On 26 October 2023 Urbanism Department held a symposium with the Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs. The event focused on the ongoing programme Mooi Nederland aiming at promotion of spatial quality. The programme is related to a series of policy measures which ‘bring the state back in’ in the domain of spatial planning, after two decades of more market-oriented planning (see the debates on the new national spatial vision NOVI and the related NOVEX programme). In the run up to the event we published a booklet entitled BIG SHIFTS in which we present an agenda for rethinking planning and governance of cities and regions in the face of the major societal challenges, from climate change to housing crisis. We advocate co-design of spatial visions for sustainable futures together with citizens and value-driven planning, revamping governance and boosting citizen participation in decision on sustainability transitions. The event was a great opportunity to engage in a science-policy dialogue in a crucial moment of a geopolitical turmoil and a ‘polycrisis’ (housing, migration, energy transition, climate change, etc.) calling for new ideas and a change of paradigm in planning, housing and economic policies. We hope to continue this dialogue on the Mooi Nederland programme and the implementation of the new spatial planning measures in the coming years.
The BIG SHIFTS position paper/booklet can be read here.
Newton, C., Yu, C., Czischke, D., Bracken, G., Gonçalves, J., Höller, L., Dąbrowski, M., Qu, L., Rooij, R., Rocco, R., Cardoso, R., Chereni, S. & Balz, V. (2023). BIG SHIFTS in Spatial Planning in The Netherlands. The Evolving Scholar. https://doi.org/10.59490/6516baf3dd4bbd3edc360463
Marcin Dąbrowski 