گام بعدی برای طراحی پایداری شهری در هلند

The Dutch Working Group on Sustainable Urban Development has recently delivered its publication Sustainable Urban Design, The Next Step (Meijer & Dubbeling, 2010). The book (to be referred to here as The Next Step) includes six examples of sustainable urban design and three major essays. The Working Group is a broad group of experts from the Dutch professional societies for urban designers and planners (BNSP) and landscape architects (NVTL). (The working group consists of urban designers, urban planers and landscape architects from the Netherlands.) It seeks to take the thinking and practice of sustainable urban design a step further: from sustainable urban design to sustainable spatial development. This paper explains this next stage which has been developed through a review of the literature, the inputs of the Working Group and the lessons learned from the case studies described in the book. Although the case study projects are sometimes more than 12 years old and are rooted in a specific Dutch societal and spatial context, they provide interesting, even up to date, insights for the planning of sustainable and durable cities. They are also compared to some projects in other European countries. This paper looks at why a renewed approach to sustainable urban design is both necessary and rewarding. It then turns to the renewed approach and putting it into practice. Based upon the case studies, new possibilities for the design of sustainable and durable cities are highlighted.

Support for sustainable urban design has become more widespread in recent years and topics like liveability and clean energy attract considerable attention. The Dutch Government has set ambitious climate goals, local authorities are working on sustainable neighbourhoods and interest groups are fighting for cleaner air. The importance of social vitality in the city has been put back on the map by the ‘priority neighbourhoods’ policy, and the wish for a more robust Netherlands is embodied in a plan for the Randstad in 2040 (VROM, 2008) and a ‘second Delta Plan’ for climate-proof water management (Deltacommissie, 2008). Despite this momentum, though, the results in the field of sustainable urban design have been disappointing. Urban developments in general are neither durable nor sustainable, there being few examples of completed sustainable urban design projects. In theory, urban planning and design are fields where much progress can be made (Kenworthy, 2006). However, while the required expertise and technologies are available, they are put to little use. Between 2007 and 2010, the Working Group on Sustainable Urban Development has developed a new and more appealing approach to sustainable urban design and putting it into practice. In this approach, sustainable urban design should evolve to sustainable spatial development. The new goal is to incorporate eco-effectiveness in sustainable urban design and to extend this as the natural approach to spatial planning at all levels (see paragraph 3 below for further detail). Using terminology coined by John Elkington, the Working Group is convinced that the benefits of sustainable spatial development will span ‘People, Planet and Profit.’1 The Next Step contains numerous quotations that are attributed to Working Group members expressing their professional opinion. We use these quotations from the book (Meijer & Dubbeling, 2010, pp. 29–48) in the following paragraphs to explain our idea. ‘Only a few good examples of sustainable urban design can be found [in the Netherlands MM],’ argues urban planner and working group member Olga van der Linden. ‘Few new projects have been completed since the publication of the first good practice book in 2005 (Adriaens, Dubbeling, et al., 2005). Sustainable urban design has not yet become standard practice in spatial development.’ Landscape designer and spatial planner Michaël Meijer adds: ‘In Dutch planning, sustainability often amounts to no more than bolting on some environmental measures or energy saving techniques in buildings. Our planning processes could deliver much more. Urban planning and design, landscape architecture and regional planning can make a much bigger contribution.’

Sustainable spatial development, the next step or new approach towards sustainable urban design may give the very much needed focus in the complex planning processes which lie ahead for the coming decades of restructuring and designing climate proof cities in the Netherlands. The case study projects from the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe are among the first realised examples of the new approach. Sustainable spatial development focuses on a smart combination of durable and flexible urban planning and design which uses natural resources and social capital in a responsible way. The right choices are made in the right phase, the right scale and the right order to make sure that spatial systems are effectively improved within their spatial and societal context. A flexible design, which leaves future adjustments possible, will guarantee durability in this age of rapidly changing design tasks and technical possibilities. Communication and harmonisation with neighbouring interest groups and future (commercial) owners and users ensures the proper, energy efficient, use of the new or redeveloped environments. Through striving for added value in every plan phase more and more opportunities arise for people, planet and profit. Following The Next Step, t every urban or spatial development should focus on these aspects. The pursuit of low, or even zero, carbon developments is necessary but always as one among other important goals. If an urban development is not used, for instance, it is a waste of the efforts put into it, a waste of the energy used while constructing it and a waste of building materials. The examples in The Next Step show how the city can be made more attractive and valued when spatial systems are improved effectively. The reduction of CO2 emissions from the cities’ systems or through neighbourhoods that produce energy will bring the vision of a liveable, healthy, climate proof and energy neutral city closer.