ABSTRACT
Since the beginning of the 1990s, land use plans that are negotiated between a municipality and private sector companies, agreed upon in a contract under private law, play a central role in Dutch municipal land policy. This chapter explains the preference of Dutch government, both state and municipality, for this particular instrument within the institutional framework on land policy and cost recovery. It analyzes what constitutes the incentive structure for actors involved in the process, in particular the municipality, and illustrates it through discussions in parliament, court decisions, and a case study. Planning in the Netherlands can be characterized as 'development-led' and not 'plan-led'. In most cases, land use plans are made only upon a concrete building initiative for development. The financial crisis of 2008 and its consequences undermined the dominant practice of negotiated land use plans and Public Private Partnerships.
