ABSTRACT
This study has considered the degree of complexity of environmental/spatial conflicts as a possible criterion for decision-making in environmental policy. These envirornmental/spatial conflicts are clashes between the 'grey' environment (environmental health and hygiene) and spatial developments. As part of the study we looked at the transition in the Netherlands from a strongly goal-oriented environmental policy to one increasingly based on shared governance. This turning point centred on a choice between hierarchical central governance and decentralised decision-making. This development was a consequence of the growing dissatisfaction in the Netherlands with the use and implications of generic and restrictive environmental standards: 'command-and-control planning'. This turned out be a form of planning that was 'too good to be true". In response to this development, the Dutch government sought a new governance philosophy for environmental policy. By opting for 'self-regulation within frameworks' and a policy based on local issue-related 'public consensus', the door was opened to a more flexible policy that would allow for local circumstances and place more responsibility for the environment with local authorities. A new governance philosophy should also result in an approach that 'acceptable solutions within the environmental policy sector can produce the most favourable result for a comprehensive policy that is also area and situation-specific, and relates to the local context of the issue to be addressed: 'tailor-made comprehensive planning'.
