica) and on the signs by
heart’s content. which thoughts and emotions are made inherent (semioitike).
More suitable everyday terms are those of the landscape as object, the In his book ‘a treatise of human nature’ Hume adopts this tripartite ap-
landscape as organisation and the landscape as story. Although these terms proach: the titles of the three parts of the book being ‘of the understanding’,
are less precise philosophically than matterscape, powerscape and mind- ‘of morals’ and ‘of the passions’ (Hume, 1968). This tripartite approach is also
scape, or the true, just and truthful landscape, they satisfactorily overlie the the basis of Kant’s ambitious and influential life work, the three ‘critiques’. The
essence. The presented landscape theory builds on a long tradition of question Kant asks himself is how do we build an image of the world (Störig,
thought in western philosophy, which will be summarised in the next sec- 1990b). He looks for the answers in the ‘critique of pure reason’, about know-
tion. ing, the ‘critique of practical reason’, about acting, and the ‘critique of judge-
ment’, (it is about aesthetic judgements), about feelings and imagination.
Philosophical background In Western culture this tripartition has also got empirical backing.
From time immemorial, man had been able to discern and differentiate Dumézil studied many myths in several Indo-European cultures and discov-
three capacities: (1) to think and to learn, (2) to want and to act, and (3) to ered they were remarkably and unequivocally similar in structure (Dumézil,
feel and to imagine (Störig, 1990b). These capacities can be seen as three ba- 1958). We could call these structures fundamental principles in a culture: it
sic attitudes of our human psyche when confronted with phenomena (Störig, is after all reasonable to assume that myths reflect the fundamental struc-
1990b). tures of a culture (Tiryakan, 1980). The first principle is the production of
The first philosopher to elucidate these three capacities was Plato, from whose goods, at the core of which is well-being in relation to the physical surround-
ideas three main themes can be derived: the logos (reason), the concept of the ings: the farmer being the archetype. The second principle is maintaining or-
true reality (Bierens de Haan, 1954), the ethos (morality), actions based on ideals der of the mutual relationships between people, steered by management and
of the good, and the pathos (love), perception of beauty by means of love. For in- legal systems: the soldier being the archetype. The third principal is giving
stance, in his principal work ‘the state’ and in ‘Phaedrus’, thought, will and desire meaning to the world around us, the archetype of which is the shaman or
are distinguished in man’s soul (Störig, 1990a; Vries, 1957). Although ethics and priest (Dumézil, 1958). It is plausible that these principles prevailing in all
morals form the framework of his thoughts, Plato says that every theme demands Indo-European cultures have been in existence for ages. After all thousands
an independent understanding of it (Bierens de Haan, 1954). of years ago the original culture split up and became diversified.
Locke is much more explicit about the independence of the capacities. He

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 Table 2: Three human capacities ways), and under ground building (e.g., industries, shopping centres). Thus,
Habermas Plato Locke Hume Kant Dumézil the density discourse focuses on matterscape.
truth logos physica under- pure reason farmer Is Deltametropolitan matterscape too dense? Absolutely not: if Dutch
true standing people would live in New York density, only a very small part of the Nether-
justness ethos practica morals practical soldier lands would have been occupied. All land use claims could be easily met.
good reason The density problem is primarily a mindscape problem: people experience the
truthfulness pathos semeiotike passions judgement priest landscape as too dense.
beautiful The problem with the multiple land use strategy exclusively focussing on
matterscape is that, without research, nobody can know if these expensive so-
called solutions will ever work. Of course, technical solutions can offer a more
Table 2 presents a comparison of the terms of the different authors. Al- efficiently organised use of space. But maybe, people will experience the
though there could be a shift of emphasis here and there, a common line is landscape even as more dense.
not difficult to see. The thread is that man has disposal over three capacities
or attitudes, in which the world appears as three different phenomena. In The landscape beauty discourse
the next section the theory will be applied to discourses concerning the land- As stated in the introduction, landscapes in the Deltametropole are
scape of the Deltametropole. changing fast and in some cases dramatically. More and more space outside
the cities is being used for buildings and much space is being taken up for
all sorts of infrastructural facilities. Improvements in agricultural efficiency
Landscape discourses have changed the face of the countryside, especially since the Second World
War. Large areas are being claimed by nature development. Plans for chang-
The density discourse ing water management are made, in anticipation of the affects of global cli-
The Deltametropole is intensively occupied with people and their activi- mate change predictions. Much of these spatial transformations – some dras-
ties. A few years ago, the Dutch minister responsible for spatial planning put tic, some less drastic in nature – are taking place in the most Western coun-
all future claims for housing, water-management, nature development, in- tries of the world. These processes are becoming more and more unpre-
dustrial sites, office buildings, etc. together, and concluded that the Nether- dictable. Global irrational powers can radically change entire regions in a
lands has a lack of space to respond to these claims. Multiple land use was short space of time (Castells, 2000). For instance, a major international com-
introduced as a strategy to tackle the related problems. The central idea is to pany can decide to erect an enormous office building in a certain region.
use the same place for a multitude of purposes: multifunctional. The multiple Generally, many of these changes are largely rated as negative: people
land use research program and debates concentrate mainly on technical so- find that they detract from the beauty of the landscape (Nohl, 2001). ‘At the
lutions, like using the third dimension (e.g., building offices crossing high- turn of the millennium it is probably safe to say that the masses of the West-

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 ern world are emerging from concerns with standards of living to confront culture in mindscape is relatively independent of agriculture in matterscape:
both global and private issues of environmental quality, says Porteous’ (Por- the images of people don’t necessarily represent the properties of modern
teous, 1996). This is especially the case in the Deltametropole: many people agriculture, they are produced in romantic discourses. Many problems in
feel a lack of landscape beauty, and a loss of landscape identity. deltametropolitan areas are mindscape problems: therefore, the only way to
The main policy strategy is to develop norms for protecting landscapes solve these problems properly is by using knowledge about mindscape. If so-
that are thought to be beautiful, like natural and historical places. In this lutions for mindscape problems are assigned to matterscape or powerscape
case, a mindscape problem is ought to be solved with a powerscape solu- without any reflection, it is unknown if they will work. Policy-makers building
tion. One of the problems is that many opportunities to enhance landscape on these fallacious perceptions are just gambling.
beauty, e.g. by making new businessparks beautiful, don’t get much atten- At many occasions when I presented this landscape theory I was asked
tion. whether we can know if this theory is true or not. The answer is simple and
may be disappointing for some: we will never know. As argued in section
The intensive agriculture discourse three, I don’t believe it is possible at all to prove a theory is true or not, re-
Generally, the agricultural use in the Rhine metropolitan area is highly in- gardless which theory. Every theory is a product of human imagination, a way
tensified, creating problems like pollution and bad smells. A strategy to solve of looking at things. For example, the ecosystem-theory (or maybe better,
these problems, is to develop industrial agroproduction parks, concentrating the various versions of it) is a way of looking at nature, relations between
all kinds of agriculture in one spot, making use of ultramodern technologies dead and living nature, and relations between species. As long as it helps or-
(Alterra, 2000). A proposal to do so met furious opposition. The idea behind ganising empirical knowledge, and predicting future events, the theory makes
the opposition is that it is disgusting to treat animals as industrial input. The sense. But we never will be able to prove the ecosystem-theory itself, since it
strange thing is that contemporary agriculture in this area is already high- is an abstract model. I cannot defend the presented landscape theory as be-
technology industrialised business, so the proposal for agroproduction parks ing true. Instead, I can defend it as making sense and being useful, as it helps
is just makes this character explicit. This is a mindscape problem. Many peo- to sharpen problem perception in complicated situations.
ple have a romantic image of agriculture, an image that doesn’t represent
modern agriculture anymore.

Conclusion
In the perceptions of the three mentioned problems, a general miscon-
ception is to assign a solution to a certain landscape phenomenon, while
the problem exists in another landscape phenomenon, as is the case in the
density and the landscape beauty discourse. Another problem is that each
phenomenon has its own dynamics. The agriculture case showed that agri-

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 References
Kuhn, T.S. 1970. The structure of scientific revolu-
Leadership literacy:
Alterra, 2000. Kubieke landschappen kennen geen
grenzen. In: Alterra Jaarboek. Alterra, Wageningen.
Bierens de Haan, J.D., 1954. Plato’s levensleer: lo-
tions. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago,
London.
Locke, J., 1959 (1690). An essay concerning human
Public interest in land-use
gos, ethos, pathos. De Erven F. Bohn nv, Haarlem.
Castells, M., 2000. The rise of the network society:
the information age: economy, society and culture.
understanding 2. Dover Publications Inc., New
York. governance
Blackwell Publishers, Oxford. Mansveld, J.D. and M.J. van de Lubbe, 1999.
Dumézil, G., 1958. L’ideologie tripartie des Indo-Eu- Checklist for sustainable landscape management.
ropeéns. Latomus, revue d’études Latines Bruxelles Elsevier, Amsterdam. David S. Fushtey and Moura Quayle
31. Ministerie van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke
Feyerabend, P., 1975. Against method: outline of an Ordening en Milieu, 2001. Ruimte maken, Governance Counsel, University of British Columbia
anarchistic theory of knowledge. New Left Books, ruimte delen: Vijfde nota ruimtelijke ordening
Vancouver, Canada
London. 2000/2020. Ministerie van VROM, Den Haag.
Giorgis, S., 1995. Rural landscapes in Europe: princi- Nohl, W., 2001. Sustainable landscape use and aes- [email protected], [email protected]
ples for creation and management. Council of Eu- thetic perception: preliminaly reflections on future
rope, Strasbourg. landscape aesthetics. Landscape and Urban Plan-
Habermas, J., 1984. The theory of communicative ning 54, 223-237.
action I: reason and the rationalization of society. Porteous, J.D., 1996. Environmental aesthetics:
Heinemann, London. ideas, politics and planning. Routledge, London.
Harvey, D., 1989. The condition of postmodernity: Searle, J.R., 2000. Consciousness. Annual Review of Introduction
an inquiry into the origins of cultural change. Neuroscience 23, 557-578.
Blackwell, Oxford. Störig, H.J., 1990a. Geschiedenis van de filosofie 1. When we step outside it is what we see, smell, hear, feel, and engage
Hume, D., 1968 (1739). A treatise of human nature: Het Spectrum: Utrecht. everyday: the metropolitan landscape. It is rough and refined. As members
being an attempt to introduce the experimental Störig, H.J., 1990b. Geschiedenis van de filosofie 2.
method of reasoning into moral subjects. At the Het Spectrum: Utrecht. of the wise species, we occasionally turn to reflect on our environment, both
Tiryakan, E.A., 1980. The mythologist and the soci-
Clarendom Press, Oxford.
ologist. Mankind Quaterly 21, 53-70.
built and natural, and the theatre of daily journeys. We increasingly speak of
governance systems at work behind the scenes. Perhaps we need to step
backstage on occasion. Do those who make decisions understand basic terms
of reference about good governance? Are these decisions reflected in our
landscapes?
Words. Bits of data. Social constructs. Yet in governance, a process
which has profound effects on many lives and systems, some words are com-
monly used but not so commonly understood. An important element of any
contract or legislation is the interpretation section, yet there has been little
provided for decision-makers in interpreting the very approach to governance
itself. Consider this paper as a few thoughts on how to help people get along.
Examples of words which are much used, sometimes criticized and abused,
which will be addressed in this paper, include leadership, governance, public

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 interest, deliberative, triangulation, fairness, reasonableness, and consensus. aboriginal right, not preference; CityPlan, a local community planning exer-
Leadership illiteracy is a problem in our larger global village, but we are cise which was an innovative staff initiative which was lost in mistrust, con-
sometimes blind to the problems in our council chambers and boardrooms. frontation and frustration when filtered up through Council, and; even at
This paper was inspired through a pattern of recent decisions in British Co- the smallest level of community, strata-property councils are reduced to ar-
lumbia which raise the question of leadership literacy at several levels. There guing over access to information and personal interests, not community prin-
was no shortage of scientific and contextual information; there was no short- ciples. On the other hand, hallmarks of leadership literacy are principled
age of due process and public relations, and even good intentions. In each processes, balanced regulations and organizational structures, and increased
case there seemed to be judgment skills applied. Yet such skills had been de- standards of strategic understanding through education.
veloped largely in the hurdy-gurdy of individual stress-filled lives, specialized Leadership literacy is the front end of the larger decision-making process.
experience and eagerness to get to a solution. If decisions are “in the public interest” and the decision-maker does not un-
In the province of British Columbia alone, the authority for the exercise of derstand this concept, it is unlikely that the decisions will stand up to scruti-
discretion in the public interest related to metropolitan landscapes lies with ny. Leaders of communities, on the other hand, ought to be able to separate
a variety of ordinary people. From elected members of the legislative assem- language of worth and principles, from that of mere baffle-gab, to avoid liv-
bly, to deputy ministers employed in civil service, to appointed regulatory of- ing in their own little wonderlands (Locke, 1690; Carroll, 1872). More signif-
ficers, to local government councilors elected from the private sector, to com- icantly, when the values behind the words become lost or indistinct, the re-
missions and boards appointed from community leaders of diverse back- sults can be tragic to the metropolitan landscape. We need to choose our
grounds, and many more strata-council directors, how many have studied, or words carefully, and help each other understand.
even thought about, leadership literacy? A call for leadership literacy in governance is not to say that there is a pre-
The decision pattern is woven of many jurisdictions. The only common el- vailing illiteracy in all matters of governance. Many people have varying de-
ement is that people are expected to make policy and decisions based on grees of expertise and understanding about some or many aspects. Yet most
science, and economics, and personal experience, but too rarely from an un- are deficient in some areas – of particular concern is the lack of understand-
derstanding of the public interest. There is no legacy of good precedent, be- ing basic values of the public interest, and of frameworks which promote trust
cause senior players cannot leave a legacy of matters of which they know not. and predictability, not merely efficient decisions. Collectively these appear
The lack of leadership literacy of principles leads to deficient strategic to point to a lack of understanding about the concept of public interest.
processes, naïve organizational structures, and wasteful regulations. Recent
examples in our little corner of the world include a federal regulation for an Conversations: no common sense
arbitrary, and zero-tolerance, no-build zone around creeks and streams; the What is the language of common understanding here? Eastern or West-
decentralization of the provincial Agricultural Land Commission, after cele- ern? Religious or agnostic? Scientific or literary? Of wealth or poverty? With
brating twenty-five years in stewardship of an Agricultural Land Reserve rep- apologies to those of other cultures and languages, this is a start to appreci-
resenting less than 3% of the province; a shotgun referendum on matters of ate a few words in English.

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 There is no common sense. It takes work. Local authorities will not intu- and “mobility”. The humanist raised “fanaticism”, “indifference”, “memory”,
itively possess a common sense of their constituents and public obligations, “peace” and “children”. An executive from a developing nation thought of
without focused and continuing education. For that matter, there is no com- “techno-ubiquity”, “info-glut”, “digital divide”, “cyber-war” and “non-linear”.
mon sense in matters of public policy, apart from concepts of change, com- The recording artist spoke of “the commons”, “justice”, “honour”, “shame”,
plexity and diversity. We come from different genes, different cultures, differ- and constant negotiation or “unfinishedness” (WEF, 2001).
ent value systems, different experiences, different education. All we can try to The challenge of leadership literacy is to build at least some common con-
do is operate from a level of learned understanding, beginning with basic text for understanding among diverse dialects, even within the English lan-
terms of reference and frameworks. guage, and to help lift barriers to conversation, and communication.
Good advice is to assume nothing. In building the planned community
of Reston, Va. in the 1970s New Town era, one of the most important deci- Why?
sions Mr. Simon made was to retain, even before planners, a series of differ- We tend not to stand by when urban centres decay or engineering wrecks
ent people each of whom could talk the language of one group of con- natural environments, but respond with an intellectual force to do things bet-
stituents – farmers, public service personnel, investment bankers, and plan- ter. This energy, twinned with the happy convergence of information tech-
ning and design consultants – to communicate a clear statement of an inte- nology over the past two decades, addressed tensions among diverse human
grated vision (Simon, 2002). And that was with constituents who were all and natural conditions. The potential for the rising tide of knowledge to help
from the same area, speaking the same language. us all gets better every day, with exciting concepts of distributed intelligence
What thoughts are behind those preoccupied faces in your board rooms and modeling (Lane, 1997; National Science Foundation, 1998; Hammond,
or council-chambers? Background circumstances cloud listening: the effect of 2000) and just the incredible access to the quantity and quality of material
breakfast, the boss and Baghdad. Yet studies indicate that often a more ba- on the world-wide web (Google, 2002). Now even lawyers are painfully fa-
sic resistance to objective governance exists due to frustration from lack of miliar with concepts of land-use management and engineers are advocates
good information, lack of understanding of the importance of values or prin- of sustainability. Most politicians have felt relief through better information
ciples (including long-term benefits to time and risk management), and, per- in the heat of turf wars over natural or urban landscapes, and industry fosters
haps in some cases, a resistance from just feeling being left out of the loop, new realms of information and change managers.
or even from a fear of making binding decisions at all. For the first time ever, perhaps we can shift from a quest for knowledge,
Yet apart from circumstances and governance objectivity, what about to a quest for judgment. A shift from the gathering of information, to the abil-
background values? What if you had an international business person, a hu- ity to use that information. A shift in focus from “what” and “how”, to “why”.
manist, a new Canadian or American, and an artist on a council and assumed Have our decision-making frameworks and judgment skills kept pace with
a common sense? Such a group was each asked for the five words considered the what and how of information? Effective decisions avoid the tremendous
to have the greatest impact on others’ lives. The corporate strategist spoke waste of time and effort in challenging, recriminations, and correcting mis-
of “profitability”, “competitive advantage”, “intellectual capital”, “alignment”, takes. There are courses and programs which deal with the tools of leader-

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 ship, and many which address the substantive decisions of leadership, but Leadership literacy in governance: Vocabulary
rare are the programs which try to mitigate the disconnect behind under-
standing the basic terms of reference and values in leadership, and the acts Leadership
of governance. Leadership is under scrutiny. Business meltdowns and global governance
Think about a few trends which reflect our global future: issues only underscore the need to remember first principles and clarify our
(1) nations will increasingly have a more diversified cultural mix due to ever more demanding expectations of how we can get along. The challenge
immigration patterns and needs (Trinity Western, 2001; Baxter, 2001); used to be to help knowledge-workers think of themselves as business execu-
(2) possibly as a result, a shift away from national, and toward civic or lo- tives: those who strategically plan and use information to make decisions
cal patriotism (WEF, 2002; Orr, 1992); which affect the work or products of others. Yet do all those who counsel
(3) a continuation, if not escalation, of land-use conflicts whether in in- others, and those who sit on boards and commissions as appointees, and
creasingly urban areas, or with respect to resource, recreational, historical, those who sit in judgment of regulations as employees, and those who sit on
environmental or aboriginal title; and councils and legislatures as elected representatives, see themselves as “exec-
(4) an increasing need for more people to make more decisions which re- utives”, let alone leaders? The word “executive” imparts a predisposition for
spond to an increasingly complex set of cultural and conflicts-of interests. efficiency and short-term economic return, yet even corporate governance dis-
These trends may vary depending upon national and regional perspec- cussions turn to leadership to express essential qualities of building trust
tives. The concern is that more and more people are called upon to make and integrity, process values of being candid, open, consistent and inspiring,
more profound decisions without a principled foundation. We can see the and personal characteristics of passion, courage, patience, and reliability. If
convergence of the need for more people to make decisions, and a trend to executives strategically manage, leaders dream with a deadline (O’Toole,
download costs of government, and therefore decision-making responsibility, 2002; Bennis ,2001).
to the local level, Add an amazing dose of complexity as technology increas- Leadership does not necessarily equate with “good leadership”. Leader-
es access to good information. The result is that risk/success models tend to ship does not imply a positive outcome but the ability to influence others pos-
blur. No longer do we consider just ecosystem risk-management, or econom- itively or negatively. “Positive” is also relative to your terms of reference –
ic risk-management, but all of the above. With the theatre of operations for there will be those who hold that leadership requires focus on special inter-
land-use decisions being downloaded to the local level, and with the in- ests, whether in business or politics, or for social or environmental concerns.
creasing demands and expectations of a diverse community and decision- Leadership in governance of a public interest, on the other hand, or rather
makers relying on limited resources, there is even more at stake and more good leadership, should focus on the big picture of what is best in the larger
need to make principled decisions, the first time. community interest. This involves a more complicated appreciation of bal-
ance.
One priority of leaders is learning, with a view to what should be, not
what is. Leaders take responsibility for continually expanding their capabili-

44 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 45

 ties and that of others in their organizations to understand complexity, clari- ally through public or private constitutions;
fy vision and improve shared mental models (Senge, 1990). Leadership is (3) intelligence, or applied values, principles and knowledge expressed
rarely intuitive, but rather is developed through effort as a learned set of skills through decisions; and,
and understanding (Goleman et.al., 2002). (4) frameworks, as the organizing systems for exercising authority (and
Leadership requires learning about others’ learning. Leaders must under- fighting about it afterwards), including information, communication,
stand the different styles and processes for learning among different individ- compliance, evaluation and accountability loops.
uals. A single memo or a one-time barrage of new and conceptual informa- If you are sitting down, that patch of land under your chair is subject to
tion will be of little lasting educational effect for most people. There are those international conventions; national laws; regional (state or provincial) laws;
with photographic memory, and those with inspired attention, but the rest local or community laws and bylaws; and may attract the attention of busi-
of us tend to more timeless limitations of, we hear and we forget, we see and ness associations, special-interest associations or neighbourhood association
we believe, we do and we understand, and then we forget and start over bylaws; corporate or strata property bylaws, in addition to leasehold or other
(K’ung fu Tze, 500 BC; Gardner, 1983). contractual conditions. This invisible and often tangled web of abstract con-
cepts is intended to help people get along, living together in communities
Governance (Lai, 1988).
Governance is the exercise of authority within an organization. Gover- One term of reference worth understanding is “constating documents”.
nance in the context of metropolitan landscapes is how people get along in Constating documents are those which crystallize elements of governance re-
a public sense of community. lated to power. These documents include constitutions, legislation, and by-
Governance work tends to be compartmentalized as private sector, or cor- laws. The best of such documents have been appreciated as “magnificent
porate governance; public sector governance, and; everything else, as the inventions which seek to balance diverse opinions with organized effective-
third sector. Many principles and best practices cut across sectors, for exam- ness” (FEIMDC, 2001).
ple time and cost effectiveness. A major distinction, however, is the concept
of the public interest in decision-making in public governance. Public Interest
Governance analysis generally includes concepts of distributed power or Metropolitan landscapes are in our public realm. It’s a group thing. Yet
authority, born of knowledge and values, and living through decision-mak- those who make decisions about our public realm are politicians, business
ing frameworks. Unfortunately there are no standardized terms of reference people, and advocates. They have political interests, personal interests, busi-
(although the International Standards Organization is thinking about it), and ness interests and special interests. How many of them have sat down and
this is not the place for a more detailed review other than to note the follow- studied the public interest? How it differs? What it means? Apart from this
ing as generally accepted components: general perspective, a more specific trigger for the need to define public in-
(1) power, either from might or collective will; terest is the use of the phrase, or derivative expressions, in legislation. In
(2) authority, the right to exercise power as granted or delegated, gener- British Columbia, a “public-interest” test is in statutes from agricultural lands,

46 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 47

 to environmental assessment, land-title, local government legislation, traded with the responsibility of decision-making in the public interest. It is impor-
securities and even motor-vehicle regulation. Yet its scope and even parame- tant for the rest of us. Although “public interest” is used in university pro-
ters are rarely defined or even outlined, and the web of authority to exercise grams, legal rights, institutes and debates, there is a distressing lack of at-
legislated discretion in the public interest further falls to a variety of ordi- tempts to define the term itself.
nary people, from appointed regulatory officers, to a deputy ministers em- A seedling definition of the public interest for leadership decisions in
ployed in the civil service, to local government councils elected from the pri- land-use governance was proposed in an earlier paper (Fushtey, 2002).
vate sector, to commissions and boards appointed from community leaders of Gleaned from literature and case-law, and floor burns on boards and councils
diverse backgrounds. and commissions, that work proposed that any use of “public interest” in pub-
First, what it is not. The public interest in governance is not merely, lic policy should proceed only on an informed understanding of certain at-
(a) the public interest in what Shania Twain wore to the Super Bowl; tributes. These are that the interest is alive and evolving; balanced; fair; in-
(b) the business interest in the public benefits of economic growth; formed; inter-jurisdictional; long-term; pluralistic; positive; reasonable; re-
(c) the special interests of industry, environmental or social justice groups, spectful; and accountable.
nor Many of these attributes may seem to be self-evident. However each year
(d) the public service, particularly when public service operates accord- important decisions are made in ignorance of, or flaunting, such principles.
ing to the business rules of their employer, which may or may not have A checklist can both expedite future decisions by avoiding uncertainty over
anything to do with the public interest. basic concepts, and avoiding revisiting less-informed decisions.

The public interest is, foremost, a balance of all of the above. The big Leadership literacy in governance: Grammar
problem is when people equate “public interest” with “common sense”. Sim- If part of literacy is understanding the terms of reference, another part is
ple, obvious and wrong. They confuse a self-evident “public interest” with “my understanding how they are used together. This section provides examples
public interest”, and “common sense” is assumed to be “common to those of techniques which promote informed and fair decision-making, and then
who agree with my sense”. provides examples of governance models, three public and one hybrid, at dif-
We do seem to be hammering out a better definition of public interest in ferent scales of land-use.
response to the challenges and opportunities presented by technology and The pursuit of informed decisions received a giant boost with information
the information age. technology. A few concepts, nothing really new, are flagged here for us to re-
Can we define something as complex as the public interest? With direct- member, and to track developments, for benefits to informed decision-making:
ed study we can place research instruments on Mars, and better educate busi-
ness professionals to succeed in global markets. We have tackled and defined Deliberative Polls
“sustainability”. If we can do all that, we also can begin to understand bet- Deliberative polling is a consultation process with an information -level-
ter what the public interest means. It is important for those who are charged ing component: a representative group of people are presented with all sides

48 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 49

 of an issue, allowed to put questions to experts and debate amongst them- (a) there is an need to respect and protect minority rights
selves, before being asked to cast considered votes on the matter (Economist (b) the fulfillment of public functions ought to be undertaken in a man-
1998). In a public utility commission’s consultations, in a nice hotel for a ner which does not undermine public trust and confidence, and
weekend, the invitees worked in small groups with trained chairmen. Skepti- (c) we try to establish safeguards in law against the “tyranny of the ma-
cism gave way to admiration. The results have been described as “extraordi- jority.”
nary”, with participants “genuinely enthralled” with the opportunity, and re-
sponded with “prodigious” attention spans. (Economist, 1998, p. 31). Referenda may work for questions of preference or taste. Common exam-
ples are, “should this budget be allocated here or there”. A more recent situ-
Deliberative participation ation in California allowed voters to decide whether to stay the course for two
Two generations of work in public participation processes have seen the years looking at a bankrupt state, or change horses in mid-stream. This has
refinement of both the processes and the need for information leveling, and also been criticized as undermining the representational system of gover-
expectation management. The City of Vancouver mounted an impressive City nance, as time and money spent on campaigning and government transition
Plan process in the mid-1990s which left as a legacy, due to workshops and could arguably be better spent on public policy questions – and the timing of
integrated lectures and information sessions, a constituency which was much such a referendum could also directly or indirectly affect rights due to the
more informed about the causes, effects and options of urban decision-mak- deferral of public policy questions under consideration.
ing. This legacy persists today in the sophisticated decisions endorsed by the The policies and protocols of using referenda should provide for informed
Vancouver public in matters of transportation and social compassion. Yet in decision-making in a cost-effective and responsible way. Unless referenda
budget cuts eliminating the “continuing” education of citizens involved in questions are clear and unambiguous, and the process is coupled with an
public participation, will we see a return to expressions of parochial, narrow educational function and a deliberative framework for a serious examination
special interests from citizens in lip-service consultative processes? of the pros and cons of a question, the results are not informed responses.

Referenda Triangulation
Think of a referendum as a super poll, which is unfortunately, in North Amer- Triangulate information. We can never have perfect information, but at
ica, often the antithesis of deliberative. Principles for the use of referenda also least by increasing the sources there is a greater likelihood that the real an-
seem to be imperfectly understood. swer lies somewhere between the points. Triangulation is the evolution from
For example, how can the public interest be served by a referenda on matters one, to two, to three (or more) perspectives for decision-making. Decision-
of principle, if the principle involves a minority? This was a hot issue in British Co- makers often rely on information from a single source. Two perspectives are
lumbia recently, regarding the nature of First Nations’ peoples rights to local gov- used in an adversarial or adjudicated process, perhaps due to the courthouse
ernance. Millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of hours were spent be- homily that everyone is lying, the questions are how much and why. With the
cause apparently no-one remembered that our nations are great because, recent benefits of information technology and distributed intelligence, a

50 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 51

 fundamental requirement of every decision in the public interest should be and conflicting (adversarial) presentations of facts? Perhaps the concept of
the need to hear at least three perspectives on a problem peer review was intended to refer those with learning in the skills and judicial
values required, not merely arbitrary citizenship.
Collaboration: Building Consensus Examples include:
An intriguing trend of the past twenty years has been to more consen- (a) trial by one’s peers in a jury at law is being questioned by the time and
sus-based decision-making. One reason has been cost and complexity of dis- cost, and records of decisions overruled on appeal;
pute and risk management processes which are more effective through the (b) professional hearings in which, although the courts have been resist-
co-operative efforts of parties to agree upon process and facts as well as out- ant to interfere with a professional board’s findings of competence or
comes. negligence, the courts are also increasingly aware that understanding
Consensus ad idem. A meeting of the minds. Consensus is a willingness principles of fundamental justice and fairness are not the expertise even
to allow for less than full agreement on all details by all parties, but to pro- of many professionals (Trinity Western 2001);
ceed or be bound by the consent conditions. Frequently, the way to achieve (c) public-sector peer reviews in British Columbia are another example
consensus of outcome is to work up to it, through agreement on information, which can undermine credibility in matters of land-use management,
process and principles. For those involved, a significant value of a contract is when decisions of an administrative manager are reviewed by (i) the man-
often the process itself. ager’s “peers” within the same municipality or collegial group who are
In the context of governance, consensus can required at each stage in a likely already in conflicts of interest due to their work with the munici-
process, for information, principles, rules of procedure, or outcome. The need pality, or (ii) by a council briefed by such peers.
for an organized approach to consensus-building becomes even more impor-
tant to balance increasingly diverse conditions among people from diverse In every case, perhaps better decisions would result not from peers, but
backgrounds. Good examples abound, including the Toowoomba City Coun- from knowledgeable neutrals.
cil mandate: “Being ‘fair dinkum’ and doing the right thing by everyone –
the council, your boss, your fellow workers, the public, the ratepayers, yourself Fairness: Reasonable Apprehension of Bias
and your family.” (Queensland, 2001). There are experts who deal with procedural fairness, and this is not the
place for a more detailed review of processes and systems. However one aspect
Peer Review of fairness may get lost in governance frameworks, and that is whether indi-
Even the application of peer reviews is being reconsidered if in the ab- viduals are in a conflict of interest, or bias, in the exercise of their discretion.
sence of effective (long-term) information and deliberation processes. In- A concern is the reliance on individuals to play multiple roles in decision-
creasingly the process and results of peer reviews lead to questioning whether making. Multiple roles work fine with intelligent, principled individuals with
it is realistic to pull people from separate lives and expect them to sift through a lot of time. By the same token, both elections and jails are unnecessary, if
a barrage of new experiences, new processes, new concepts (often of law), everyone is intelligent and principled. The problem is that pragmatic reali-

52 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 53

 ties of life and work in an increasingly competitive environment require an communities, lives and landscapes in the hands of those who govern us –
element of skepticism in establishing frameworks for effective decisions. The could we not also expect similar accountability? The words “code” and
checks and balances of having different minds involved are required to bal- “ethics” may be seen as influenced by western values or unduly constraining.
ance circumstances of individuals who are new to the job, have inadequate “Principles of conduct” may better respect diversified cultural backgrounds
learning, no time to reflect on the principles, or for any reason are not impar- and focus on a collaborative, objective leveling of understanding in gover-
tial due to a vested background or interest in certain outcomes. Similarly, the nance. On the spectrum of governance documentation, “values” could be
taint of conflict of interest imparts bias when the decision-maker is paid or used to describe fundamental desired qualities, “principles” could be used to
supported by one of the parties, or when then decision-maker both controls describe the application of values in a general way, and “standards” could
the information management and decision-making process. be the application of principles to more specific contexts or circumstances. A
Problem examples include decision-makers within a municipal employ- periodic process of review is important both to refine the statements and to
ment stream, deciding on matters in the public interest when the municipal- build consensus with new players or members, and re-engage more senior
ity is a party to the matter, or others who are asked to wear the hats of both members.
information managers and decision-makers. A little rethinking of organiza- A watch-list is a punch-list of hot topics deserving special monitoring.
tional structures, and leadership literacy education could go a long way to What works or doesn’t – how is it doing? What might be changing –what is
restoring public trust and cost-effectiveness in decision-making. the status? What needs to be refined? turfed? A watch-list of and for the pub-
lic interest which is periodically reviewed will also help community leaders
Going Forward: Guidelines and Watchlists better align expectations and understanding over the long term.
Looking at a metropolitan landscape on the ground, we see the results In an age of increasing need for balanced and effective decisions, public
of demand and compression. Yet increased demand for limited metropolitan governance must be treated as a serious responsibility and learned expertise.
resources only decreases the margin for error in decision-making. Lands re- Consistent and supportive documentation will include constating documents
sources are both scarce and complex. Edge interfaces of systems or commu- which imbed the need for leadership literacy education. Problem-based learn-
nities increase the richness of diversity and aggressive competition. A dy- ing models can be structured as programs for periodic, short sessions to build un-
namic of perceived time constraints increasing pressure and escalating frus- derstanding through exposure to new information, application, and reminders.
tration, results in compressed response time, poor processes or decisions re- The cycles of succession in boards and councils must also be acknowledged
quiring review, and escalating frustration for those involved. through introductory and more advanced streams of governance education.
Looking ahead, two tools could help: (1) statements of values and princi- Leadership literacy in land-use management is one aspect of building a
ples, and (2) watch lists to manage issues and concerns. common understanding through the principled use of terms of reference. It
On the former, the human condition seems to need help in remembering lays some ground-work for better communication and collaboration, and
what ought to be, and thoughtful guidelines are recommended. Religions, the hence better risk and success management.
law and professionals have codes as touchstones for conduct. We place our Challenges to leadership literacy include the diversity of our backgrounds,

54 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 55

 other demands on decision-makers’ time, and even basic resistance to the
concept that leadership is learned, not intuitive. Yet when words are all we
have to understand each other, these challenges are merely opportunities
for success.

References
Baxter, D., 2001. New Economy, New City. In: Van- Google Canada, 2002. www.google.ca . Senge, P.M., 1990. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and
couver Board of Trade. Community Leadership Hammond, R., 2000. Endogenous Transistion Dy- Practice of the Learning Organization. Doubleday,
Summit (November 20, 2001) namics in Corruption: An Agent-based Computer New York.
www.boardoftrade.com Model. Centre on Social and Economic Dynamics Suskind, L., et al., 1999. The Concensus Building
Bennis W., 2001. Define Your Leader. In: World Eco- (Working Paper 19) www.brook.edu. Handbook. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.
nomic Forum. Annual Meeting (January 29, 2001) Lai, T.R., 1988. Law in Urban Design and Planning. The Economist, 16 May 98. Democracy in Texas:
www.weforum.org.site. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York. The Frontier Spirit.
Carroll, L., 1872. Through the Looking Glass, c. VI. Lane, N., 1997. Advancing the Public Interest Supreme Court of Canada 1999. Baker v. Canada
Bloomsbury Publishing, London (2001). through Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence. (Minister of Citizenship). 2 SCR 817 SCC paras 20-
Federal Executive Institute and Management National Science Foundation. www.nsf.gov.og.lpa. 32, and 45-46.
Development Centre (FEIMDC), 2001. In: Locke, J., 1690. Essays on Human Understanding. Supreme Court of Canada, 2001. Trinity Western
Great Leaders for Great Governments. Carroll, R.B. Murray, B., 1998. Does ‘Emotional Intelligence” University, et al v. B.C. College of Teachers, 1 S.C.R.
(ed). US Office of Personnel Management. Matter in the Workplace?. APA Monitor 29-7 772 S.C.C. paras 13-17, 28 and 47.
www.leadership.opm.gov. www.apa.org.monitor; MIT- Harvard Public Disputes Program. 2001,
Fraser Basin Council., 1997-98 & 2001. Annual National Science Foundation, 1998. White Paper: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of
Reports. www.fraserbasin.bc.ca. Advancing the Public Interest through Knowledge Technology. 2001, Boston. www.pon.harvard.edu.
Fisher R. and W. Ury., 1983. Getting to Yes – Nego- and Distributed Intelligence. www4.nationala- World Economic Forum (WEF),. 2002. Defining
tiating Agreement. Penguin Books, New York. cadamies.org.cpsma. Citizenship in an Era of Migration: Where Do We
Fushtey, D.S. and M. Quayle, 2002 Leadership Lit- Orr, D.W., 1992. Ecological Literacy: Education and All Fit In? Annual Meeting 2002, New York.
eracy in Land-use Management, for the ISOMUL In- Transition. State University Press, New York . www.weforum.org.site.
ternational Workshop on Sustainable Land-use O’Toole, J., 2002. Re-evaluating Leadership and World Economic Forum (WEF) 2001: Ishikura, Y,
Planning, Bellingham, Washington (June, 2002), Governance. World Economic Forum (WEF) 2002 Elie Wiesel, Ayisi Makatiani and Brian Eno. Five
under the Collaborative Planning for the Metropoli- Annual Meeting. www.weforum.org.site. Words That Will Have The Greatest Impact on Our
tan Landscape program. Pardy, B., 1996. New Zealand Reflections on Urban Lives. Annual Meeting, 2001, New York. www.wefo-
Gardner, H., 1983. Frames of Mind: Theory of Multi- Regeneration: Public Law and Private Rights. Com- rum.org.site.
ple Intelligences. monwealth Law Conference. Canadian Bar Associa-
Goleman, D., 2002 Working with Emotional Intelli- tion, Vancouver.
gence. Bantam, New York. Queensland Criminal Justice Commission,
Goleman, D, Bovatzis R and McKee., 2002. 2001. The Grassroots of Ethical Conduct: A Guide
A Primal Leadership. Harvard Business School for Local Government Staff and Councilors.
Press, Boston. www.cjc.qld.gov.au.

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 Demands and
problems of
metropolitan
landscapes

58 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 59

 Between two cities: Columbia, only about 4 percent in the year 2000. However, these sectors are
growing much more rapidly than the rest of the BC economy, and are provid-
The ecological footprint of ing a very dynamic new economic base (Schrier et al., 2001). The population
increases that have occurred as a result of these trends have been substantial,
Vancouver and Seattle in and as Gibson suggested years ago, there has been an accompanying

Northwest Washington spillover of urbanization from Vancouver into the Lower Fraser Valley and
across Georgia Strait to Vancouver Island and the adjacent Gulf Islands.
To the south, Seattle has experienced an analogous transformation. Local
Paul Sommers economic history in this metropolitan area has been marked by employment
Center for Urban Simulation and Policy Analysis, Evans School of Public Affairs cycles at The Boeing Company for the last 50 years. A significant downsizing
University of Washington, Seattle, United States of America from 1969-71 plunged the area into a recession. Local leaders banded to-
[email protected] gether and launched efforts to diversify the economy, building up the con-
tainer-based port industry, and related international trade. From the 1980s
forward, several significant high tech sectors also began to grow. Microsoft’s
founders decided to return to their hometown to build a new software com-
pany. Microsoft became a giant in the industry and stimulated formation of
Introduction over 3000 other software enterprises in the area. The Fred Hutchinson Can-
Over a quarter century ago, geographer Edward Gibson warned rural area cer Research Center was established, and launched a research program in
residents on Vancouver Island of significant regional impacts of a proposed partnership with the University of Washington Medical School that gave birth
airport across Georgia Strait on reclaimed land southwest of Vancouver (Gib- to over a hundred biotechnology and biomedical device companies. Like Van-
son, 1976). The idea that this land reclamation and development project couver, the Seattle area has grown in population and it has impacted the
could affect the extent of urbanization and the fate of fishing and forestry in- surrounding region in a variety of ways.
dustries on Vancouver Island was controversial, and many Canadians ignored The purpose of this paper is to review the growth trends in these two
the warning. Since 1976, Vancouver has turned into a dynamic growth engine metro areas, and to examine the impacts and potential impacts of the metro
for British Columbia and all of Canada. Driven by immigration from Hong areas on the region in between – Skagit and Whatcom Counties, a region of-
Kong and elsewhere in Canada, and aided by a technology boom in the late ten designated as Northwest Washington. These counties are predominantly
1990s, Vancouver seemed well on its way to becoming a significant, cosmo- rural in character. Each has one or more substantial small cities along the In-
politan metropolitan center by the end of the 20th century. A report from BC terstate 5, the major north/south highway that links Seattle to the Canadi-
Stats, the province’s statistical agency, notes that advanced technology man- an border and the city of Vancouver. However, the rest of these two counties
ufacturing and service industries are still a small part of total GDP in British is rural, much of it forested and some of it used for agriculture. Population

62 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 63

 and employment growth trends and forecasts are reviewed, and these trends 3500000
are examined within the construct of an “ecological footprint.” 3000000
2500000
2000000

Growth trends in three areas: Vancouver, Seattle 1500000

and Northwest Washington 1000000

500000
0
Vancouver
00 002 004 006 008 010 012 014 016 018 020 022 024 026
From 1992 to 2001, the Vancouver metropolitan area grew from 1.7 mil- 20 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
lion to 2.0 million residents, an expansion of 19 percent. This expansion was
Figure 1: Vancouver Region Population Projections
driven by both natural increase and net in-migration of 20,000 to upwards of
45,000 persons per year. Newspaper accounts and conversations over the
years with Vancouver residents suggest two significant factors that drove this 30.0%

expansion: 29.0%

•The flight of affluent Hong Kong residents to Canada in anticipation 28.0%

27.0%
of the end of British sovereignty; and
26.0%
•Immigrants from other Canadian provinces who wanted to take advan-
25.0%
tage of the mild climate and expanding economy in the Vancouver area
24.0%
in the mid-1990s.
23.0%
A weaker economy in the late 1990s slowed the flow of immigrants from 22.0%
other provinces, as did a smooth governmental transition in Hong Kong that 00 02 04 06 08 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
re-assured many long term residents that they had a future in that region.
What makes the Vancouver region growth trends interesting for this paper Figure 2: Vancouver’s Projected Share of Greater Vancouver Regional District Population
is that the expansion tends to sprawl into adjoining jurisdictions over time,
rather than being contained in the City of Vancouver itself. As Figures 1 and 2
show, the Vancouver area is expected to continue its growth (Figure 1), but
Vancouver proper is expected to have a declining share of the total population
of the urban area (Figure 2), according to projections from BC Stats. The pro- but the surrounding suburban jurisdictions will grow more rapidly, resulting in
jections suggest that the City of Vancouver proper will grow from 578 thou- an increase from 1.43 million to 2.16 million (51 percent expansion).
sand in 2000 to over 700 thousand by the year 2026 (21 percent expansion),

64 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 65

 Seattle stay in the area rather than moving on to opportunities elsewhere. From the
South of the border in the Seattle region, similar trends are taking place. mid-1980s onward, the rapid growth of the biotechnology/biomedical equip-
Several counties need to be aggregated to capture the urbanized area known ment and software industries provided an alternative source of employment
as the Puget Sound region. On the eastern shore of Puget Sound, King and for Boeing workers during the downturns. These new industries became in
Snohomish Counties are aggregated together with Island County to consti- themselves a net draw for in-migration as new and rapidly expanding com-
tute the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett PMSA in US statistical series, and Pierce panies recruited talented workers out of other regions. These industrial de-
County, home of Tacoma, the second largest city in the state of Washington, velopments led to the forecast of further growth in the Puget Sound despite
lies on King County’s southern border. Visitors to the area perceive a more or a slowing rate of growth of the US population overall.
less seamless urbanized area as they drive north to south through Snohomish, Detailed population projections for the central city and its suburbs com-
King, and Pierce Counties along Interstate 5. In addition, Kitsap County, lo- parable to the Vancouver Regional District are not available for the Puget
cated on the western shore of Puget Sound is linked to Seattle by ferries. Sound region. However, U.S. Census data readily show that the Seattle area
Many Kitsap residents commute to work in the Seattle area. For transporta- is also spreading out, with higher growth rates in the suburban and/or unin-
tion planning purposes, Snohomish, King, Pierce, and Kitsap are aggregated corporated portions of the Puget Sound Region (Table1). Outside Seattle city
into a federal planning unit called the Central Puget Sound. This 4-county limits, population growth has proceeded at twice the pace inside the city.
region is used in the analysis below, excluding but Island County is not in- The pace of growth in this region as a whole is roughly of the same order
cluded in the statistics because it is small in population and more rural in of magnitude as that of the Vancouver metropolitan area. These two metro
character. Using data from state agencies for this 4-county aggregated Puget areas are in different countries, but are subject to many of the same region-
Sound region, trends in population can be discovered to compare to trends al and international dynamics, producing comparable growth trajectories.
in the Vancouver region.
Population in the Puget Sound was 1.934 million in 1970, but had Table 1: Population Growth: Seattle vs. Rest of Central Puget Sound (CPS)
reached 3.148 by 1998, an expansion of 63 percent over a 28 year period. 1990 2000 Percent Change, 1990-2000
Projections from the Puget Sound Regional Council suggest that the urban Seattle 516,259 563,374 9.1%
area could reach a population of 4.688 million by 2030, a projected expan- Rest of CPS 2,232,636 2,712,473 21.5%
sion of 49 percent over the 32 year forecast horizon. Like Vancouver, the Seat- Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census 2000

tle area attracts net migration from other parts of the United States, as well
as other countries. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, much of the net in-mi-
gration was associated with upswings of employment at Boeing, whose work- The situation in between
force vacillated between 39,000 at its low point in 1971 and over 100,000 In the two U.S. counties lying between the international border and the
at two points in the last two decades. During the inevitable downturns in Puget Sound urban area, the population and employment base has also been
airline orders, substantial layoffs released a workforce that often tended to growing. In fact population grew more rapidly in these two counties during

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 1970s and the 1990s, and a bit more slowly during the 1980s, than in the
Income Per Capita
Puget Sound (Table 2). The two Northwest region counties combined reached
$40,000
a total population level of 266 thousand in 1999. Likewise, employment grew
$35,000
substantially in the Northwest region, exceeding the pace of employment $30,000

expansion in the Puget Sound in each decade (Table 3). $25,000

Northwest
$20,000
Puget Sound
$15,000
Table 2. Population Growth
$10,000
Northwest Puget Sound
$5,000
1970-1980 30.2% 15.6% $0
1970197319761979 198219851988199119941997
1980-1990 19.8% 22.7%
1990-2000 32.8% 21.3%
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census 2000
Figure 3: Income Per Capita in the Northwest Region and Puget Sound

Table 3 Employment Growth

Northwest Puget Sound
1970-1980 49.9% 49.5% 1990s. In addition, software/internet companies and the biotechnology
1980-1990 49.3% 41.2% sector employ many technical and professional employees who earn high
1990-2000 33.1% 28.6% salaries in addition to possibly accruing some stock options. These sectors are
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census 2000 notably missing from most of the rest of the state, including the two North-
west counties (Washington Technology Center, 2002). These differences may
explain a good deal of the divergence in personal income trends.
Personal income per capita trends tell a very different story, however.
Figure 3 demonstrates a widening gap between the level of personal income The ecological footprint:
per capita in the Northwest region and in the Puget Sound. Starting from a Implications for Northwest Washington
position of near equality in 1970, the gap has steadily increased during the The ecological footprint construct offers a way to estimate the total eco-
1980s and 1990s. King County is home to a number of high tech industries logical impact of an urban population and its economic activities (Wacker-
that generated substantial wealth, including Microsoft, McCaw Cellular (now nagel and Rees, 1996). Wackernagel and Rees define this construct as “the
AT&T Cellular), Aldus (now Adobe), Amazon, and Real Networks. Each of flows of energy and matter to and from any defined economy” and “the cor-
these companies made their founders and a number of early employees responding land/water area required from nature to support these flows” (p.
wealthy as their stock in these companies reached high values in the late 3). These authors define the ecological footprint in practical terms, offering

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 calculations of how much water and land is required on a continuous basis to Observations on the footprint and its impacts
produce all the goods consumed by the human population in a region, and in the Northwest region
to assimilate all of the wastes generated by that population. Given that eco- The specific quantitative assumptions made by Wackernagel and Rees
nomic accounting systems were not designed for this purpose, they make a can be challenged, but if we assume both that the various technological fac-
variety of simplifying assumptions to make the exercise tractable using avail- tors, behavioral patterns, business strategies, and public policy decisions that
able economic data. Based on these assumptions, these authors calculate produce those patterns are relatively stable over time, then we can use the
that the residents of Vancouver and the Lower Fraser Valley occupied 4,000 population projections for the Vancouver region and the Puget Sound to spec-
square kilometers or 0.4 million hectares in the mid-1990s. However, the ap- ulate on increases in the ecological footprint of these two urban areas over
proximately 1.8 million residents at that time required a total of 73,000 the next three decades. By 2026, the footprint of the Vancouver region will
square kilometers, or 7.7 million hectares of land to support their lifestyle. The increase to 12.3 million hectares, while the Puget Sound’s footprint will in-
estimated ecological footprint of the Vancouver area was 19 times the size crease to 23.9 million hectares. As large as these numbers are, it is worth put-
of the actual “paved over” territory occupied by the metropolitan area (p. 86). ting them into some sort of geographic context. The four Puget Sound coun-
Using the assumptions Wackernagel and Rees have developed, I estimate ties are very large-over 1.5 million hectares. Thus, the estimated ecological
the ecological footprint of the Puget Sound area for both 1994, the year footprint is 9 to 10 times the size of these counties. As Wackernagel and
Wackernagel and Rees use in their calculations, and update the footprint es- Rees argue for Vancouver, the ecological footprint of the urbanized portion of
timates for both Vancouver and the Puget Sound to 2001 levels in Table 4. the Puget Sound is much larger than its home territory. If these calculations
Due to a larger population base and a somewhat more resource-intensive are anywhere close to reality, both Vancouver and Seattle are “exporting” eco-
lifestyle, the estimated footprint of the Puget Sound is over 80 percent larg- logical impacts to other areas. Whether it is municipal garbage that is filling
er than the Vancouver area’s footprint in both 1994 and 2001. Vancouver’s whole canyons in distant rural counties, treated sewage that is sprayed on for-
estimated footprint increased nearly 12 percent from 1994 to 2001, while the est lands as a disposal cum fertilization strategy, air pollution that affects the
estimate for the Puget Sound grew over 9 percent. entire regional airshed, or water pollution that affects marine life, Seattle and
Vancouver are having substantial ecological impacts on surrounding regions.
Table 4 Estimated Ecological Footprint of Vancouver and the Puget Sound The impacts can also be quite distant rather than “neighborhood” effects.
Population (millions) Footprint Both of these cities are major participants in the globalized economy. Since
Millions hectares Hectares per the 19th Century, these regions have been exporters of natural resources. In
person the 20th Century, airplanes and advanced technology products and services
111994 2001 1994 2001 were added. However, we also export used computers from this region to be
Vancouver 1.1.80 2.01 7.74 8.64 4.3 recycled in China by villagers who have limited access to environmental tech-
Puget Sound 2.1.85 3.12 14.52 15.89 5.1 nologies to protect themselves and their neighborhoods as they strip compo-
nents with hazardous materials from old computers. We export manufactur-

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 ing jobs and their environmental impacts to low cost labor forces in Third dency to push certain economic and residential activities out of the core city
World countries, as well as industrializing countries. The only ski company in also exports ecological impacts from the city.
the US, for example, is located on Vashon Island near Seattle. After the sale Beyond commuting, there are other existing economic impacts or ties be-
of the company to non-local owners, most of the production of skis was tween Whatcom County and the two metro areas. The Bellisfair Mall in
moved to Asia, leaving only a research and development group on Vashon Bellingham was built in part to lure Canadian shoppers south of the border,
along with the corporate executives. Coffee companies such as Starbucks and in its early years upwards of 40 percent of the cars in the mall’s parking
are part of the image of the new Seattle. Coffee grows in semi-tropical envi- lots were from British Columbia. More recently, a disadvantageous exchange
ronments and must be imported from other countries to support vendors of rate has given the Canadians a strong incentive to shop at home. With the
“double tall skinny lattes.” A number of environmental and workforce issues liberalization of trade through the U.S./Canada Free Trade Agreement and
are associated with these imports. the North American Free Trade Agreement, some Canadian firms have used
Within this region of the world, there are also systematic and observable branch operations in Whatcom County as a foothold into the U.S. market, or
trends in the types of economic activities that get exported from the major as a way of escaping tax rules or labor laws they perceive as unfavorable. In-
cities as their economies evolve towards advanced technology manufacturing fluences from the south are more readily seen in Skagit County than in What-
and services. There is a natural tendency for large city land prices and there- com. Tulip fields are threatened by encroaching suburban developments as
fore building rents to increase substantially as cities get denser, forcing low- Puget Sound workers seek affordable housing. In Whatcom County, Western
er value functions to move out of the denser districts to stay competitive. Washington University represents a major tie between Bellingham and Seat-
Smaller scale manufacturing often heads for the suburbs, and internet tech- tle since many students come from the Puget Sound.
nology is increasing the tendency for back office service functions to follow. Robert Lang’s review of a dozen or so US metro areas suggests some of
Vancouver has been called “the Executive City” by leaders of its Board of the trends visible in Whatcom and Skagit counties are part of a larger phe-
Trade, who support the movement of manufacturing and industrial uses to nomenon he calls “edgeless cities” located on the periphery of urban areas
the lower Fraser Valley in order to make room for high rise offices and high (Lang, 2000). His definition of edgeless city plays off journalist Joel Garreau’s
rise condominiums along the scenic waterfront of downtown Vancouver. The phrase “edge cities” (Garreau, 1991). Applying Garreau’s edge city and down-
more affordable housing options and the more cost-conscious retailers cater- town definitions to a very rich and detailed dataset taken from real estate
ing to that segment of the market also head out into the suburban locations industry sources, Lang develops an empirical argument that the semi-struc-
north and south of downtown, as well as quite far to the east. Modeling the tured urban form called edge city by Garreau does not account for very much
phenomenon Gibson warned about a quarter century ago, other residents use of the growth of office space in the selected US metro areas he examines. In-
BC’s excellent ferry system to commute from the Gulf Islands or Vancouver Is- stead, edgeless places that defy any attempt to categorize or structure are
land itself. The Seattle analogues are Class A office towers and luxury condos popping up with increasing frequency on the periphery of one metro area af-
in downtown and the adjacent Belltown and Pioneer Square neighborhoods, ter another, mixing residential and office and commercial uses in a very un-
while mid- to lower-income households head for distant suburbs. This ten- structured and space-consumptive manner. Extensive road systems are re-

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 quired to support this mode of urban development. Difficulty in keeping up reading of the rate at which the ecological footprints of Vancouver and Seat-
with the infrastructure demands leads quickly to traffic congestion, thereby tle are expanding, the ability of those metro areas to export portions of the
worsening the ecological impacts. This phenomenon can be readily observed footprint right into Whatcom County, and certain social consequences of the
in the edgeless peripheries of both Seattle and Vancouver. New Economy phenomenon that may tweak the footprint impact in ways that
The service sector and office-based jobs have been the most rapidly ex- local residents may or may not appreciate.
panding part of the economy in recent years, making the phenomenon very Twenty or thirty years ago, few residents of Skagit County would have
important to the future of North American cities. The jobs are decentralizing thought of commuting down to Seattle to find a job, but new housing devel-
rapidly, in hot pursuit of the workforce that has been moving to the suburbs opments and freeway traffic trends support the contention of business lead-
for many years. While the exact patterns are very diverse across a sample of ers that this is now a reality. If one compares trends in the Seattle area to the
urban areas, in every area Lang examines there has been a significant larger and more advanced high tech economy of the Silicon Valley, the likeli-
amount of new office space developed in edgeless spaces in recent years. hood of commuters traveling from the Bellingham area south to Seattle, or at
There is the potential for a labor force in pursuit of a rural quality of life to move least its northern technology-oriented suburbs, seems almost inevitable.
even further out beyond this new edgeless urban frontier. This potential brings the Many Silicon Valley commuters are driving in from even more distant com-
issue to the doorsteps of the Northwest region from both the north and south. munities. Despite the impacts on border crossings of the “war on terrorism,”
Interviews with business leaders in the Bellingham area suggest that the border crossings by commuters from Bellingham to Vancouver may also in-
prevailing mindset in Whatcom County is that Bellingham is just too far from crease over time as the Vancouver economy expands.
Seattle for these spreading urbanization impacts to have any real meaning for One irony of this situation is that environmental and other leaders per-
Bellingham. Typical comments from these leaders interviewed in the winter of suaded Washington voters to approve growth management legislation 10
2002 include statements that the local workforce does not tend to commute years ago. The goal of the legislation was to constrain urbanization, forcing
to either Vancouver or Seattle, housing prices are lower than in the larger more dense development at certain urban nodes, and linking these nodes
metro areas, the quality of life is high, and traffic congestion is not much of with expanded transportation systems. The transportation improvements
a problem. The problem perceived by these leaders is a weak economy threat- have been slow to follow despite modest success in increasing density at de-
ened by the loss of manufacturing jobs due to globalization, environmental sired locations such as downtown Bellevue and downtown Seattle. The reali-
regulation, and rising energy costs. These leaders are working hard to bring ty of the local level growth management plans has been to protect rural land
new companies into town based on improvements in telecommunications in- uses at the eastern edge of the urbanized portions of Snohomish, King, and
frastructure, creation of a local venture capital fund, and close relationships Pierce counties, thereby forcing some of the growth pressure to spill north and
with a number of education institutions to prepare the local labor force for south. Each Puget Sound county is intensely concerned about its eastern
participation in the New Economy of telecommuncations, software develop- boundary, while the counties at the northern and southern periphery of the
ment, and internet-based business strategies. While these strategies may be urban area are quite interested in new residents and new jobs. This combi-
sensible, the perceived immunity to urbanization forces may reflect a mis- nation of policies may be pushing urbanization north and south as much as

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 it is forcing it to go up instead of out. some of these environmentally conscious urbanites have acquired the re-
Another impact of technology industry growth and urbanization in the sources to support their values with significant investments. A number of land
Puget Sound has been the emergence of a new way of thinking about the role sales have been consummated to create environmental preserves and edu-
and uses of the surrounding rural areas. The cities of the Northwest were built cation centers on former timber production lands. For example, Paul Brainerd,
around resource extraction industries – fishing, forestry, and mining. The the founder of Aldus and creator of the well known Pagemaker application,
cities provided a variety of high order services that supported the resource sold his company to Adobe and used some of the proceeds to acquire a sig-
industries located in the rural parts of these states and provinces. However, nificant forest tract on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle. He is turning that for-
the resource industries ceased to be a source of job growth at least 30 years est into an environmental education center focused on school children. In ad-
ago, and growth is now supported by the expansion of service industries dition, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has assisted environmental groups in
that are themselves exporters – software, financial services, and e-commerce. several forest land purchases to establish ecological reserves.
These newer sectors have brought in new residents with no ties to the re- Other beneficiaries of the new economy have used their new wealth to
source extraction industries. purchase a second home near a ski area, fishing stream, lake or mountain
When these new residents venture out of the cities for a weekend hiking view in the rural hinterland surrounding the urban areas. These part-time ru-
trip or a summer vacation, many are taken aback by the impacts of resource ral residents have a variety of interesting impacts on the rural places. Their
extraction on the landscape. Whether it is a strip mine or a clearcut, the new presence is a part of the expanding ecological impact of the urban area.
urbanites have often retreated back to the city and become strong support- Some rural residents fear they are driving up local real estate prices without
ers of environmental policies that have placed many limits on the resource in- providing commensurate support for schools or other locally financed ameni-
dustries. New mines are almost impossible to open up in Washington. Tim- ties. However, the size of the Baby Boom generation in the US suggests that
ber companies in both Canada and the United States have had to withdraw many more urban residents will become full or part time residents in the ru-
from some forested lands to protect environmental assets, and change their ral areas over time and these impacts will increase. In conducting interviews
forestry practices in many ways to provide a range of environmental outputs for a variety of projects concerning the impacts of Information Technology, I
other than just wood fiber. A number of scholars have argued that the new have encountered semi-retired technology industry leaders who are thinking
residents attracted into this region think about the surrounding region dif- about launching a second or third career in Skagit and Whatcom counties. As
ferently than their predecessors. They think of the rural areas as a site for welcome as these new entrepreneurs may be in towns such as LaConner or
recreation, as a pool of genetic diversity, as a scenic landscape that should be Bellingham, their presence is also a harbinger of more rapid urbanization in-
preserved, but not as source of timber, food, minerals, or jobs. For example, fluences that will follow.
University of Oregon economist Ed Whitelaw has repeatedly characterized
these preferences of newer Northwest residents as a “2nd paycheck” that pro- New strategies needed
vides environmental amenities if forests are left standing (Niemi et al., 1999). These observations suggest the need for leaders in Skagit and Whatcom
As wealth generation in the New Economy has reached impressive levels, counties to recognize the growing impacts of the large and growing urban ar-

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 eas at their northern and southern boundaries. There is no assurance that The inverted compact city
urbanization will be contained where it now exists. There is no assurance that
the economy of Whatcom and Skagit counties will continue to enjoy the of Delhi
benefits or costs of being relatively isolated from the influences that have
shaped Vancouver and Seattle. It is time for local leadership to take note of Ashok Kumar
these trends and devise strategies for shaping the growth that is likely to Department of Physical Planning, School of Planning and Architecture,
come their way. Strategic goals to consider include preserving desired rural New Delhi, India
features, providing species protection, and preserving air- and water-sheds [email protected]
while taking advantage of the new job creation and wealth generation pos-
sibilities that are implied. Otherwise long term residents of the “inbetween re-
gion” may find that the ecological footprint of Seattle and Vancouver has
begun to feel like a heavy boot rather than a welcome stimulus to an eco-
nomically backward region. Introduction: urbanization and compaction
The compact city offers various claimed benefits (Elkin et al., 1991). First,
the high intensity of development reduces geographical spread and thus
permits consumption of less land and other resources. Second, the planned
higher residential densities offer opportunities for accommodating more
References people on the same land area and also contribute to greater social interac-
Schrier, D. Hallin, L., Blazey, R., Miller S., 2001. tion. Third, average journey trips become shorter leading to lower fuel con-
Garreau, J., 1991. Edge city : Life on the new frontier.
Profile of the British Columbia High Technology
Doubleday, New York.
Sector--2001 Edition. BC Stats, Victoria, BC.
sumption and lower harmful emissions. This makes compact cities more en-
Gibson, E.M., 1976. The urbanization of the Strait of
Wackernagel, M. and Rees, W., 1996. Our ecologi- ergy efficient (McLaren, 1992; Hillman, 1996, Zhang, 2002). Fourth, govern-
Georgia region: A study of the impact of urbaniza-
cal footprint: Reducing human impact on the earth.
tion on the natural resources of south western
New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island.
ments are able to provide basic services more efficiently as transmission
British Columbia. Lands Directorate, Environment
Canada, Ottawa.
Washington Technology Center, 2001. Index of wastes are minimized. Ultimately, the compact city planning approach can
Innovation and Technology—Washington State
Lang, R., 2000. Office sprawl: The evolving geogra-
2001. Seattle: Washington Technology Center, contribute to the attainment of sustainable cities (Jenks et al., 1996).
phy of business. The Brookings Institution Center
http://www.watechcenter.org/techindex/index.ht This paper demonstrates that the city of Delhi does not enjoy any of these
on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, Washington,
ml, p. 10.
D.C., http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/es/ur- benefits. One reason is that its form is opposite to that of the compact city,
ban/ officesprawl/lang.pdf
Niemi, E., Whitelaw, E., Johnston, A., 1999. The i.e. it is the inverted compact city, which has low gross residential densities in
Sky Did NOT Fall: The Pacific Northwest’s Response the inner areas and high gross densities in the outer areas. Gross densities are
to Logging Reductions. ECONorthwest report for
the Earthlife Canada Foundation and the Sierra at least four times higher in outer areas than in the inner cities. Intensity of
Club of British Columbia, Eugene, OR,
development is also low. For instance, there are single or double storey resi-
http://www.econw.com/reports.html.

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 dential buildings in most of its inner city areas, whilst four to eight storey squatted on whatever land came their way. Having repeated this process year
residential buildings are quite common in the outer areas. Sometimes these after year, cities have become crowded with squatters and littered with slums.
outer areas even lie outside the urban area boundary. High-rise residential The squatters, particularly, have built low-rise and less compact residential de-
apartments in the southern parts of Delhi are one such example. velopments in various parts of the city. Most of these settlements contain
How did this urban form happen? It can be explained by looking at the thatched huts or jhuggies. In fact, unauthorized residential developments
political events of the first decade of the twentieth century, which led to the have slowed down the compact character of the mega cities.
unique process of urbanization of the city of Delhi. At this time a statement Another feature of Indian urbanization is the illegal sub-division of un-
of imperial grandeur, order and authority was made through the construction developed land into residential plots. These kinds of development act as at-
of New Delhi. Vast low-density residential areas were developed in New Del- tachments to planned urban areas where vacant undeveloped land is divid-
hi when the British Government of India constructed its new capital during ed into plots and sold to individuals, who in turn construct medium to high-
the beginning of the twentieth century. Lutyens’ Delhi was planned to con- rise buildings. As these developments are neither planned nor authorized, in-
tain merely 140 bungalows (Mehra, 1999: 56). No bungalow would rise frastructure is provided at a later stage, leading to the interim use of rudimen-
above single storey in the heart of the city (King, 1976: 124-125). Further- tary techniques for the provision of infrastructure and the inefficient use of en-
more, large spaces are occupied by less dense land uses, such as Second ergy. Thus intense development leads to slum-like development, rather than
World War military barracks now used as central government offices, and low- beneficial compact development, as the high intensity of development does not
rise commercial areas, such as Connaught Place, which occasionally rise up lead to the optimum use of social and physical infrastructure (Kumar, 1999).
to two storeys high. Having provided a brief analysis of the process of Indian urbanization vis-
The process of urbanization in India including Delhi, took on another à-vis inverted compact city character, a critical review of the compact city poli-
characteristic after the country became independent in 1947. Over the last cies in Delhi is provided in the second section. The third section identifies
50 years the free movement of people in a democratic context has resulted in prominent density patterns by using the 2001 census data for Delhi. This pro-
an accelerated rate of rural to urban migration, primarily the result of the vides an assessment of the inverted compact city character of Delhi. Major im-
search for employment. Rural to urban migration contributed about 30 per- plications of the inverted compact city character are examined in the fourth
cent to urban growth between 1981-91 in India (Visaria, 1997: 273). How- section. These are in fact negative outcomes of urban sprawl. The fifth section
ever, this figure was more than 50 percent for the four Indian mega cities contains some concluding remarks in the form of policy recommendations.
(United Nations, 1986a: 9; 1986b: 6; 1987: 2). It is estimated that on aver-
age 1,000 people migrated to Delhi every day between 1981 and 1991 (Ku- The compact city policies of the Delhi Government
mar, 1996: 18). Consequently, the squatter population increased from Compact city policy became part of Delhi’s city planning in 1990 when
493,545 in 1981 to 1,296,720 in 1991, almost 263 percent growth in a the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) made various proposals, including
decade (Singh, 1999: 12). As most of these people did not have jobs, they the densification of the existing built form, in the modified master plan. To-
could not afford to buy a house. In the desperate search for survival, migrants tal land requirement by 2001 was estimated to be a maximum of 24,000

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 hectares. The DDA formulated five major strategies to achieve this target. Fourth, the DDA proposed that in future it would primarily encourage
First, it contended that additional land for residential purposes would group housing rather than plot development, in order to accommodate more
have to be found beyond the existing city structure. Accordingly, it expanded households on the same amount of land. To some extent this policy has been
the Delhi Urban Area 1981 with an additional 4,000 hectares of land for pursued successfully. It is expected that 350-400 persons per hectare gross
residential purposes. density will be achieved (Government of India, 1990: 122). Dwarka and Ro-
Second, it proposed that another 14,000 hectare of land required would hini are likely to achieve densities between 150-200 persons per hectare.
be met through the densification of the census towns of Najafgarh, Nangloi, The fifth policy was popularly known as the ‘containment policy’. The
Bawana and Alipur, and the construction of the new township of Narela. DDA argued that it would strive to create self-contained planning divisions.
Planning and design work on Narela Township has been finished and imple- It was expected that people would not need to make inter-division trips for a
mentation has begun in earnest. However, no intensification mechanisms majority of purposes including, work, education, leisure and recreation.
have been devised for densification in the census towns. According to the A further step was taken in the direction of the compact city when a
Census of India 1991, ‘all places with a municipal corporation, cantonment commission, popularly known as the Malhotra Committee, recently submitted
board or notified town area committee’ are regarded as census towns. Any its report to the government. One of the main recommendations of the Com-
other settlement, which does not have these local bodies, must satisfy the fol- mittee was that individual owners of plots should be allowed to construct
lowing three criteria to be called a census town. First, the settlement must three storey residential buildings instead of the previous provision of two and
have a minimum population of 5,000. Second, at least 75 percent of the a half storey development, and four storey residential buildings instead of the
male working population should be engaged in non-agricultural pursuits. previous provision of three and a half storey development (Government of the
Third, the settlement must have a density of population of at least 400 per- National Capital Territory of Delhi, 1997: 40). Most of the Committee’s rec-
sons per square kilometer (Office of the Registrar General and Census Com- ommendations have been accepted by central government. But this policy,
missioner, 1994: xi-xii). in effect, legalized what had already taken place, and the policy was noth-
Third, it was argued that developed urban land would always remain ing more than a reaction that legitimated planning violations.
limited when compared with the requirements of the exploding population’s The Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee recently became the most ardent
housing and other land related needs. The DDA thus proposed that the re- supporter of the compact city planning approach when in 1998 he argued
maining land requirement of 6,000 hectares would be met by increasing in the media for the densification of the New Delhi Municipal Council
what it called the ‘holding capacity’ of the Delhi Urban Area 1981 (Govern- (NDMC) area. He noted that ‘the Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone could not contin-
ment of India, 1990: 120). This meant that the DDA had inadvertently given ue to exist without basic change in a city where space and affordable hous-
the go-ahead to property owners selectively to increase densities by intensi- ing are scarce’ (Mehra, 1999: 56). The Prime Minister’s comments immedi-
fication without securing planning permissions. The public knew that the ately led to the establishment of the M. N. Buch Committee. This Committee
DDA would subsequently legalize these illegal developments. With hindsight, recently submitted its report to the central Ministry of Urban Development.
the public got it right. The report argued that densification of Lutyens’ Delhi should not be carried

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 out for a number of reasons. First, no matter what type of intense develop- in design will minimize the need to make frequent outdoor (other floor) trips
ment is carried out, it will not substantially contribute to Delhi’s housing by people living on higher floors. The acceptance of these design ideas should
supply. Second, densification would eat away all the green spaces that the gather further support for high-rise living concepts. At present, preparations
city has. Third, since Lutyens’ Delhi occupies a strategic location, it would cre- are underway to put together the new master plan for the city for 2021. In a
ate housing for the rich and elite only, would not benefit the poor who require seminar held in the middle of October 1999, the DDA once again commit-
most housing. Fourth, permission to build residential flats and apartments ted itself to the high-rise residential development.
would only benefit property dealers and builders, who would be able to earn Overall, compact city policies have been reactive. While the creation of the
enormous profits. sub-cities of Dwarka and Rohini could be counted as a success, in general
Nevertheless, the Committee’s findings can be faulted on many counts. compact city policies have lagged behind actual developments. However, it is
First, the Prime Minister’s comments should not be taken literally. The basic also expected that the Malhotra Committee recommendations will further en-
idea that the Prime Minister conveyed was that intensification of the Lutyens’ courage the process of illegal compaction beyond three and half storey resi-
Bungalow Zone is necessary because of scarcity of prime developed urban dential development. This is contrary to the spirit of compact city develop-
land. Why should residential development led by the private sector be con- ment: a coherently thought out city structure based on higher densities and
sidered as the only possibility? Why not other alternative forms of develop- the efficient use of energy, land and other resources. The only hope for the
ment such as mixed land use or commercial development? Why have part- compact city planning approach lies in the fact that DDA continues to strong-
nerships or even government led urban development, been ruled out? It is not ly support the idea of high-rise, high quality life in the city.
entirely out of the question to consider residential development for politicians
and bureaucrats in this place, which is so near to Parliament House. This Densities in Delhi and emerging density patterns
would indirectly help the general public, as it would reduce road blockages Densities in Delhi increase with distance from the central area and con-
resulting from the motorcades carrying politicians from the outer areas to Par- tinue to do so even at the urban fringes (Fig. 1). The area covered by the
liament House. Eating away of the green spaces is not an issue, as only the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has one of lowest densities at 50 to
intensifying of the existing built up areas is being considered. Neither the 100 persons per hectare. Even lower densities, less than 30 persons per
Prime Minister nor the then Minister of Urban Affairs and Employment Mr. hectare, are found in the Delhi Cantonment area (see Table 1). New Delhi
Ram Jethmalani have argued for building on the existing green spaces. was created by Edwin Landseer Lutyens as a huge single storey ‘bungalow
In the second half of 1999 the DDA concluded a design competition. zone’ to house the British civil servants. After the Indian independence, Indi-
The entries selected for implementation in three proposed residential sites, at an politicians and senior civil servants continued to occupy these spaces.
Tehkhand, Dwarka and Vasant Kunj, are path breaking. The DDA seems to Change to this built form was thought to be anti-aesthetic.
have accepted the idea of multi-storey housing complexes, which will in-
clude the use of the state of the art technologies to provide some of the ba-
sic facilities in common areas at each floor. The DDA expects that this change

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 The Delhi Cantonment Board was exclusively created as a secluded area
for the military. A major part of the Cantonment contains low-rise develop-
ment, and huge plots, similar to those in the NDMC area, house senior mili-
tary officers. A large area of land is used for the golf course and other recre-
ational activities. An equally large area is left vacant for future residential de-
velopment, and at present is used to grow vegetables and grain. However,
about one fifth of the Cantonment area has moderately intense development
consisting of three to four storey apartments. Because of these uses, Delhi
Cantonment area shows the lowest gross densities. In the early parts of this
century this area was located outside urban Delhi, but the subsequent rapid
expansion of urban Delhi has encompassed both the Cantonment and the
NDMC area within central Delhi. Lower densities are also to be found to the
west of the Cantonment area, where high value land is put to extensive land
use in the form of the central prison, the Tihar Jail. To the southeast and east
of the Cantonment area, there are a few villages with a very low density,
sometimes even less than one person per hectare (Government of India, 1991:
342-354).
Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) has slightly higher densities, ranging
Figure 1: Gross densities in urban Delhi, 2001 between 50 and 100 persons per hectare. This is because this area contains
some of most densely populated areas such as Old Delhi and Karol Bagh,
with densities as high as 900 persons per hectare. But lower densities in oth-
Table 1: Gross densities in urban Delhi, 2001 er parts of the DMC area moderate this extra-ordinarily high density. On the
Name of the Area Population, 2001 Area (in ha) Density (pph) other hand, outer areas in south-western and northern parts of the DMC show
NCT Urban 12,819,761 83,804 153 densities as high as 150-200 persons per hectare.
NCT Rural 963,215 79,766 12 High densities are also to be found on the periphery of urban Delhi. Some
NCT Total 13,782,976 163,570 84 of these areas include the census towns of Tigri, Babar Pur, Taj Pul, Sultanpur
New Delhi Municipal Council 2,94,783 4,274 69 Majra, Jaffarabad, Gokal Pur and Sultan Pur. Although only low-rise devel-
Delhi Cantonment 1,24,452 4,297 29 opment was permitted in these areas, over time people violated the building
Delhi Municipal Corporation 98,17,439 139,729 70 bylaws only in order to accommodate more and more people on the same
Source: Government of India (2001: vii, 54-62). Note: NCT stands for National Capital Territory of Delhi. land area. Today these areas are characterized by intense development.

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 The Delhi Development Authority in some of eastern Delhi areas planned Table 2. Gross Densities in Census Towns of Delhi, 2001
higher densities. Patparganj, with densities in the range of 200 to 250 per-
sons per hectare, is the prime example of this type of development. Of the de- Sl. No. Name of the Area Population, 2001 Area, 2001 (ha.) Density (pph)
velopment blocks, Shahdara Development Block has the highest density of Alipur Development Block
around 600 persons per hectare. All the census towns of this area have den- 1. Alipur 16,623 855 19.44
sities more than 225 persons per hectare, most of which is caused by un- 2. Pooth Khurd 8,167 998 8.18
planned development. 3. Pehlad Pur Banger 10,548 467 22.59
Nine census towns show the lowest densities – with less than 25 persons 4. Bhalswa Jahangirpur 1,51,427 670 226.01
per hectare. This is because they were only recently recognized (in the 1991 Kanjhawala Development Block
Census) as urban settlements (see Table 2). These settlements are likely to be- 5. Bawana 23,095 1,697 13.61
come intensely developed, and could house many more people in same area. 6. Kanjhawala 8,700 894 9.73
The acquisition of urban status means more funds for infrastructure and de- 7. Mundka 43,898 1,189 36.92
velopment, and multiplier effects bring about intense development and high- 8. Sultan Pur Majra 1,63,716 277 591.03
er population densities. The density patterns have emerged as a result of the 9. Nangloi Jat 1,50,371 667 225.44
interplay of planning policies, and various other political, social and economic Najafgarh Development Block
factors. These are discussed below. 10. Roshan Pura 38,580 276 139.78
11. Binda Pur** 249
Planned low rise imperial developments 12. Nasir Pur ** 285
The lowest population densities and low intensity residential develop- 13. Palam** 849
ments can be found in Lutyens’ New Delhi, Delhi Development Authority ar- Mehrauli Development Block
eas in southern Delhi such as Green Park, and in Model Town in the eastern 14. Asola 5,002 1,195 4.19
parts of Delhi.The Imperial town planning movement, which gave birth to 15. Nangal Dewat 13,168 720 18.29
New Delhi, Model Town and Civil Lines, advocated low rise orderly develop- 16. Malik Pur Kohi** 750
ment with large plot sizes and single storey buildings, with maximum ground 17. Rajokri 12,758 864 14.77
coverage of as little as 25 percent of the entire plot area. Lutyens’ Delhi is lo- 18. Ghitorni 9,123 427 21.36
cated adjacent to the low-rise planned commercial centre of Connaught 19. Yahya Nagar** 822
Place. In complete contrast to theories that highly accessible areas are dense- 20. Sultan Pur 11,336 286 39.64
ly built and used primarily for commercial purposes, New Delhi is primarily 21. Tigri 44,895 105 427.57
residential, with some sectors having low rise commercial and office build- 22. Deoli 1,19,432 1,012 118.02
ings. Model Town and Civil Lines are also relatively centrally located, not more 23. Pul Pehlad 47,336 216 219.15
than 8 kilometres from the city centre.

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 Sl. No. Name of the Area Population, 2001 Area, 2001 (ha.) Density (pph) tional Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT Delhi). Housing in Gurgoan in Haryana
24. Taj Pul 58,220 122 477.21 and Gaziabad in Uttar Pradesh is provided, largely by the private sector, in the
25. Molar Band 39,267 412 95.31 form of 18 to 20 storey high-rise apartment blocks.
Shahdara Development Block
26. Gokal Pur 90,564 232 390.36 Illegal high rise developments
27. Babar Pur 43,364 79 548.91 A new phenomenon of illegal high-rise development on legally allotted
28. Jaffarabad 57,460 90 638.44 plots has recently been observed. Private builders have generated a great de-
29. Patpar Ganj 34,409 149 230.93 mand for residential plots between 165 and 420 square meters. What has
Source: Government of India (2001: 54-62). happened is quite innovative. An agreement is struck between the owner of
Note: ** These Census Towns of 1991 have been declassified in 2001 and merged with Delhi the plot and the builder to intensify the development on a plot where low-rise
Municipal Corporation (Urban). pph stands for persons per hectare
residential development generally already exists. Despite regulations limiting
development to three and a half storeys high or 12.5 meters, builders con-
Planned high rise developments struct up to four or more storeys. The plot owner does not pay any money to
Dwarka, Rohini and Narela in the southwest and west of Delhi have been the builder. The builder gets one floor in exchange for constructing three to
planned to accommodate higher gross densities. Since the late 1970s, the four floors for the owner. This process of illegal apartment building has gen-
Delhi Development Authority justifiably felt that Delhi has no more land to erated additional dwelling units for the growing middle class of Delhi. This
accommodate the exploding population, and maintains that densification phenomenon is by no means sporadic, and can be found over all plotted de-
can resolve the problem of scarcity of developed urban land. Dwarka is par- velopment in Delhi.
ticularly important because it is planned to accommodate one million people
on 5,645 hectares of land - a gross density of 177 persons per hectare. The Unplanned high rise urban villages
DDA has cautiously decided that the private cooperative housing societies, Delhi has 369 villages, 170 of which have been incorporated in the urban
various governments and other organizations, and the DDA itself will build area (Curtis, 1998: 17). The total population of all urban villages is 600,000,
housing in Dwarka in the form of high-rise apartments. As much as half of the with an area of 1,500 hectares. This makes the gross density of population
net residential area will be developed by the cooperative group housing so- 400 persons per hectare, which is closer to the higher densities found in Old
cieties (Office of the Commissioner of Planning, 1992: 2). Most cooperative Delhi rather than those of New Delhi. Villages have higher densities because
group housing is built as high as six to ten storeys. Plotted development no planning controls have ever been formulated and implemented in these
would be negligible as only 38 hectare land is earmarked for residential plots. areas. People have built as high as they could and use has been targeted at
Private sector development in the neighbouring states of Haryana and those activities, which were most profitable. Planned development was never
Uttar Pradesh have further reinforced the trend for increasing densities and more than ground plus one in the resettlement colonies, but over time these
high rise developments even beyond the administrative boundaries of the Na- areas have also become on average a ground floor plus five storeys.

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 High rise flatted developments High rise slums
Since local planning authorities have failed to provide adequate housing In 1989 the Delhi Municipal Corporation recognized 22 notified slums.
in Delhi, people have adopted their own ingenious intensification methods. They covered an area of 1,966 hectare and had a population of 1,800,000
As families expanded and split into separate households, most people living giving a gross density of 900 persons per hectare, the highest anywhere in
in flats have added one or two more rooms to their existing flats by covering the city (Government of India, 1991: 234). These notified slums accommo-
whatever open spaces were provided in the front and rear of the apartment dated 21 percent of Delhi’s total population. Another 5 percent population
blocks. In the case of plot development, the majority of owners have exceed- of Delhi lives in 1,100 small and large squatter clusters all over city. For ex-
ed the permitted two and a half-storey development within the given height ample, West Zone of Delhi has 324 squatter clusters distributed over 16
of 12.5 meter. Those who violated these planning norms have built up to at wards. Some areas like ward number 26 has no squatter cluster while ward
least three and a half storey high. In the 1990s, the government set up a com- number 66 and 70 have the maximum number of 146 squatter clusters. Af-
mittee to investigate the matter and recommend appropriate changes in the ter looking at the squatter atlas prepared by the NIUA, it was found that the
building bylaws. Almost all members on the committee and its various sub- lowest gross densities in west Delhi characterize squatter settlements. Most
committees came from ‘urban landed aristocracy’. Therefore it was not sur- areas are dotted with single storey huts (National Institute of Urban Affairs,
prising when this committee accepted the violations without any penal ac- 1997). Delhi Cantonment and New Delhi Municipal Corporation have no
tion, and recommended others to build three and a half storey high. This com- notified slums.
mittee, however, did not look into development in the New Delhi Municipal
Council area, which primarily houses Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone. Unplanned high rise developments on undeveloped land
As city expanded, rural areas were incorporated in the DMC area. But
Low rise squatter settlements before the authorities could act, farmers sub-divided agricultural land into
There are 1,100 squatter settlements in Delhi, which are more or less plots of varying sizes and sold them at cheaper rates to poor people. Since
evenly distributed over the city. Notable examples of squatter clusters are Kat- no development work was undertaken to provide on-site services, the lower
putli Colony in western Delhi, and the Kalkaji squatter settlement in southern prices attracted those who could not afford developed urban land. However,
Delhi. With increasing distance from the central area of the city, the number the process allowed for the provision of services such as water, sewerage,
of squatter clusters significantly declines. All squatter settlements are char- drainage, and solid waste collection at a later date when the development
acterized by low-rise development, as jhuggies and other precarious structures has already taken place. This process has proved a hindrance to the imple-
cannot be erected at more than a single storey. In spite of the fact that the mentation of more compact development in the city.
population has large household sizes, densities are quite low. It was estimat-
ed that a total of 1,609,609 people lived in squatter settlements in 1997 on The characteristics of the inverted compact city
74,800 hectares (Singh, 1999: 12) giving a gross density of 22 persons per From all this it is clear that Delhi is not a compact city; it has few pockets
hectare. of high density and intense development. Urban Delhi is spread over an area

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 of 83,804 hectares and accommodates only 12,819,761 population (Gov- A large number and variety of vehicles as well as narrow roads have
ernment of India, 1991: 49). Its gross residential density comes to a little more caused extreme congestion leading to long en-route delays. Average travel
than 187 persons per hectare, yet it still suffers from all the ills of urban time in Delhi was 30 minutes in 1996 (Government of the National Capital
sprawl including the wasteful use of energy, resources and time. Territory of Delhi, 2000: 177) but had increased to three quarters of an hour
in 1993. Thus Delhi’s commuters spent almost double the time on the road
Travel characteristics to travel a kilometre than in other mega cities. Furthermore, as a result of
Delhi has 3,323,410 vehicles including 2,169,162 motorcycles and scoot- the increased number of vehicles and almost the same length of roads as in
ers (Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, 2000: 167), which 1985, journey speeds have come down. The future is not very promising. It is
is equal to the total number of vehicles found in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chen- expected that the average vehicle speed on the roads of Delhi will be reduced
nai. As vehicle ownership has increased, people have tended to live further to 5 kilometres per hour in the next decade (Chakraborty, 1999: 1). This clear-
away from the city centre and to make longer and more frequent trips, creat- ly suggests that average trip length and travel time must be reduced. Among
ing many problems. the various options, one is to reduce the need to make longer trips, particu-
To begin with, the average trip length in Delhi has increased over time. larly for work. A compact city, with high density mixed land use, could cer-
The average trip length, which was 5.4 km in 1970, had increased to 8.5 km tainly reduce the need to make longer trips.
in 1993 (Table 3). It has been noted that people wanting to travel from ‘Del-
hi can take as much time from the airport to the central business district’ as Geographical size
to fly from Delhi to Mumbai (D’Monte, 1999: 14). The problem is further com- Delhi has considerably grown both in terms of its geographical extent and
pounded by the fact that average trip length by the public transport buses population (see Table 4). Between 1951 and 2001, Delhi’s area increased by
has more than doubled from 6.2 km in 1971-72 to 14 km in 1988-89 (Sahoo, more than three and half times while its population grew by nine times. As a
1995: 407). More than half the commuters who still use buses from home to result, densities have increased considerably. Urban Delhi’s extremely low
work now make longer trips. gross density of 73 persons per hectare in 1951 rose to 152 persons per
hectare in 2001. While city’s area increased more than three times between
Table 3. Travel Characteristics of the Major Metropolitan Cities, 1993 1951 and 2001, the average trip length doubled between 1970 and 1993.
Name of the City Trip Length Travel Time Travel Speed This shows that there is a direct and positive relationship between the geo-
(Kilometers) (Minutes) (Minutes/Kilometer) graphical area and the average trip length. The larger the geographical area,
Delhi 08.50 44.34 5.10 the longer the average trip length.
Mumbai (Bombay) 12.40 33.37 2.70
Chennai (Madras) 07.30 21.62 3.00
Bangalore 06.70 17.60 3.30
Source: National Steering Committee, India (1996: 48).

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 Table 4. Delhi’s Urban Population, Area and Density, 1951-2001 the planning division level. ‘Thus the Plan’s objective … has been to provide
Sl. No. Year Population Area (in ha) Density (pph) efficient land use and transportation relationships so as to effectuate con-
1 1951 1,437,134 19,600 73.32 tainment within the divisions, in order to reduce work and education trips by
2 1961 2,359,408 32,600 72.37 vehicular modes’ (Government of India, 1990: 146).
3 1971 3,647,023 44,600 81.77 To achieve the goal of containment at the planning division level, the
4 1981 5,770,000 59,200 97.47 DDA divided Delhi into 15 planning divisions. Urban Delhi was divided into
5 1991 8,471,625 68,534 123.61 eight and Rural Delhi into seven planning divisions (National Institute of Ur-
6 2001 12,819,761 83,804 152.97 ban Affairs, 1994: 1.31). While the policy makers wanted to create multi-
Source: Government of India (2001: 15). Note: pph stands for persons per hectare nodal city organized around commercial district centres as major employment
areas, the DDA has not implemented many of these important projects. Out
Furthermore, as the geographical area of Delhi has increased, it has also of 15 proposed commercial district centres, only three have been completed
led to ever longer networks of physical infrastructure and greater wastage of so far. This has led to more passenger and vehicular trips from other divi-
precious resources such as water and power. The current rates of wastage of sions to those which have commercial district centres. Similarly, the policy of
water and power seriously challenge the sustainability of Delhi. For example, dispersal of offices, which generate a large number of inter-division trips,
power transmission losses in Delhi rose to an unprecedented 50.2 percent in has failed to take off.
January 1996. These far exceeded the 7 percent maximum transmission loss- After 30 years of dithering, the Ministry of Surface Transport of the Gov-
es permitted by the Central Electricity Authority for intra-city distribution (Raj, ernment of India has started the construction work on the first phase of a rap-
1996: 1). id mass transit system. The Metro will serve a good part of Delhi in 2005. This
The difficulty of saving energy is one outcome of urban sprawl over a will be a good starting point for an efficient public transport system. The gov-
large geographical area. Energy savings may have been negligible in the case ernment expects that mass rapid transit system will help to reduce the ener-
of cities in the developed world; but these savings could be substantial in gy consumed by vehicles, because it will consume only 10 percent of that con-
the cities of developing countries if existing trip lengths were shortened. If a sumed by individual transport modes. While national and state governments
majority of the trips in Delhi could be restricted to planning divisions, the av- officially stress the significance of public transport to save energy, and there-
erage trip length could be reduced from the existing 8.5 kilometre to 5 kilo- by reduce harmful emissions, their actions seem to achieve exactly the oppo-
metre. This would result in the reduction of average travel time from 45 min- site. One recent example has been the doubling of bus fares by the state
utes to 25 minutes. government after a 30 percent increase in diesel prices by the central gov-
ernment. The issue of energy savings is therefore much complex than just re-
Energy consumption by containment ducing the number of vehicles on the roads and minimizing trip lengths. It
Vehicular traffic is the largest energy consumer in the metropolis. In order must also include efficient transport technologies and fuel pricing policies.
to use energy efficiently, the DDA has advocated a policy of containment at

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 Not a matter of preference Environment Programme, 1992: 99-106). The primary reason for respiratory
In the cities of most of the developing countries, including India, the is- diseases is the pollution created by vehicle emissions (Kathuria, 2001). There-
sue is not whether people want to live in houses constructed on plots or in fore, every possible step should be taken to reduce this unacceptable pollu-
apartments. The issue rather is that people want to live in a house at an af- tion. The reduction in the need to travel or the reduction in the need to make
fordable cost, no matter whether it is a detached or semi-detached house, or longer trips in the city, would greatly contribute to lowering emissions and
an apartment in a high-rise residential block. India or for that matter Delhi, thus pollution levels.
is no different. According to the National Building Organization, urban India Delhi has also become one of the most unsafe cities in Asia. The number
alone had a massive housing shortage of 9.6 million dwelling units in 1991 of crimes and the crime rates have gone up considerably. A total of 61,613
(quoted in Visaria, 1999: 280). Likewise, Delhi has a housing shortage of crimes were reported in 1995. This number increased to 70,074 in 1998, an
300,000 dwelling units, which means 1.5 million people do not have a house increase of 12 percent (Commissioner of Police, Delhi, 1999: 232-233; also
to live in (Government of India, 1990: 5; Central Statistical Organization, see Sharma, 1998: 3). One reason is that the proportionally smaller number
1998: 180). Others have calculated the housing shortage in Delhi at 825,000 of police officers who have to police a larger area and population reduces
dwelling units in 1997 (Gupta, 1995: 211). In this situation it is obvious that their effectiveness in combating and controlling crime.
people would be likely to move to any kind of dwelling unit. It is clear that quality of life could hardly get worse than that experienced
Most of the flatted development constructed and offered by the DDA is by the residents of the slums and squatter settlements of Delhi and other
fully occupied. Even these properties command a high price. As developed cities in the developing countries. The dignity of these people has been stolen
land in Delhi has become increasingly scarce, the private sector has provided a in a context of floating human and animal excreta in open drains that con-
large number of high-rise apartments for the middle classes in and around taminate drinking water, and piles of solid wastes breeding flies that cause
Delhi. Entire blocks of apartments are sold out even before construction is death and disease. If the effort is made, the quality of life can only improve.
completed. Clearly in Delhi’s housing market there is a segment of the popula- Therefore, the central quality of life issue is that of the provision of housing
tion that prefers high-rise housing because the alternative is no housing at all. and physical and social infrastructure. The quality of goods and services is a
secondary issue at the moment.
Quality of life
Few could dispute that the quality of life needs to be improved in the Conclusions: some guidelines for the future
cities of developing countries. In Delhi, the significant quality of life issues in- This paper has argued that Urban Delhi is an inverted compact city. A pol-
clude pollution levels in terms of number of accidents on the roads, and safe- icy of ‘decentralized concentration’ was pursued by the DDA half-heartedly
ty levels in terms of crime. Delhi is the fourth most polluted city in the world. and led to no major gains. But many policy initiatives can be taken to contain
Most recent estimates reveal that ‘at current air pollution levels, one person urban sprawl and to bring compaction to the city of Delhi.
dies every hour in Delhi because of respiratory and other pollution related dis- First, it should be accepted that the compact city planning approach is
eases’ (Narain, 1999: 9; World Health Organization and the United Nations not merely about attaining high population densities and high intensity de-

98 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 99

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 ate Public Transport System for Metropolitan Cities and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York.
- a case study of Delhi. Indian Journal of Transport
Management, 19 (6): 401-413.
United Nations, 1987. Population Growth and Poli-
cies in Mega Cities: Madras. Population Policy Pa-
Metropolitan delta
Sharma, R., 1998. City Witnessed a Spurt in Crime
Rates in 1998, The Times of India, CLXI (298): 3.
Singh, R., 1999. Evaluation of Public Intervention in
per No.12, Department of International Economic
and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York.
Visaria, P., 1997. Urbanization in India: An Overview.
landscapes
Resettlement of Squatter Settlements in Delhi. An In Jones, G.W. and Visaria, P. (ed.). Urbanization in
Unpublished Postgraduate Thesis, Department of Large Developing Countries, China, Indonesia, Peter J.A.M. Smeets*, W. Bert Harms*,
Housing, School of Planning and Architecture, New Brazil, and India. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Delhi. World Health Organization and the United Na- Madeleine J. M. van Mansfeld*, Arjen W.C van Susteren**,
United Nations, 1986a. Population Growth and tions Environment Programme, 1992. Urban Marco G. N. van Steekelenburg*
Policies in Mega Cities: Bombay. Population Policy Air Pollution in the Mega Cities of the World. Black-
Paper No.6, Department of International Economic well Publishers, Oxford. * Alterra Green World Research, **Delft University of Technology
and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York. Zhang, M., 2002. Conditions and Effectiveness of
Wageningen, Delft, The Netherlands
United Nations, 1986b. Population Growth and Land Use as a Mobility Tool. Ph.D. Dissertation,
Policies in Mega Cities: Calcutta. Population Policy Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachu- [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
Paper No.1, Department of International Economic setts.
[email protected], [email protected]

Introduction
Throughout history, the fertile river deltas have been the most favourable
regions for human life. Many of them are strongly urbanised and have devel-
oped into metropolitan deltas. In this paper we will compare the metropoli-
tan delta of North-western Europe to others and we will briefly discuss the
main spatial planning problems that are at stake.

Metropolitan deltas as specific form of urbanisation

The great metropolitan areas are the centres in which in the 21st centu-
ry global competition is taking place. The process of global urbanisation will
increase, especially in low income countries, that in 1995 contain about 60%
of the global population (Ingram, 1997). At this moment there are 20 me-
tropolises with a population of more than 10 million people. If the develop-
ing world will follow the urbanisation process that has occurred in Europe and
North and South America, it is expected that by 2030 nearly two-thirds of the
world's population will be urban (The Economist, 2002).

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 Throughout history metropolitan areas have developed around centres of
Urbanised zone
government. However, in Europe and South and East Asia due to the presence
Suburbanised zone
of large river deltas another type of metropolis can be distinguished, the Met-
High Speed Train Network
ropolitan Delta. A metropolitan delta can be defined as the delta of a big
Main Transport Axes
river with a large conurbation, sometimes functioning as a port for its hinter-
Main River
land. Urbanisation, industry, infrastructure development, intensive agricul- Main Sea Harbour
ture, nature conservation and water management are struggling for space. Main Airport
The emergence of these metropolitan areas has been mainly concentrat-
ed along great rivers that have formed major transport arteries to the hinter-
land since time immemorial. In this way it was possible for these societies to
transport large loads resulting in larger urban development around these
transit ports in the late Middle Ages. In the rest of the Old World the camel
was still the main mode of transport and loads of around 150 kilograms were
transhipped in the caravanserais, which themselves grew into small trading
centres at intersections in the caravan routes. Where even the camel could
not gain access people (mainly women) carried small loads from village to vil-
lage and transhipment locations had no relevance whatsoever. In China and
Europe, however, the transit ports became the metropolises, which in one
hand were in contact with the rest of the world by sea and on the other hand Figure 1: The Northwest European Metropolitan Delta
connecting the hinterland by the river system. On the American continent the
European model of metropolitan development was copied following the
colonisation of the Dutch, the French and the British (McNeill, 1987). on this map (figure 1) derived from the Structuurschets Benelux, a common
report on spatial planning by the governments of Belgium, The Netherlands
The Northwest European Metropolitan Delta and Luxemburg (Van den Broeck et al., 1996).
The North West European Metropolitan Delta is a poly-nuclear or network Although it has its roots in the delta of the river Rhine, since the mid 19th
metropolis that is developing in the triangle between Lille, Amsterdam and century the ongoing urbanisation is based at least partially on rail and road
the Ruhr area. It is a new, large, hybrid urban pattern of urban concentration infrastructure in addition to waterways. These bundles of infrastructure are
areas, suburban zones and open spaces (Wijermans & van Mansfeld, 2000). the backbone of so called corridors in which the North-western European de-
The Northwest European Metropolitan Delta is the area between Lille velopment process is supposed to take place (Verkennis & Groenewegen,
(France), Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Cologne (Germany) as shown 1997). And even though, according to these two authors, the corridor concept

104 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 105

 Figure 2: The 15 largest urban deltas of the world.
should not be used in retrospective, the metaphor nevertheless offers a per-
fect description of the development of the small, medium and large sized
Dutch cities, from the trade network of the Hanseatic cities onto the devel-
opment of the Randstad in the last century.

Delta metropolis quantified

In the study of Van Steekelenburg (2001) urbanised areas with a radius
of 100 and 300 kilometres were compared worldwide on population density.
In this study the North West European Metropolitan Delta climbs to the glob-
al top 25 of urban regions, illustrating its highly urbanised identity at the sub-
continental level of scale.
Van Susteren (2003) compared the Dutch part of the North-western Eu-
ropean Metropolitan Delta (the so called Randstad Holland) with 75 other of the most densely populated river mouths of the 15 studied urban deltas
conurbations in the world. The scope of this study, however, was a 30 km ra- (table 1). Also three compositions of contemporary urban deltas could be dis-
dius. The selection of conurbations for this study has been derived from three tinguished: (i) Urban deltas that are heavily urbanised but have no connec-
global rankings. First the world’s 25 largest river deltas, as defined by the tion (jet) with the global trade network via air-, sea-, or telecom ports (i.e.
Times Atlas of the Oceans, have been selected upon their drainage area, Dakha, Karachi). (ii) Delta ports that are hardly urbanised but have a very im-
which represents the catchment area of the river delta. Secondly the world’s portant (based on their ranking) connection with the global trade network via
25 largest cities, as defined by the Times Atlas of the World, have been se- air- ,sea-, or telecom ports (i.e. Anchorage, New Orleans) and (iii) urban delta
lected upon their number of inhabitants, which represents the world’s most ports that are heavily urbanised and have very important (based on their
urban areas. Thirdly the world’s 25 largest air-, sea-, and telecom ports, as de- ranking) connections with the global trade network via air-, sea-, or telecom
fined by IATA, MARAD and Telegeography, have been selected on their per- ports (i.e. Randstad Holland, Hongkong).
formance within the global trade networks, representing the world’s largest In order to determine the relevance of these delta ports within the glob-
ports. As a result of this study 15 of the 25 global river deltas could be dis- al networks Van Susteren developed the Mainport-index. This index is based
criminated as urban deltas. These 15 urban deltas are illustrated in figure 2. on the combined position in cargo-traffic, air-traffic and ICT-backbone. When
As indexes are often used in order to compare relative characteristics, the the relative position in these characteristics is used in the algorithm, the top
quantification has been elaborated to the Deltamet-index. This index com- 5 of this MainPort-index is Los Angeles, Randstad, London, New York, and San
pares the world’s top 15 of urban deltas ranked by the quotient of the popu- Francisco. When absolute values of cargo-traffic, air traffic and ICT back-
lation density and the total drainage area of the delta. It can be concluded bone are being used the top 5 is New York, London, Singapore, Los Angeles
that the Randstad conurbation in the Netherlands can be considered as one and Randstad.

106 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 107

 Table 1 DeltaCities and last but not least its high biodiversity under threat. Together with urban
Nr. Riverdelta Deltacity at Deltamet-Index Ranking* sprawl, these specific problems of metropolitan deltas occur mainly in what
drainage area rivermouth (inh/km2) A B C D E F in the Dutch spatial planning jargon is referred to as the green space. Green
(millions km2) Population space means rural areas that in former days encircled the cities and still are
(millions) present, fragmented and surrounded by the heavily urbanised space of the
1 Mississippi 3.2 New Orleans 1.0 0.3 - 7 - - - - metropolitan delta. De Geyter et al. (2002) refer to these former rural areas
2 Nile 2.9 Cairo 10.8 3.7 17 - - - - - as the negative space. This is because the maps that these authors draw of
3 Rio de la Plata 2.7 Buenos Aires 12.4 4.6 10 - - - - - the negative space are literally the negative of the combined maps of the
4 Niger 2.1 Lagos 13.4 6.4 7 - - - - - build environment and the infrastructure, that together make up the positive
5 Yangtze 2.0 Shanghai 14.2 7.1 12 8 - - - - or planned space. So this denomination also indicates the difference in plan-
6 Volga 1.4 St. Petersburg 5.9 4.2 - - - - - - ning intensity of these areas compared to the urban areas. The negative space
7 Ganges 1.1 Calcutta 12.9 11.7 9 - - - - - can be considered as an integral part of the metropolitan delta because it de-
8 Yukon 0.9 Anchorage 0.3 0.3 - - - - 7 - termines important qualities of the delta as a whole, as will be discussed below.
9 Mekong 0.8 Ho Chi Minh 5.1 6.4 - - - - - -
10 Indus 0.6 Karachi 11.7 29.5 13 - - - - - Agriculture in metropolitan deltas
11 Irrawaddy 0.6 Rangoon 4.7 7.8 - - - - - - There is a common misunderstanding that the pioneering role that a
12 Pearl 0.5 Hong Kong 5.5 11.0 - 5 - 22 2 16 country as the Netherlands has played in the development of modern agri-
13 Brahmaputra 0.4 Dakha 10.9 27.3 15 - - - - - culture is linked to the rural areas. In fact it is linked to the urban areas. His-
14 Fraser 0.2 Vancouver 1.5 7.5 - - - - - - torical descriptions even refer to the agro-industrial complex as one of the
15 Rhine 0.2 Deltametropolis 6.4 32.0 - 2 25 10 15 3 fundamental pre-conditions of the origin of the urbanised society (Waller-
16 Sacramento 0.1** San Fransisco-B.A.5.8 - 12 - 9 22 5 stein, 1980). Within the Northwest European Delta Metropolis there is no
*Ranking: A:Megacity B:Worldport C:Air movements D: Air passengers E: Air cargo F. ICT-port
question of a marginalization of agriculture (Bethe et al., 1997). Develop-
**other source used (Water Resources eAtlas of IUCN, IWMI, WRI and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands) ment is taking place rapidly in two directions: intensification and increase of
scale, on the one hand, and the development of a pluri-activity agriculture on
Planning problems in metropolitan deltas the other (Van Eck et al., 2002b).
Metropolitan deltas have similar problems as all big metropolises in the The main strategy can be characterised as intensification and scale in-
world through time such as poverty, traffic congestion, environmental prob- crease, spurred by an increase in land prices and leading to a knowledge-in-
lems, struggle for space and urban sprawl. Within the specific delta-composi- tensive, highly specialized and spatially concentrated agricultural sector de-
tion they distinguish themselves by three additional problems: ongoing in- livering high-quality products (Rabbinge et al., 1996). Two forms can be dis-
tensification and extensification of agriculture, complex water management, tinguished. In or close to the urban concentrations, the metropolitan delta at-

108 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 109

 tracts footloose agricultural activities such as greenhouses and intensive pig ing the risks of large-scale flooding within the delta area, especially in the
and poultry production (Van Eck et al., 2002a). At some distance of the ur- areas below sea level. Elsewhere, especially on the sandy soils, groundwater
ban concentrations the agriculture is more land dependent: dairy farming or quantity is decreasing and its quality is threatened. There is consequently a
the specialised production of vegetables, seeds, bulbs etc (Van Eck et al., need for an integrated and well-thought design of multifunctional land use
1997). The metropolitan delta offers a combination of locational advantages in water catchment areas. The importance of water management aspects in
that are determining the ongoing development of this food production chains spatial planning is expected to increase in metropolitan deltas (Kamphuis et
into global networks such as (i) high levels of knowledge amongst entrepre- al., 1996; Kwakernaak et al., 1998; Ministerie van VROM, 2001). Moreover, in
neurs and management in agriculture itself and amongst people and firms on the case of the Northwest European Metropolitan Delta that stretches across
their periphery (financial and veterinary services, equipment, maintenance the boundaries of the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany this inte-
etc.), (ii) good infrastructure and logistics, (iii) direct access to huge nearby gral approach needs to be transnational. International authorities will have
markets in the form of many (critical) consumers, (iv) a large pool of cheap to be set up, based around river basins, to regulate the water systems in or-
labour, (v) a large supply of ancillary and by-products for waste processing der to reduce the threat of flooding but also to promote the economic func-
and chain management, and (vi) main port function to import fodder and tions of water, namely transport, drinking water and water for industrial pur-
export goods. poses (Ministerie V&W, 2000).
The other strategy consists of the development of pluri-activity by the
original landowners, combining traditional agricultural with activities that of- Nature conservation in metropolitan deltas
fer a supplement to their income by providing all kinds of services in de- The natural variety of river deltas is the basis for relative high species rich-
mand in the rural areas. These services can take many different forms: nature ness in its natural ecosystems. Before land reallotment, use of fertilisers and
management, landscape management, recreation, care services, regional draining, traditional agriculture added to the landscape variety and species
products, local products sold on site etc. But there are also other options such richness in general. This explains the fact that in a country as the Nether-
as a second job completely separate from the running of the agrarian enter- lands, only covering a small part of the area of Europe a great amount of
prise. A number of beautifully illustrated books cover many of these possi- habitat types in Europe can be found. But in modern times industrialisation
bilities (Van Broekhuizen et al., 1997). However the economic impact and the of agriculture, together with urbanisation, both important characteristics of
long-term economic sustainability of these forms of pluri-activity tend to be the development of metropolitan deltas, have become important threats for
over estimated (Smeets, 2002). biodiversity.
Species conservation and habitat preservation has become an impor-
Water management in metropolitan deltas tant international issue embedded in international law. Increasingly, nature
A variety of water management related problems have always played a and landscape management will become integrated into the spatial planning
very important role in the metropolitan deltas. The levels of surface water in process. Conservation policy now traverses frontiers in a PAN-European ap-
rivers and sea will rise as a consequence of climatic change and are increas- proach that attempts to link nature areas and habitats, to prevent the ex-

110 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 111

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gel Internationaal Kunstcentrum, Antwerpen. Van der Ploeg, J. D. 1997. Atlas van het
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Driel, D. J., Van Os, J., Richters, E. J. and Smeets, Van den Broeck, J., Barendrecht, M., Boe, P. D.,
P. J. A. M. 1997. Rural Areas and Europe; Processes in D'hondt, F., Govaerts, P., Janssens, P., Kragt, R.,
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Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, p. 72.
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work economy. The Northwest European Metropolitan Delta is the biggest ur- Voorbeelden van Agribusinessparken. - Alterra, p. 28.
Kamphuis, H., Kuiper, R. and Laan, Y. v. d. 1996.
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tropolis as a whole (i.e. urban sprawl, intensification of agriculture, nature con- Kwakernaak, C., Ypma, K. W., Klijn, J. A., Bakel, P. J. Landbouw; uitwerking van vier ontwikkelingsrichtin-
servation and water management) are dominant in the urban fringe. The tra- T. v. and Gaast, J. W. J. v. d. 1998. Ruimtelijke gen. - Alterra, p. 78.
gevolgen van klimaatverandering en bodemdaling; Ef- Van Eck, W., Wintjes, A. and Noij, G. J. 1997. Land-
ditional distinction between urban and rural areas is no longer adequate when fecten van veranderingen in de waterhuishouding op bouw op de kaart. - In: Jaarboek 1997 van het Staring
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Van Steekelenburg, M. G. N. 2001. Self Sufficient
Onderzoek van het Landelijk Gebied (SC-DLO), p. 40.
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Eurasian Transportation in Historical Perspective. The enst, Ministerie van VROM.
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American Historical Review 92, 1111-1126.
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Waterbeleid in de 21e eeuw. - Ministerie van Verkeer in relation to urbanised deltas. - TU Delft University.
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en Waterstaat.
ter management measures that are conflicting with the needs of nature con- Ministerie van VROM. 2001. Ruimte maken, ruimte kelingen in de regio Randstad-Rijn/Ruhr. - In:
delen; vijfde nota over de ruimtelijke ordening Wallerstein, I. 1980. The Modern World System II. Mer-
servation or with measures aiming at preventing flooding. It follows that in 2000/2020. - Rijksplanologische Dienst. Ministerie cantilism and the consolidation of the European world
the planning process of metropolitan deltas an integrated approach is need- van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke Ordening en Mi- economy. - Academic Press.
lieubeheer, p. 300. Wijermans, M. P. and van Mansfeld, M. J. M.
ed that not only combines traditional urban and rural planning. It has to ad- Rabbinge, R., van Latesteijn, H. C. and Smeets, P. 2000. Ruimtelijke patronen en processen in Noord-
west Europa. - In: Parlementaire werkgroep Vijfde
dress the interconnected sectoral problems of urbanisation, water manage- J. A. M. 1996. Planning consequences of long term
Nota ruimtelijke ordening 1999-2000, nr 3 (Eds)
land-use scenario's in the European Union. - In: Jong-
ment, and agricultural development etc. at the same time. Other contributions man, R. H. G. (ed.) Ecological and landscape conse- (ed.) Notie van ruimte, op weg naar de vijfde Nota
quences of land use change in Europe. European Cen- ruimtelijke ordening, 2000. Sdu Uitgevers, Den Haag,
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in landscape research as described by Tress & Tress (2001). Smeets, P. J. A. M. 2002. Landbouw in de Noordwest- Zonneveld, W. and Evers, F. (eds.), Van Delta naar
Europees Achterland. NIROV-Europlan.

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 Impact of land use change in decades followed the economic growth of the country. The private activities
on real estate and land development had over taken the necessary coordina-
Bangkok Metropolitan and tion of the planning officials and the public land acquisition capability of the
public administration. The uncoordinated, space squandering character of the
Suburban Areas housing projects and solely the market forces, which the public authorities
seem to be defending the so-called “Public Interest”, had driven various forms
Nitayaporn Tonmanee and Parida Kuneepong of land development.
Land Development Department, Chatuchak
Bangkok, Thailand Urbanization of Bangkok
[email protected] Land use in Bangkok Metropolitan Region has been classified into three
zones, the inner city which the main concentration area for government of-
fices, commercial activities, educational establishments, historical conserva-
tion areas and living quarters. The urban fringe is the new central business
district accommodating outward increase in the numbers of business and
Introduction commercial activities. Presently, the key government operations and busi-
Bangkok is one of the fast growing Asian Metropolises and has a daytime nesses and commercial activities are concentrated in these inner city bounds
population of about 8 million people. The registered population is about 6.5 and it continues to the major employment areas. Intensification of economic
million in 1.5 million households on the 1,508 square-km area. Bangkok is ob- activities and continued demand for centrally located sites is the main reason
viously one of the mega cities. Most industries were concentrated in the for rise in land price in these locations.
Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR), where geographical and institutional Suburban is the outer part of Bangkok link to the inner city by radial roads
conditions were most favorable. As cities expand, prime agricultural land and northwards and southwards to Nonthburi and Samut Prakarn, eastwards
habitats such as forests and water basins were transformed into land for and westwards to Chachoengsao and Nakhon Patthom. Approximately 25%
housing, roads, and industry. High economic growth and increased employ- of these suburban areas has been classified as residential areas, a ratio is like-
ment opportunities cause substantial influx of labour immigration. The sub- ly to increase given the continued rise in land prices in the inner city are as
urbanization has increased with 52% of urban population in 1990, increased well as the deterioration in urban pollution which are the main discouraging
to 61% in 1995 and predicted to reach 82% in 2020 (Office of Environ- factors for middle to upper income level groups to live in the inner city areas.
mental Policy and Planning, 2002). The changes of land use affected social, The remaining 75% of the land are utilized for manufacturing and commer-
economic and ecological conditions. The Bangkok Metropolitan Region is fur- cial activities while large parts of the land remain under agricultural area. The
thermore a large producer of agricultural products, although the share in to- outward expansion of economic activities together
tal output is declining. The explosive growth of Bangkok in the past few

114 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 115

 with the economic and environmental factors is likely to intensify land use in garbage collection services, security guards, etc., as part of their marketing
these fringe areas. Though linked with the inner city by expressways and arteri- strategies. While there are comprehensive services within private housing
al roads, of adequate distributor roads and access roads and leaching develop- projects, there have been inadequate efforts in linking up these private hous-
ment of urban amenities are said to be the prevalent problems of these areas. ing projects with the broader road networks or to link up with local existing
urban systems to which “new communities” are superimposed. A large scale
Land use change of Bangkok Metropolitan Region influx of new residents often create an overnight demand for public facilities
and Suburban creating bottlenecks in supply of amenities, waste water and solid-waste fa-
In the Bangkok Metropolitan Area, the residential and agricultural areas cilities. Excessive construction onto only causes pilfering of top soil is ob-
were decreased (see table 1). The highest increase of the residential and in- served to be causing damaging results from inundation but construction of
dustrial areas have the provinces Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani; the agricul- these real estate projects often involved filling up natural waterways and
tural areas in both provinces were decreased. canals and altering the former drainage systems causing flooding problems.
In short, urbanization as a result of rapid economic development has
Table 1: Percentage of Major Land Use Change during 1980-2001. many externalities that are reflected in the poor quality of life, congestion of
Province % Residential % Industrial % Agricultural living space, air and noise pollution, problems of transportation and inade-
1980 2001 1980 2001 1980 2001 quacies of urban services. With the lack of tradition for cost sharing of public
Bangkok 30.7 22.0 0.1 1.6 54.4 33.0 utilities and amenities, the burden for provision of these services relied sole-
Nonthaburi 10.0 18.0 0.1 0.9 85.0 70.0 ly on public sector spending.
Pathumthani 1.2 17.0 0.2 2.0 90.0 73.0 One major area of concern over un-controlled expansion of urban areas
Samut Prakhan 7.2 8.0 1.5 9.0 80.6 61.0 is the loss of agricultural land. Between 1974 and 1984, it has been estimat-
Samut Sakorn 5.9 6.4 0.2 2.5 70.0 71.0 ed that urbanization of the metropolitan area resulted in an average loss of
Nakon Pathom 5.6 9.0 0.1 0.7 92.0 83.0 32 square-km per year and between 1984-1989, it has been estimated that
Source: Land Development Department an average of 28.80 square-km (Suksawong & Morishita, 2000) per year of
agricultural land has been converted to golf courses and residential housing
projects. Large scale transfer of prime agricultural land in Nonthburi province
Land use related problems of urbanization has been converted to real estate areas during the economic boom period
The damages in terms spatial forms from the above urban development and the province has become, in effect, the dormitory town for middle to up-
process are evident in the present land use of BMR, i.e., insufficient road ra- per income groups, the majority of whom represent the day-time resident of
tio, unsystematic road networks, numerous blind land parcels and an overall Bangkok Samut Prakarn, agricultural land has been converted into industrial
low efficiency in pattern of land use. The intensive competition demands that and residential areas. Similarly, in Samut Sakhon: small-scale factories, mini-
developers build in comprehensive services such as water supply, electricity, factories and industrial estates. Not much change in land use has been ob-

116 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 117

 served in the case of Nakhon Pathom during the economic boom period since dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide level remain steady or have
a large area of land has already been converted to industrial areas, commer- declined slightly, despite significant increases in the vehicular population.
cial and residential areas. This is a result in part from fleet modernization, enforcement of emission stan-
Inefficiency of urban land use is manifested in conflicting patterns of dards, reduced traffic congestion, and improvement in fuel quality.
land-use. With weak enforcement of land use plans, it is not uncommon to Two other factors have contributed to the improvement of air quality in
find mixture of varying types of land use. Along the Pathum Thani’s provin- Bangkok. The installation of catalytic converters, at first only in new vehicles,
cial highways for example, industrial factories are located amidst residential eventually on all vehicles, has helped to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and
areas typically along side the arterial roads. Built up areas follow the trans- to attain standard levels by the year 2000. In addition, to strict enforcement
port corridors and areas of emerging economic activities such as the corridor of air pollution regulations, a campaign has been conducted to reduce par-
to the designated industrial nucleus in the Eastern Region, the upper Cen- ticulate smaller than 10 microns by requiring construction sites and con-
tral Region. struction vehicles to be covered and through the phasing out of motorcycles
Urban sprawls and mushrooming of dormitory towns generally result in using two-stroke engines.
increases in average travelling distance, daily travelling hours and travelling
expenses. Urbanites have been auto-dependent and energy-intensive society. Noise pollution
Such changes not only incur private costs which are absorbed by the house- Noise pollution is still a continuing problem in many cities in Thailand, es-
holds, but they affect the real economic sectors pushing up unit cost of pro- pecially Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The major sources of noise are
duction from various forms of incremental costs mentioned. from vehicles, which generate traffic noise. Noise standards were established
in 1997; Environmental Noise Standard as a 24-hour average shall not exceed
Environmental problems from land use change 70 decibel (dBA). The maximum ambient noise level shall not exceed 115 dBA.
The problems of urban environment and suburban are due to population As the traffic has been the major cause of noise pollution, the areas ad-
growth, economic growth and inefficient management system (Pairoj-Bori- jacent to main roads in Bangkok indicated noise levels exceeding the Stan-
boon & Chongprasith, 2003). dard of 70 dBA on every single day, and was higher than 80 dBA in many
areas posing a potential of hearing loss and mental disorder to those who
Air pollution have long term exposure. The 24 hour average noise level in the areas adja-
Air pollution is one of the most obvious and important environmental cent to minor roads was between 60.4 and 78.4 dBA, with 20% of the meas-
problems of BMR, regional cities, and large urban communities which one urements exceeded the standard limit. Governmental and academic places in
currently developing and expanding by industrialization and transportation. Bangkok had 10% of all measurements exceeded the Environmental Noise
The Pollution Control Department (PCD) points out that in Bangkok, ambient Standard, and the average was in the range of 64.4 to 75.8 and 52.1 to
levels of lead have been reduced significantly, dropping sharply since the 87.7 dBA respectively.
phase-out of leaded gasoline that began in May 1991. In addition, sulfur Noise levels monitored in other provinces exceeded the General Ambient

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 Standard around 40% of time, and the average ranged from 50.6 to 81.4 in various areas, to meet changing world conditions, which include pollution
dBA. It was found that noise levels in the areas of governmental facilities, problems. Waste utilization, one measure to solve this problem, is to reduce
academic and residential places were lower than that in Bangkok. Regional and make beneficial use of the waste. There were more reports in the reduc-
governmental offices showed no effect from noise pollution. The noise level tions and recycling of waste in terms of research, and public campaigns to dis-
in academic institutes was between 55.0 and 74.8 dBA, with 95% of time seminate know how and business operation.
within the standard, except Na Phralan Area in Saraburi Province which is
near a highway junction of heavy trucks. Wastewater Management Authority
It has been known about water quality in the Chao Phraya River. Clear
Solid waste water now turns into fouled water. Presently, waste quality is becoming in-
Solid waste quantity from communities in BMR increases 24% from 2001 creasingly more deteriorated, particularly in the lower Chao Phraya or in the
to 2002. BMA hired a private company collected the solid waste from BMR BMR area. Who will be responsible for the protection, correction and revital-
and transfer to the landfill or dump site. Problems from a lack of solid waste ization of the water quality in the Chao Phraya River and return it to the good
disposal land and opposition from the public has intensified every year. condition like in the past, the Wastewater Management Authority WMA)
was established, as a state owned enterprise. The duty of the WMA is to pro-
Water pollution vide wastewater management service, beginning with the lower Chao Phraya
The water quality of the lower Chao Phraya river (km 0-62) from the river river basin, because it has the most critical wastewater problem. To carry out
mouth in Smut Prakarn to Amphoe Muang Nonthaburi, the water quality was this duty, suitable wastewater treatment technology will be utilized, includ-
in deteriorated state. Sources of pollution in the lower Chao Phraya River orig- ing the introduction of a waste management method to make it economical.
inate mainly from domestic waste, and the lower Chao Phraya flows through Another important operating plan is to allow full public participation in WMA
higher density urban areas. (Jarupongsakul & Yoshihiro, 2000).

Pollution control management Utilization of Waste

The government has announced a clear policy to “expedite the prevention During the past ten years, there have been many initiatives introduced to
and remedy of pollution problems in water, air, noise, toxic and solid waste, make better use of municipal, industrial and agricultural wastes. For instance,
by using the pollution pay principle.” Current pollution problems which can recyclable materials trade, markets for recyclable material, waste-for-eggs
result in direct and indirect impacts to the public health, are receiving major scheme, waste donation scheme, organic waste for composting, liquid fertiliz-
priority and interest from the general public, particularly, the private sector, er production, good smell waste and handicraft from left over materials.
which fully cooperates in solving the problems. Pollution control manage-
ment from the past to the present has been improved and revised in terms of The Root of Thai Environmental Law
personnel, low, budget, setting up organizations and promotional measures At the United Nation Conference on the Human Environment on 5-16

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 References
June 1972 in Stockholm, Sweden, 1,200 representatives from 113 countries
Jarupongsakul, J. and Yoshihiro, K., 2000. The Pairoj-Boriboon, S. and Chongprasith, P, 2003.
around the world united for the first time to discuss and find solutions for (eds.). Thailand State of Environment, The Decade
imagescape of the Chao Phraya delta into the year
the environmental crisis by founding the United Nations Environment Pro- 2000. In: Proceedings of the International Confer- of 1990s. Pollution Control Department, Ministry
ence: The Chao Phraya Delta: Historical develop- of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand.
gramme (UNEP). Governments world-wide, including Thailand, took immedi- 88p.
ment, dynamics and challenges of Thailand’s rice
ate legislative and administrative actions. In Thailand, the Enhancement bowl, vol. 2. Bangkok, Thailand, 461-499. Suksawong, O. and Morishita, H., 2000. The im-
Land Development Department, 2002. Soil Sur- pact of socio-economic changes on land use
and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act B.E. 2518 (NIQA B.E. vey Report in central part of Thailand. Ministry of changes in Pathum Thani province. In: Proceedings
2518 (1975)) was enacted and the Office of the National Environmental Agriculture and Cooperative, Thailand. of the International Conference: The Chao Phraya
Office of Environmental Policy and Planning, Delta: Historical development, dynamics and chal-
Board was founded in the same year. 2002. Environmental quality situation in 2001 re- lenges of Thailand’s rice bowl, vol. 2. Bangkok,
Thailand, 311-322.
The NIQA B.E. 2518 (1975) was amended twice, in 1978 and 1979, to in- port. Ministry of Science, Technology and Environ-
ment, Thailand. 292 p. (In Thai).
clude the following details: 1) to appoint the National Environmental Board
and the Office of the National Environmental Board as government bodies
in charge of management of the environment; 2) to set environment quality
standards; 3) to state that, for certain project of activities, environmental im-
pact assessment (EIA) is compulsory; and 4) to assign the Prime Minister to
be in command during emergencies so as to prevent or mitigate anticipated
environmental impact and/or damage.

Conclusions
Urban development in the future will have to recognize the need of pub-
lic participation right from the policy formulation and planning stages. The
planning authorities should understand and accept their limitations and start
to empower the local people. Top down planning and large centralized proj-
ect doesn’t lend them to public participation. Public hearing and public ne-
gotiation is not public participation. It has to be an integrated public policy.
Project framed with this new approach will be sustainable and permanent, as
they will ensure constant stakeholder involvement’s.

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 Approaches to
plan and manage
metropolitan
landscapes

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 Overconsultation breeds The people of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, in Southern Louisiana, have
been engaged in dialogue about the reparation of their ecosystem for the
contempt: past 40 years. It has been man-made development that has caused most of
the problems – building canals, levees, bridges, houses and infrastructure to
Lessons in participatory control the environment – and this same culture of construction permeates

watershed planning from the the restoration efforts. Restoration is further hampered by the dependence of
the Louisiana economy on the oil, construction and shipping industries, that
Lake Pontchartrain Basin of are responsible for much of the wetland destruction and vulnerable to it. Po-
litical and cultural sensitivity is required in order to make changes in these in-
Louisiana, USA habited ecosystems. The agencies working in the Basin have been successful
at attracting government funding but the restoration efforts have fallen prey
Kate Sherren to fragmentation of intent. Cooperation has not been required due to the
Farrer Centre, Charles Sturt University amount of funding supplied – there has been no need to stretch dollars. Re-
Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia search, in particular, has not been feeding into any decision-making frame-
[email protected] work, and parallel efforts have been arising between universities, government
and non-government agencies.
A restoration task on the scale of the Pontchartrain Basin, like those of
the Chesapeake Bay or the Everglades, requires an over-arching structure to
coordinate the individual research and restoration efforts. Otherwise, the true
Introduction power of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration eludes the
Though the watershed-scale management philosophy is espoused by the process. With a fragmented approach, there is a duplication of effort, espe-
United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this type of ho- cially in expensive establishment tasks. As an example of this inefficiency,
listic management is difficult to enact in the decentralised political structure three different geographic information systems (GIS) databases of spatial lay-
of the USA. Political jurisdictions under a decentralised system are small – ers and monitoring projects on the Basin have been compiled within the
on the scale of counties or parishes – and are usually sub-watershed rather space of two years (Johnston et al., 2002; Sherren et al., 2002; Cothren et
than supra-watershed. To further complicate matters, no fewer than 22 gov- al., 2001) and a fourth is being planned (Conner ,1999). High level project
ernment agencies in the USA share responsibility for water and watershed coordination is essential to ensure that: a) The research that is funded
management (National Research Council Committee on Watershed Man- through the program fits back into a ‘hole’ in the knowledge base, and b) The
agement 1999). With so many jurisdictions and agencies, there are many bar- information gleaned from public participation is available to all projects,
riers to joint management. Even simply sharing data is difficult. rather than each sub-project undertaking their own consultation campaign.

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 The management funding of the Chesapeake Bay Program, run out of the Na- restoration efforts will be made, with more detailed discussion given of recent
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is US$2.75 million dollars a public participation sessions. Lastly, recommendations will be made regarding
year (Chesapeake Bay Program, 1997); a similar investment in the Louisiana framework structures that could be adopted to guide restoration in the Basin.
coast is recommended, and a similar management mandate is required.
It is now popularly accepted that public participation is necessary in plan- The set
ning processes, and all sides of negotiation processes are aware of how to be The Lake Pontchartrain Basin is an urban estuary whose tributaries and
involved. However, these processes threaten to cause fatigue amongst the distributaries (excluding the tidal effects of the Pearl River, which forms the
participants due to the frequency with which they are consulted, and the min- border with Mississippi State) cover all or part of 5 counties in Mississippi
imal effect they seem to have. Public participation seems to be considered a state and 17 parishes in Louisiana (see figure 1). Though it is called a lake,
panacea for the confrontational resource management environments of the Pontchartrain is open to the Gulf of Mexico via the Rigolets Pass, and is the
past, rather than a source of valuable insight. Overconsultation creates middle in a chain of three linked shallow bays that lie along the margin of the
among participants a cynicism of both the process and the organisers. They deltaic plain. The Mississippi River, which drains half the landmass of the
must wonder “We’ve already been through this; why don’t these government United States (roughly 200,000 km2), and some of Canada, passes within
departments / academics / politicians talk to each other?” Consultation 15 kilometers of all the lakes. Due to the flood-control levees flanking the
must be carefully managed and focused or else managers will appear to be river, however, its only interaction with the Pontchartrain Basin (until its ter-
crying wolf, and to have little respect for the time of the participants. minus) is at the Bonnet Carré Spillway and the Caernarvon freshwater diver-
It is also somewhat unfair to continue to ask the public for solutions mere- sion. Otherwise, its watershed is completely separate.
ly because the only ones managers can think of are too expensive financial-
ly or politically. In the case of the loss of barrier islands and wetlands that pro-
tect from storm surges, this is a rare case where the ecological problem also
puts lives at risk. There really is no solution to the ecological and economic
problems in the basin that can allow business as usual, but the political cost
of making the decision to ‘abandon ship’ and relocate inhabitants would be
devastating. The impression could be formed by an observer that the constant
studies are merely an expensive stalling measure.
This paper aspires to inform about the history of restoration and public
consultation in the Basin and suggest alternative methods for managing the
funds available for maximum benefit to decision-making. An introduction to
the Basin will be presented, including its environmental challenges, its way of
life, and the agencies active in restoring it. A survey of past and present Figure 1: Map of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin

130 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 131

 In this paper, the watershed is considered to be comprised of four major (Beall et al., 2001). The area was ill-prepared for the growth, with little
zones: a) the city of Greater New Orleans; b) the Florida Parishes to the north, sewage infrastructure and no zoning plans in place (Sherren et al. 2002).
c) the marginal deltaic plain Lakes themselves (Maurepas, Pontchartrain The unchecked urban expansion in the area is one of the major challenges
and Borgne), and d) the barrier islands, sounds and wetlands to the south, re- faced by the Basin, and has resulted in poor water quality in the tributaries of
ferred to here as the Delta. Each of these zones present different challenges. the lakes due to nutrients, metals and fecal coliforms. Swimming is restricted
New Orleans is a city claimed from swamp. In 1699, the Choctaw Indi- in the Lake itself, and fishing is restricted on some of its tributaries (Louisiana
ans showed the French the shortcut channel they used to to avoid navigat- Department of Health and Hospitals, 1997).
ing the dangerous, meandering route of the River delta. This navigable chan-
nel, now called Bayou St. John, ran through the wetlands from Lake Pontchar-
train to within a four kilometer portage of the Mississippi River, and quickly
became a popular shipping route. The townsite was established in the gap
between the shortcut and the River and eventually grew to fill the marshy
area lying between the River and the Lake. Over time, both water bodies were
leveed to protect the town from river flooding and from storm surges entering
the Lake from the Gulf. The swamps were drained for construction, and an ex-
tensive network of canals and pumps were established to remove rainwater Figure 2: Profile of New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain to Mississippi River
from the town. As the levees denied the town the sedimentary nourishment (adapted from New Orleans US Army Corps of Engineers).

usually supplied by floods, the sediments beneath the town began to settle.
Today the town sits in a bowl – at most points lower than the water level of In the lakes, the freshwater systems of the north merge with the saline
both lake and river – putting additional strain on the floodwater pumps as waters of the south. Man-made channels such as the Mississippi River Gulf
they have to pump uphill (see figure 2). Greater New Orleans, now a city of Outlet (MRGO) and the Inner Harbour Navigation Canal (INHC) have in-
about a million people, is clearly vulnerable to floods and storm surges. In ad- creased the infiltration of sea water to the lakes and the brackish marshes. Af-
dition, both shores of the River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge (the ter the great flood of 1927, a spillway was constructed leading from the Riv-
state capital) are lined with oil refineries and experiencing urban sprawl, mak- er to Lake Pontchartrain. The Bonnet Carré Spillway was opened in 1937 but
ing the potential risk even greater. has only been opened approximately once every decade since then (Addi-
In 1956, a twin-span bridge was built across the centre of the Lake from son, 1999). In addition to flood control, the spillway does aid in returning
New Orleans to the Florida Parishes that are located on the Upland Pleis- fresh water to the system. The Lake was dredged for shells to use as fill ma-
tocene Terraces to the north. The bridge made St. Tammany Parish a com- terial, a practice that seriously affected the turbidity of the water, but this
mutable distance from the city and, combined with high crime rates in met- practice was halted in 1990. Still, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) has
ropolitan New Orleans, resulted in many of the wealthy moving there to live declined over 50% due to nutrient increases in the lake, armoring of the

132 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 133

 shore, hurricanes and changes in salinity. This loss of fish and shellfish nurs- zone produces US$37.4 billion dollars a year, including 21% of the nation’s
ery and shoreline stabilising vegetation affects both the environment and the annual natural gas output (Conner, 1999). In the drained land that does ex-
economy (Penland et al., 2002). ist, there is farming of citrus and pecans and some sugar cane, but fishing,
South of New Orleans, as the Mississippi enters the Gulf of Mexico, you shrimping and oyster-farming pay the wages of most residents of the rural ar-
enter the deltaic plain consisting of wetlands, delta lobes and back-barrier eas in the basin. Trapping rights for alligators and nutria are licensed and fill
sounds protected by the barrier islands such as the Chandeleur chain (Pen- in the gaps during off seasons. Louisiana is the primary producer of oysters in
land et al., 2001). The levees around the River prohibit sediment recharge to America and most of those come from the oyster beds in Plaquemines Parish
this area, causing the marshes to subside and be reclaimed by the Gulf. The (T. Mitchell in Gros, 2003). Oyster-beds are very susceptible to changes in salin-
Caernarvon freshwater diversion was constructed to remedy the loss of sedi- ity, and freshwater diversions from the Mississippi River, designed to return
ment and freshwater to the system. The most common oil and gas exploration freshwater and sediments to the marshes in that area, have initiated a very liti-
methods in the area involve substantial dredging to clear boat access for core gious environment of compensation to the established oyster farmers in the
samples to be taken. Breaking up the marsh in this manner increases the area.
edge exposed to the wave action of the Gulf and of passing boats, exacer-
bating the problem. Increased salinity also causes habitat changes; freshwater The agencies
marsh and cypress swamp are replaced by brackish and saltwater marsh. The The restoration of the Basin has involved a number of agencies, both gov-
imported South American nutria, thriving in the area, also erode the stability ernment and non-governmental, and has achieved some real successes on the
of the marsh by eating the root systems. The net loss of the coastal wetlands ground (Penland and Maygarden, 2002). The following is an introduction to
and barrier islands leaves the inhabited areas unprotected from large storm some of the groups that have been involved, the acronyms for which will be
surges off the gulf. Coastal wetlands are disappearing at a rate of roughly a encountered elsewhere in the paper. More detail on these and other organi-
hectare per hour, or between 65 and 90 km2 every year (Conner, 1999). sations can be found in Sherren et al. (2002).
The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) is a non-profit organi-
zation that has been a driving force behind the government adoption of many
The players recent wetland protection measures. They have also been influential in pub-
The actors in this landscape drama are an ensemble cast, including agen- licizing water quality issues in the Basin, such as industrial groundwater ex-
cies (both government and citizen-run) and industry. traction and wastewater pollution. Primarily, however, it is the Louisiana De-
partment of Natural Resources (LDNR) and the United States Army Corps of
The Industry Engineers (USACE) that control restoration projects in the coastal wetlands
The industry of southern Louisiana is inexorably linked to its ecosystems. of Louisiana.
Primary industries reign, as does the subsequent shipping industry accessing The EPA and their state-based colleagues, the Louisiana Department of
the Mississippi via the port of New Orleans. The oil industry in the coastal Environmental Quality (LDEQ), are responsible for maintaining the quality

134 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 135

 of water resources in the Basin and disseminating funds for research and water quality, specifically involving sewage and agricultural runoff, stormwa-
restoration by universities and community groups. The Louisiana Department ter runoff, saltwater intrusion, and wetland loss (Lake Pontchartrain Basin
of Health and Hospitals (LDHH) performs many monitoring programs, and Foundation, 1995).
is responsible for declaring boil-water and shellfish advisories in the Basin. These recommendations have served as a ‘road map’ for the LPBF over the
The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF) was founded in 1989, past 5 years, with some of the smaller-scale listed items being addressed or
funded by the EPA, in response to the need for a concentrated effort to re- implemented (Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, 1995). Education pro-
store the estuarine system as stated in the document ‘To Restore Lake grams have addressed urban runoff, wetland loss and water quality in the
Pontchartrain’ (Houck, Wagner and Elstrott, 1989). This high-profile group Lake for both adults and students. On-the-ground habitat restoration projects
has increased public awareness of the water quality problems in the Lake, and have tackled submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV), shoreline stability, and
has been successful at attracting funding for restoration projects. Another cit- stormwater treatment using wetlands. The LPBF has also been a part of the
izen group, Citizens for a Clean Tangipahoa (CFACT), made real progress, re- development of several wastewater management plans and infrastructure im-
sulting in the Tangipahoa river being the only of the Lake’s tributaries to have provement plans, the construction of livestock waste lagoons, and weekly wa-
experienced improved water quality in the past 20 years following their in- ter quality monitoring (Penland et al., 2001). These are real tangible im-
volvement in the LDEQ’s Nonpoint Source Pollution program. provements but without a real management mandate, the LPBF is limited to
this scale of success, despite a close relationship with the Regional Planning
The dialogue Council (RPC).
Many scientific studies have looked at the problems facing the Basin The EPA Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process sets targets for the
(Kenwood et al., 1996) and a conference series on the topic called ‘Basics of allowable amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive without im-
the Basin’ is held bi-annually at the University of New Orleans. Despite ‘trial pairment. Though the Basin has the largest number of impaired streams of any
and error’ management, the studies have improved the science and helped to basin in Louisiana (55 out of 83 are impaired, most for multiple pollutants),
identify the types of projects that are likely to work. they are not scheduled for completion until 2006. This delay in addressing the
problem is a result of the severity of the issue and the lack of data available,
Overview of past and ongoing restoration efforts and is an indicator of how difficult the task will be (Hindrichs, 2001).
In 1995, the LPBF released a Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) for Section 404 of the Clean Water Act is designed to regulate the discharge
the Basin, developed under funding by the EPA. Its contributors exhaustively of dredged and fill material into waters of the United States. Activities that
and systematically catalogued the threats to the Basin by sewage, agricul- are regulated under this program include fills for development, water resource
tural and urban runoff, saltwater intrusion and wetlands loss. That process management (i.e. dams and levees), infrastructure (highways and airports),
began in 1991 with meetings of experts and invited members of the public, and conversion of wetlands to uplands for farming and forestry. Under this
and concluded with recommended action items. The CMP report listed a section, the USACE and the EPA jointly administer a wetland permitting pro-
number of recommendations to solve the cumulative impacts on the Lake’s gram including general (less significant effects) and individual permits. Only

136 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 137

 the individual permitting process includes a public notice and hearing Case in point: Piecewise watershed analysis
process. It is debatable whether this process is protecting the wetlands in Having given a survey of past and continuing projects, what follows is a
the Basin from aggressive development, as the permits do not appear to be more detailed account of an individual project, demonstrating how piecemeal
adequately scrutinised. endeavours can fail to address the entirety of the problem due to the lack of
The Coastal Wetland Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) a management mandate or framework. Additional details on the work can be
(also called the Breaux Act, signed in 1990) supports and funds coastal wet- found in Sherren et al. (2002) and Sherren and Forsyth Maygarden (2002).
lands restoration projects in Louisiana. It is a joint federal and state initiative. In 2000, the EPA funded a watershed management project to be admin-
The CWPPRA program, operating under a ‘no net loss’ philosophy where any istered by the LPBF. The contract was given to the Coastal Research Labora-
dredging material must be used to create new land elsewhere, has succeed- tory (CRL) at the University of New Orleans’ Department of Geology and Geo-
ed in creating approximately 5500 hectares of wetland since 1994 (United physics. The laboratory has a well-established relationship with the LPBF, and
States Geological Service National Wetlands Research Centre, 2003) rough- is one of several interdisciplinary research laboratories at UNO working in the
ly covering a square area measuring 7.5 km on each side. Methods used in- Pontchartrain Basin. The CRL is a self-sufficient research and consultancy
clude beneficial use of dredged materials, sand mining for deposit on barrier group that depends on ‘soft money’ due to the academic funding model of
islands, and vegetation planting. This is an expensive approach to the prob- the University. The CRL project team was comprised of several research asso-
lem, considering the rate of loss. ciates working in isolation, discouraged from collaborating with other de-
Coast 2050 is a joint effort of CWPPRA, the CRCL and the Louisiana State partments or universities to form a larger process as that would involve a shar-
Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Authority (1998). It is a strategic plan ing of the funds. The goal of the project was twofold: 1) To revisit the man-
for coastal Louisiana developed in 1998 after a series of 65 public meetings agement planning process by taking advantage of modern technological ad-
throughout coastal Louisiana, and has the cooperation of many local, parish, vances, and 2) To use a holistic watershed philosophy rather than focusing on
and state agencies. Efforts are currently underway to develop the first projects individual dischargers or water bodies. However, there was no real manage-
for implementation, one of which is the LCA, discussed later in this paper. ment mandate, an absence that – coupled with the exclusivity of the process
The US Army Corps of Engineers manages the CWPPRA funding, and is – was a great handicap to the achievement of the project.
determined that the solution lies in more construction. Notwithstanding that In September and October of 2000, meetings were held in four regional
the existing levels of urbanisation, economic infrastructure and human inter- areas of the basin facilitated by Lee Wilson and Associates (LWA). Participa-
ference to natural ecological flows are clearly responsible for the problem. Us- tion was by invitation only, though the net was cast much wider than the ac-
ing the Corps approach, the Coast2050 program predicts the real cost of ademic community alone. Summaries of the concerns voiced at those meet-
restoring the coastal wetlands in Louisiana will be US$468 billion over the ings were developed by LWA and the CRL to serve as the foundation of the
next 30 years (Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration new watershed-wide management plan. The problems were found to be re-
Task Force and the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Authority, 1998), gion specific, but provided no new information for those working on the proj-
and success is still not guaranteed. ect. However, the sessions produced many good sources of information for the

138 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 139

 monitoring project database produced later. The next act
The project team developed a set of criteria in-house to prioritise the crit- In 2002, the Pontchartrain Restoration Act (first signed in 2000) received
ical issues in the Basin from minutes of the public meetings. The most press- a commitment from the US Congress of $20 million dollars a year for the
ing concerns were determined to be, 1) storm surge protection and drainage restoration of the Basin. Administered by the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foun-
control, 2) bacterial contamination due to high fecal coliform counts, 3) wet- dation, the monies were split into two pots: $3 million went to the LPBF for
land loss, 4) high nutrient levels and resulting hypoxic zones, and 5) metal the construction of on-the-ground restoration projects, and $17 million went
levels in water. As many agencies were tackling the wetland loss/land subsi- to academia to fund further scientific research. The universities already work-
dence problem, it was decided that initial investigations would be into water ing in the area were asked to decide between themselves how the money
quality concerns. Water quality standards were compared to available moni- would be disseminated. There was no higher process established to which the
toring data to establish the status quo of a case study system, the Bogue research teams would be answerable. Several University of New Orleans de-
Falaya. Results indicated that the concern regarding fecal coliforms and nu- partments, including Geology and Geophysics, Biological Science and Com-
trients were well founded, whereas metals were no longer a major concern in puter Science, formed the Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Studies
this area (though sample frequency for metals was low and more sampling (PIES), as an internal body to receive and disseminate funds from the PRA.
may have yielded different results) (Sherren et al., 2002). Though a great boost to academia, the money may not have the impact it
The intent was to perform a build-out analysis with the Soil Water As- could have if there was a single management mandate or a governing col-
sessment Tool (SWAT). The effect on water quality of development plans for laborative framework. The American Congress has delayed the release of the
the area, generated by the project team and also by the New Directions 2025 PRA funds due to the expense of the Iraq war effort, and this temporary
process, would be tested using the SWAT model. The council and the LPBF shortage of funds has improved the level of collaboration within PIES.
both suspected that it was the lack of zoning controls, sewage facilities, or This year, the Coast2050 program has undertaken a new two year study,
regulation and education regarding the construction and maintenance of per- the Louisiana Coastal Area or LCA (the full name is Louisiana Ecosystem
sonal septic systems that was the source of the fecal coliform problem, but Restoration – Comprehensive Coastwide Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility
they desired scientific proof. However, modelling is rarely as useful for deter- Study). Once again, the Corps is at the helm, and a very extensive public par-
mining the cause of a problem as on-the-ground surveys. Data on septic sys- ticipation campaign is planned. The first set of four meetings were held in
tem locations and package plant effluent conditions have to exist in order for February 2003 in towns all along the Lousiana Coast, with more planned
that detail to be incorporated to a model, and no such information exists for throughout the project duration. Transcripts of a meeting held in Belle Chas-
the Florida Parishes. The EPA funding ran out following the current state cal- se, during that first round, indicate that the public is interested, passionate,
ibration of the SWAT model. The calibrated model was supplied as a final yet sceptical of another process (Gros, 2003).
deliverable of the project but either the skill set or interest did not exist for the
build-out scenarios to be run. This experience seems typical of small projects Recommendations
working in isolation of a larger framework. Watershed management projects should spend some of their funding on

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 References
an overhead structure to guide restoration efforts. This structure can reside in
a government agency, but the office location should not define the methods.
Addison, J., 1999. Bonnet Carré Spillway. Web page.
If the custodianship of a project is given to the beavers, all you’ll get for your Available on the internet. URL: http://www.mvn.
usace.army.mil/pao/bcarre/bcarre.htm Kenwood, C., F. T. Manheim, C. Polloni, S. J.
money is dams: avoiding this singular focus requires a strong committee Williams, 1996 (eds.). An Environmental and
Beall, A., F. Cretini, and S. Penland, 2001. Urban-
with an openness to all ideas. To make best use of the funds, you also need a ization Effects of Habitat Change in St. Tammany Geological Bibliography for Lake Pontchartrain,
Parish, Louisiana, 1982-2000. Report to the Lake Louisiana. USGS Open File Report #96-527.
common environment for the inputs from committee expertise, research, and Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. Available on the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, 1995.
public meetings to reside during the quest for management decisions. The Internet. URL: http://www.coastal.uno.edu/ Comprehensive Management Plan, Phase III. Un-
coastal/research/lpbf/abstract.html published Report.
difficulty of managing contentious and oft-studied areas is finding a way of Cothren, G., A. Hannoura, A. McCorquodale & Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and
Restoration Task Force and the Wetlands
integrating information into a common model or framework for decision-mak- S. Patibandh, 2001. Lake Pontchartrain Basin Ge-
Conservation and Restoration Authority,
ographic Information System. Part of the Pontchar-
ing purposes, not a lack of information itself. Business models such as multi- train Ecosystem Research and Education Project 1998. Coast 2050: Toward a Sustainable Coastal
(PERAP). Available on the internet. URL: Louisiana. Louisiana Department of Natural Re-
criteria analysis or Bayesian decision networks may be flexible enough for sources, Baton Rouge, LA. pp.161
http://www.uno.edu/~perap/gis.htm.
these purposes, and are able to be integrated into existing adaptive man- Chesapeake Bay Program, 1987. Chesapeake Bay Louisiana Department of Environmental Qual-
Agreement. Available on the internet. URL: ity, 1999. Modified Court-ordered 303d List for
agement frameworks. Such pragmatic models can also help to prioritise the State of Louisiana. Available on the Internet. URL:
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/publications/87a
funding of new research. Finally, a real mandate for change must exist. This gree.htm http://www.deq.state.la.us/technology/tmdl/30
Conner, W.L.C., 1999. Section 905(B) (WRDA 86) 3dlist.pdf
requires the involvement of industry as well as the public. In many cases, it is Analysis, Louisiana Coastal Area, Louisiana – National Research Council Committee on Wa-
balancing economic and environmental agendas that is the largest hurdle. Ecosystem Restoration. Available on the internet. tershed Management. 1999. New Strategies
URL: http://www.coast2050.gov/lca for America’s Watersheds. National Academy Press.
Gros, D.N., 2003. Louisiana Coastal Area Compre- Available from the Internet. URL:
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309064171/html/
Acknowledgements hensive Coastwide Ecosystem Restoration Project
New Directions 2025, 2001. Preliminary Popula-
(LCA, Implementation of Coasta 2050 Plan) Com-
This research was supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency munity Participation and Outreach Meeting, Febru- tion Projections. Population projections working pa-
ary 3, 2003, Belle Chasse Municipal Auditorium, per. Updated April 24, 2001. Unpublished report.
via the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation Grant X98658701-0, A Water- Penland, S. and D. Maygarden, 2002. Restoration
Belle Chasse, Louisiana. Transcript. Available on
shed Analysis of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. The author worked on this the internet. URL: http://www.lacoast.gov/lca of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. In: Penland, S., A.
Hastings, R.W., 2001. Bibliography of the Lake Beall and J. Kindinger (eds.). Environmental Atlas
grant from August 2001 to May 2002, when working for the Coastal Re- of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin: Lake Pontchartrain
Pontchartrain Basin, Louisiana. Southeastern
search Laboratory, University of New Orleans. The author would like to thank Louisiana University, Hammond, LA. Basin Foundation, New Orleans, LA, U.S. Geological
Hindrichs, A., 2001. Personal communication, Sep- Survey Open File Report 02-206, CD-ROM (available
Simon Couper, Willem Oosterberg, Steven Dovers and Mike Hutchinson for tember 21, 2001. Staff, Department of Environmen- at http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/pontchartrain/atlas).
their comments and suggestions. tal Quality, Baton Rouge, LA. Penland, S., P. McCarty, A. Beall, and D. Maygar-
Houck, O.A., F. Wagner and J.B. Elstrott, 1989. den. 2002. Environmental overview – Regional
To restore Lake Pontchartrain. Greater New Orleans description of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. In:
Expressway Commission Report, unpublished, 50 pp. Penland, S., A. Beall and J. Kindinger (eds.). Envi-
Johnston, J., C. Padgett and J. Barras, 2002. The ronmental Atlas of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin:
Lake Pontchartrain Basin GIS Decision Support Sys- Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, New Orleans,
tem. Presented at the Basics of the Basin Sympo- LA, U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 02-206.
sium, held May 16 and 17 in New Orleans, LA.

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 Sherren, K., and D. Forsyth Maygarden, 2002. United States Geological Service National
Preliminary watershed management planning in
the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, Louisiana. In: Pro-
Wetlands Research Centre, 2003. LACoast
Webpage: Restoration Projects in the Lake
Modelling approaches for
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Coastal Water Resources, held May 13-15, 2002 in
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Pontchartrain Basin. Web page. Available on the
internet. URL: http://www.lacoast.gov/CWP-
PRA/projects/pontchartrain.
metropolitan landscapes
Sherren, K., D. Forsyth Maygarden, D. Berbert,
C. Woosley and A. Strimas, 2002. A Watershed Paul P. Schot, Aat Barendregt and Martin J. Wassen
Analysis of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. Unpub-
lished reports to Lake Pontchartrain Basin Founda- Utrecht University, Copernicus Institute, Department of Environmental Sciences
tion for EPA Grant X98658701-0, Coastal Research Utrecht, The Netherlands
Laboratory, University of New Orleans.
[email protected]

Introduction
Before humans with all their technical opportunities started to affect the
earth’s surface, natural ecosystems dominated the pristine landscape. Nat-
ural processes such as ice movement, flooding, erosion and sedimentation
shaped these untouched landscapes. Over the past millennium, these condi-
tions have increasingly changed by a growing population in order to improve
the safety of life and the production of food and goods. Natural disasters
have been controlled by technical solutions. Dikes protected houses, wetlands
were reclaimed for agricultural production, erosion was prevented and an or-
ganised rural landscape with its profits arose. This landscape has a mix of cul-
tural and natural functions and purely agricultural, semi-natural and natural
ecosystems were present. Total biodiversity was even higher than in the orig-
inal untouched landscape. Especially over the past century, human popula-
tion could grow exponentially due to innovations in health care, chemistry
and agriculture. This resulted in the growth of cities, especially in areas close
to water such as wetlands, rivers and deltas. In these urbanising regions some
natural ecosystems were left but land use was mainly agricultural to support
the expanding human population.

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 This brings us to the present point of development at many locations in Basic elements: modelling of sectoral relations
Western Europe. Suburbs and satellite towns arose, including a network of The simplest model describing a landscape attribute is a map with phys-
roads towards the city centres. Companies and industry show a tendency to ical conditions, such as soil types or elevation classes showing the main dif-
move out of the city centres towards accessible locations along the main ferences in a region. Modelling of hydrology is a next step in describing spa-
transportation axes between the cities. These tendencies turned the sur- tial aspects of physical and chemical conditions in the landscape. Through
rounding rural landscape into metropolitan landscapes. Nowadays people liv- flow of surface water and groundwater, matter and energy are transported
ing in busy cities wish to relax and recreate in green and healthy environ- from one place in the landscape to another. The basic laws followed by the
ments. They started to value the cultural landscapes and natural ecosystems flow of water are derived from the law of gravity and the principle of conti-
surrounding the cities. They urge their local, regional and national govern- nuity. Gravity induces water flow from higher elevations to lower elevations
ments to protect what is left of these areas after the autonomous expansion or, in the case of groundwater, from high groundwater pressure to low
of urban infrastructure. However, these governments are also held responsi- groundwater pressure (figure 1). The velocity of the flow is determined by
ble for providing adequate housing and transportation facilities and condi- differences in elevation or water pressure and the resistance to flow in river
tions for economic development. To regulate this increasing pressure on use
of the available land, spatial planning for these metropolitan landscapes
must be directed to a sustainable mix of socio-economic developments and
ecological and cultural needs.
However, simultaneously taking into account economic, social and eco-
logical needs in spatial planning is a tedious task, due to the vast amount of
knowledge to be incorporated on spatial-temporal land use developments
from the different sectoral fields, the difficulties associated with integrating
different sectoral knowledge and the difficulties in communicating scientific
expert knowledge to spatial planners.
Models may help in this complex task. They combine scientific theory and
data in a precise and rigorous way and may serve as an integrated and ex-
plicit set of hypotheses of how the system works. This contribution presents
an overview of developments in modelling urbanised landscapes over the
past two decades and a look ahead to the developments expected for the
coming years. We will illustrate this by using examples from our own work car-
ried out in the Netherlands which is primarily focused on landscape ecologi-
cal modelling. Figure 1: Example of the output of a sectoral model concerning hydrology
(after Schot, 1991; Wassen et al., 1996).

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 channels and groundwater aquifers. The concept of the hydrological cycle im- Integration of sectoral spatial models
plies that the amount of water on earth stays constant and a water drop In the early 1980’s, Dutch citizens called for a halt to the deterioration
over time just moves through different storages of water, such as water and disappearance of nature and ecosystems. Governments at all levels got
vapour, clouds, precipitation, surface water, groundwater, ice and seawater. the task to find solutions in complex disputes about conservation and restora-
Water balance approaches may be used to determine the amounts of water tion of nature, in such a way that other functions are not frustrated. The main
stored in each compartment at a certain place at a certain time during this question was therefore to optimise land use in such a way that a certain
dynamic process. In addition to modelling water flow and quantities stored in area could fulfil the demands of several users. In the scoping process for op-
the different compartments over space and time, water quality aspects may timising multi-functional land use integration of different sectoral models in
be added. This might include the transport of dissolved solids, mixing of dif- a spatial explicit way appeared to be very helpful. We will illustrate this inte-
ferent water types, dissolution and precipitation of minerals, adsorption and gration of sectoral spatial models with three examples: (1) the combination
desorption, etc. of agriculture, water management and nature restoration in the Dommel riv-
Ecosystem modelling integrates the physical conditions in the region, er basin, (2) drinking water abstraction and nature restoration in the coastal
such as soil, hydrology and chemistry, with the development of the vegetation dunes, and (3) economical development, recreation and agriculture in the
or fauna. A wide range of models is possible: prescriptive versus descriptive, Vecht river plain.
mechanistic versus correlative, spatial versus non-spatial, etc. Each of these
categories has specific purposes, advantages and drawbacks. In most cases Land use in the catchment of the river Dommel
knowledge of spatial relations on a landscape scale is a bottleneck for mod- Up to the 1950’s, brook valleys in the catchment of the river Dommel (in
elling ecosystems in a landscape ecological context. At the same time these the Netherlands and Belgium; 1350 km2) were famous for their meandering
relations are of utmost importance. For wetlands spatial relations via flow of streams and marshy grasslands. Large-scale anthropogenic activities have left
groundwater and surface water are important. In the present generation of only a few patches of these ecosystems scattered in a matrix of intensely used
hydro-ecological models such as DEMNAT (Witte at al., 1993), ICHORS agricultural grounds. Other reasons for decline were groundwater abstraction,
(Barendregt et al., 1993) and MOVE (Latour & Reiling, 1993) these relations eutrophication and improvement of the discharge of surface water. Restora-
are not incorporated. For an overview we refer to Olde Venterink & Wassen tion scenarios have been formulated in close co-operation with regional pol-
(1997). Especially for animals the spatial arrangement of the suitable ecosys- icy actors, including e.g. reduction of groundwater abstractions, finishing ef-
tems is important: animals need a minimum area for the populations to sur- fluent discharges of waste water and restoring natural stream properties
vive (in relation to food quantity, territories, etc). The spatial matrix of the ar- (Verkroost et al., 1998).
eas where the species can live is in that way important, especially in frag- Hydrological modelling was performed with MODFLOW and STREAM-
mented landscapes. Here the meta-population theory is to be applied in mod- PLAN generating output such as average groundwater levels, stream flow
elling attempts (Hanski & Gilpin, 1996; Vos et al., 2001). velocities and saprobic state. These models were coupled to a GIS, facilitat-
ing the connection with the ecological decision tree models ALNION and

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 ECOSTREAM (Olde Venterink et al., 2001; Pieterse et al., 2002). The results from veloped for the area belonging to the Water works of Amsterdam (50 km2),
these modelling exercises were used to evaluate the ecological consequences of since the importance of the wet dune slack ecosystems was recognised
several future land use and water management scenarios. At the same time the (nowadays confirmed by the Habitat Directive of the EU). Three dimensional
costs of the scenarios were calculated (Kwakernaak et al., 1999). modelling of the hydrology was performed and the consequences of abstrac-
The final cost-benefit analysis of the scenarios showed for instance that tions for the local phreatic levels in the dune slacks could be predicted (Ol-
the ecological gain is not per se proportional to the abiotic change. They sthoorn, 1995; Olsthoorn & Kamps, 1998). A spatial evaluation of the con-
also showed that some restoration measures have only local impacts where- sequences for local water tables and the ecological consequences was per-
as others have a regional impact. Most important the models showed explic- formed with a relatively simple expert judgement model. The evaluation of a
itly that politicians or nature managers have to choose for certain nature dozen future development scenarios learned that some re-allocation scenar-
targets which they would like to restore, since it is not realistic to assume that ios guaranteed the production of a given quantity of drinking water while
certain changes in land use or water management are beneficial for a range dune slack ecosystems were not suffering anymore from dessication (Geelen
of wetland ecosystems. et al., 1995; Geelen, 2001).
This integrated research learned us that reallocated drinking water ab-
Drinking water abstraction in the coastal dunes straction and nature restoration can be combined. The sophisticated hydro-
The abstraction of groundwater from the dunes in the Netherlands solved logical model and the simple ecological model were in combination a helpful
the huge health problem of drinking water contaminated with bacteria and tool for defining a sustainable future for drinking water production and
viruses in the 19th century. In these dune areas rain water naturally infiltrat- ecosystem restoration. Still improvement of especially the ecological model
ed in sandy soils and pathogens were killed during their underground stay, is needed to take away a number of uncertainties. A specific benefit of this
making it a good alternative to the use of abstracting drinking water from case was that with assistance of the models decisions were taken and practi-
polluted canals and lakes. The abstraction increased and since the middle of cal measures were realized for stimulation of the ecological value of the dune
the 20th century it appeared that the health profits also raised a problem slacks.
since the large-scale abstractions used the entire natural supply with precip-
itation water and consequently the water tables in the dunes fell down for Ecological - economical evaluation of wetland
meters. This resulted in intrusion of salty sea water and dessication of char- management in the Vecht river plain
acteristic wet dune slacks. This problem was partly solved by the infiltration The Vecht river plain, located between the cities of Amsterdam and
of river water in the dune area and by the pumping of deeper groundwater. Utrecht, comprises an area of some 150 km2. The entire river plain consists
Infiltration of river water however led to eutrophication of the nutrient-poor of polders, areas in which water levels are artificially controlled by means of
slack ecosystems and moreover the water tables did not recover to the for- ditches and by discharge of excess water through pumping. Roughly half of
mer level. the river plain is used for dairy farming while the remaining part consists of
At the beginning of the 1990’s, an integrated hydrological model was de- lakes and wetland nature reserves. The nature reserves are of international im-

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 portance owing to the presence of fens and bird species. During recent of both ways of modelling. The net present value of the region from the eco-
decades, however, a marked decline in species numbers and occurrences have nomical modelling could be expressed in Euros (compared to present land
been observed. use, stimulation of agriculture adds 175 million; stimulation of nature costs
Hydro-ecological analyses and modelling clarified the causes of these 225 million; stimulation of recreation adds 1900 million). The ecological eval-
changes (Barendregt et al., 1992; 1993; Schot et al., 1988; 1991; Wassen et uation needed performance indicators for processes, structure and resilience
al., 1989; Witmer, 1989). Most wetlands are supplied by groundwater seep- in a spatially explicit way. The final evaluation was performed in the software
age at one end, which originates from a sandy ridge bordering the river plain. package DEFINITE (Janssen & van Herwijnen, 1994), indicating that the op-
The seepage water flows through the wetland and subsequently infiltrates timal land use change should be sought in stimulation of recreation (van den
at the other end as a result of low water levels in adjacent agricultural pold- Berg et al., in press)
ers. The spatial patterns in vegetation composition in the wetlands are found
to be closely related to the flow and quality of groundwater and surface water. Figure 2: Scheme with the integrated
The next challenge was to define options for restoration in such a way economic-ecological research in three
steps: the definition of the special
that the regional economical setting was taken into account (Turner et al.,
scenarios for all aspects, the integrated
2000). Since nature is a non-monetary value we have chosen to merge an modelling itself, and the evaluation of
ecological and an economic study into a scenario study. The scenarios in- the final results
(source: van den Bergh et al., 2001).
cluded the present condition and the stimulation of agriculture, nature or
recreation in the whole of the river plain divided into 60 sub-regions. Inte-
grated spatial modelling with stimulation of a specific type of land use ex-
plicitly made visible the consequences for other functions via chemical and
hydrological changes. At the same time the economic modelling of the same
scenarios was performed (including feed backs to chemistry), enabling us to
compare and evaluate the results of both lines (Figure 2).
This study (van den Berg et al., in press) showed the benefits of a truly
economic-ecological integrated approach, starting from the definition of the
scenarios, followed by a (connected) spatial modelling of hydrology in
groundwater flow, surface water chemistry and ecological responses (van Integration of models for regions
Horssen et al., 1999) and a spatial modelling of the 60 defined sub-regions The three examples above show that the combination of different (spa-
according to the economic development (van den Bergh et al., 2001; Turner tial, sectoral) models was realised in such a way that they could be applied
et al., 2003). together for clarifying the consequences of changes in land use or water man-
An important problem to be solved was the evaluation of the final results agement on several functions. However, still the modelling approach is sec-

152 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 153

 toral which implies that the models are developed separately first and cou- Nijs et al., 2001) and the ‘Ruimtescanner’ (Scholten et al., 2001). The purpose
pled later in a GIS. This implies that for instance feed backs between hydro- of these models is to simulate the effect of policy options on the future land
logical, economic and ecological processes are largely ignored. Also the use and the quality of environment. Output is given by maps showing the dis-
search for optimal solutions is hindered by this approach. Scenario studies tribution of different types of land use for certain points in time. The next sub-
only allow for evaluating a limited number of future options. section will present a more detailed description.

The Environment Explorer

Land use change models: The Environment Explorer (LOV, LeefOmgevingsVerkenner) is a spatial,
functions taken into account dynamic model in which social, economic and ecological activities and land
Although the integration of sectoral spatial models had successful appli- uses are modelled in an integrated way (de Nijs et al., 2001). Its primary
cations, the socio-economic processes which are the driving forces of land use goal is to explore policy alternatives in relation to the quality of the environ-
change were not explicitly included in the previous models. What was lacking ment in which the Dutch citizens live, work and recreate. It integrates the re-
was an integration of socio-economic and landscape ecological models. Land sults of both autonomous and policy developments and evaluates them on
use and land cover change models explicitly consider the drivers of socio- the basis of social, economic and ecological criteria.
economic change and their effect on land use. Models of land use change are The LOV uses cellular automata techniques to simulate spatial process-
tools to support the analysis of the causes and consequences of changes in es. The driving forces behind these spatial processes are economic and de-
order to better understand the functioning of the land use system and to sup- mographic developments based on national growth figures for agriculture, in-
port land use planning and policy (Veldkamp & Lambin, 2001; Verburg et dustry, trade, services, recreation and population. The model works with grid
al., in press). These models are useful for disentangling the complex suite of cells of 500 by 500 meter resolution. In total 16 land use functions are dis-
socio-economic and biophysical forces that influence the rate and spatial pat- cerned, e.g. agriculture, industry, housing for living, nature, water, recreation.
tern of land use change and for estimating the impacts of changes in land The Netherlands are thus represented as a mosaic of hundred of thousands
use. Furthermore, models can support the exploration of future land use of squares together displaying patterns in land use (figure 3). The transition
changes under different scenario conditions. Summarising, land use models of a grid cell from one land use type to the other is based on the supply and
are useful and reproducible tools, supplementing our existing mental capa- demand of land at a certain moment in time. The attractiveness for an actor
bilities to analyse land use change and to make more informed decisions to occupy the cell in the next time step is a function of the physical suitabili-
(Constanza & Ruth, 1998). ty and the accessibility for the desired function. The opportunity to actually
Numerous land use models are available, developed from different disci- occupy the cell is determined by the ruling policy concerning restrictions
plinary backgrounds, such as statistical and econometric models, spatial in- with respect to land use functions.
teraction models, optimisation models and integrated models (Briassoulis,
2000). Examples from the Netherlands are the Environment Explorer (de

154 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 155

 The rise of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from the early 1980’s
facilitated the integration of knowledge from different disciplines affecting
landscapes. Databases which contain geographical references (x,y-coordi-
nates) of the variables could be explored rapidly using GIS to display visual-
Figure 3: Example of a land-use map
(resolution 500 m) for the Netherlands ly in maps the spatial distribution of the variables (e.g. Burrough & McDon-
from the Environment Explorer nell, 1998). Standard functionalities like overlaying and buffering helped to
(source: Nijs et al., 2001)
delineate areas with actual or potential conflicts or converge. By comparing
maps from different periods in time insight is obtained in the temporal
changes in spatial patterns. By using animations and ‘fly-through’ techniques
even more appealing ways of communicating information on spatial-tempo-
ral landscape developments are provided by modern GIS.
Contemporary developments in GIS and Geo-ICT are in the area of Plan-
ning Support Systems (PSS), defined as a range of computer-based methods
Visualisations for communication: and models into an integrated system that can support the planning function
from science to policy (Harris, 1989). They bring together the functionalities of GIS, models and vi-
In the foregoing sections it was shown that models may be used to simu- sualisation, to gather, structure, analyse and communicate information in
late processes that affect the landscape. These models may be either sec- planning. They differ from GIS in the sense that GIS can be regarded as gen-
toral and stand-alone, i.e. simulating only hydrology or ecology, or more in- eral-purpose systems for the handling of geo-referenced data, while PSS are
tegrated when different sectoral models are coupled or explicitly integrated specifically focussed on the task of application (Geertman & Stillwell, 2003).
like land use change models. To take into account the outcome of these mod- This implies handling of non-spatial data as well as the modelling, design and
els to achieve sustainable urbanised landscapes, the results need to be com- analysis of dynamic spatial data and information. As such, PSS take the form
municated to spatial planners. As they are non-experts in the different scien- of a Spatial Decision Support System. PSS will pay particular attention to
tific fields involved, ways must be found to get across the main and essential long-range and strategic issues and may be designed explicitly to facilitate
information from the models. Maps are useful for this purpose as they graph- group interaction and discussion, while SDSS are generally designed to sup-
ically display the model results in a geographic sense which intuitively ap- port shorter-term policy-making by isolated individuals and by business or-
peals to most people, especially planners. As such, maps function as a com- ganisations ).
mon language or geographic esperanto between different disciplines. In this
way a number of barriers may be avoided which exist between the different Future outlook: recent developments
disciplines as a result of different theoretical concepts, research objects, meth- Over the coming decade in the area of modelling urbanised landscapes
ods, etc. we will witness the rise of Multi Agent Models (MAM) or Multi-Agent Simu-

156 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 157

 lation (MAS). An agent may be viewed as an “object” that possesses a de- goals set. One way of achieving this is by combing GIS with heuristic tech-
gree of autonomy and of cognitive ability (Doran, 2002). An agent is a sys- niques like genetic algorithms, simulated annealing, neural networks, etc.
tem that tries to fulfil a set of goals in a complex dynamic environment. Ex- (e.g. Kirkpatrick et al., 1983; Ingber & Rosen, 1992; Vink & Schot, 2002). Basi-
amples of agents may be citizens, animals, military, actors in a policy process, cally, optimisation involves matching the supply of facilities such as schools
etc., which respond to attributes of their environment (e.g. Ligtenberg et al., and shopping centres, or environments such as woods or wetlands, to the
2001; Batty et al., 2003; Parker et al., 2003). Multi-agent systems can be de- demands for these by humans, fauna or flora. Various objective functions may
fined as a set of agents inter-acting in a common environment, able to mod- be optimised, e.g. maximise the number of hectares of open space or buyers
ify themselves and their environment (Ferrand, 1996). In active-walker mod- within a 1 km radius from your shop, or minimise distance, travel time or
els, agents change the landscape on which they walk and the landscape costs. Developing such optimisation models within GIS provides powerful vi-
changes the agents in that it directs them where to walk (Batty, in press). sualisation facilities for display and manipulation, giving immediate intuitive
One innovating aspect of multi-agent simulation is that agents from dif- evaluation capabilities which a wide range of non-technical users and deci-
ferent sectors (e.g. farmers, tourists or fauna) may interact and effects from sion makers can relate to (Batty & Densham, 1996).
one sector on the others may be evaluated. In this way modelling of differ- A third development which will receive increasing attention is the com-
ent socio-economic and natural systems will definitely become more inte- munication with stakeholders. Policy processes in general and especially
grated. Another innovating aspect is that the dynamic behaviour of agents spatial planning are becoming increasingly participatory or interactive which
will be implicitly taking into account in the models. Dynamics are no longer implies policy makers involve stakeholders in the process of policy making in
deduced from comparison of maps of equilibrium states at certain points in order to obtain more public support for the final outcomes (Driessen et al.,
time, but these maps will now depict the state of systems at certain points in 2001; Geertman, 2002). If models, GIS or PSS are used to support the spa-
time of ongoing dynamic processes. Finally, multi-agent models will change tial planning process, they must be understandable for policy makers and
the way we look at spatial-temporal patterns, from a top-down approach in stakeholders alike. These computer based systems should offer the possibili-
which we see macro-scale patterns which we try to explain by using knowl- ty for stakeholders to bring in their own wishes and confront them with the
edge about processes at the micro-level, to a bottom-up approach in which wishes of others. The systems will then indicate where the aspirations of dif-
we simulate processes at the micro-level in a dynamic way and then watch ferent stakeholder groups converge or clash. Optimisation techniques as de-
the macro-scale patterns that emerge from this. scribed above may subsequently help the process of finding a compromise
Another development which will gain increasing attention is prescriptive which is acceptable to all parties involved. This whole interactive process may
modelling. This allows a step from traditional descriptive modelling, used to be supported by group support systems like ‘electronic boardrooms’ or by
analyse spatial-temporal developments in the past and projecting the trends web-based open GIS and PSS systems (Batty & Densham, 1996; Schot & Di-
deduced to simulate future developments, to prescriptive modelling in which jst, 2000).
multiple goals set for a desired future are input to models which will pro-
duce output indicating possible alternative ways to reach (all or part of) the

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 Discussion ferent disciplines as a result of different theoretical concepts, research objects,
Our review of the development in modelling metropolitan landscapes methods, etc. In environmental sciences the urgent need for interdisciplinary
showed that in less than two decades considerable improvement was approaches to solve complex environmental problems has led to a long track
achieved. Novel conceptual and technical developments are promising an op- of trial and errors. Decisive factors for success in interdisciplinary research are
timistic view for the future of modelling metropolitan landscapes. We expect a.o. awareness of scale discrepancies, trust in each others scientific capabili-
that top-down modelling in which complexity is added during the modelling ties, open-mindedness and professional coaching of the cooperation process
process will meet with bottom-up approaches in which an increasing under- (Schoenberger, 2001).
standing of detailed processes allows for aggregation and generalisation. The third topic was the communication of scientific knowledge to spatial
Coming back to the three principal points of attention that we raised in planners and managers. The traditional view on the role of science in the pol-
the introduction allows for drawing some conclusions. The first topic was icy process is to provide politicians and policy-makers with unbiased and ob-
about the vast amount of knowledge and data needed. We want to empha- jective knowledge without entering into their debates (In ‘t Veld, 2000). In
size that modelling reduces and simplifies reality and a model’s value is de- this view science should develop verified, validated and calibrated models.
termined by its ability to realistically represent certain features of reality. However, such an engineering approach to policy making is criticized by oth-
Moreover, we have to accept that not all the required information will be ers who advocate a more flexible and adaptive approach. Nowadays, trans-
available to describe every component of the system. So scientific knowl- disciplinarity is pushed forward as a means of how the community can par-
edge is incomplete and we cannot be sure that we are really modelling the ticipate effectively in what appears to be a science-centered decision mak-
relevant processes. Even if we assume we know the relevant processes and ing process (Tress et al., 2001). Several approaches were developed aiming
know how to model them, the next bottle neck is the data. Generally, the at improved communication between researchers and stakeholders and deci-
more complex models become, the more data they need. Modellers frequent- sion makers. Embedding the construction and use of Decision Support Systems
ly do not realize on forehand the data need of their models leading to mod- in an open participatory process was already recognized as a potential solu-
els which are hard to run which subsequently hampers their applicability tion to the problem some decades ago (Holling, 1978). A meta analysis evalu-
(OldeVenterink & Wassen, 1997; Batty, in press). Especially the mechanistic ating a large number of studies focusing on environmental issues in multi-func-
bottom-up approach frequently leads to a disappointing applicability, since tional landscapes showed that success was highly correlated with a participa-
the models are complex and require much data (Wassen & Verhoeven, 2003). tory approach (Wassen et al., 2003). Of course it is important to keep in mind
We advice modellers to make a compromise in the scientific completeness of that spatial planning is partly a non-rational process influenced by public opin-
a model for the sake of applicability. ion. The scientific knowledge from the modelling exercises is for that reason
Our second point of attention was the integration of sectoral knowledge. sometimes poorly incorporated in the final decision by the policy makers. In this
This point touches on the mono-disciplinary – multidisciplinary – interdisci- respect one may argue the extent to which scientific knowledge matters at all
plinary dilemma. In our view models may facilitate the communication be- in the policy process but, definitely, there is a need to improve the spin-off from
tween scientists since they may help to overcome differences between the dif- modelling excerciese in policy (Vonk, 2003; Couclelis, 2003; in press).

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 Clarke, M. 1990. Geographical information systems Harris, B., 1989. Beyond Geographic Information-
We conclude that there is an ongoing process of exciting model develop- and model based analysis: towards effective deci- Systems - Computers and the Planning Profession-
sion support systems. In: Scholten, H., Stillwell, J. al. Journal of the American Planning Association
ments improving our understanding of metropolitan landscapes. However, (eds.) Geographical information systems for urban 55: 85-90.
metropolitan landscapes are multi-functional and the inherent dynamics of and regional planning. Kluwer, Dordrecht, 165-175. Holling, C.S. (ed.). 1978. Adaptive Environmental
Costanza, R., Ruth, M., 1998. Using Dynamic Mod- Assessment and Management. John Wiley, Toronto.
each of the functions gives raise to a complex dynamic system. This makes eling to Scope Environmental Problems and Build In ‘t Veld, R.J. (ed.). 2000. Willens en Wetens; de
predictability of metropolitan landscapes difficult and makes them hard to Consensus. Environmental Management 22, 183- rollen van kennis over milieu en natuur in beleid-
195. sprocessen. Utrecht, Uitgeverij Lemma.
plan and manage. Recently, the need for participatory approaches is recog- Couclelis, H., 2003. “Where has the future gone?” Ingber, L., Rosen, B., 1992. Genetic algorithms and
nized and much effort is put in the communication with policy makers and Rethinking the role of integrated land use models very fast simulated re-annealing: a comparison.
in spatial planning. Framing Land Use Dynamics: Math Comp. Mod. 16: 87-100.
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April 2003. Faculty of Geographical Sciences, A System to Support Decision on A Finite Set of Al-
Utrecht University, The Netherlands. ternatives. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Doran, J. E., 2002. Agent-Based Modelling for Envi- Kirkpatrick, S., Gelatt Jr., C.D., Vechi, M.P., 1983.
ronmental Coalition Formation. Proceedings of the Optimization by simulated annaealing. Science
Second International Conference on Knowledge 220 (4598): 671-680.
Systems for Coalition Operations, Toulouse, France, Klosterman, R.E., 1997. Planning Support Systems:
33-41. A New Perspective on Computer-aided Planning.
Driessen, P.P.J., Glasbergen, P., Verdaas, C., Journal of Planning Education and Research 17:
2001. Interactive policy-making - a model of man- 45-54.
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 Planning nature conservation
in Dutch metropolitan
landscapes
Raoul Beunen, Ronald van Ark, Arnold van der Valk and Rinus Jaarsma A

Wageningen University, Department of Environmental Sciences,

Land Use Planning Group, Wageningen, The Netherlands H
D
[email protected] R

A Amsterdam
Introduction H The Hague

Evaluations of Dutch nature management policy show that the imple- D

R
Delft
Rotterdam
mentation of this policy is behind schedule (Milieu- en Natuurplanbureau, Urban Areas

2002). In this context the policy document ‘Nature for People, People for
Figure 1: Dutch metropolitan landscapes
Nature’ (Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Food Quality,
2000) outlines a number of problems: “With our current policy, we are unable
to realise the national ecological network of the quality required, in time. Towns, cities, suburbs, woods, farmland, horticulture, roads, parks and busi-
The creation of ecological corridors between nature areas in particular has ness parks merge into an urban field, the metropolitan landscape (Albers &
been difficult. An evaluation of current nature management policy docu- Boyer, 1997; Daniels, 1999). A metropolitan landscape encompasses built-up
ments shows that our approach to nature is very complicated and does not areas and open spaces situated within the urban sphere of influence. The
always have the envisaged effect at other levels of government”. impact of the metropolis is extensive since, due in part to increasing mobili-
The Netherlands (figure 1) is the most densely populated and urbanised ty, accessibility (i.e. travel times) rather than distance has become a deter-
country in the EU. Land is a scarce commodity, particularly in the west, where mining factor (Simmonds & Hack, 2000; Hajer & Zonneveld, 2000).
the rate of urbanisation is highest (Van der Valk, 2002). Urban growth also Scarcity of land for urban land uses exerts a constant threat for the re-
impacts the southern and eastern regions of the country, particularly along maining farms, woodlands and nature reserves. In the “war” on land the bal-
the traffic arteries connecting the Netherlands to Belgium and to Germany. ance of economic interests and environmental/spatial quality is subject to

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 fierce debate among stakeholders (Healey, 1997). As a result of the relative- development of ecological corridors. In 1998, the province of Gelderland com-
ly high demand for space for ‘profitable’ purposes such as living, working and missioned a study into the possibilities for creating ecological corridors. As
transport, areas become built-up and fragmented with infrastructure, the part of this study, 40 extensive interviews were conducted with various par-
shortage of land intensifies in general and, consequently, the price of land ties involved in two specific regions (Van Ark & Beunen, 1998). The second
goes up. Such spatial consequences of the metropolitan landscape negative- case study focuses on nature conservation, more specifically the implemen-
ly impact the ’less profitable’ uses that traditionally dominate open spaces, tation of the EU Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of
including nature areas. Wild Fauna and Flora (Habitats Directive). Sanderink (2003) conducted a
Open spaces are perceived by residents as important ingredients for the study into the main causes of problems arising during planning processes and
quality of life in the metropolitan landscape. There is a growing tendency to projects ensuing from the Habitats Directive. For this study 11 extensive in-
spend public and private funds for the acquisition of land and development terviews were held with governmental and non-governmental organisations
rights in open spaces. In the Netherlands so called green funds are an emerg- involved in projects that were frustrated by European nature conservation leg-
ing phenomenon. One example is the ‘green fund scheme’ for the open space islation. For an extensive description of the backgrounds, the methods and
of Midden-Delfland between the cities of The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam. the results for both cases we refer to the original research reports, respective-
The Midden-Delfland green fund is the result of a financial agreement be- ly Ark & Beunen (1998) and Sanderink (2003). In this paper we focus on the
tween the urban municipalities of The Hague and Delft and the rural munic- most relevant results.
ipality of Schipluiden. The aim of this agreement is to preserve and enhance
the open agricultural landscape of Schipluiden (http://www.schipluiden.nl).
This demand for open space in the metropolitan landscape opens up op- Case studies
portunities for nature conservation and nature development because physi-
cal space is required to protect and expand existing nature areas. Further- Nature development: ecological corridors
more, the mutual proximity of these areas and the connections between them Dutch nature management policy is largely based on the ideas laid down
are essential for the survival of certain populations of flora and fauna (Op- in the Nature Policy Plan (Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and
dam et al., 1985; Opdam et al., 1995; With et al., 1996). Food Quality, 1990), of which the development of the national ecological net-
In this paper, we relate Dutch nature management policy with principles work is a central feature. This heralded the transition in nature management
of spatial planning. The paper clarifies planning principles with regard to policy from a passive conservation policy to an active development policy (De
the metropolitan landscape and demonstrates how this knowledge can be Jong, 2000). The national ecological network comprises key areas, nature
used to improve the effectiveness of nature management policy. We will re- development areas and ecological corridors (Ministry of Agriculture, Nature
flect on the bottlenecks in nature management policy and provide solutions. Management and Food Quality, 1990), which have been mapped out. The
We draw on empirical data from two case studies. Nature Policy Plan introduced the ‘ecological corridors’ concept as a strategy
The first case study addresses nature development, more specifically the to give significant impetus to the fragmented nature areas in the Nether-

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 lands. The idea is that joining areas of nature enhances the sustainability of tle chance of successfully creating ecological corridors since it offers few op-
various populations of flora and fauna. In the 1990s, the Ministry of Agricul- portunities to generate the regional support and resources required. On the
ture, Nature Management and Food Quality mapped out a number of eco- contrary, the interviews revealed that this sectoral, one-sided, approach
logical corridors in the Nature Policy Plan. The provincial authorities, munici- caused many land users and owners (farmers in particular) to view this land
pal authorities and water boards largely included these corridors in their claim as a threat, due in part to any subsequent effects of nature develop-
plans. In addition, these lower tiers of government mapped out many other ment on current or future (agricultural) use. As a consequence, substantial in-
regional and local ecological corridors. Consequently, the concept of ecolog- vestments and a great deal of persuasion are required to achieve any results.
ical corridors became a commonly used concept, although it was often –
and still remains – unclear what the line on the map specifically entails. De- Nature conservation: Habitats Directive
spite the fact that all these organisations mapped out the ecological corri- The implementation of European nature conservation legislation (Euro-
dors, the creation of ecological corridors lags behind the schedule laid down pean Commission, 1992) caused problems for public and private activities in
in the Nature Policy Plan (Milieu- en Natuurplanbureau, 2002). the Netherlands, like construction of new buildings or expansion of infra-
The case-study revealed that many players are involved in the creation of structure. Following appeal, the national courts annulled various decrees
ecological corridors, including municipal authorities, water boards, farmers, since they were inconsistent with the European Habitats Directive. As an ad-
private land owners and many interest groups. From the interviews we con- ditional problem, individuals have made spurious use of the Directive in an
cluded that none of the parties was averse to ecological corridors. On the con- attempt to stop certain developments (Van den Top & Van der Zouwen,
trary, many were, each in their own way, planning and realising ecological 2002). The resulting publicity has made nature conservation legislation a key
corridors. The interviews demonstrated that these parties represented a wide topic of debate. No one is happy with the current situation (RLG, 2002; VNO-
range of objectives and interests and often held widely varying views of eco- NCW, 2002). Various projects have unnecessarily encountered roadblocks.
logical corridors. Some of the interviewed parties were interested in co-oper- The fear of coming against similar situations with new projects has increased
ating in creating hedgerows, bushes or ponds because they appreciate the el- resistance to nature conservation legislation. The legal jostling frustrates the
ements of an ecological corridor as part of a scenic landscape. Others were in- spatial development of other uses and undermines support for nature con-
terested in subsidies for nature management on their property as an addi- servation.
tional source of income. However, these non-ecological views often do not The study of these conflicts revealed that the problems are not so much
meet the ideas policy makers have about ecological corridors and vice versa. caused by the legislation as such, but rather by its implementation and the
In developing the ecological corridors concept, attention was paid primarily communication and knowledge exchange related to it. In many cases, the
to ecological aspects, including the scope and development of areas and the courts annulled decrees since the requirements of the Habitats Directive were
required space between them. This approach was included in concrete plans insufficiently taken into consideration due to a lack of attention, knowledge
to create ecological corridors. This governmental view is difficult to link with or awareness. Reasons for such annulments include the argument that it has
the ideas other parties have about ecological corridors. The approach has lit- not been sufficiently proven that the project has no significant effects, that

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 no research had been conducted into the effects or that the lack of reason- lower tiers of government, which then must garner support from private indi-
able alternatives has not been convincingly demonstrated. It is not so much viduals and organisations. However, in many instances, both the ability for
nature conservation legislation that causes the problems, but the fact that in the higher tiers of government to direct the lower tiers of government and the
decision-making processes the Habitats Directive often was not taken into influence the government has on private individuals and organisations is lim-
consideration. By ensuring that, if necessary, the requirements of the Habitats ited. This can be attributed to both a lack of resources or authority on the part
Directive figure prominently in planning processes, most of the bottlenecks of the various tiers of government and the fact that they lack the specific
currently encountered can be avoided. After all, “there is not any a priori prohi- knowledge, local and otherwise, required to develop effective plans. For this
bition of new activities or developments within Natura 2000 sites; these need reason, coalitions are required in such situations since players can only con-
to be judged on a case by case basis” (European Commission, 2003, p. 2). sider their own competence during the planning process (Mastop, 1987). In
some ways, the government fulfils a double role. On the one hand, the gov-
Nature management policy in a planning perspective ernment must, in fulfilling its responsibilities, establish certain preconditions
If it concerns spatial issues, nature management policy should be re- (i.e. objectives). On the other hand, the various tiers of government – each
garded as a subject of spatial planning. From an analytical perspective, spa- with their own competencies – must define the possible options in collabo-
tial planning comprises spatial arrangements as well as organisational and ration with other public and private parties. Consequently, in many instances,
procedural arrangements (Van Ark & Hidding, 2002). Questions on spatial the interdependence of the various tiers of government and other parties
arrangements address the actual, physical object and primarily involve sub- means that government can only exercise control within networks (Goverde &
stantive knowledge and spatial concepts. The approach of Dutch nature man- Tatenhove, 2000). Although the government certainly continues to play a
agement policy focuses largely on these spatial arrangements. However, eco- unique role, owing to its specific authorities and democratic legitimacy, it can
logical expertise, technology and methods alone are not enough to success- no longer be viewed as a central player.
fully implement nature policy. This also requires knowledge of the adminis- Due to these interdependencies, policy development and decision-mak-
trative aspects, of the way in which the decision-making process is conduct- ing are more than ever negotiation processes, conducted not only between
ed, of procedures and organisational structures and of the role of the parties government and third parties, but increasingly between the various tiers of
involved in the entire process. The characteristics of the metropolitan land- government (De Roo, 1999). Accordingly, attention must shift from the or-
scape require a specific approach to spatial planning. Each use of space is ganisation of government competencies and policy tools and measures,
tied to certain players who all have their own objectives, such as water man- known collectively as ‘government’, to less formalised practices of ‘gover-
agement bodies, farmers, nature management bodies, home owners, etc. nance’ (Healey, 1997; Hajer & Zonneveld, 2000; Janssens & Van Tatenhove,
The various land uses fall under different policy areas, including nature man- 2000). This gives rise to other forms of collaborative partnerships. Moreover,
agement policy, agricultural policy and water management policy. it means that planning processes become more important than (official) plan-
The traditional planning approach entails the development of plans by ning documents (Janssens & Tatenhove, 2000). Obviously, laying down op-
the upper tiers of government and the implementation of these plans by the tions at certain moments in a planning document (i.e. plan, vision, policy doc-

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 ument, etc.) may still be important. However, these planning documents are largely arose due to the fact that the directive was insufficiently taken into
only part of a more comprehensive and long-term cyclical planning process consideration in the decision-making process. When the requirements of this
(Mastop, 1987). This demands a new way of thinking. It not only requires directive are sufficiently taken into account during the planning process,
another modus operandi, but particularly a review of the role of the various these problems can largely be avoided. Investigating and limiting as much
public and private players in the decision-making process. as possible the possible negative impact on nature from the start enables
The approach of nature management policy in The Netherlands is char- the parties involved to properly consider the various interests and take a well-
acterised by a traditional planning approach, meaning a hierarchical ap- considered decision regarding the developments that are or are not wanted.
proach, based on governmental plans. Furthermore, this approach is sectoral Involving the various interest groups from the start not only brings addition-
oriented, because it mainly focuses on the ecological aspects. This approach al knowledge to the table, but also creates broader support for decisions and,
puts a strain on the collaboration between the government and the stake- consequently, reduces obstructions, which may take the form of legal proce-
holders involved because the policy goals cannot be linked with the goals and dures.
views of other parties. Both cases illustrate this. The sectoral approach entails
the risk that the necessity of and possibilities for combining the objectives of Conclusions
other parties will not be recognised (Van Ark & Beunen, 2002). Nature poli- There is a lack of space for nature development and conflict is arising
cy in metropolitan landscapes requires a different planning approach than more frequently between nature and other spatial claims in metropolitan
the hierarchical planning approach. Involving the stakeholders in the deci- landscapes. Yet, urban claims attach growing importance to certain qualities
sion-making processes can help to generate knowledge, provide the needed of open space, including the presence of nature. The implementation of cur-
resources and legitimacy of plans (Hajer & Zonneveld, 2000). rent Dutch nature management policy entails a number of bottlenecks, which
The sectoral and hierarchical control by the Dutch government, particu- are due in part to the fact that the characteristics of the metropolitan land-
larly with regard to nature management policy, is not in line with the need scape are insufficiently taken into consideration in nature management pol-
to integrate the various spatial claims and the fact that, in many instances, icy. A review of the situation in the Netherlands demonstrates that nature
various parties, including the various tiers of government, are interdependent. management policy focuses primarily on spatial arrangements (for example,
This approach is one of the key reasons why the creation of ecological corri- the creation of the national ecological network) and generally overlooks the
dors has encountered so many problems. Traditional plans often do not dove- importance of organisational and procedural arrangements (planning ap-
tail with the views and requirements, spatial and otherwise, of other players. proaches and procedural concepts).
It is advisable to consider ecological corridors in a broader context to enable Nature management policy is formulated to guarantee the preservation
co-ordination with the objectives and interests of the other parties. Planning of biodiversity. Particularly in metropolitan landscapes, which are charac-
the ecological corridors requires that the higher tiers of government take a terised by competing demands for space, it is vital to generate and maintain
more reserved approach (controlling the main lines). sufficient support for nature conservation and development. In general, more
The implementation of the Habitats Directive has revealed that problems attention should be paid to the decision-making processes and the role of

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 other (public and private) stakeholders and their goals and views. Each situ-
ation requires a different planning process as each development issue has
its specific objectives, domains and players. Taking into account the require-
ments that metropolitan landscapes set for both the spatial arrangements
and the organisational and procedural arrangements, enables the formula-
tion of feasible nature management policy, which responds to the complexi-
ties of these decision-making situations.

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 New planning concepts and The Interreg-Programme is part of the European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF) of the European Union, dedicated to fostering transnational
regional cooperation: co-operation and exchange between local and regional actors with relevance
for regional, including spatial, development. Interreg offers co-financing
Responding to the challenges (usually up to 50 %) for co-operation in given meta-regions; the New Urban

of new urban landscapes Landscapes project was carried out in the North West European area (EU,
2003; NWE, 2003)
The main goals of the Interreg-Project New Urban Landscapes were
Andrea Hartz* and Rainer Kestermann** • to understand the evolving features of new urban landscapes, as well
Planungsgruppe agl Saarbrücken*, Germany as the driving forces of their development;
Institut f. Landes- u. Stadtentwicklungsforschung u. Bauwesen • to identify the development potential of our urban landscapes;
des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen**, Dortmund, Germany • to formulate conceptual planning answers (instruments and planning
[email protected], [email protected] processes)
• to transfer findings to other urban regions,
• to make a contribution to the European spatial and sectoral policies,
• to promote professional exchange and establish professional and per-
sonal networks on an international level.
Transnational work on metropolitan landscapes In 2003, the partners continued their successful transnational work go-
Our metropolitan regions are facing rapidly changing urban patterns. ing into the implementation phase of the project, now running under the Eu-
New qualities of the urban structures in European metropolitan regions are ropean Interreg IIIB-Programme and the title “Sustainable and Accessible Ur-
evolving, that may be seen as a new type of urban (or metropolitan) land- ban Landscapes” (Saul, 2003). The following paragraphs should therefore
scape. This paper draws on a two years’ transnational study project that was be taken as a report on work in progress.
carried out within the framework of the European Union Interreg IIC-Pro-
gramme from 1999 to 2001. Partner regions in the project “New ways for sus- New Urban Landscapes – a new understanding of
tainable development of urban landscapes” – in short “New Urban Land- metropolitan regions
scapes” – were the European Metropolitan Regions London, Amsterdam /
the Deltametropole, Rhein-Ruhr, Rhein-Main, Rheinpfalz, Saarland and Lux- Development of urban landscapes in North West Europe
embourg (NUL 2001). Though very different in size, character, and actual Metropolitan regions in North West Europe face fundamental and rapid
development features, they are all facing new and comparable challenges for structural changes which have a far-reaching effect upon cities and land-
their spatial development. scapes. These social and economic changes also result in a change in the

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 traditional concept of European cities. Cities merge physically and function- deal with the causes, effects and qualities of the new urban landscapes.
ally with the surrounding countryside, hence transforming the city into an At the same time it seems necessary that planners get involved in a fu-
urban region. The process of continuous physical and functional sub-urbani- ture-orientated political discussion beyond making plans and designing proj-
sation also coincides with more complex, inter-related socio-economic ects, in finding approaches of managing the social, economic and political
changes. These manifest themselves in a new meaning of urban, sub-urban processes needed. For beyond changing physical urban forms and functional
and peripheral, rural space. It seems we are dealing with a different, new type relations, these new patterns have severe consequences in the dimensions of
of urbanised landscape, which has its own definition and qualities of spatial administrative and political structures, leading to a need for governance net-
structure and design. work systems, identity and the representation of the polycentric urban re-
The inter-related merging of city and landscape, of built up, “red” and gion (Kloostermann & Musterd, 2000).
open, “green” environment, is the central feature. Core city and urban fringe, Innovation in local and regional planning is required. We have identified
centre and periphery, city and landscape, town and country, these di- three distinct, but interconnected ways of necessary changes in planning pol-
chotomies of classic cities and landscapes are fading, and a new polycentric, icy (NUL, 2001:17-33):
fragmented, and patchwork feature of urban landscape evolves (BBR, 1998). • New planning concepts are needed to respond to the new tasks fo-
This understanding of new urban landscapes is a heuristic model and a de- cussing on the importance of open and public space and a better quality of
scriptive concept, based on the discussion of our experiences in the partner life in urban areas. This point is discussed in greater detail in the next para-
regions but reflecting a wide range of current academic discussions: studies on graph.
suburbanisation, suburbia and urban sprawl (Keil, 1994; Bose, 1997; Brake et • New planning methods reflect the managerial changes in planning pol-
al., 2001), post-modern geography and planning (Allmendinger, 2000; Soja, icy. Planning should be more implementation-orientated, integrating strate-
2000), peripherisation and the Edge City concept (Rusk, 1996; TOPOS, 1996; gic and project development; this needs regional management structures.
Phleps ,1998), the suburbia – post suburbia discussion (Aing, 1999), the Ger- Informal planning is progressing; public-private partnerships and intergov-
man concept of the “Zwischenstadt” (the in-between city, describing the ur- ernmental co-operation is gaining momentum, and requires formal proce-
banised periphery) (Sieverts, 1997), and the discussion about “Americanisation” dures. As a paradigmatic new instrument reflecting these changes, a basic re-
of spatial patterns of European metropolitan regions (Müller & Rohr-Zänker 2001). gional land management system was developed within our Interreg-project.
It includes the early identification of available land, its targeted development
Challenges and opportunities for spatial development and a long-term protection of regionally important open spaces. It is based on a
This spatial development certainly presents us with numerous serious regional co-operative, i.e. voluntary basis. This cannot be discussed here in detail.
problems – among them loss of open land, high financial and ecological • New planning processes focus on co-operative planning. This is the in-
costs, more traffic, low aesthetic qualities, and social problems. However, it stitutional and process-oriented response to the challenges resulting from the
seems that planners could benefit from understanding the new patterns and changes towards new urban landscapes. In planning theory and practice,
learn to work with them. We need to work towards a pro-active approach to there is general consensus about the necessity to create a new “planning

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 culture”. Planning in partnership (or co-operative planning) in our sense is a Urban landscapes necessitate a regional perspective to spatial planning
special and comparatively demanding form of co-operation. Implications of and regional strategies. Spatial “visions” can help create awareness of the re-
such planning are discussed at the end of this paper. gional dimension. Agglomerations have crossed political and administrative
These “new ways” have to be seen as a triad of interrelated principles, borders and achieved a regional dimension. It is important to promote aware-
none of which is able to tackle the problems and tasks of new urban land- ness for urban regional perspectives in order to develop adequate steering
scapes alone. These changes are not newly invented; they are part of an al- procedures. A common “vision” for the urban region should be used as an ori-
ready ongoing deep change in European planning culture. However, these in- entation framework for planning and political dealings. The understanding
novations are only of real value to spatial planning in a multitude of inter- of a more integrated urban landscape and its regional dimensions makes it
connected combinations, considering the overriding principles of social com- clear that spatial development must be firmly embedded in integrated over-
patibility (Polése & Stren, 2000). The need to find a common and generalized arching concepts and needs to be increasingly strategic and project orient-
approach to this issue led us to a process-led notion of sustainability (NUL, ed. The necessity of the regional dimension is a new and not yet sufficiently
2001:15f). solved challenge.
A new interpretation of the “urban park” on the regional level is needed.
New planning concepts: Design and development of Networks and tangible spatial coherence are used to avoid the fragmentation
urban landscapes of the urban landscape. A possible starting point is the Regional Park con-
From our studies and transnational exchange, as well as findings from cept, notwithstanding the multitude of interpretations of this concept. The
planning literature, some general principles were developed to guide plan- fragmentation of the urban landscape results in a patchwork of urban fields;
ning concepts within the new urban landscapes context. their open spaces lack tangible connectivity or positive structural quality. A
Greater recognition must be given to urban open spaces, as development spatial link through “green corridors”, theme routes or “green transport plans”
resources for urban landscapes. The potential of the open spaces is not being therefore could form the backbone for coherent development of urban land-
taken full advantage of. Public spaces are a key to urban living, but are neg- scapes. Important places and new nodes can be integrated into the context
lected or even ignored in current urban development. Open and public spaces of the surrounding landscape, especially in a “green” infrastructure. By a rein-
are given a new role in the development perspectives of urban landscapes terpretation of the “urban park” virtual space, built-up spaces, areas awaiting
(Hajer & Reijndorp, 2001; Kornhardt et al., 2002). conversion of use, relics of the (industrial) past, artefacts of modern urban life,
The borders between open spaces and built-up areas are fading and a unplanned open spaces and “nature” are integrated into a single and coher-
complex topography is developing. A characteristic of new urban landscapes ent concept; thus Regional Parks allow us to achieve tomorrow’s urban land-
is a fusion of open spaces and built-up areas. Innovative concepts aim at scapes. The differing elements and spatial uses of the urban landscape are
achieving close functional and structural integration of these elements up- brought together in new contexts. The resulting “park” landscape depicts
grading the structural qualities in terms of revitalising core urban, peri-urban functional, spatial and historic coherence, as is seen in the urban region.
and suburban areas. Multi-functional use is becoming a characteristic for structural quality of

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 the urban landscape. Functionally specialised spaces dedicated to a single Evidence: three examples for planning new urban
use should no longer be predominant in complex urban landscapes. As a re- landscapes
sult of social change a pluralistic society with a variety of lifestyles is emerg- Three examples show the broad range of different types of metropolitan
ing. The corresponding diverse and multi-faceted leisure activities, charac- regions in Europe: the small-scale agglomeration in the Saarland (Germany),
terised by increasing individuality and mobility, make it necessary for facili- the large-sized metropolitan area Rhein-Ruhr (Germany) and the global city
ties and places to adapt steadily to changing spatial behaviour. Spatial in- London. They also differ greatly in their current situation in matters of eco-
terpretation increasingly follows individual and diverse patterns. These as- nomic performance, social aspects and administrative and planning organi-
pects suggest a multi-functional opening up of places and spaces. sation. Nevertheless they present similar basic patterns of new urban land-
The combination of cultural heritage and new design provide opportuni- scapes and tasks for spatial development.
ties for regional identities. The development of new structural qualities de-
mands creativity and innovation, as well as the ability to adapt to the de- Saarland: Saar Regional Park
mands of a post-industrial society. The individual regional profile is closely As an old industrial region in transition and a conurbation with constant
linked to the cultural (and historic) fabric of the area and has to assume the migration losses, Saarland is seeking a new forward-looking identity (Figure 1).
appropriate identity. At the same time it is necessary to find a new semiotic The central task is to restructure vast areas of the urban landscape to meet
of urban patterns for contemporary life making specific use of cultural her- the increasing demands of a post-industrial society, creating attractive space
itage and new design. New methods of communication and marketing would for new urban uses. To support and manage this large scale restructuring
be appropriate; “trademarks” and labels for a new “design” of the urban land- process, the Regional Park Saar as a new spatial planning instrument cover-
scape could contribute to raise awareness and convey regional identity. Ma- ing the whole conurbation has been introduced.
jor determining factors as to whether a regional identity policy will be suc- The Regional Park will have the task of pursuing an over-arching concept
cessful are acceptance and accessibility in everyday life in terms of individ- for the development of a high quality urban landscape. As for the vital role of
ual interpretation of space. public space the challenge is to change existing under-developed green
Changing places is changing lives is changing places... socially open spaces and abandoned mining and industrial areas into new key nodes and
spaces are the starting point and a prerequisite for social sustainability. points of reference for future urban landscapes.
(Social) accessibility and availability are decisive criteria for socially open
spaces, in which people can express their needs and lifestyles. These places
have to meet the increasing communication need of the urban (network) so-
ciety and promote exchange between the different social networks.

Figure 1: The urban landscape of the Saar agglomeration (Source: agl 2002)

184 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 185

 Saarkohlenwald- in the heart of the wood axis Saarkohlenwald- local projects
The concept will demonstrate how structural changes in times of limited
funds can be implemented successfully by tapping into regional and local
resources. An action and project-oriented programme will focus on projects
with a regional dimension and relevance, develop a homogeneous design
for urban landscape development, and contribute to innovative forms of re-
gional management.
The main idea is to create an informal co-operation platform for regional
partnerships as a flexible approach to guide and accompany structural
changes to the conurbation. In doing so the Regional Park aims at the im- Mining axis
Wood axis
plementation of governance networks beyond traditional administrative Saarkohlenwald
structures reflecting the scope of action of regional and local players and Places of regional identity
Network of green routes
combining their resources within joint projects on a regional scale. This Wood and mining route
process should build on existing – also cross-border – partnerships in the
Saar-Lorraine border area, as well as in the SaarLorLux Euro region. Figure 2: Saarkohlenwald – a regional project (Source: agl 2002)

On that basis a discussion has to be initiated on a new spatial vision for

the urban landscape using the ideas, creativity and commitment of the local
stakeholders and the public on a regional level.
As a regional pilot project Saarkohlenwald has been chosen. This vast for- parably simple means – new, unique and characteristic situations and land-
est is part of the wood and mining axis throughout the Saar conurbation scapes. Furthermore, it offers a test bed for project-based governance struc-
(see figure 2), a green backbone of the urban region that provides a sharp tures and planning in partnership approaches.
contrast to the neighbouring coalescences.
The Saarkohlenwald project provides opportunities of showing how to cre- Rhein-Ruhr: Urban Landscape Emscher 2020 –
ate new urban parks with regional relevance by finding innovative solutions transformation of the Emscher System
from the conurbation’s traditional forestry and mining heritage. This demon- The Emscher region is part of the old industrial heart (the Ruhr Region)
stration project aims at integrating different uses and local projects in an of the German state Nordrhein-Westfalen (figure 3). With the economy
overall spatial vision towards re-gaining public space and a new regional co- changing to post-industrial patterns, this long term project, scheduled to fin-
herence by re-inventing the green peripheries. The challenge is to change ex- ish by 2020, transforms the open sewerage system of the river Emscher and
isting peripheral landscapes and under-developed spaces, into new key nodes its tributaries into a river and creeks again, as naturally as possible and as
and points of reference for the future landscape. These development re- an attractive part of a new urban landscape. Following the construction of a
sources offer the chance to realise regional potential and create – with com- completely new underground sewer along the Emscher, the Emscher valley

186 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 187

 Emscher Landscape. This process, known as emscher:dialogue brings togeth-
er all local and regional stakeholders, covering the full length of 60 km of the
river Emscher from Dortmund to its mouth at Dinslaken, and the urban land-
scape adjacent to some 350 km of today’s’ sewerage canals, to be the rivers
and creeks of tomorrow. Thus the project will positively affect about 2.4 mil-
lion people. During the Saul-project, running till 2006, this dialogue will not
only be continued, but also extended to involve the public into the process.
Figure 3: Urban Landscape in the Ruhr Region (Source: Emschergenossenschaft)
The next step taken was a large international planners’ competition, aim-
ing at finding a pool of ideas for planning and designing the urban landscape
of the new Emscher. Future tasks include binding these strands of work to-
gether assisted by a planners’ experts group, charged to carry out the process
and its surroundings will be retrieved for urban, natural and recreational uses. of developing a Master plan, emscher:future. The goals of the open, dynamic
In this area, from 1989 to 1999, the International Building Exhibition – master plan are:
IBA Emscher Park – was a major initiative for a large scale restructuring and • define and plan the design and the sewerage system;
revitalisation of the urban region, and an example of new models of region- • planning and construction of the new river and creeks, including flood
al policy (TOPOS, 1999). IBA was initiated to overcome the far reaching prob- control and design of the mouths of the tributaries;
lems of economic and social change in the post-industrial era. In the centre • additional urban and landscape initiatives in the adjacent areas;
of the IBA was the vision of a reconstruction of urban landscape, by creating • giving further impulses to cities, investors, planners, and inhabitants for
the Emscher Landscape Park (KVR, 1996). The objective to regenerate the riv- responding to the new qualities of the river Emscher, and to integrate
er Emscher and its surroundings is part of this concept, tackling economic dis- these in the larger framework of the whole Emscher Landscape Park.
advantage, improving both natural and man-made environments, and raising
local living and working conditions. Alongside this, a key long term project is London: Lea Valley Regional Park
to create a new east-west axis along the Emscher, as the backbone for the The expanse of London and the population density, combined with ex-
Landscape Park. If the accessibility and usage of open spaces is used to their tensive travel times reflect the pressures on land in this metropolis. Due to the
full potential then quality of life is improved. extent of the London metropolitan area, open space resources are manifest-
The process is managed by the Emschergenossenschaft, a public-private ed in many different ways, such as inner urban, outer urban and metropoli-
partnership organisation responsible for the sewerage and flood control of tan edge locations (20 % dense inner urban land, 38 % outer urban [subur-
the Emscher. Within the Interreg IIC-project, the Emschergenossenschaft be- ban] land and 42 % open land). In all cases open space needs to be accessi-
gan successfully to build a platform for a co-operative planning process, lead- ble to residential and business communities and visitors.
ing to a regional agreement on the future planning process of the Urban As a conurbation of dramatic contrasts, with great wealth and acute

188 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 189

 deprivation existing cheek-by-jowl in many areas, it has equally great con- with the Thames, opposite the Millenium Dome and just down river from Ca-
trasts of fine historic parks in central London, and seriously neglected parks, nary Wharf. Today it is dominated by derelict or partially used sites provid-
degraded public spaces and damaged land throughout Greater London. Its ing minimal business and employment growth. In the future it could become
greenbelt was established in the first Greater London Plan in the 1950s, and a unique inner city urban quarter based on a mixed use development ap-
remains largely protected by planning controls; but for much of the popula- proach. The community access project will engage local people in designing
tion, it is remote and inaccessible in terms of people’s everyday lives. Howev- and implementing aspects of new access and interpretation arising from cap-
er, the quality of London’s open spaces directly affects its World City status; ital investment work being resourced from other public funding.
this is the starting point for a new open and green space policy. One of the main future tasks is to determine how co-operative planning
One example for this new policy is Lea Valley Regional Park. The Lee Val- processes can be more effective at strategic levels, involving public-private-
ley Regional Park was established by statute in the 1960’s. It stretches north- voluntary sector partnerships, and how to engage communities more mean-
south along the river Lea from Hertfordshire to the Thames. The park’s 4,000 ingfully in local partnerships. Until now, the statutory character of the Lea
hectares comprise rivers, reservoirs, nature conservation areas, brownfield Valley Authority fosters a communicative mode of planning with the adja-
land, marshes, indoor recreation, and sport. Rail lines run the length of the cent local governments. But an opening up for a wider partnership type of
linear Park area with a number of small stations; but these are frequently van- planning should be explored. Moreover a regional strategy to integrate open
dalised and unwelcoming, and despite signage from the stations, the physi- and green spaces into a regional concept seems necessary. A first step to this
cal pedestrian and cycle routes from them to leisure and green space oppor- has been done by the Greater London Authority by creating an informal plat-
tunities are often obscure, unpleasant and a deterrent to the public. Projects form, called the London Parks and Greenspaces Forum, which is a direct out-
will improve station environments and safety, and create attractive routes to come of recommendations of our Interreg IIc-project. The coming London
leisure areas with better public facilities within the framework of a green Spatial Development Strategy highlights the importance of urban green
transport plan. spaces, and will create a cohesive open space policy covering Greater Lon-
Lea Valley represents post-industrial new urban landscapes which are of- don.
ten divided up and cut through by roads, railway lines, housing and industri-
al buildings. Branding and labels are increasingly important in consumer so- Co-operative planning and regional governance for
cieties, but parks have failed to develop appropriate forms of public repre- new urban landscapes
sentation. One main question is, how to represent a coherent whole to a
public used to unified landscapes? Why is co-operative planning necessary?
Another task arises from the direct neighbourhood of the Lea Valley Park Together with new planning concepts and new managerial planning
to the Thames Gateway area, which is designated to become a high priority methods, we identified co-operative planning (or planning in partnerships) as
area for economic development of London and the South East, and even be- a third necessary innovation to cope with the challenges and opportunities of
yond. The southern end of the Lea Valley Park is Leamouth, the confluence new urban landscapes. Again, this change of course is ongoing (Selle, 1994;

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 Kestermann, 1997), but it seems, at least in the context of our project re- General trends make partnership planning unavoidable, which are briefly
gions, it might be fostered. This especially holds true for the involvement of listed here:
the communities on the regional level. • continuous enlargement of the field of action and functional spaces,
The two sides of co-operative planning, which are partnership-building • increasing significance of the regional level with regard to the consec-
with organized actors on the one side, and involvement of the public, the utive processes of globalisation, regionalisation and localisation,
communities on the other side, show some common trends regarding their • the resulting complex and interwoven topography of urban landscapes,
necessity, as well as common tasks and difficulties for initiating and man- • the diminishing power of administrative and political bodies to tackle
aging them. Of course, these two sides imply quite different methods and in- the challenges of future spatial development,
struments, which cannot be discussed in this paper in detail. • the pluralisation and fragmentation and thus growing diversity of so-
Our concept of co-operative planning draws on a wide range of aca- ciety – with increasingly varied stated requirements,
demic literature, dealing with the “argumentative or communicative turn” • the change in values and the process of individualisation,
in planning (Fischer & Forster, 1993; Selle, 1996). Thinking further, the de- • increasing democratisation, and new stakeholders entering the politi-
liberative mode of consensus-reaching planning alone cannot be seen as cal arena,
sufficient. It must be linked with an institutional view, as is discussed in a • a movement towards the vision of sustainable development.
politological framework regarding the changing role of the state to a “co- The phenomenon of new urban landscapes causes complex cross-sectoral
operative state (Benz, 1994), as well as with the concept of “collaborative tasks, demonstrating the limitations of traditional institutions and demand-
planning” (Healey, 1997; Harris, 2002). Thus the importance of the actors ing partnership approaches on a regional level. No single stakeholder is “re-
and the actors’ constellations, their potentials for acting, and the specific sponsible” and no-one is in a position to act alone. Problems overlap in terms
situation and tasks come more into the foreground. Perhaps differing from of space and content; they need an integrated, inter-sectoral approach. Solu-
Healey’s understanding, the term co-operative planning is used here to de- tions are often not immediately obvious at the beginning and have to be
scribe an organized form of collaboration, which affords a clear “arrange- found jointly in the course of the planning process. Thus only regional gover-
ment” between actors in a planning arena, defining their field of co-oper- nance structures seem to be able to cope with those challenges.
ation, their aims and goals, their organisational structures, and their modes It is not only the pressure of complex problems, acting as ‘push factors’,
of processing. This makes the participants of the co-operation to partners, which promotes the trend towards increasing use of planning partnerships:
which is the reason for our British colleagues to prefer the term planning in it is also promoted by their opportunities and potential, working as “pull fac-
partnerships. Of course, co-operative planning on the regional level also tors”. There are opportunities to overcome barriers to action, limitation of
can heavily draw on the concept of regional governance and empirical decision and implementation risks, by all stakeholders pulling together, the
studies on regional co-operation (Hamilton, 1999; ARL, 2000; OECD, pooling of resources resulting in possible rationalisation and synergy effects.
2001a, b, c). Partnership frequently presents the only opportunity to overcome stalemate
situations and to enable a decision to be taken.

192 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 193

 As a consequence, no solution-oriented consulting seems to be fruitful.
Therefore a conceptual framework (see figure 4) has been developed, highly
based on Benz (1994). It intends to facilitate a process-oriented consultation.
The model demonstrates in its simple form of a cross the inter-action of struc-
tural elements (on the vertical axis) and process elements (on the horizontal
axis). The structural elements on the one hand comprise the organisational
structures of each field of action (in the upper part), as well as the structure
of the tasks to be fulfilled (on the lower vertical axis). With the process ele-
ments shown on the horizontal axis, a significant role is played by the inter-
ests and motives of the (potential) stakeholders as well as the available re-
sources which the stakeholders are able to bring to the table. At the inter-
section of the structural and process elements is the special partnership
arrangement. In short, this arrangement has to consider three factors: the
specific description of the goals and tasks, the agreement of organisational
Figure 4: A conceptual framework to understand partnership planning. partnership structure, and the establishment of any specific principles of con-
(Source: Rainer Kestermann, ILS-NRW)
duct within the partnership. In the end, a partnership does not develop from
a clean sheet. The relationships between the political arena within which the
How to manage partnership arrangements partnership is operating (shaded grey in the diagram), and the outside world
Two fundamental conclusions can be drawn from our Interreg project is of crucial significance, and can and must be shaped by the partnership
work: management.
• There is no ideal way of establishing and running a partnership. Each This model illustrates the complexity of initiating and managing co-op-
case is different, requiring tailor-made solutions, reflecting among other eration; all of these issues have to be hit and thought of together. It should
factors the individuality of the people participating. In the end, the in- be used for systematically finding the right questions - maybe with the help
volvement and motivation of people and their willingness to become ac- of an outside consultant -, they are to be answered by the participants in the
tive on behalf of an organisation are essential factors for a partnership relevant arena themselves. The idea is, having worked thoroughly through
to function properly. all these issues, and having given your specific answers, you will finally have
• The partnership management should aim to achieve an open, dynam- found your adequate co-operative planning arrangement. Of course, this is a
ic process and must be able to deal with a number of typical dilemmas dynamic figure. During the co-operation process, you will have to keep the
in a productive and flexible manner. This is only possible in a joint learn- model in mind, and changes will be probably necessary.
ing process.

194 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 195

 References
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these changes need to be taken on a regional level; but this level reveals ning in Postmodern Times. Routledge, London Places in Fragmented Societies. Macmillan Press,
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Voraussetzungen und Folgen. Nomos, Baden- Knieling, J. et al., 2001. Kann Regionalplanung
volvement procedures of local and regional communities are also evident, Baden. durch kooperative Ansätze eine Aufwertung erlan-
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der Stadt in die Region?. Harburger Berichte zur (2/3), 184-191.
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Mögliche Räume. Junius, Hamburg.
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Brake, K., Dangschat, J.S., Herfert, G. (eds.)
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Budrich, Opladen. Müller, W., Rohr-Zänker, R., 2001.
on European level, international co-operation is needed to secure the adop- Amerikanisierung der „Peripherie“ in Deutschland?
European Union, 1999. European Spatial Develop-
tion of our findings on new urban landscapes, which should be reflected by ment Perspective (ESDP). May 1999, Potsdam. In: Brake, K., Dangschat, J.S., Herfert, G. (eds). Sub-
http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/sour urbanisierung in Deutschland - Aktuelle Tenden-
the European spatial and sectoral policies, and their documents, such as the zen. Leske + Budrich, Opladen, 27-39.
ces/docoffic/official/reports/som_en.htm. [Feb-
European Spatial Development Perspective (EU, 1999). ruary 28, 2002] NUL, 2001. New methods of socially compatible de-
European Union, 2003: Connecting European re- velopment of urban landscapes, Oct. 2001. final re-
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ropa. eu.int./comm/regional_policy/interreg3/in- Newman, P., Verpraet, G., 1999. The impacts of
dex_en.htm. partnership on urban governance: Conclusions
Fischer, F., Forester, J. (eds.), 1993. The Argumen- from recent European research. Regional Studies
tative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning. Duke (33), 487-493.
University Press, London. NWE, 2003:Website of the North-West-Europe Secre-
Hamilton, D.K., 1999. Governing Metropolitan Ar- tariate of the InterregIII-programmehttp://
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 OECD (ed.), 2001a. Cities for Citizens. Improving
Metropolitan Governance. Paris.
OECD (ed.), 2001b. Local Partnerships for Better
Spatially explicit risk analysis:
Governance. Territoral Economy. Paris
OECD (ed.), 2001c. Citizens as Partners. OECD
Handbook on Information, Consultation and Public
A new solution to contamina-
Participation in Policy Making. Paris.
Phelps, N., 1998. On the Edge of something Big. tion problems in the Metro-
Edge City Ecomomic Development in Croydon,
South London. In: Town Planning Review 69 (4).
Saul, 2003. Website of the InterregIIIB-project Sus-
politan Delta
tainable and Accessible Urban Landscapes:
http://www.saulproject.net
Selle, K., 1994. Was ist bloß mit der Planung los?
N.W. van den Brink and J.M. Baveco
Erkundungen auf dem Weg zum kooperativen Han-
deln. Ein Werkbuch. Dortmunder Beiträge zur Alterra Green World Research
Raumplanung (69), Dortmund
Wageningen, The Netherlands
Selle, K. (ed.), 1996. Planung und Kommunikation.
Bauverlag, Wiesbaden/Berlin. [email protected]
Polése, M., Stren, R., 2000 (eds.). The Social Sus-
tainability of the Cities. Diversity and the Manage-
ment of Change. University of Toronto Press, Toronto.
Rusk, D., 1997. Cities without Suburbs. Lessons from
Urban America. John Hopkins University Press, Bal-
timore.
Selle, K. (Ed.). Planung und Kommunikation, Gestal-
tung von Planungsprozessen in Quartier, Stadt und Introduction
Landschaft. Grundlagen, Methoden, Praxiser-
fahrungen. Bauverlag, Wiesbaden/Berlin.
The Metropolitan Delta in North West Europe (further referred to as the
Sieverts, T., 1997. Zwischenstadt. Zwischen Ort und Metropolitan Delta) can generally be characterised as densely populated,
Welt, Raum und Zeit, Stadt und Land, Bauwelt-Fun-
damente (118). Vieweg, Braunschweig.
with high claims on land use. Due to changes in demography, economic pros-
Soja, E.W., 2000. Postmetropolis, Critical Studies of perity and time expenditure of people, there is an increasing demand for ar-
Cities and Regions. Blackwell, London.
TOPOS , 1996: Periphere Landschaften. Special issue (17). eas for nature conservation/development and for recreational use. Such ar-
TOPOS, 1999: Internationale Bauausstellung Emsch- eas should optimally be located nearby urbanised areas in order to create a
er Park . IBA – a renewal concept for a region. Spe-
cial issue (26). better balance between urban development and the open countryside or na-
Wilson, A., Charlton, K., 1997. Making Partner- ture areas. However, since space is scarce in the Metropolitan Delta, it is not
ships Work: A Practical Guide for the Public, Private
, Voluntary and Community Sectors. J. Rowntree always feasible to allocate areas which are optimal suitable to nature devel-
Foundation, York.
opment or recreation. More often, nature development and enhancement of
recreational functions will need to be achieved in conjunction with other
functions, or in areas with currently low-quality functional land use, which
may be upgraded. An example of multifunctional use is the development of

198 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 199

 natural areas in floodplains in The Netherlands and Belgium, which have a tial planning processes because they hardly acknowledge expertise from
prime function in flood control (see for instance Grift, 2001). Examples of pos- other disciplines that are relevant in spatial processes. For instance geogra-
sible changes in land use are for instance the regeneration of brownfields, phers, social or economical scientists or spatial planners are currently not di-
which used to be industrialised areas (see for instance De Sousa, 2003). rectly involved in the process of risk assessment (lack of inter-disciplinarity)
Although both solutions, multi-functionality and changes in land use, ap- but neither are other relevant stakeholders in the planning process, like for in-
pear auspicious, there is a major drawback which may hamper the develop- stance farmers, local inhabitants, (local) authorities (lack of trans-discipli-
ment of natural and recreational areas, namely the occurrence of contami- narity). Such lack of inter- and trans-disciplinarity may limit the possibilities
nation in the soils. Not only the former industrialised areas, like the brown- to reach a balanced solution (see Tress et al., 2003). Hence, currently the de-
fields, but also other areas within the Metropolitan Delta have been con- velopment of natural, but also recreational land use nearby urbanised areas
taminated by human activities. For instance, in The Netherlands, Belgium and within the Metropolitan Delta is hampered by the lack of proper tools to as-
Germany large areas in the catchment area of the river Rhine and Scheldt sess risks of contamination, that are inter- and trans-disciplinary, and that are
are polluted by a wide range of chemicals, like heavy metals, PCBs and diox- focussed on feasible solutions, related to the a priori defined planning ob-
ins (Hendriks et al., 1995; Vandecasteele et al., 2003). Other patterns of jectives.
contamination are located near for instance smelters where elevated levels of In the current paper a new conceptual outline for the ecological risk as-
heavy metals can be found (Janssens et al., 2003; Nahmani & Lavelle, 2002) sessment of contamination will be addressed, which will result in an in-
or municipal waste incinerators which may be sources of air-borne dioxins creased inter and trans-disciplinarity of the process, and which is more fo-
(Domingo et al., 2002). cussed on reaching a solution in dealing with the contamination problem.
In order to assess the risks that such contamination may pose to the suc- This concept is focussed on a relatively small scale of planning, 10s of km.
cessful development of natural areas, specific methods have been devel-
oped, based upon ecotoxicological knowledge, e.g. knowledge on the effects Conceptual outline
of contaminants on the functioning of organisms. Currently used method- To enhance the potential role of ecological risk assessment in the plan-
ologies are based upon state-of-the-art expertise on assessing ecotoxicologi- ning process, we need to extend the procedure in two ways. In the first place,
cal risks. Within these methodologies, the problems of contamination in spa- risk assessment has to be spatially explicit, taking into account the spatial
tial planning are defined in a scientific, ecotoxicological framework, which structure of the landscape (landscape ecotoxicology, see Johnson, 2002).
primarily results in a limited set of options when risks of contamination are Such a spatially explicit risk analysis of contamination includes the spatial
present: either a change of the planned land use function (loss of prime ob- distribution of contaminants within the area of interest, and combines this
jectives of the initial planning process) or remediation of the contamination with spatially explicit uptake of the contaminants by organisms acting on dif-
(requires vast budgets and is as such mostly not feasible). Besides the fact ferent spatial scales, based upon their exploitation patterns of the habitat. A
that these risk assessment methodologies only result in a very limited set of presupposition of the concept is that besides its presence also the habitat
options to solve the problems, they may even more be of limited use in spa- usage pattern of an organism is determined by the configuration of the land-

200 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 201

 scape (see for instance Powell & Steidel, 2002; Bélisle et al., 2001). In the a single top-predator species, or some selected species, with their
In the second place, hooks are required that link the outcome of the risk food chain are selected for detailed analysis. Top-predators are chosen be-
assessment, for a given landscape, to habitat manipulation measures modi- cause they are located at the end of the food chain, they are in general prone
fying the habitat exploitation patterns in a way that minimises contact be- to bio-accumulative contaminants like PCBs and cadmium and so vulnera-
tween organisms and contamination, and so minimises risks of the contami- ble to risks of contamination, and furthermore they act at a similar spatial lev-
nants. In the planning process, a landscape that does not meet acceptable el as spatial planning processes. The selection of the species is based upon
risk criteria (standards) can be modified and evaluated again, in an iterative their place within the ecosystem, structurally and functionally, and when pos-
approach (figure 1). The set of potential manipulation measures depend on sible, it should be selected as such that it can be assumed that minimising the
the state of the landscape, the outcome of the risk assessment, and on con- risks for the selected species, and its food chain results in minimising risks in
straints and priorities set by the stakeholders. general for the ‘planned’ ecosystem (Fleishmann et al., 2001).
The concept of the SSRA is relatively simple: it is aimed at minimising
the contact between organisms and contaminants by spatially structuring the
Landscape manipulation (new)
landscape so that the organisms will not forage at contaminated sites. For a
Spatially explicit risk assessment
(ecological landscape representation) SSRA, different types of information and tools are needed, which will be dis-
Land use change (old)
Remediation (old) cussed in the following section. The SSRA can be applied at different phases
(land use landscape representation)
in a decision process (Janssen, 1992). It can be applied in the development
phase, aiding in optimising the design or it can be used in the selection
phase, in order to evaluate choices. In an iterative process between stake-
Planning Landscape Evaluation
holders and scientists conducting the SSRA different scenarios can be as-
sessed. Such a cyclic approach ensures the inter- and trans-disciplinarity of
the process. This will be addressed later.

Information required for SSRA

Stakeholder
consultation When applying the concept to a certain case, information from different
sources is needed. The planning process is the primary driving force in the
concept. Based upon the outcome of this process a detailed analysis of the
Figure 1. Schematic overview of the spatial planning process involving the spatially
risks that contaminants may pose can be performed. In the following sections
structured risk assessment (SSRA). The process of spatial planning results in some actions in
order to minimise risks of contaminants of which landscape manipulation is only possible this will be illustrated by a hypothetical case.
with the aid of a spatially explicit risk analysis. The resulting landscape plan can be The SSRA has to integrate information from different scales. Not only
evaluated with the SSRA, and when the risks are still unacceptable consultation with the
stakeholders can result in alteration of the panning process.
the scale of the planning is of concern, but also the specific characteristics of

202 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 203

 Grass
the selected species and the scale of the variability of the contamination
patterns also influence the scale at which the SSRA may be applied. The ex-
ample that is presented appears to be at a very small scale, but the concepts
are also applicable at larger scales.

Shrub
Information of the planning process Water

In a spatial planning process, a major input for the SSRA is a map with
actual or hypothetical landscape configuration (figure 2). The map may re- Figure 3. Example of possible spatial distribution of
Figure 2. Example of possible outcome of
flect the outcome of the deliberations between stakeholders. These maps will a planning process in a hypothetical case-
contamination in a hypothetical case-study in a
certain area. The darker coloured areas contain
contain the information on the habitat configuration that is planned, on the study in a certain area.
higher levels of contamination.
types of land use that are planned and so on. All this spatially explicit infor-
mation is needed in the further steps of the process.

Information on spatial variation contaminants

In urbanised and rural areas contamination levels vary spatially. This may
be due to several factors and processes. For instance, in river floodplains
contamination levels vary with the rate of flooding. In areas with frequent
flooding and sedimentation of particles the contamination levels are in gen-
eral high (Middelkoop, 2000). In more urbanised areas the spatial patterns
of contamination may be more related to human activities, like for instance Figure 4. Example of a hypothetical derivation of a habitat suitability map from a
vegetation map. It should be noted that this is very simplified, different types of
dumpsites or contamination plumes in ground water due to a leakage. This information may be needed (for instance vegetation cover, groundwater level, depending
spatial variation in contamination patterns can be mapped in a GIS driven on the species of interest)

system (Kooistra et al., 2001), and can be entered into the SSRA framework
as a digital map (figure 3). The required level of spatial detail depends on the
scale at which the planning process takes place, and on the degree of spa- species in the relevant food web. These species may operate at different spa-
tial variability of the contamination patterns. For further details on the map- tial scales. At the smallest scale we may predict the presence of species, e.g.
ping methods see Kooistra et al. (2001). earthworms, and their population density, applying simple habitat suitabili-
ty models and other (statistical) models relating a-biotic conditions to densi-
Information on spatial variation of organisms ty (Morrison et al., 1992). At the larger spatial scale, referring to organisms
The next step in the SSRA requires definition of habitat maps for the more towards the end of the food chain, spatially explicit resource exploita-

204 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 205

 tion models are required, predicting which part of the specific landscape is ex- Instruments required for SSRA
ploited, and which food resource is consumed (figure 4). This information is
essential, as it is part of the solution strategy to modify this spatial exploita- Models
tion pattern, directly through manipulating food resource availability or indi- Different types of models will be used in a SSRA. In this section we will
rectly by landscape changes affecting behaviour, e.g., removing shelter, etc. not provide a detailed technical picture of the models, but a brief overview
with possibilities and limitations of the use of these models will be given.
Information on food-web relations Three types of models will be used in the SSRA: (i) models describing and
Contaminants are taken up by organisms through several routes. Uptake analysing the spatial variability of the contaminants (spatial interpolation
of for instance heavy metals by earthworms is dermal (Ma et al., 1998, Vijver models), (ii) models used to construct habitat suitability maps for the species
et al., 2003), while uptake of contaminants in higher, terrestrial organisms, of concern (habitat suitability models) and (iii) models that address the trans-
like for instance birds is mainly through dietary uptake (Drouillard 2000, fer and accumulation of contaminants through the food-web (bio-accumula-
Lovvorn & Gillingham, 1996). Depending on the food-web relations, different tion models). The use of these models allows for the assessment of risks in hy-
routes of contaminant uptake by predators can be distinguished. For instance pothetical and realistic cases. In the planning process, many different poten-
for the little owl (Athene noctua), the food-web interactions in Dutch flood- tial situations are created (scenarios); being able to evaluate these scenarios
plains is depicted in figure 5 (Groen, 1997). Assessment of such food-web in- is the crux of the SSRA. The models are used in a hierarchical fashion (each
teractions is essential in order to quantify the uptake of contaminants by model building upon the output of a lower level model) and require high
predators through food uptake. quality data-input (to avoid uncertainties to proliferate through the chain.
Therefore, the models need to be validated in case studies, and furthermore
Figure 5. Food-web interactions of the little owl each application in a certain case requires research effort in order to gener-
(Athene noctua) in Dutch floodplains (cf. Groen, 1997)
ate the data needed. Therefore the application of the instrument, and its on-
going development and fine-tuning may demand some research effort. Nev-
Little Owl ertheless, it may still be cost-effective because other solutions to deal with
(Athena noctua)
ecotoxicological risks e.g. remediation of sites or changes in planning priori-
ties are even more costly or undesirable. Furthermore, those solutions gener-
Vole Shrew
(Microtus arvalis) (Sorex araneus) ally do not incorporate stakeholder’s participation.

earthworm Decision support system (DSS)

several species
In order to facilitate the iterative process between risk-assessors and oth-
Vegetation arthropoda er stakeholders a system is needed that consists of a framework that incor-
several species several species
porates all models, and a graphical user interface through which the risk as-
Soil
Delta series 4 2004 | 207

206 | Delta series 4 2004

 Figure 6. Extraction of the risk-map as a combined overlay of the maps on the spatial variability
sessor and the other stakeholders can communicate with the models. Within of the contamination patterns and the habitat exploitation by the organisms.
the decision cycle such a decision support system (DSS) will assist during the
planning phase to translate policy decisions into the actual implementation
of measures, but it may also serve to evaluate established plans. It will enable
to explore a priori several spatial planning alternatives, and to evaluate re-
sulting effects on risks that contamination poses to wildlife. By applying the
DSS the evaluation of the success of planned measures will take place early
in the decision cycle, namely in the planning phase. Current methods only
allow evaluation of risks after implementing of measure, e.g. monitoring of
risks in the evaluation phase. Such an a priori evaluation of measures will re-
sult in a more effective implementation of planning measures and also allows
that other main stakeholders are involved. When risks of contaminants are
still to be expected in the newly defined configuration of the landscape, the
consultation with the other stakeholders iterates once more, until a spatial
configuration is defined that is not only acceptable to the stakeholders, but
also with acceptable ecotoxicological risks. This will be addressed in the fol-
lowing section.

Assessment procedures Average Daily Intake (ADI) of contaminants by the species of concern can
The procedure within the SSRA is an iterative cycle, in which the stake- be calculated using the information on the contamination patterns, habitat
holders supply the outcome of the planning process, formatted in maps, af- exploitation of the organisms and the food-web models. Such ADI can be
ter which the scientific co-workers assess the risks. When the risks are unac- compared to known standards of ADI’s at which no risks on effects are to be
ceptable a new iteration will take place. The core of the risk assessment is expected.
relatively simple. From the maps containing the information on the habitat If the risks are acceptable, the SSRA can be concluded. If not, the SSRA
exploitation by the different species (based upon the maps of the planning allows for a cyclic approach in which the stakeholders can be consulted. The
results) and the spatial variability of the contaminants, a risk map is extract- stakeholders can formulate news plans based upon their own needs and re-
ed by means of overlaying the contamination maps with the habitat ex- quirements, but combined with the information resulting from the risk as-
ploitation maps (figure 6). For this overlay process GIS based algorithms can sessment performed earlier (figure 1). This should lead to a change in the spa-
be used. This risk map is used to assess and value the risks of the contami- tial configuration of the plans. How this planning process is managed is not
nants. of direct concern of the SSRA, only the outcome of the process is of impor-

208 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 209

 tance. The maps of the new planning outcome can be entered in a new iter- acter of planning processes in the Metropolitan Delta, and the high (finan-
ation of the SSRA and the risks of the contaminants can be assessed again. cial) stakes that are involved, it is likely that the benefits of the concept in in-
These iterations can take place until the risks of contamination are accept- creasing the stakeholder participation and thus resulting in a better process
able, and the resulting plans are thus the outcome of a combined effort of in dealing with contamination problems, outweighs the extra efforts need-
spatial planners and ecotoxicological risk assessors. ed. This should also be viewed in relation to the fact that by applying these
concepts it may be possible to redevelop contaminated areas that were for-
Relevance for the Metropolitan Delta merly not dedicated to nature development or recreational use due to lack
As said earlier the Metropolitan Delta can be characterised by high pop- of proper risk-assessment tools.
ulation densities, together with a high degree of urbanisation, which trans-
forms rural and urban systems into large metropolitan areas connected by
large infrastructure networks. Furthermore, agriculture systems have been in-
tensified considerably in the last decades. These factors resulted in a deteri-
oration of the availability of areas for natural development, but also for recre- References
ational use. This has been recognised at national level, but also at European Bélisle, M., Derochers, A., Fortin, M.J., 2001. In- Groen, N.M., 1997. Risico’s voor vogels in veron-
treinigde rivierecosystemen. Riza report 98.121X.
level. For instance in The Netherlands it has been identified that nature de- fluence of forest cover on the movements of forest
birds: a homing experiment. Ecology 82, 1893- dutch Institute of Inland Water Management and
velopment is fragmented, and considerable amount of areas should be de- 1904. Waste Water Treatment, Lelystad, The Netherlands,
62 p.
voted to nature development and the development of the Ecological Main De Sousa, C.A., 2003. Turning brownfields into
Hendriks, A.J., Ma, W.C., Brouns, J.J., De Ruiter-
green space in the City of Toronto. Landscape and
Structure (RIVM, 2002). At European level this recognition has resulted in the Urban Planning 62, 181-198. Dijkman, E.M., Gast, R., 1995. Modelling and
Domingo, J.L., Agramunt, M.C., Nadal, M., monitoring organochlorine and heavy metal accu-
adoption of the Natura2000 initiative. However, such recognition in policy mulation in soils, earthworms and shrews in Rhine-
Schuhmacher, M., Corbella, J., 2002. Health
plans does not automatically result in the fact that claims for space to re- risk assessment of PCDD/PCDF exposure for the Delta floodplain. Archives of Environmental Conta-
population living in the vicinity of a municipal mination and Toxicology 29, 115-127.
alise these policy aims, will be complied with. Still, the interests of other stake- waste incinerator. Arch. Environmental Contamina- Janssen, R., 1992. Multiobjective decision support
holder in the process need to be considered, so the spatial claims for nature tion and Toxicology 43, 461-465. for environmental management. Kluwer Academic
Drouillard, K.G., 2000. Modeling the toxicokinetics Publishers, Dordrecht.
development are likely not to be located at the optimal locations. and biomagnification of polychlorinated biphenyls Janssens, E., Dauwe, T., Pinxten, R., Eens, M.,
2003. Breeding performance of great tits (Parus
The approach that is presented here, needs a high degree of information (PCBs) in birds. Ph.D thesis Trent University, Peter-
borough, Ontario, Canada. ISBN 0-662-29578-1. major) along a gradient of heavy metal pollution.
input, e.g. data on spatial variation of contaminants, knowledge on habitat Fleishmann, E., Blair, R.B., Murphy, A.D.D., Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 22, 1140-
1145.
exploitation of organisms. Part of this information is generic available, but 2001. Empirical validation of a method for umbrel-
Johnson, A.R., 2002. Landscape ecotoxicology and
la psecies selection. Ecological Applications 11,
part will need to be collected case by case. This restricts the use of the con- 1489-1501. assessment of risk at multiple scales. Human and
Grift, R., 2001. How fish benefit from floodplain Ecological Risk Assessment 8, 127-146.
cept to cases in which the collection of data is affordable, although it should Kooistra, L., Leuven, R., Nienhuis, P.H.,
restoration along the lower river Rhine. PhD-thesis
be noted that for instance in The Netherlands information on contamination Wageningen University. ISBN 90-5808-488-4. Wehrens, R., Buydens, L. M. C. 2001. A proce-
dure for incorporating spatial variability in ecologi-
levels is legally needed by the owner transfer of land. Due to the intense char-

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 cal risk assessment of Dutch River floodplains. Envi-
ronmental Management 28, 359-373.
Lovvorn, J.R., Gillingham, M.P., 1996. A spatial
Cost-benefit analysis in
energetics model of cadmium accumulation by div-
ing ducks. Archives of Environmental Contamina-
tion and Toxicology 30, 241-251.
interactive planning
Ma, W.C., van Kleunen, A., Immerzeel, J., de
Maagd, P.G.J., 1998. Bioaccumulation of poly- processes
cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by earthworms: As-
sessment of equilibrium partitioning theory in in
situ studies and water experiments. Environmental Mireille Woud, Stijn Reinhard and Aris Gaaff
Toxicology and Chemistry 17, 1730-1737
Middelkoop H. 2000. Heavy-metal pollution of the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI)
Rhine and Meuse floodplains in the Netherlands.
The Hague, The Netherlands
Netherlands J. Geosci. 79, 411-427
Morrison, ML., B. Marcot, G. Mannan. R. W. [email protected]
1992. Wildlife habitat relationships: concepts and
applications. University of Wisconsin Press, Madi-
son, Wisconsin, USA
Nahmani. J., Lavelle. P., 2002. Effects of heavy
metal pollution on soil macrofauna in a grassland
of northern France. European Journal of Soil Biolo-
gy 38, 297-300.
Powell, B., Steidl, R.J., 2002. Habitat selection by
riparian songbirds breeding in Southern Arizona.
Journal of Wildlife Management 66, 1096-1103.
RIVM 2002. Natuurverkenning 2, 2000-2030. Kluw- Introduction: the whys and wherefores of this article
er, Alphen aan de Rijn.
Tress, B., Tress, G., Van der Valk, A., Fry, G.(eds.),
2003. Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary land- A plea for an integrated approach
scape studies: potentials and limitations. Delta se-
ries 2, Wageningen. ISBN 9080763713.
Pressure on space is increasing incessantly. Especially in areas such as
Vandecasteele, B., De Vos, B., Tack, F.M.G., metropolitan deltas, which are both physically vulnerable and attractive for
2003. Temporal-spatial trends in heavy metal con-
tents in sediment-derived soils along the See development, the demand for space exceeds supply. The need for multiple use
Scheldt river (Belgium). Environmental Pollution of space is therefore growing. This requires interactive planning.
122, 7-18.
Vijver, M.G., Vink, J.P.M., Miermans, C.J.H., van Much has been written about how to hold landscape dialogues with
Gestel, C.A.M., 2003. Oral sealing using glue: a stakeholders in the region concerned. However, mostly the costs and bene-
new method to distinguish between intestinal and
dermal uptake of metals in earthworms. Soil Biolo- fits of the development plans to society are only computed in the final stage
gy and Biochemistry 35, 125-132.
of the planning process. The Agricultural Economic Research Institute (LEI) ar-
gues in this article for integration of a cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) in inter-
active (regional) planning processes. The emphasis is on areas where multi-
ple use of space is seen as a prerequisite for development of the region.

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 LEI vision and experiences Background
According to LEI, SCBA should be an essential part of the planning
process. Firstly, it avoids time and money being spent on elaborating a plan, The growing demand for space
which is not beneficial to society. Secondly, it helps to prevent unwarranted Let us illustrate the growing demand for space in view of the situation in
enthusiasm for inauspicious plans among participants in the landscape dia- the Netherlands. In a sense the Netherlands form a single metropolitan delta.
logues. This will frustrate public support for the rest of the process and for It is also one of the most densely populated countries in the world. We illus-
similar processes in future. LEI already has some experience in integrating trate the phenomenon of the growing demand for space with some Dutch
SCBA in regional-planning processes. Moreover, the institute increasingly ap- data (CBS, 2003). The first half of the 20th century was characterised by a
plies interactive methods in its research. These now are the ingredients in rapid population growth. In 1900 the country counted about five million in-
the processes we propose in this article; combining SCBA and interactive habitants. Only 50 years later this number was doubled. In the year 2003
planning. more than 16 million people live on the 34,000 square kilometres land of the
Netherlands; this means some 480 per square kilometre, far more than the
Structure of the article 150 of a hundred years ago (CBS, 2000). This increase becomes even more
This article consists of four parts. The first part discusses the growing de- impressive if one realises that the land area itself has grown by 6 % since
mand for space, the concept of multiple use of space and changes in plan- 1900, due to land reclamation. If this had not been the case nowadays there
ning approaches. The second part focuses on the theory and practice of in- would have lived over 500 people per square km. Furthermore, the expecta-
teractive planning and brings to notice the knowledge and experience of LEI tion is that the population will number 17 million in 2030.
in this field. The third part considers the whys and wherefores of methods to
assess the feasibility of plans. Available instruments and models are dis- Multiple use of space as a solution
cussed in terms of their usefulness to regional development. Next, we report All these people want to live, work and recreate. At the same time, peo-
on the first steps of applying SCBA in regional planning processes. This is ple demand more space for themselves (a big home with a garden) than in
based on the experiences of LEI in two regional projects. These case studies the past. Moreover, it is not only the growing quantitative demand for space
illustrate the proposed integration between interactive planning and SCBA. that needs attention. More and more, the qualitative aspects of space be-
The fourth en last part of our plea introduces the ‘ideal’ type of integration. come important. For example, people attach a growing value to a living en-
Recommendations are put forward on how best to apply this integrated ap- vironment that is diverse and ecologically sustainable. This changing demand
proach. The article ends with concluding remarks and reflections on further is closely connected to the increased prosperity in the past decades, which
research. has also led to more time for leisure activities. In this light there is also a grow-
ing demand for space for outdoor and nature-related activities, which af-
fects the value of the functions of space and therewith land-use patterns.

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 It is clear that due to this growing and increasingly diverse demand for plication of projects where multiple use of space is under discussion, become
space, the allocation of space becomes more complex. Multiple use of space overt on a regional scale. This was in 1998 one of the conclusions of the first
is therefore a concept that must be taken seriously in regional planning part of the research programme of Wageningen University and Research Cen-
processes. Policymakers embrace this concept also, because multiple use in- tre (WUR) called ‘New concepts for integral use of space’. Another conclusion
creases spatial quality (Van Vliet, 2000). An important aspect of multiple use was that case studies are a necessary and fertile instrument to get a better
of space is the number of dimensions that is studied. The traditional approach control of the problems of integral use of space. Case studies are necessary
is two-dimensional: projected onto the base area. In our approach, the com- because every situation is unique. A general instrument for integral or (in oth-
bination of functions is the issue. This approach is not new, of course, but be- er words) multiple use of space is therefore out of the question. Interaction
came popular again in recent decades. Nowadays, multiple use of space not between actors, physical situation and various developments demand specif-
only concerns the combination of functions. It is seen as a collective term with ically regional solutions. However, to arrive at specific solutions, most of the
the aim to achieve spatial quality. Habiforum (the Dutch knowledge net- time the same instruments and methods can be used.
work for multiple use of space) employs the following dimensions of multi- The conclusions described above match with the recommendations of the
ple use of space (Van Vliet, 2000): a) an intensified use of space, for exam- Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), which recently gave
ple clustering of facilities; b) combination of functions; c) utilising the third the initial impetus for spatial planning to be better linked with social dy-
dimension (for example building underground); d) dimension of time (the namics, for example the growing demand for space (WRR 1998). In their re-
fourth dimension): functions change on the basis of day and night, day of the port, attention is focused on strengthening integral planning and the form-
week and by seasons. ing of social coalitions on a regional scale.

Interactive instead of a hierarchical planning

The concept of multiple use of space requires a more interactive and re- Interactive planning
gional type of planning than traditional spatial planning with its strongly top-
down approach. This doesn’t imply, however, that the process needs no lead- More freedom for the decentralised government
ing actor. One actor (preferably at regional level) should be responsible for Earlier we mentioned the need for a more interactive and regional type of
the process. This role has to be accepted by the other actors, who focus on the planning in case of multiple use of space. A top-down planning method,
content of the planning process. After all, which form of multiple use of space which dominated spatial planning in the Netherlands especially in the
is most suitable depends on the characteristics of the functions that are com- decades after World War II, is no longer satisfactory. The advice of the Dutch
bined, the specific regional situation and the demands and desires of local ac- Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR, 1998) about ‘strengthening
tors (stakeholders and shareholders). integral planning and the forming of social coalitions on a regional scale’ is
In the case of multiple use of space, more people and organisations are included as an assumption in the most recent Dutch Note of Spatial Planning
involved in the process. Furthermore, the difficulties in the planning and ap- (VROM, 2001). The advice is expressed as follows: ‘The decentralised govern-

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 ment will get more freedom to give shape to their own spatial development Finally Leeuwis sees an interactive process as a negotiating process. His
policy’ (VROM, 2001, p. 260). method is useful in conflict situations. He distinguishes seven tasks. First
In the next section we answer the question from which methods we could there are the selection of the participants, the investigation of the problems
learn to achieve a more interactive and regional type of planning. There- in relation to the context and the investigation of the relations. The aim of the
after, lessons are presented from pilot studies in which such planning is ap- second task is to come to an agreement about the organisation of the
plied and in which multiple use of space is developed. process. After that, participants must analyse the conflict situation together
in task three. Task four is called ‘joint-fact-finding’: actions are formulated.
Theory about interactive planning Task five is to steer towards an agreement. This is followed by communication
In the literature, several methods and models are described that can be between the representatives and their constituencies. The seventh and last
used in organising an (interactive planning) process. In the following we fo- task consists of monitoring the agreements that are made about implemen-
cus on three methods that are helpful for the development of a planning tation.
process. These are the Soft Systems Methodology, the Knowledge Creating It is, of course, also possible to combine methods. For example, the in-
Process and the approach of the interactive process as a negotiating process. sights of Leeuwis about how to deal with a conflict in a process and the per-
The Soft Systems Methodology from Checkland consists of six phases. It ceptions of Nonaka & Takeuchi about the role of knowledge can be integrat-
uses the experience of a particular situation as problematic as its point of ed in the theory of Checkland. For instance, one can apply the fifth task of
departure (Checkland, 1989). The actors must define this problem in detail Leeuwis (‘steer towards an agreement’) in the sixth and last phase of Check-
(phase 2). When this is clear, in the third phase one can design several mod- land (‘taking action to improve the situation’).
els, which represent a desired image. In the fourth phase, the models are com- The theories described above are used in the development of techniques
pared and possibly adapted to the real situation. The formulation of desired in processes where multiple use of space is called for. The next two sections
states of affairs is the aim of the fifth phase. In the last phase one must take focus on this development.
action to improve the situation. The concept of ‘multiple use of space’ in interactive planning processes
Nonaka and Takeuchi see the conversion of knowledge as driving force of The experiences described here and in the next section, concern pilots of
the ‘Knowledge Creating Process’ (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). The first phase regional planning processes in which multiple use of space was an impor-
in their method is called ‘socialisation’ and consists of sharing experiences. In tant issue. This is a logical restriction because the concept of multiple use of
the second phase (‘externalisation’), the tacit knowledge from the first phase space makes special requirements of a planning process. This was made clear
must turn to explicit knowledge by means of pictures or metaphors. After in the pilot project ‘Multiple use of space in the south-western part of the
that, the explicit knowledge from the different sources is joined (system Netherlands’, which is part of the afore mentioned research programme of
knowledge). In the fourth and last phase, the ‘new’ knowledge is made fa- WUR called ‘New concepts for integral use of space’ (Projectteam Zee en
miliar: the explicit knowledge becomes tacit knowledge. Now the cycle can Land, 2001).
start again with the ‘new’ tacit knowledge as input in the socialisation phase.

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 It may not come as a surprise that projects where multiple use of space is ology (Checkland) and Leeuwis’ method can also be recognised.
an issue, are complex. In the pilot project therefore, three crucial aspects of a The planning methods in the project were worked out on the basis of four
successful application of the concept of multiple use of space are mentioned case studies. These case studies linked to realistic policy options of different
(Projectteam Zee en Land, 2001). In the first place, ‘knowledge innovation’ is forms of multiple use of space. Five steps can be distinguished: 1) Fact find-
very important. Because of the integrated approach and the multiplicity of ing by the project team. This step also included the defining of the problems
actors involved, a good organisation of the various types of knowledge is encountered in the region; 2) A first workshop with participants from the rel-
crucial. In the second place, public support and participation are essential. To evant provinces, municipalities, regional Directorates of the Ministry of Trans-
arrive at successful and widely accepted plans, the integration of knowledge port, Public Works and Water Management, NGO’s (for instance, Southern
with the participation of regional actors, is necessary. The third crucial aspect Agriculture and Horticulture Organisation, Environment Federation Zeeland)
is a modular approach in combination with evaluation. In case of complicat- and national experts. The aim was to formulate desired states of affairs (this
ed spatial topics, working with one comprehensive solution is not realistic. It bears comparison to the theory of Checkland for example); 3) Elaboration of
is better to work with modules. the desired states of affairs by the project-team. In this phase attention was
These aspects can be applied in the process through so-called Communi- also paid to planning the rest of the process; 4) A second workshop: the im-
ties of Practice (CoP). Habiforum defines a CoP as an organisational and work plementation phase with similar participants as in the first workshop. How
form and most of all as a learning environment of interested actors. The aim feasible are the projects? For every case a final project was made. A final proj-
is to arrive at innovative concepts of multiple use of space. The lessons that ect is for example (an intention for) an agreement to establish a ‘real’ CoP
were learned from pilot project ‘Multiple use of space in the south-western (this bears comparison to the theory of Leeuwis for example); 5) The follow-
part of the Netherlands’, described above are applied in a pilot project called up of the project, the transfer to the regional shareholders and stakeholders.
‘Sea and Land in Multiple use’. The next section pays attention to this pilot. In this phase it is discussed how the various projects could be put into action
Experiences with the application of the concept of multiple use of space in the region.
The pilot project ‘Sea and Land in Multiple use’ was carried out by the As was mentioned earlier, the intention of the pilot project was to create
Dutch Department of Public Works, the National Planning Service, Alterra a feasible basis for a regional CoP. During the project this is translated into a
and LEI. In 2001, several workshops were held to examine the opportunities renewed and more aggressive approach for the development of a National
of multiple use of space in the process of improving the spatial quality of the Landscape in the south-western region that is announced in the most recent
south-western region of the Netherlands. The intention was to create a feasi- Dutch Report on Spatial Planning Policy (VROM, 2001). In the workshops
ble basis for a regional CoP in which the desired projects could be stimulat- (high tech) computer models were used to facilitate the interactive planning
ed and refined. In the pilot project the perceptions of Nonaka about the im- process. We had to conclude that the participants did not use these new tech-
portance of knowledge creation were used: during the process, a process niques effectively. They seemed to be scared to add their information direct-
manager, and also a knowledge manager played an important role in the co- ly to the planning aided models. A facilitator had to do the actual input. An-
ordination of the planning process. Elements from the Soft Systems Method- other result was that the participants’ output of the workshop did not have

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 the right format to be used in land use models that estimate future land use. fects in monetary units, whereas the other two do not. Other appraisal meth-
The input requirements of this software did not match with the ‘language’ of ods are also frequently used. Most of them focus just on certain aspects. For
the participants. example in the Netherlands an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a
requirement for projects that affect the environment. In the EIA the pro-
posed project has to be compared to the alternative that least affects the en-
Research on the feasibility of plans vironment.
Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) is a general method to approach problems
Insight in consequences of spatial decisions of choice. The aim of MCA is to investigate a number of alternative choices in
Space can be used in many ways. We distinguish production space on the light of multiple criteria and conflicting objectives. A ranking of the al-
behalf of economic development, living space and the strategic stock of na- ternatives can be made on the basis of their suitability. MCA starts from dif-
ture and landscape (Reinhard et al., 2003). These three elements are related ferent, explicit criteria of judgment. It is also possible to give one criterion
to each other. Development in one element (for example industrial produc- more importance than another. There are three different approaches in MCA:
tion) has inevitable consequences for the other elements (for example land- cardinal methods (use of quantitative criteria scores), qualitative methods
scape). In policymaking the various forms of spatial utilization must be con- (use of qualitative scores) and mixed data methods (use of quantitative and
sidered carefully. Therefore, it is necessary to gain insight into social and qualitative scores). The basis of these methods is the same. The following
other consequences of certain decisions. In other words: the costs and bene- steps can be distinguished: 1) determine the set of alternatives; 2) formulate
fits of the decisions must be clarified ex ante, through a process known as ap- the criteria on which the alternatives are judged; 3) determine the scores of
praisal. The following section discusses several methods and models to sup- the alternatives on the criteria (these are called the criteria scores); 4) stan-
port this process. Next, the experience of LEI in applying social cost-benefit dardize the criteria scores (value between zero and one); 5) determine the im-
analysis in regional planning processes is described. This will take place by portance of the criteria (assign weights); 6) link the criteria scores to the
means of two case studies. The methods and experiences presented are the weights; 7) from a large amount of scores, formulate an overall mark. As
beginning of a first attempt at integration between interactive planning and with all models, MCA has some disadvantages: there is as risk that certain as-
cost-benefit analysis. This attempt is described in the last section of this third pects are expressed by multiple criteria, while other aspects are not speci-
part of the article. Which combination of methods seems the best? In the next fied, thus introducing hidden weights. Moreover, the importance of the crite-
and last part of this plea the exercise will be further developed. ria can vary from one person to another and it can change in time.
Social cost-benefit analysis is based on welfare economics (in contrast to
Appraisal theory MCA). It estimates the project’s contribution to welfare. In any SCBA, several
This section briefly describes three methods of integral appraisal. We pay stages must be considered. The social benefits of a project consist of the ex-
attention to the method of multi-criteria analysis, social cost-benefit analysis tra benefits the project yields with regard to the original situation. ’Benefit’
and finally, cost-effectiveness analysis. Social cost-benefit analysis values ef- is a concept from economic theory and can be described as ‘that which indi-

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 viduals experience during the use of goods and services and what they try to provided by recreation facilities, landscape and nature are not traded in a
maximize’ (Eijgenraam et al., 2000). The essential steps are: defining the proj- market: they are external effects and therefore the valuation of these land
ect, identifying impacts which are economically relevant, quantifying physi- uses is more complicated. In case of multiple use of space the costs can be
cal impacts, calculating a monetary valuation, discounting, weighting and computed easily but the benefits is mostly not a simple summation of the
sensitivity analysis. Focusing on society as a whole makes is possible to se- benefits of the underlying functions. In the SCBA these problems have to be
lect a project on the basis of his contribution to social goals. A second differ- solved. In the case of nature development, for example, it deals with an in-
ence with MCA is that it is expressed in terms of money. This enables weigh- crease of enjoyment in living and recreation and income from the timber sale.
ing of the different effects. These two points are the most important argu- Some goods can be traded in the market, and can therefore easily be assigned
ments for choosing to integrate SCBA (and not another integral method like a price. However, if this is not the case (like nature and clean air), the bene-
MCA) in planning processes on a regional scale. MCA has the advantage that fits must be estimated by means of valuation methods. Often external effects
policy makers can more easily understand it, because this method can be ex- are treated as p.m. (pro memory) in the costs benefit balance.
plained quickly. A SCBA is more expensive than a MCA. The distribution of
the costs and benefits over the population is not incorporated in a SCBA, A first attempt at integration
while income distribution might be a policy objective. For a comparison of Apart from the concept of multiple use of space in planning processes
MCA and SCBA the reader is referred to Reinhard et al. (2003). For infra- (which was described in the second part of the article), LEI also has experi-
structure projects the so-called OEEI (Research on the Economic Effects of ence with processes where SCBA is integrated in the planning process in one
Infrastructure Projects) guidelines have been developed. Since April 2000 the way or another. We focus on two case studies to illustrate possible ways of
Netherlands government declared these guidelines compulsory for projects applying SCBA in interactive planning processes. In the first case study, we fo-
with a spatial dimension of national importance. cus on the definition of desired images in Checkland’s sense. This was neces-
In cost effectiveness analysis (CEA) different projects (measures) are com- sary because the development situation was blocked and a final common
pared that generate the same outcome. Because the result of the projects view was far from being reached. In the second case study, there was a com-
that are being compared is identical the project with least costs for society is pletely different situation. A large number (10) development scenarios were
preferred. These social costs are computed according the social cost benefit given, but the difference between them in terms of social welfare was un-
analysis. The main difference with SCBA is the fact that benefits are not ex- known.
pressed in monetary values. The case of reopening the Apeldoorn Canal illustrates the interactive use
In the first part of the article we mentioned the growing demand for na- of SCBA in designing alternative development models. The Apeldoorn Canal
ture and recreation facilities as a result of increased prosperity. In combina- is an early 19th century waterway in the centre of the Netherlands that once
tion with the circumstances of multiple use of space, this requires certain con- opened up the eastern rim of the Veluwe region for economic development.
ditions of SCBA. The benefits of land uses as recreation and nature for ex- Due to several reasons, the connection fell into disuse and finally in 1972 the
ample, must be incorporated in the social cost-benefit analysis. The services canal was closed completely for navigation. In recent years however, local au-

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 thorities, leisure investors, nature conservators, water companies and protec- the output of the second SCBA was used as input. The result of the session was
tors of industrial heritage became aware of the high potential value of the that a surprisingly large common basis of both extreme models could be defined.
Apeldoorn Canal, albeit from different perspectives. Many studies, surveys, Following the workshop, we again performed an SCBA starting from the
models and development plans were published. The central issue was re- once again reformulated models. Although this was intended to be the fifth
opening the canal for navigation, in particular for recreation vessels. It was and last step of the project, the interactive process did not stop. Even the
evident that interests diverged and a simple solution was not easy to be draft report of the study containing the results of this SCBA stimulated the
found. Only a balanced combination of functions attributed to the canal parties involved to reconsider the functions and in particular the volume of
and its immediate surroundings could possibly lead to a sustainable solu- some of the elements. One lesson from this study is the need for frequent
tion with increased social welfare. In this case SCBA was applied in an inter- feedback between researchers, clients and other participants. Another con-
active process to facilitate the discussion about an optimal mix of functions. clusion is, that the position of SCBA as a facilitator of the process must be
The process consisted of seven steps. In the first step the researchers de- clear beforehand to all parties involved. None of the regional authorities
fined two preliminary alternative models, based on elements mentioned in was the direct commissioner for the project, which was presented and car-
the available studies of the Apeldoorn canal. In the second step, the most ried out as a methodological (but not theoretical!) study. This fact greatly
dominant effects of both models were identified and those effects that could enhanced the involvement of the participants in the workshop.
be assessed in monetary terms were calculated. In other words: in this stage The case of the inundation of the Horstermeer Polder is an illustration of
a first and quick SCBA based on rough data was done. These results were giv- the use of SCBA identifying an optimal development model and facilitating
en feedback to the advisory group of the study. The discussions in the advi- the process of finding new alternatives of spatial design. The Horstermeer is
sory group then gave rise to amendments on both models. In the third step, a polder in the vicinity of Amsterdam. Due to its low position in comparison
we reformulated the two models by changing the amount of several elements to the neighbouring hills, groundwater flows into the polder. This water has
or by adding or deleting certain elements completely. With this input, we re- to be pumped away permanently in order to have the place habitable and to
calculated the effects in order to have a more realistic SCBA than in the sec- make it possible to practise agricultural activity. Almost 50 % of the area is
ond step. The fourth step of the interactive process consisted of a creative ses- used for keeping dairy cattle.
sion in the form of a workshop with a group of about 20 specialists in the The regional authority, the Province of North-Holland, wishes to enlarge
functions concerned, like recreation businessmen, forest managers, water- the nature area in its territory. This could be done by inundating about 40 %
board managers, consultants for tourism, Chamber of Commerce, etc. The of the Horstermeer polder and converting it into wetlands, at the same time
participants were invited as private persons, not as representatives of an or- relieving the water problem. Inundation of such a large area was considered
ganisation. The objective of this workshop was to see if new elements could a major intervention in the natural environment, for which an environmental
be added to increase the social cost-benefit balance of the respective models. impact assessment (EIA) had to be performed. The scope of EIA is primarily
Besides, we expected to find out whether elements from both models could environmental and not aimed at optimising the social cost-benefit balance.
be combined in order to construct a new, third model. Among other things, It was therefore decided that in addition to the EIA, an SCBA would be per-

226 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 227

 formed. Originally, the various alternatives distinguished in the EIA were key indicators. With respect to this latter fact, both parties are aware of the
taken as input for the SCBA. Seven alternatives were taken into account, concept of multiple land use, but adequate data are scarce. For example, in
along with the so-called autonomous development scenario. For each alter- the Apeldoorn Canal case the aspect of combining drinking water and navi-
native, an SCBA was carried out. The results of this process were reported to gable water are examples of the second and fourth dimension of multiple
the client of the study. Until this moment, there was no interactive process. land use as distinguished by Habiforum (Van Vliet, 2000). In the case study
But since the project has not finished yet, this may yet come about. One main very different data sources had to be combined and a balancing could only
conclusion so far is, that SCBA itself is a useful method to find the optimal be made indirectly.
model, but the differences between the models are too small for SCBA to In general, this poses the problem of reliable data for combinations of
have an added value as compared to simple financial cost-benefit analysis. functions, be it in space, time or otherwise. Almost all monitoring systems are
At the same time, however, the inhabitants of the Horstermeer realised, still concerned with unique, non-interacting functions, e.g. added value for
that partial inundation of their polder might be a sub-optimal solution. Sup- agricultural activities or even valuation of nature areas. The fact, that one
ported by the government-sponsored Habiforum Knowledge Network for Mul- plus one might be larger than two yet cannot be derived from basic data.
tiple land use, the inhabitants of Horstermeer developed two far-reaching
models. In these models, known as the “mirror project”, the polder was com-
pletely redesigned. In sessions with the inhabitants and the client for the Towards an ideal type of integration
EIA study, the researchers identified the essential elements of these models,
both in quality and quantity. Local representatives could provide some key in- Soft System Methodology as leitmotiv
dicators. With this input, an SCBA for the mirror project models was per- For the ideal integration of interactive planning and SCBA the stages of
formed, in which a clear contrast between the models appeared. both processes must be intertwined. Interactive planning focuses on the par-
The lesson learned from this application of SCBA is that the discussion be- ticipants, their problems and communication. These elements do not exist in
tween researchers, clients and other participants should focus on two or three SCBA; because it computes welfare for society as a whole (all stakeholders),
clearly distinctive models. Too much detail should be avoided. On the other it assumes that the problem is identified (and shared) and that the project
hand, key indicators used in calculating effects have to be available and well with the largest contribution to welfare is preferred. Public support and dis-
documented. tribution of the benefits over the community are not part of SCBA, but are
From both cases, it becomes clear, that information about the social ef- prerequisites for an interactive planning process.
fects of spatial development plans should come from two sources. On the one Now what method of interactive planning seems best for the integration
hand, the regional stakeholders, who have their visions and opinions about with SCBA? In the first part of our plea, we described the theories of Check-
the development as a whole as well as detailed information about one or two land, Nonaka and Takeuchi and Leeuwis. In our opinion, the theory of Check-
specific functions. On the other hand, there are the researchers who must land is the most suitable basis for integration with SCBA. This is because we
have at their disposal methods to manage the process and general data and embrace the idea that actors discuss the desired states of affairs among

228 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 229

 problem definition

themselves in several stages of the planning process. This approach is also joint fact finding

successfully applied in the pilot project ‘Sea and Land in Multiple use’ which defining default situation
was quoted earlier in this article. The Soft System Methodology is therefore designing the models
used as leitmotiv for the ‘ideal model’ of interactive (regional) planning
model a model b model c etc.
processes, which is presented below (see also figure 1). As mentioned before,
Leeuwis’ insights about how to deal with conflict in a process and the Nonaka & add social costs & benefits add social costs & benefits add social costs & benefits
first SCBA (quick and dirty) first SCBA (quick and dirty) first SCBA (quick and dirty)
Takeuchi perceptions about the role of knowledge are also useful in this respect.
discussion with stakeholders
about potential tradeoffs
From problem definition to a first project balance identification of effects
The problem definition is the crucial first step that in the process; it must
new model a new model b new model c etc.
be defined by the regional actors (phase 2 in the Soft Systems Methodology).
If the stakeholders and shareholders are not familiar with the current situa- second SCBA second SCBA second SCBA

tion, joint fact finding is necessary to create a shared starting point for the
discussion with stakeholders
planning process. These joined facts can be used to define the default situa- finetuning new models
interactive SCBA through flexible methods
tion, to compare the effects of projects. Thereafter several models are de- interactive steps
intermediate results
signed which represent a desired image. But one important aspect of the de- deskresearch activities
sired situation is, of course, the benefits gained by the transition to this new
Figure 1: A planning process with the integrated approach
situation. However, these benefits are not clear from the beginning. The costs
and benefits tied to a certain land use (for instance arable land) can be
added to the designed plans. If the planning process is aided by a Sketch
GIS application (Van Deursen) the costs and benefits of every form of land
use can be easily attached to the desired situation as drawn in the plan. The Using SCBA results in the discussion
goal is to start a discussion with the stakeholders about the direction in which The results of this first project balance can already lead to changes in
to look for a solution of the problems encountered in the region. The sum- the desired situation. This first cost-benefit analysis is a ‘quick-and-dirty’
mation of these costs and benefits provides a first impression of the finan- method because interaction between the different land uses is not taken into
cial and social feasibility of the plan. This information on the costs and ben- account. Thus the exact location of a specific land use does not matter for the
efits of a project is important if the budget for solving the problem is limited project balance. The results can be used to start a discussion among the var-
or when the project with the surplus benefits is selected. To calculate this first ious actors about the potential tradeoffs in the plan - for instance, building
project balance a database of average costs and benefits of all relevant land houses versus creating nature reserves. The role of this first cost-benefit analy-
uses must be available, for instance based on previous studies. sis in the planning process is to create consensus about the direction of the

230 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 231

 plan. Therefore it is essential to identify the effects of the plan in a group advise changing the plan slightly to improve the project balance while still
session. Although a long list of potential welfare effects exists in literature, it following the argumentation of the actors.
is necessary to analyse with the group of stakeholders and shareholders what
effects are important in their context. This identification of relevant effects Advantages and circumstances of the approach
(relevant to the goals of the actors) is essential because it makes the impact One of the advantages of this approach is that the actors get acquainted
of the plan clear to all and it facilitates the group process. The different with the simple version of the cost-benefit method. This improves the sup-
goals of the actors are related to the impact of the plan, new coalitions may port for SCBA of the final project. This approach also provides information for
emerge. This session based on the first SCBA results also improves the ac- discussing the essence of the plan in the first phase before the plans are elab-
ceptability of the final SCBA. orated in detail. It also provides the stakeholders and shareholders with in-
formation about the feasibility of the plan at an early stage. Another advan-
Refining the plan tage is that SCBA focuses on the benefits to society as a whole and not to
In the next phase the plan is being refined. The land uses are located specific groups. The distribution of costs and benefits could also be provided
more exactly on the map. Again the costs and benefits are computed but now in addition to the standard SCBA to improve the acceptability of the ap-
the relation between land uses is taken into account. For instance a recre- proach and results for specific groups.
ational facility adjacent to a city generates more benefits than one located at
a larger distance from that city. Houses located on a lakeshore are more
valuable than houses without any water in the vicinity. At this stage also mul- Concluding remarks
tiple land use is defined as a solution to fulfil as many demands as possible
in the plan. The benefits of multiple land use are quite difficult to determine. Combining SCBA and Soft System Methodology
Due to the interaction between multiple land uses at the same location, ag- We note the growing demand for space and need for more spatial quali-
gregate benefits are not simply the sum of the separate benefits. Often in- ty. In areas where the demand for space exceeds supply (for instance in met-
formation about the magnitude of this interaction is not available. To min- ropolitan delta areas), multiple use of space is seen as a solution for poten-
imise this negative interaction actors can make arrangements based on the tial problems. We state that the concept of multiple use of space requires an
local situation. An interactive process of planning the locations and comput- interactive and more regional type of planning. The theories of Checkland,
ing the project balances will generate a plan with a higher project balance. Nonaka & Takeuchi and Leeuwis can be used as input for interactive planning
In this phase two or more alternatives are defined. It is important that the processes. If multiple use of space is at stake in these processes, three aspects
argumentation of these plans is described well. must not be forgotten: knowledge innovation, a modular approach and pub-
The exact project balance of these alternatives will be computed after- lic support. To create this support and to avoid time and money being spent
wards, based on more exact information on the region. If the exact balance on elaborating plans that are not beneficial to society, it is important that the
differs significantly from the results of the second phase the researcher can costs and benefits of plans are clear early in the planning process. We postu-

232 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 233

 late that social cost-benefit analysis is the most suitable method to achieve this. combining appraisal and interactive policymaking. An accepted set of indi-
We present an ‘ideal’ method for interactive regional planning processes cators for the costs and benefits of various land uses is necessary. Combin-
(figure 1). This method is based on a combination of theories (Soft System ing GIS facilities and SCBA models and a module to divide costs and bene-
Methodology) and experiences of interactive planning processes with ap- fits over the relevant actor groups will be a valuable extension of the SCBA in-
praisal theory (social cost-benefit analysis). strument for interactive planning.

Points of special interest

The essence of our method is the fact that SCBA is performed at various
stages of the process, based on the input of interactive sessions. The prob-
lem must be clear and the actors have to support the planning process to
solve the shared problem. This approach allows improvement of the plans to-
wards the desired developments. Fine-tuning of the plans in a final stage
can also be based on an interactive session in which SCBA is calculated in-
stantaneously. This step requires a very flexible SCBA model, which is pre-
References
pared for the region. An important requirement is that all stakeholders and
shareholders have to participate from the beginning. A situation where some CBS, 2000. Bevolking der gemeenten van Nederland Nonaka, I., Takeuchi, H., 1995. The Knowledge
actors stand aside and only become active when their own interest is threat- op 1 januari 2000. Centraal Bureau voor de Sta- Creating Company. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
tistiek, Voorburg/Heerlen. Projectteam Zee en Land, 2001. Zee en Land
ened (the nimby effect) should be avoided. This also poses certain require- CBS, 2003. www.cbs.nl (Statline). meervoudig benut, startdocument. Alterra, Wa-
ments for the interactive process; it should be quite simple to allow all actors Checkland, P.B., 1989. Soft Systems Methodology. geningen.
Human Systems Management 8, 273-289. Reinhard, S., Vreke, J., Wijnen, W., Gaaff, A.,
to understand and to participate actively. A first quick-and-dirty SCBA shows Deursen, W. van, undated. De ontwikkeling van Hoogstra, M., 2003. Integrale afweging van
the playing field, but for the remainder of the process a pre-arranged solution ‘ontwerpGIS’, een prototype applicatie voor gebruik ruimtegebruik. Ontwikkeling van een instrumentari-
in participatieve planvorming. www.carthago.nl um voor het beoordelen van veranderingen in aan-
is not allowed. Although most aspects and stages of our method have been (publicaties). wending van ruimte. LEI, Den Haag.
tested, new experiences might demand adjustments to our method. Eijgenraam, C.J.J., Koopmans, C.C., Tang, P.J.G. Vliet, M.E. van, 2000. Dubbel Zinning. Onderzoek
Tang, Verster, A.C.P., 2000. Evaluatie van infra- naar de bijdrage van meervoudig ruimtegebruik
structuurprojecten: leidraad voor kosten-baten- aan ruimtelijke kwaliteit. www.habiforum.nl.
analyse. Centraal Planbureau en Nederlands VROM, 2001. Ruimte maken, Ruimte delen, Vijfde
Reflections on the future Economisch Instituut, Den Haag. Nota over de Ruimtelijke Ordening 2000/2020.
An import issue for future research is how to get output of interactive Gaaff, A., Strookman, M., Reinhard, S., 2003. Ministerie van VROM, Den Haag.
Kosten en baten van alternatieve inrichtingen van WRR, 1998. Ruimtelijke ontwikkelingspolitiek. SDU
sessions suitable for use in CBA models. Otherwise, it is also possible that de Horstermeerpolder. LEI, Den Haag. Uitgevers, Den Haag.
adaptations to the standard CBA method (or a combination with another Leeuwis, C., 2000. Reconceptualising Participation
for Sustainable Rural Development: Towards a Ne-
method like MCA) must be developed to reach the desired integration. Possi- gotiation Approach. Development and Change 31,
bly the concept of articulating goals into a ‘SMART’-schedule can facilitate 931-959.

234 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 235

 Hydropolitan: Why an interactive tool?
Planners need the help of experienced hydrologists to solve problems in
An interactive tool for metropolitan deltas. For an effective co-operation with hydrologists, planners
and other actors in the planning process need to have a basic understand-
hydrology management in ing of the hydrology, to search together for the best development plans and

metropolitan deltas the best solutions for a delta region. The interactive tool “Hydropolitan”, ex-
plains hydrological problems and possible solutions of a metropolitan delta,
using simple pictures instead of complicated formulas, with Rotterdam and
Janneke Roos-Klein Lankhorst, Jan van Bakel and Arend Ligtenberg its surrounding area in the western part of the Netherlands as a sample area.
Alterra Green World Research, Wageningen University and Research Centre The purpose of our tool is to offer an attractive means for non-hydrologists
Wageningen, The Netherlands to develop the required basic understanding of the hydrological problems
[email protected] and solutions of metropolitan deltas. No models have been used to create the
pictures: they are photomontages and drawings that are easy to grasp, based
on sketches made by an experienced hydrologist. The scale of the pictures is
indicative of the problems to be visualised, and is not necessarily accurate.
We hope that planners and other persons involved in the planning of
metropolitan deltas will benefit from our tool. But we also hope to gain more
Introduction insight in “hydropolitan” problems and solutions conceived in other countries
A common issue of metropolitan deltas is the location in an estuary. Such by encouraging participants to put comments in the comment boxes of the
a location has advantages: the soil is fertile, there is an abundance of fresh tool. The tool is a website, so people from all over the world will be able to vis-
water, and it is near the sea, which offers a good trading location – reasons it our tool and to add their comments through the Internet (http://cgi.girs.
why densely populated metropolitan deltas exist all over the world. An estu- wageningen-ur.nl/Hydropolitan/index.htm).
ary is a wet area, and in natural circumstances, the sea and rivers tend to
flood regularly. If urban areas are developed in such an area, hydrological Why this article?
problems are bound to occur that must be solved, otherwise people get wet In this article we would like to offer our readers an innovative way to dis-
feet and wet houses. Therefore it is very important that physical planners in- cuss scientific issues between scientists and non-scientists, in this case be-
volved in the development of delta regions understand the hydrological situ- tween hydrologists and non-hydrologists, and discuss the usefulness of such
ation with its physical limitations. They should also be aware of the (techni- a tool. At the same time we describe several problems and solutions given by
cal) possibilities to make river deltas a saver place for inhabitants. the tool, to explain with what problems a metropolitan delta like the Rotter-
dam area is confronted, and what kind of solutions are already applied or

236 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 237

 Figure 1: Location of Rotterdam in the delta of the
rivers Rhine, Maas and Waal, as shown in the are in discussion. This issue is becoming more urgent in view of the expected
Hydropolitan website. Source: Netherlands global rise in temperature, causing the sea level to rise with an increasing risk
Substratum as contained in the Vijfde Nota
Ruimtelijke Ordening (Fifth Policy Document on Town
of flooding as a consequence.
and Country Planning), 2001, Ministry for Housing,
Regional Development and the Environment
How does the tool work?
After accessing the Hydropolitan website, an introduction on the purpose
of the website is given as well as some instructions on how to operate the
tool. Also a map is shown indicating the location of the Rotterdam area with-
in the delta of the rivers Rhine, Maas (Meuse) and Waal (figure 1).
After clicking on the rectangle indicating the Rotterdam location, an
overview picture is shown of the area of Rotterdam. It is a digital photomon-
tage depicting a “condensed” visualisation of the area (figure 2).
This overview picture is the “home” page of the Hydropolitan website. By
clicking on one of the buttons the tool zooms in on that area and explains the
problem and its impact with animated pictures and a text box. Next, the vis-
itor is invited to look at the solutions to the problem at hand. The picture
gradually changes into a new situation that shows the new landscape when
Figure 2: The home page of Hydropolitan: the buttons enable one to zoom in on the proposed solution(s) is/are applied (e.g. the construction of a dam to
problems and solutions in different areas around the Rotterdam metropolis avoid inundation). By clicking on “home” the visitor returns to the overview
picture, where he/she can choose another problem to be visualised. The vis-
itor is also invited to read or add comments to this solution. First a text is
shown explaining the problems and solutions in more detail than in the pic-
tures. Next the visitor is asked whether he or she wants to add any comments
(figure 3). These comments are stored in documents that can be read by oth-
er visitors when looking at the relevant problem and solution.

Hydrological problems and solutions in the delta

metropolis of Rotterdam
This paragraph describes several clusters of problems, impacts and solu-
Figure 3: Possibility to add comments in Hydropolitan tions that are explained in the Hydropolitan tool, with some of the appropri-

238 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 239

 ate pictures. Note that the scale of the pictures is indicative of the problems,
and is not necessarily accurate.

Problems and solutions related to drinking water

As the metropolis of Rotterdam grew, so did the demand for drinking
Figure 4: Fall of water table due to extraction of drinking water in the dunes
water. Clean, fresh water was available in the dunes, so the city started to
extract water from the dunes. As a result, the water table in the dunes fell,
causing a decline of upward seepage in the inner dunes (figure 4) and a de-
cline in nature conservation value of the inner dunes, as was reported e.g. by
Bakker et al. (1981).
The first solution that was actually applied by the drinking water compa-
ny in the Rotterdam area, was to infiltrate river water in the dunes, to keep
the water table in the dunes from lowering rapidly. However, this caused the
Figure 5: Restoration of water table and upward seepage in inner dune belt
quality of the groundwater to decline, causing disturbance of the natural
after stopping drinking water extraction in the dunes
habitats in the inner dunes and the further decline of nature conservation
quality. The drinking water company finally decided to stop the extraction of
drinking water from the dunes, and use rain water (stored in reservoirs) and
river water for drinking water instead. As a result, the water table in the dunes
and upward seepage in the inner dunes has been restored (figure 5).
But now a new problem is arising for the use of river water as drinking wa-
ter. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001) states that the
average global temperature is expected to rise 2 to 4 degrees in the next
100 years. And according to Verbeek (2003) the temperature is rising in the
Netherlands even more rapidly than was expected because the prevailing
wind direction is shifting from west to south west, bringing warmer winds.
As a consequence, the sea water is expanding and the ice in the pole re-
gions is gradually melting, especially in the South Pole, causing the sea level
to rise. The rise in sea level is expected to be between 45 to 110 cm in the next
100 years, and this will cause further intrusion of salt water into the rivers, re-
Figure 6: Solutions to avoid salinization of drinking water due to rising sea level
sulting in a higher salt content in drinking water that is extracted from rivers.

240 | Delta series 4 2004 241

Delta series 4 2004 |
 We propose several solutions to this problem that can be combined (figure 6).
Firstly, air can be pumped through a perforated pipe on the river bed. This
will generate an upward water flow which will push the salt water back to-
wards the sea. This technique is actually in use near docking locks to prevent
the intrusion of salt water upstream, but is not yet implemented in the Rot-
terdam area.
Next, the intake points for water can be allocated further upstream, as Figure 7: Lowering of water table and pollution of surface water in the inner
has been done in the past. And lastly, drinking water reservoirs can be con- dunes, due to use of pesticides in bulb cultivation, causing deterioration of aquatic
and terrestrial ecosystems.
structed (as was actually done near Rotterdam, when drinking water was no
longer extracted from the dunes).

Problems and solutions related to pollution

and rising sea level
Besides the extraction of drinking water from the dunes, there is another
factor contributing to the decline of upward seepage in the inner dunes and
the related decline in nature conservation value. Bulb cultivation is a major
economic activity in the Netherlands. The sandy soil along the inner dunes is Figure 8: Oil pollution causing death of sea birds and marine organisms

very suitable for bulb cultivation, so many bulb fields are situated there. How-
ever, the drainage of the bulb fields causes fresh water from the dunes to seep
into the bulb fields, thus lowering the water table in the dunes and causing transport causing the death of sea birds and marine organisms (figure 8), can
a decline of the upward seepage in the inner dunes. Moreover, the pesticides then be avoided. On the Dutch coast, the tidal differences in sea level are
that are used in bulb cultivation pollute the surface water. Both problems not sufficient for tidal energy alone. Ina Klaasen (1981) reported that a
cause a deterioration of the aquatic ecosystems and a decline in quality of Dutch researcher (Lievense) suggested using additional energy from wind tur-
the terrestrial ecosystems in the inner dunes (figure 7). bines to fill lakes. By keeping the water level in a lake high, a buffer is creat-
Van Bakel et al. (1999) propose to re-allocate bulb cultivation to less vul- ed so that the water level can be lowered to create energy on demand (fig-
nerable sites. For the restoration of upward seepage in the inner dunes, one ure 9). The feasibility of tidal energy is currently under review. A drawback of
might consider the construction of a water basin along the coast. Such a wa- a tidal lake is de fact that it contains salt water, which will cause a further
ter basin could be a tidal lake, offering at the same time an alternative increase in salt content of the groundwater in the surrounding area. Fresh wa-
“green” energy source instead of oil. More pollution caused by oil spills in ter preservation will have to be sought elsewhere (e.g. by reservoir manage-
the sea due to accidents during oil extraction from under the sea bed or by oil ment upstream of the rivers, as is explained in the next section).

242 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 243

 Problems related to wetlands and river management
Natural deltas are characterised by wetlands with a rich nature. In the
Rotterdam area only a few fragments of wetlands remain. The nature con-
servation quality of these fragments declines gradually, due to downward
seepage caused by the drainage of (lower) neighbouring pastures. Most pas-
tures in the western part of the Netherlands are situated on peat soil, where
drainage causes soil subsidence and land level decline, mainly through min-
eralization of the soil. This process has been going on for a long time, and will
Figure 9: Construction of a tidal lake and wind turbines as green sources
of energy, to avoid oil pollution. Since present bulb cultivation will have not stop until firmer soil is reached underneath the peat layer. The subsidence
to make room for the tidal lake, lowering of the water table in the of the soil causes damage to the foundations of buildings in the area, and
dunes and pesticide pollution will also stop. The dam will decrease the
pumping costs for drainage are high. These costs are expected to increase
risk of flooding due to sea level rising.
even more due to the ongoing global climate change, which will result in a
rise of precipitation and higher peak levels of rivers, and thus the need for
Constructing a dam along the coast (figure 9) decreases the risk of flood- more pumping capacity (figure 10).
ing due to the rising sea level. Practically the whole western part of the In the past, the pumping capacity in the Dutch peat areas has frequent-
Netherlands lies below sea level (1 to 7 m). Therefore, the greatest danger of ly been increased, and might be considered again. However, the only really
the rise in sea level will be the erosion of the coastal zone, causing flooding sustainable solution will be to cease using peat soil for agriculture and in-
of one of the most densely populated areas in Europe. One might consider im- stead choose other forms of land use which allow seasonal variation in wa-
proving the sustainability of the dunes, but the safest solution is to construct ter level and salt content, e.g. wetlands. By expanding the wetland areas,
a retaining dam along the coast. By adding a road or train to the dam, trav- soil subsidence will cease and seepage from the existing fragments of wet-
elling times in the coastal area will decrease significantly. lands to lower pastures will stop, resulting in an increase of nature conserva-
Unfortunately, this dam and the proposed “coastal energy zone” will af- tion quality. To avoid damage to buildings it might be considered to modify
fect the scenic beauty and cause a decline of the nature conservation value building techniques on peat soil: e.g., place buildings on pillars or on floating
of the dunes, although mitigating measures might be applied (e.g. avoid vis- islands. This “living on water” will also make the implementation affordable
ibility of the dam by hiding it behind higher dunes). The wind turbines will (figure 11).
likely cause the death of many birds. That is one of the reasons why many One of the ways to create new wetlands is the expansion of river flood
environmentalists as well as politicians oppose against the construction of plains. Over the past centuries, many areas that were originally part of the
vast amounts of wind turbines, especially along the coast. The construction flood plains have been embanked, not only in the Netherlands, but also in
of a retaining dam along the coast is not yet considered as a serious option, neighbouring countries, causing high-peak river water levels after heavy pre-
but in the coming decades it will certainly be a subject for discussion. cipitation upstream. The ongoing climate change will result in an increase of

244 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 245

 precipitation (6 % to 12 % expected in the next 100 years), and higher ex-
tremes in precipitation (expected rise of 20 % to 40% in the next 100 years
according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). This
means we can expect higher risks of overflowing river banks and flooding of
the enclosed areas in the future.
Raising the river banks or dikes is one option, but a more sustainable so-
lution is restoring or creating new flood plains. If necessary, roads along the
rivers should be constructed on pillars to allow wider flood plains (figure 11).
Additionally, it should be considered to retain more water upstream by mod-
ifying the land use, e.g. extensive grazing, that allows regular high water ta-
bles and flooding in extreme circumstances. An additional option is the con-
Figure 10: Soil subsidence causing land level decline due to drainage of struction of reservoirs that can be filled during high-peak water levels of
pastures on peat soil, resulting in high pumping costs, the decline of wetland
rivers. This water can later be used in summer to increase the water discharge
quality and damage to buildings
of rivers, ensuring transport on water and sufficient availability of water for
agriculture during dry periods.
At the moment serious plans are being made to increase flood planes and
several plans are actually being implemented, as has been reported by the
“Commissie Noodoverloopgebieden” (2002). There are also plans for the con-
struction of water reservoirs and the allocation of areas that are allowed to
flood in extreme circumstances.

Discussion
This section discusses the usefulness of the Hydropolitan tool and pres-
ents ideas for future research.
Figure 11: Expansion of wetlands/flood plains as a sustainable solution
to stop further land subsidence and to avoid flooding of the rivers in
view of climatic changes Visualisation technique
When we presented the tool during the conference of the International
Association of Landscape Ecology (IALE) in Darwin (July 2003), the reactions
of potential visitors were positive. They liked the visualisation technique, us-

246 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 247

 ing simple pictures to explain complex problems and solutions. They thought
the tool to be unique and innovative, bridging the gap between science and
society.

Linkages between different solutions

One of the participants of the IALE conference, a hydrologist, missed a
clear insight into the interactions between the different solutions. He won-
dered what the influences would be of one particular solution on the other
problems and solutions. We admit that these inter-linkages are not obvious
while using the tool only briefly, as each problem and its solutions is viewed
separately. In the text that explains the problems in more detail (which can
be viewed through the “comment button”), the linkages between the differ-
ent problems and solutions is expressed by referring to other problems and
solutions. For example, in the text explaining the solution to the problem of
declining quality of wetlands due to seepage to drained neighbouring pas-
tures, it says: “The most sustainable solution is therefore to cease agriculture
and expand the wet nature areas… This solution might seem drastic, but in
the next problem you will see that many lower pasture areas in the western
part of the Netherlands are not very suitable for agriculture anyway, due to
soil conditions.”
How the different solutions fit together is also presented after clicking the
problem button in the middle of the city of Rotterdam. First the risk of inun-
dation of the city of Rotterdam is visualised (figure 12a). Then the picture
zooms out to illustrate the additional risk of oil pollution (figure 12b). After
clicking the solution button the image gradually changes into a (quite tech-
Figure 12: Presentation of the problem of increasing risk of inundation
nocratic) landscape of the future of the whole area, in which all the solu- (a), zoomed out to the whole area adding the problem of oil pollution
tions are incorporated (figure 12c). (b), and presentation of all solutions incorporated into one future
landscape (c)

Scientific validity of the tool

While creating the tool, we had some discussions with the hydrologist of

248 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 249

 our team on the accuracy of the pictures. He would have liked more detail in puts; these kinds of tools are offered on the Internet (e.g: the earlier men-
the pictures, staying more in line with the hydrological reality and the way tioned website on waterloohydrogoelogic software). The major challenge will
hydrologists usually visualise hydrological situations (e.g pictures generated be to make these pictures less technical, emphasising relevant issues and
by software offered by the hydrological internet site http://www.water- leaving out less relevant details.
loohydrogeologic.com/software/visual_modflow_pro/index.htm). However,
that meant that a lot of details needed to be added to the pictures that were Benefits of our tool
not directly relevant to the problems to be visualised. We were afraid that We hope that tools like Hydropolitan will stimulate discussions between
these details would only confuse non-hydrologists, and would distract the hydrologists and non-hydrologists, in order to find good planning solutions.
viewer. So we decided to focus on the relevant hydrological lines and arrows, We do not pretend that our tool presents the only, or the best solutions for the
and leave out the rest. For the same purpose parts of the pictures are over- problems of metropolitan deltas. For example, we are aware of the fact that,
sized and many presentations are exaggerated (e.g. figure 12). Although the if the temperature and the sea level will consistently rise in the next few hun-
hydrologist in our team accepted this (reluctantly), others might argue that dred years, the only sustainable solution might be to move all inhabitants of
our pictures are not scientifically correct. the lower western part to the higher eastern part of the Netherlands, giving
As mentioned earlier, another point of discussion is the fact that no mod- the western part back to the sea.
els have been used to support the creation of the pictures; they are merely So, the solutions presented in the tool apply only to this century, not be-
based on sketches made by an experienced hydrologist. Scientists might yond. But we do not particularly like the technocratic landscape that we pro-
therefore argue that our pictures are not scientifically valid, and that the pose as a solution for this century in the area of Rotterdam. Of course meas-
presented solutions are not proven to be realistic or even effective. We must ures might be considered to improve the scenic value, but we hope others, hy-
admit that this is true. drologists or non-hydrologists alike, will help us to find better solutions for our
However, the purpose of our tool is not to give an accurate, hydrological- area. That is one of the reasons why we have installed the tool on the Inter-
ly correct answer to the presented problems. For that purpose hydrological net (http://cgi.girs.wageningen-ur.nl/Hydropolitan/index.htm). Visitors can
models have been (and are being) developed with which hydrologists try to help us finding better solutions by filling in their comments in the tool. But
predict impacts of technical solutions in relation to climatic change. But the we also hope that our tool will stimulate people all over the world to find
results of these models are only comprehensible to highly specialized scien- creative solutions for their own metropolitan deltas.
tists or engineers. Our tool on the other hand is meant to be used by non-spe-
cialists, people who are involved in the planning process. It would therefore
be a major challenge to combine both and link these scientific models to vi-
sualisation tools that would convert the model outputs automatically into
comprehensible pictures. Current three dimensional visualisation tools offer
the technical possibilities to make accurate, detailed pictures of model out-

250 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 251

 References Background literature Stuyt, L.C.P.M. , Kabat, P. ,Postma, J. ,Pomper,
A.B. , 1995. Effect of sea-level rise and climate
Bakel, P.J.T. van, J.W.J van der Gaast, P.J.G.J. In this section several studies are mentioned that change on groundwater salinity and agro-hydrolo-
Hellegers, C Kwakernaak, M. Mulder, J. van delivered a part of the experience and back ground gy in a low coastal region of the Netherlands. In:
Os, C.W.J. Roest, N.P. van der Windt en K.W. information for the used visualisation technique Zwerver, S. ,Rompaey, R.S.A.R. van, Kok, M.T.J. (eds).
Ypma, 1999. De Aquarel. Verkennende studie ten and the problems and solutions described in Hy- Climate change reseach: evaluation and policy im-
behoeve van het waterbeleid van het ministerie dropolitan. Unfortunately, most of the studies are plications, proceedings. Elsevier, Amsterdam, Vol. B,
van LNV. Rapport 653. SC-DLO, Wageningen. written in Dutch, as they address situations within 943-946.
Bakker, T.W.M., J.A. Klijn, F.J. van Zadelhoff, the Netherlands. Schröder, R., M. van Steekelenburg, M. Wijer-
1981. Nederlandse kustduinen, algemeen deel be- mans, G. Blom & F. D’Hondt, m.m.v. J. Klijn,
horende bij de proefschriften van bovenstaande Bakel, P.J.T. van, P.E.V. van Walsum, M. Groe- 2003. Europese Delta-Landschappen, Een verken-
auteurs, Proefschrift Wageningen (LH-863). nendijk & E.P. Querner, 2003: Waterberging en ning naar de gemeenschappelijke problematiek in
Commissie Noodoverloopgebieden, 2002. Ein- verdrogingsbestrijding, Een nadere analyse van de Europese Delta’s, de mogelijkheden om in Interreg-
drapport van de Commissie Noodoverloopge- mogelijkheden en beperkingen aan de hand van programma’s te participeren en de bereidheid van
bieden. modelberekeningen in 2 stroomgebieden. Alterra partners om samen te werken in initiatieven. Alter-
Intergovernmental panel on climate change rapport 640, Wageningen. ra Rapport 700, Wageningen.
(IPCC), 2001. Climate Change 2001: Synthesis re- Berendsen, H.J.A. and E. Stouthamer (2002): Pa- Walsum, P.E.V. van, J.F.M. Helming, E.P.A.G.
port. (http://www.ipcc.ch). leographic evolution and avulsion history of the Schouwenberg, L.C.P.M. Stuyt, P. Groe-
Klaasen, I., 1981‘Meer inzicht nodig in ruimtelijke ef- Rhine-Meuse delta, the Netherlands. Netherlands nendijk, C.J.A.M. de Bont, P.H. Vereijken, C.
fekten - losjes uit de pols wordt planologie tot iets Journal of Geosciences 81 (1), pp. 97-112. Kwakernaak, P.J.T. van Bakel, L.C. van Staal-
technisch teruggebracht’ in Wetenschapsbeleid no. Gaast, J.W.J. van der, H.T.L. Massop, J. van Os, duinen & K.W. Ypma, 2002. Waterwijs. Plannen
8, Ministry of Education, The Hague, pp. 10-11 L.C.P.M. Stuyt, P.J.T. van Bakel & C. Kwaker- met water op regionale schaal. Alterra-rapport
(special issue on preliminary study for Plan naak, 2002: Waterkansen in het SGR2; potenties 433, Wageningen.
Lievense) voor realisatie van de wateropgaven. Wageningen, Wachowicz, M., L.A.E. Vullings, M. van den
Verbeek, K. (ed.), 2003. De toestand van het kli- Alterra, Alterra-rapport 558, Wageningen. Broek & A. Ligtenberg, 2003. Games for inter-
maat in Nederland 2003. KNMI library. Meeusen, Mariek J.G., Janneke Roos-Klein active spatial planning: SPLASH a prototype strate-
Lankhorst, Klaske Ypma, 2000. Conceptueel gy game about water management. Alterra-rapport
Raamwerksysteem ‘Stroomlijn’, Informatiesysteem 667, Wageningen.
hydrologie voor ruimtelijke planners, Notitie 00.17 Windt, N.P. van der, C. Kwakernaak, J.W.J. van
LEI en Alterra, Wageningen. der Gaast, R.Nij Bijvank, 1997. Waterdialoog
Moors, E.J. & A.J. Dolman, 2003. Land-use change, voor het landelijk gebied, Een verkenning van de
climate and hydrology. In: A.J. Dolman, A. Verhagen ruimtelijke relaties tussen groene functies via wa-
& C.A. Rovers (eds.). Global environmental change ter. Rapport 524 SC-dlo, Wageningen.
and land use. Kluwer, Dordrecht, 139-165.
Roos-Klein Lankhorst, J. 1987: Visualization tool
for (landscape)architects. CAD Vol. 19 number 4
may 1987, pp: 188-192, U.K.
Roos-Klein Lankhorst, J., 1989. Visualisering van
veranderingen in het landschap, een computer- on-
dersteund ontwerpinstrument voor de (land-
schaps)architect. Proefschrift, Landbouwuniversiteit
Wageningen.
Roos-Klein Lankhorst, J., 1990. Visualization of
Changes in the Landscape. In: EGIS’90 proceed-
ings, Utrecht, 929-938.

252 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 253

 Sustainable land use cessible rural environment considered to be more “livable”;
II) the relocation of numerous urban industrial and service enterprises, in
planning and valorisation particular those capable of exploiting information technology, to green sub-
urban and rural areas where more land is available at a lower cost.
of the natural and cultural In this context, the government of rural land (planning, design and man-

resources in the metropolitan agement) requires the adoption of new instruments (in the form of proce-
dures, methods and techniques) in order to tackle the challenge posed by
area of Milan (Italy) development (that must be sustainable) and to safeguard and enhance the
resources present. These considerations are particularly valid with regards to
the rural land of the Lombardy region, characterized by new situations such
Giulio Senes and Alessandro Toccolini as rapid urbanization that has transformed the rural landscape and the trans-
Institute of Agricultural Engineering University of Milan formation of agriculture under the pressure of technological development
Milan, Italy and the EU policy trends, but also by the mature awareness that productive
[email protected], [email protected] activities must increasingly take into consideration questions of environmen-
tal impact if natural resources and the landscape are to be safeguarded.
The new challenges that must be met in the development of Lombard
rural areas may be delineated as follows:
I) the valorization of the resources present in the territory;
Premise II) the development of a balanced land use policy that counters the ten-
Rural areas are attracting increasing attention at both political and social dency towards an “uncontrolled” urbanization of rural areas;
levels thanks to ever-greater recognition of their multi-functional nature. III) the development of efficient agriculture that is competitive while
Alongside the traditional productive role associated with agriculture, rural sensitive to environmental concerns.
land is destined to satisfy the growing demand for residential settlements in
“green areas”, activities associated with leisure and the pleasure of nature In this context, the Lombardy Region’s Agriculture Department has acti-
and the landscape, the relocation of industrial and service enterprises. vated a series of initiatives designed to provide efficient support for projects
Over the last 15-20 years, much of Europe has, in fact, witnessed the concerned with the safeguarding and valorization of rural areas, with partic-
spread of a phenomenon known as “rurbanization”, characterized by: ular attention being paid to the use of agricultural land and the control of
I) an increase in the movement of the population from urban to rural ar- land use transformation (increasingly necessary within the rural areas clos-
eas, a movement partly motivated by a reaction to the chaos and pollu- est to the cities and subject to strong pressures towards urbanization).
tion (atmospheric and acoustic) of the cities and the attraction of an ac-

254 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 255

 Objectives of the study Trezzo
sull'Adda
This study falls within the ambit of one of the “strategic projects” com-
prising the Lombardy Regional Development Program, specifically the
Sal.Va.Te.R Strategic Project (Safeguarding and Valorization of Rural Areas). Vaprio
d'Adda
VILLORESI
This project, promoted by the Agriculture Department’s Rural Environment LAMBRO
Masate
Gessate
and Forestry Policies Service, has the following basic objectives: Inzago
Sesto Bussero
I) the development of operational proposals regarding: San Giovanni Cologno Cernusco Gorgonzola Bellinzago
Monzese
sul Naviglio Lombardo
a) the planning and management of rural areas Cassina Cassano
Milano De'Pecchi d'Adda
Vimodrone
b) the use of water and soil resources
c) the development of forms of agriculture with positive and significant MARTESANA
(35 km) ADDA
environmental and landscape aspects; MUZZA

II) the realization of innovative projects with regards the canal network with
positive effects on the landscape and the rural areas.
Figure 1: Case-study area

The objective of the present study is that of defining a “Master Plan for
the Valorization of Rural Peri-urban Areas” that identifies the diverse voca- ty of the city of Milan, is rich in elements of value from the historical-cultur-
tions of the rural areas in view of its sustainable development. This is as pro- al, agricultural and natural points of view, all of which may represent oppor-
vided for by the legislative decree relative to the provincial land use plans tunities for the development and upgrading of the area.
(Lombardy Region D. Lgs. 267/2000, LR 1/2000) calling for the evaluation The case-study area presents a highly diversified landscape: along the
of the “vocations” of the provincial territory. canal axis, from west to east, one sees a passage from the Milanese urban
form to one defined by the nuclei of the agricultural plain with the progres-
Case-study area sive thinning-out of the major commercial and recreational services, but also
In order to develop and fine-tune the methodology most appropriate for a greater visibility/accessibility of the agricultural landscape. In this context,
defining a “Master Plan for the Valorization of Rural Peri-urban Areas” iden- the Naviglio Martesana appears not only as a positive aspect of the agricul-
tifying its diverse vocations, we decided to set up a “pilot project” in the area tural landscape, but also as an element of “green” continuity between the
traversed by the Naviglio Martesana, one of the most important of the Lom- diverse settlement systems.
bard canals (Figure 1). The case-study area comprises 13 municipalities di- Lastly, the presence of the canal and its towpath makes the “Martesana
rectly traversed by the canal, plus part of the Municipality of Milan, for a to- system” a “greenway”. The term “greenway” may be interpreted as a system
tal area of around 130 km2. While presenting a number of examples of par- of interconnected linear territories that are planned, designed and managed
tial landscape degradation, the Martesana area, distinguished by the vicini- in such a way as to obtain benefits of a recreational, ecological and histori-

256 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 257

 RISORSE TERRITORIALI OPPORTUNITAí/LIMITI
cal-cultural nature, situated along natural corridors such as the banks of wa- ALLO SVILUPPO

ter-courses and coasts or along disused railway lines, towpaths and country produttivit‡ agricola
produttivit‡ agricola SITUAZIONE
FISICA
QUADRO
SOCIO-ECONOMICO
PIANISTICA E
VINCOLISTICA

roads. Greenways respond to the demand for improved utilization of the ter- valenze storico-culturali
valenze storico-culturali

Analisi e valutazione
uso/copertura quadro economico PTPR
uso/copertura quadro economico PTPR
ritory by favoring “environmentally-friendly” circulation along a system of valenze naturalistiche
valenze naturalistiche
del suolo
del suolo
quadro sociale PTCP
quadro sociale PTCP
infrastrutture
routes dedicated to non-motorized traffic and capable of linking the popula- stabilit‡ ecologica
stabilit‡ ecologica
infrastrutture
viarie
viarie
vincolo
vincolo
tion with the landscape resources (natural, agricultural, landscape and his- qualit‡ visuale
infrastrutture
infrastrutture
paesistico
paesistico
qualit‡ visuale tecnologiche
del paesaggio tecnologiche
torical-cultural as they may be) and with the “life centers” of the urbanized del paesaggio
Centri di interesse
parchi e giardini Centri di interesse
settlements, in both the urban and rural areas. parchi e giardini ricreativo, sportivo
ricreativo, sportivo
e storico-culturale
e storico-culturale

strutture ricettive e produttive

strutture ricettive e produttive
legate al settore primario
Methodology legate al settore primario

The conceptual framework adopted for the present study (Figure 2) involves:
I) an initial phase of analysis and evaluation of the landscape resources and
OM
the opportunities for and restrictions on development;
II) a second phase identifying the diverse values of the rural areas (a concept
VALENZETERRITORIALI
TERRITORIALI
associated with the intrinsic characteristics of a portion of land and express- VALENZE

ing its potential);

III) a conclusive phase evaluating the vocations of the territory; that is to say,
the propensity for each individual portion of land to perform a determined
PIANO DIRETTORE
PIANO DIRETTORE
role and thus “follow” a determined development plan.
VOCAZIONI
VOCAZIONI
DEL
DEL
TERRITORIO
TERRITORIO
Analysis and evaluation of the resources
of the rural landscape
Figure 2: Conceptual structure of the study
The initial phase of the study had the aim of establishing a suitably in-
depth body of knowledge regarding the landscape reality of the case-study
area appropriate to the objectives of the study itself. The first step that had sufficient for the application of the chosen methodology. Before proceeding
to be taken was to compile an adequate database regarding the characteris- with the direct survey, we had to develop a clear and comprehensive system
tics of the area that were of use in defining the “Valorization Plan”. To this of classification that would on the one hand permit a simple and unequivo-
end, it was felt that a direct survey of both land use and all the territorial re- cal survey phase (avoiding problems of interpretation for the surveyor in the
sources/characteristics of interest was required. The direct survey was neces- field), and on the other would provide for a broad-based description of the
sary in order to supplement the information already available as this was in- landscape situation in such a way as to allow the creation of the most com-

258 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 259

 Agricultural productivity value
High
Medium
Low
Water
Naviglio Martesana

N
0 1 2 Kilometers
km
W E

W E
0 1 2 km
Kilometers
Naviglio Martesana S

RESIDENTIAL STABLES
SOCIAL AND PUBLIC SERVICES NURSERY Figure 4: “Agricultural productivity value” map
COMMERCIAL, OFFICES VEGETABLE CULTIVATION
INDUSTRIAL PERMANENT CULTIVATION (Orchards)
TECHNOLOGICAL PLANTS POPLAR PLANTATIONS
PRIMARY TRANSFORMATION CENTRES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS WOODS AND WOODED BAND
STATIONS, RAILWAY AREAS UNCULTIVATED AREAS
CAR PARKS
MOTORWAY
WATER Lombardy) for the preparation of the 1:25,000 scale land use map, and by the
CEMETERIES IRRIGATED ARABLE LAND
AREAS UNDERGOING TRANSFORMATION DRY ARABLE LAND Lombardy Region in the vectorial database of the Regional Technical Map. The
GREEN IRRIGATED PERMANENT PASTURES
SPORTS FACILITIES DRY PERMANENT PASTURES classification system adopted required the survey of the classes of land use record-
URBAN HORTICULTURAL AREAS ACTIVE QUARRY
AGRICULTURAL FARMS
WORKING AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS
DISUSED QUARRY
DISUSED QUARRY RECLAIMED WITH WOODLAND
ed in Table 1 from which the land use map in Figure 3 was derived. The database
DISUSED QUARRY RECLAIMED WITH WATER
obtained from the direct survey was integrated with the pre-existing data (already
Figure 3: Land use map available in digital form) from the Lombardy Region’s vectorial Regional Techni-
cal Map (water courses and bodies, roads and railways, altitude and municipal
prehensive database possible. Moreover, the classification system needed to boundaries) and from the ERSAL’s Soil and Land Use Capacity maps.
lead to the creation of a database structured so as to be suitable for the con- The data collected and organized within the GIS were processed in order
stitution of a GIS (Geographical Information System). to obtain, according to the methodology adopted, information regarding the
The classification we adopted is based partly on our own experience and on principal landscape resources. These resources were evaluated through the
the analyses of certain official systems, including those adopted by ISTAT (the application of certain fairly well established protocols (e.g. Agricultural Pro-
Italian Central Institute of Statistics) during the General Agricultural Census con- ductivity and Ecological Stability) and others specially developed for the pur-
ducted in 1990, by E.R.S.A.L. (the Regional Body for Agricultural Development in pose (e.g. Visual Quality of the Landscape).

260 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 261

 Environmental "anti-bonding" corridors
Less than 50 m wide
From 50 to 300 m wide
From 300 to 600 m wide Recreational value areas
Urbanized areas
Urbanized areas Water
Water
Naviglio Martesana
Naviglio Martesana

N
N
W E
W E 0 1 2 km
0 1 2 km S
S

Figure 5: Ecological “anti-bonding” value map Figure 6: Recreational value map

Identification of values within the rural territory areas have been divided into three classes:
In accordance with the general objectives of the Sal.Va.Te.R. project and I) areas in which there are less than 50 meters between urbanized areas
the regional authorities, we subsequently identified the diverse values of the (“residual” areas), to be safeguarded only where they form part of broad-
rural areas through purpose designed protocol. er corridors;
Agricultural productivity value (Figure 4), derived from the thematic over- II) areas in which there is a corridor of less than 300 meters but over 50
laying and successive processing of the information relating to agricultural meters (“alarm” areas) to be preserved. In these areas new building should
productivity and the presence of irrigation systems, this protocol identifies ar- be avoided as they are already below the minimum threshold;
eas of low, medium and high agricultural productivity; III) areas in which there are corridors of between 300 and 600 meters
Ecological “anti-bonding” value (Figure 5), a protocol identifying the (“attention” areas) in which particular attention should be paid in the
zones within the case-study area that contribute to the formation of “envi- case of new building to avoid slipping below the minimum threshold.
ronmental corridors” that avoid the bonding of urban centres and the cre- Recreational value (Figure 6), this protocol identifies the green areas that,
ation of a “built continuum”. On the basis of the available bibliography, these located within the vicinity (250 meters, on the basis of the existing literature

262 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 263

 on the subject) of residential zones, constitute a resource in the form of an PRIMARY TRANSFORMATION CENTRES STABLES
area for everyday recreational activities such as jogging, walking, cycling and Dairy NURSERIES
so on. These areas are particularly interesting from the point of view of the de- Cured meat products VEGETABLE CULTIVATIONS
velopment of a network of greenways: thanks to their location, in fact, they Other centers PERMANENT CULTIVATIONS (Orchards)
could “accommodate” greenways that would be heavily used due to the vicini- STATIONS, RAILWAY AREAS POPLAR PLANTATIONS
ty of residential centers and would have a high linkage potential. Metro stations PERMANENT PASTURES
Railway stations Irrigated permanent pastures
Identification of the vocations of the rural areas Railway/metro service areas Dry permanent pastures
The concept of a “territorial vocation” is a recent development. The Italian CAR PARKS ARABLE LAND
State Act No. 142/90 (today “incorporated” within the Legislative decree of the AREAS UNDERGOING TRANSFORMATION Irrigated arable land
18th August 2000, No. 267, “Consolidated Act of the laws regarding the dispo- GREEN AREAS Dry arable land
sition of the Local Bodies”) states that the Province must prepare and adopt a Significant private green areas WOODS
PTCP (Provincial Territorial Coordination Plan, a sort of Provincial land use Plan) Public, equipped green areas WOODED BANDS
that “determines the general landscape policies and indicates […] the diverse Public not equipped green areas (open UNCULTIVATED AREAS
destinations of the landscape in relation to the prevalent vocation of its parts”. space) QUARRIES
Green areas along the roads Active quarry
Table 1: Elements surveyed Green areas associated with social services Disused quarry
RESIDENTIAL AREAS COMMERCIAL, OFFICES Green areas for sports Disused quarry reclaimed with woodland
Large-medium blocks Commercial, offices CEMETERIES Disused quarry reclaimed with water
Large-medium blocks with own green areas Commercial, offices with owngreen areas SPORTS FACILITIES MOTORWAYS
Small blocks INDUSTRIAL, SMALL BUSINESSES HORTICULTURAL AREAS LAMBRO RIVER
SOCIAL AND PUBLIC SERVICES Industrial, small businesses AGRICULTURAL FARM NUCLEI Extra-urban context
Church Industrial, small businesses WORKING AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS Urban context
School with own green areas Cowshed, shelter ADDA RIVER
Hospital and health services TECHNOLOGICAL PLANTS Barn Linear Elements
Cinema, theatre Dump GREENHOUSES Commercial axes |Single tree rows along roads within the ur-
ban context |Double tree rows along roads within the urban
Library Water treatment center Permanent greenhouse context | Single tree rows and linear green areas within the
extra-urban context | Double tree rows and linear green areas
Town hall Differentiated reclamation center Semi-permanent greenhouse within the extra-urban context

Social club, oratory Electrical energy Depending on the element surveyed, the following information was added: historic building or
Post office Other plants green area (in use or abandoned), type of cultivation (corn, wheat-oats, soya, fallow, other crops)

264 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 265

 It is interesting to note that in Italy we have more than 8000 municipal- veloped by the authors in 1998): the resources and the values identified in
ities grouped in 103 provinces and in 20 regions. For example, the Lombardy the preceding phase were evaluated through the use of a dual input “rela-
Region has more than 1500 Municipalities grouped in 11 Provinces. The Lom- tional diagram” (Table 2). The diagram indicates the areas with vocations for
bard Regional Act No. 1/2000, again relating to the functions of the PTCP, the various types of development on the basis of the presence of resources (at
states that it must contain “the indication of the general vocations of the times on the basis of their quality and quantity).
landscape with regard to the broad areas”. This is the logical consequence of The union of the three vocational maps produced Figure 10, identifying
the evolution of the concept of “landscape planning” that has always tried those areas with a single vocation (productive-agricultural, recreational, eco-
to place the future development of a territory in relation to its “intrinsic ca- logical) and those with multiple vocations: productive-agricultural and recre-
pabilities”. ational, productive-agricultural and ecological, recreational and ecological,
With regards to the present study, “territorial vocation” is understood to productive-agricultural, recreational and ecological. The areas with a single
mean the “innate inclination”, the “intrinsic leaning” of a certain portion of vocation leave no doubts as to the appropriate form of development, whilst
land towards a certain future development. It is felt that true “territorial de- with those areas with multiple vocations incompatibilities may occur. For ex-
velopment” (that can only be sustainable) can only be achieved when that ample, in those areas with both a productive-agricultural and an ecological
certain portion of the territory is oriented towards a form of development that vocation, the development of intensive agricultural practices would involve
fully responds to its vocation. This “intrinsic leaning” derives from the pack- the exploitation of just one of the resources present. Where the ecological
age of resources present in the territory, understood in terms of quantity and vocation is associated with a recreational potential, careful selection of the
quality. activity to be developed may allow for the optimum allocation of the re-
On the basis of the analyses conducted previously we tried to identify for sources identified. The development of greenways certainly represents an
the case-study area: appropriate example. The areas with recreational and productive-agricultur-
I) areas with a productive agricultural vocation in which the resources al values may also suggest the development of activities not associated with
present made the area particularly favorable to the productive activities traditional agricultural activities but which instead move in the direction of
associated with the agricultural sector (Figure 7); the new role for the primary sector promoted by the EU (agricultural tourism,
II) areas with an ecological vocation, to be safeguarded or dedicated to educational programs, direct sales of local products and so on).
activities with no negative environmental impact (Figure 8);
III) areas with a recreational vocation, in which the package of resources Conclusions
present render them particularly suitable for the development of recre- The completion of the present study allows the following conclusions to
ational activities (Figure 9). be drawn. First and foremost, it has been demonstrated that the methodolo-
gy used and the evaluation procedures developed are appropriate to the
The identification of the territorial vocations was based on the EPP definition of a Master Plan for the valorization of rural peri-urban landscape,
methodological approach (“Environmental Preconditions Plan”, a method de- as required by the Sal.Va.Te.R. project. Secondly, the Master Plan developed

266 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 267

 Areas with a productive agricultural vocation Areas with a recreational vocation
Water Water
Naviglio Martesana Naviglio Martesana

N
N
W E
W E 0 1 2 km
0 1 2 km S
S

Figure 7: Areas with a productive agricultural vocation Figure 9: Areas with a recreational vocation

Areas with:
recreational vocation
recreational and agricultural vocation
recreational and ecological vocation
agricultural vocation
Areas with an ecological vocation ecological vocation
agricultural and ecological vocation
Water triple vocation

Naviglio Martesana water

Naviglio Martesana

W E
0 1 2 km N
S
W E
0 1 2 km
S

Figure 8: Areas with an ecological vocation Figure 10: Synthesis of the landscape vocations

268 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 |

269
 Table 2 “Relational diagram” for the identification of the landscape vocations
may provide the bodies responsible for land use planning and management
(the provincial authorities, municipalities, park authorities) with a useful
VOCATIONS support for their decision-making. The identification of “landscape vocations”
PRODUCTIVE
in fact allows the resources of the rural areas to be valorized and safeguard-
AGRICULTURAL RECREATIONAL ECOLOGICAL
RESOURCES VOCATION
ed against improper exploitation.
VOCATION VOCATION
AREAS WITH PRODUCTIVE Areas with a HIGH
AGRICULTURAL VALUES productive agricultural
(from the map of productive vocation
agricultural values)
ECOLOGICAL STABILITY Areas with a high
(from the map of ecological density of ecological
stability) stability elements
VISUAL QUALITY Areas with a HIGH
(from the visual quality map) visual quality
ELEMENTS OF RECRE- Areas within the 250
ATIONAL INTEREST m. BUFFER ZONES
(from the map of elements of
recreational interest)
RECREATIONAL VALUE Areas with a recre-
(from the map of recreational ational value
values)
ECOLOGICAL “ANTI-BOND- Areas with an
References
ING VALUE (from the map of ecological
areas with an ecological “anti- Crawford, D., 1994. Using remotely sensed data in Senes, G., Toccolini, A., 1998. The EPP method
“anti-bonding” value
landscape visual quality assessment. Landscape (Environmental Preconditions Plan) for sustainable
bonding” value)
and Urban Plannig 30, 71-81. land use planning. Proceedings of the XIII Interna-
NAVIGLIO MARTESANA Areas within the 250 tional Congress on Agricultural Engineering, Rabat
Fabos, J.Gy. (ed.), 1994. Our Rural Heritage and the
m. BUFFER ZONES Future. University of Massachusetts, Amherst (MA). (Marocco).
Fabos, J.Gy., Ahern, J. (ed.), 1995. Greenways: The Smardon, R.C., Palmer, J.F., Felleman, J.P. (ed.),
ADDA RIVER Areas within the 250 Areas within the 150
Beginning of an International Movement, Elsevier, 1986 (Eds). Foundations for visual project analysis.
m. BUFFER ZONES m. BUFFER ZONES JohnWiley & Sons, New York.
New York.
Fines, K.D., 1973. Landscape Evaluation: a Research Smith, D., Hellmund, P., 1993. Ecology of Green-
(Law N° 431/85)
Project in East Sussex, Pergamon Press. ways. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
LAMBRO RIVER Areas within the 250 Areas within the 150
Forman, R.T.T., Godron, M,. 1986. Landscape Ecol- Turner, T., 1990. Towards a Green Strategy for Lon-
m. BUFFER ZONES m. BUFFER ZONES don: Strategic open spaces and green chains. Lon-
ogy. Wiley, New York.
(Law N° 431/85) Senes, G., Toccolini, A., 1998. Sustainable land use don Planning Advisory Committee, London.
AGRICULTURAL 250 m. BUFFER planning in protected rural areas in Italy. Land-
scape and Urban Planning 41, 107-117.
FARM NUCLEI ZONES

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 Epilogue

272 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 273

 Metropolitan landscapes: win that gave the kick-off to this book. If planning is to benefit from research
and vice versa, such reflection is imperative. It is crucial to know what role
Contours of an emerging landscape research can play in planning metropolitan landscapes and how
concepts from the planning of metropolitan landscapes can be used in land-
concept scape research.
The introductory chapter to this book raised the questions of whether
Gunther Tress and Bärbel Tress metropolitan landscapes exist and whether we can plan them. Both questions
Alterra Green World Research, Wageningen University and Research Centre characterize the difficulty of planning metropolitan landscapes because the
Land Use Planning Group, Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University underlying assumption is that metropolitan landscapes do physically exist
Wageningen, The Netherlands and that they can be defined and planned. Many researchers and planners
[email protected] would agree that metropolitan landscapes exist. However, when asked for cri-
teria to define and delimit them, answers are sparse. In a planning context,
the existence of metropolitan landscapes is not the question of concern;
rather, the focus lies on discussing and solving problems that occur within
an area called the “metropolitan landscape”. Therefore, the statement that
Introduction we can “plan” metropolitan landscapes may find broad agreement too. For
Several chapters in this book discuss aspects of planning metropolitan planners, however, disagreement might arise concerning the best way to or-
landscapes and related questions from either a research or planning per- ganize a metropolitan landscape. From the perspective of landscape research,
spective. The authors themselves are landscape researchers and planners with the need to plan something requires clarification of exactly what is to be
a broad variety of academic and practical backgrounds. The underlying as- planned and for what purpose, in order to define the possible alternatives.
sumption of this final chapter is that landscape research and planning have
different ways of understanding the concept “metropolitan landscapes”. Approaches to metropolitan landscapes
Therefore, problems may arise when using “metropolitan landscapes” as both For a purposeful application of landscape research, the notion of metro-
a research concept and a planning concept. Whereas the first asks what con- politan landscapes has to be discussed in relation to other concepts, such as
stitutes a metropolitan landscape and how does it function, the latter postu- urban landscapes and rural landscapes but also urban areas and metropoli-
lates a need to react to existing problems within metropolitan landscapes. tan areas. This discussion shows the degree to which the metropolitan land-
This chapter reflects on the different meanings and usages of the term scape concept adds a new quality to the existing terminology and illustrates
“metropolitan landscape” in the context of research and planning. It is based the concept’s potential advantages and disadvantages.
on the contributions to this volume, as well as on current literature and im- The term ‘metropolitan landscape’ is seldom found in current landscape
pressions from participation in the scientific meetings in Bellingham and Dar- research. A full-text search of several landscape-related journals brought up

276 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 277

 almost no hits for the term. One of the few recent references to metropolitan especially that marked by urban land-use forms and not limited by adminis-
landscapes is found in Flores et al. (1998) and Zhang et al. (in press) who, trative boundaries.
however, use the term as synonymous with “urban landscapes”. Metropoli- Studies of urban landscapes have generated increasing interest in land-
tan landscapes in both papers refers to the administrative boundaries of a scape research. This relates to the growing importance of urban areas and the
metropolitan area, in these particular cases, the New York City metropolitan migration of populations into urban locales (Tjallingii, 2000). Urbanization
area and the Shanghai metropolitan area. Definitions of the term “metropol- can be expressed as the proportion of people living in urban areas (Antrop,
itan landscape” are not given. 2000, in press). It is a complex process including changes in housing, lifestyle,
Similarly, the authors in this book provide few definitions of the metro- transportation and employment patterns. So far, the process of metropoliza-
politan landscape that fully explain the phenomenon. However, based on the tion has not been described; the extent to which it would differ from urban-
ways the concept is used in the chapters four categories of definition can be ization is left open. If “metropolitan” has meaning other than “urban” then
constructed. Metropolitan landscape is used (1) as a synonym for urban land- this difference should be made explicit and the process of “metropolization”
scape, (2) as an agglomeration or administrative area of a city or city region, described accordingly.
(3) as a large supra-regional area and (4) as a term for all space that is un-
der the influence of urbanites and urban spheres. These categories do not re- Metropolitan landscape as an agglomeration or
flect the precise meaning of metropolitan landscape as it is used in the con- administrative area of a city or city region
tributions. Rather, they summarize general differences that also come to the A second way of using “metropolitan landscape” is in the sense of “met-
fore in current landscape research literature. ropolitan areas”. Here, “landscape” serves as a synonym for “area”. In fact, the
literature on landscape research, as well as that from urban and planning re-
Metropolitan landscape as a synonym for urban landscape search, deals with the attribute “metropolitan” far more often in the context
One way of using the metropolitan landscape concept is as a synonym for of a metropolitan “area” than a metropolitan “landscape” (see studies from
“urban landscape”. “Metropolitan” then means the same as “urban”. Hartz & Brabanente et al., 2002; Bunnell et al., 2002; Gibson & Abbott, 2002; Kam
Kestermann (2004), for instance, in this volume use “metropolitan” as syn- Ng & Hills, 2003). Also Antrop (2004) defines in his contribution to this volume
onym for “urban”. Schot et al. (2004) also introduce metropolitan landscape the qualities of a metropolitan area, not a metropolitan landscape. He refers
in this way, in opposition to rural landscapes. We may ask then whether the to a metropolitan area as an agglomeration associated with a large city.
terms “metropolitan” and “urban” derive from two different academic tradi- A second aspect of this understanding of metropolitan landscape is its re-
tions. Or is the term “urban” rooted in research whereas “metropolitan” is lation to the administrative boundaries of a city region. Williams (1999), for
used more in spatial planning? In fact, in landscape research literature the instance, examined the challenges that major city regions face in coping with
term “urban landscape” is used and defined far more often than the term the dynamic progress of societal change. In this study of metropolitan gover-
“metropolitan landscape”. Breuste (in press), for instance, defines urban land- nance and spatial planning, Williams (1999) referred to the metropolitan
scapes as the existing landscape of urban settlements and their surroundings area of cities such as Manchester, Melbourne and Toronto and not to the con-

278 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 279

 cept of the metropolitan landscape. Flores et al. (1998) define metropolitan Metropolitan landscapes as a continuum of
areas as high-density central cities that have been losing their regional share urban-influenced space
of population and economic activity, surrounded by expanding rings of sub- The fourth definitional category for the concept of metropolitan land-
urbs of considerably lower housing density and high per capita rates of re- scape is based on the perceived dissolution of the split between urban and ru-
source consumption. In this volume, Hartz & Kestermann (2004), Kumar ral. In this understanding spatial development has blurred the boundaries be-
(2004), Senes & Toccolini (2004), Sherren (2004), Sommers (2004) and Ton- tween rural areas and urban areas, thus the clear-cut division between them
manee & Kuneepong (2004) also refer to the metropolitan area in the con- no longer exists. Landscape research has broadly discussed the urban-rural di-
text of large cities—such as Vancouver, Seattle, New Delhi, Bangkok, New Or- vide. “Urbanity” was introduced to contrast with its opposite, namely rurali-
leans and London—and their administrative or surrounding area. So, where ty. Yet the characteristic “urban” can only be attributed meaningfully as long
reference is made to the metropolitan area of a specific city, in some cases the as there is something that is “not urban”. Urban means town or city and refers
actual administrative boundaries of the city are meant while in other cases to both the built-up agglomerations and to the way of life (Antrop, 2000). Ur-
the related urbanized area exceeding the administrative boundaries is being banization then describes the process of transformation from one character-
referred to. istic to the other, from rural to urban. It means the migration of populations
from rural to urban areas.
Metropolitan landscape as a large supra-regional area However, studies have also shown the opposite trend: migration from ur-
A third way of looking at metropolitan landscapes is as large supra-re- ban to rural areas (Paquette & Domon, 2003; Ryan & Hansel Walker, in
gional areas comprised of several urban centres that share common socio- press). Then the question arises of whether the urban area is spreading into
economic or physical conditions and problems. Jacobs (2004), Roos-Klein the countryside by the migration of urban dwellers or whether the rural area
Lankhorst et al. (2004), Smeets et al. (2004), Van den Brink & Baveco (2004) is consolidating by attracting new residents. Both processes are part of ur-
and Woud et al. (2004) refer in this way to areas where global competition banization. For more details on the debate on the functional change of rural
takes place and classify them, for instance, due to their location along major areas see Murdoch & Pratt (1993), Halfacree & Boyle (1998), Ilbery & Bowler
rivers as metropolitan “deltas”. An example from this book is the Northwest (1998), Marsden (1998) and Antrop (2000).
European Delta Metropolis, a construction that Van der Valk (2002) describes The process of migration from rural to urban and urban to rural is thus
as an urban field and that comes close to what Antrop (2000) defines as ur- diminishing the classical urban-rural divide. More and more formerly rural
ban networks. areas are under the influence of urbanity, and more and more rural elements
The definition of metropolitan landscapes as supra-regional areas is clear- can be identified within urban settings. In this interpretation, the term met-
ly on a different spatial scale than the first two categories of definition men- ropolitan landscapes proposes a new way of illustrating land-use changes in
tioned above. It would be helpful to derive criteria that clearly define the com- both urban and rural locales. All space that is under the influence of urban-
mon denominator of such an umbrella concept to make it more useful for re- ites and urban spheres is considered to be a “metropolitan landscape” that,
search. for instance, would stretch over areas the size of large parts of Europe or the

280 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 281

 United States. Fushtey & Quayle (2004) describe in their chapter the metro- eas. Recent studies address urban planning questions and analyse, for in-
politan landscape as everything that is out there and can be seen, felt, heard stance, ecological networks and ecosystems in urban areas (Hostetler, 1999;
and smelt, as part of our public realm that is defined by politicians, business Savard et al., 2000; Cook, 2002) and urban land cover and land-use changes
people and advocates. Beunen et al. (2004) describe the metropolitan land- (López et al., 2001). Others present a framework for ecological thinking in
scape as an urban field encompassing built-up and open areas within urban regional planning of urban landscapes (Flores et al., 1998) and identify land-
centres. However, these authors specify neither the scale of the metropolitan scape-ecological zones to support urban planning (Löfvenhaft et al., in press).
landscape nor criteria by which to define it. The concept thus seems well Studies discuss the benefits of conserving greenery for the purpose of urban
suited for debate in spatial planning and policy, because it describes a state architecture and planning (Ong, 2003), investigate the degree to which
of development that is beyond the former urban-rural divide and includes a knowledge about climate is used in urban planning (Eliasson, 2000) and de-
time-related aspect of urban area development. The problem with this usage velop new planning concepts for mega-cities (Yokohari et al., 2000; Jim &
might be that it could become a buzzword that in fact has little meaning for Chen, 2003).
research, since it is impossible to distinguish it clearly from other landscapes. The challenge in applying the concept of the metropolitan landscape in
landscape research may lie in understanding what constitutes a “landscape”.
Metropolitan landscapes: This is an ongoing debate. Are cities part of a landscape? Do landscapes start
A new focus for landscape research? on the fringe of urban areas? Does a landscape constitute urban and rural ar-
So why bother at all? Could the metropolitan landscape concept provide eas together? Can landscapes be divided into rural, urban or metropolitan?
a new focus for landscape research? Has landscape research paid too little at- Some authors, such as Kühn (2003), discuss the concept of landscapes in
tention to urban and metropolitan areas in recent years? Is it a neglected re- opposition to cities or as connectors between cities. For them cities are not
search field? necessarily parts of the landscape. Yet others regard urban areas as an aspect
In fact, urban and metropolitan areas are on the research agenda of sev- of a landscape (Antrop, 2000).
eral disciplines, among them landscape ecology, urban ecology and geogra- Nonetheless, it is widely accepted that landscapes emanate from differ-
phy as well as policy and planning sciences. Antrop (2000) observed that ent realms, such as the material, the social and the mental (Naveh, 1995;
most studies on urban areas have been done by urban planners, designers, Hobbs, 1997; Tress & Tress, 2001). Agreement also exists that the integrating
economists and social scientists. This has proved an obstacle to the study of power of such a conception of “landscape” benefits both landscape research
urban areas from a landscape ecology perspective. For landscape ecology the and planning activities (Makhzoumi & Pungetti, 1999). All landscapes—cov-
study of urban areas constitutes new territory. Rivalry between different aca- ering metropolitan, urban and rural areas—are shaped by humans and nature,
demic domains, along with limited knowledge of other disciplinary perspec- which create a specific environment for living, housing and other natural and
tives, might have prevented joint research efforts in the past, but obviously cultural demands. In the words of Rodiek (2003), even in a metropolitan
this has started to change. and highly impacted area, the landscape persists.
Currently, landscape research is broadly engaged in research on urban ar- In consequence, the discussion of a supposedly new concept, such as the

282 | Delta series 4 2004 Delta series 4 2004 | 283

 References
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 Acknowledgements
The editors would like to thank all authors for their efforts. A
special thank to Pat van der Jagt, who supported us in editing
the manuscript. We also thank the KAP program and the DELTA
program from Alterra Green World Research/Wageningen
University and Research Centre, which funded some of the
contributions of this book as well as the publishing of this
volume.

Imprint
Planning Metropolitan Landscapes
Concepts, Demands, Approaches
Editors: Gunther Tress, Bärbel Tress, Bert Harms, Peter Smeets,
Arnold van der Valk
Photos: Bärbel Tress & Gunther Tress
Design: Miek Saaltink, Grafisch Atelier Wageningen
Print: Drukkerij Modern, Bennekom
ISBN 90-807637-3X
© DELTA Series 4, Wageningen, 2004

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