ABSTRACT
There is an old saying that God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland. To a certain extent, this is true. From the Middle Ages to the 1980s, the Dutch have been actively involved in the process of land reclamation. Without the elaborate system of dikes, dams, and flood control gates that the country has developed over the last millennium, almost two-thirds of the Netherlands would be under water. Practically the entire west and low north of the country consists of polders: drained lands mainly surrounded by dikes within which groundwater levels can be controlled. There are some 5,000 polders in all (van de Ven, 2002). Over the centuries, reclaiming land on the sea while protecting existing land has produced some of the most outstanding features of the Netherlands’ geography. Likewise, the unparalleled planning and design approaches that have sustained and advanced urbanization in the Netherlands could be used as a model for other cities. Although the Randstad’s (ring of cities) long tradition of land reclamation and planning makes it a good model, it is important to understand the dynamics of this system before ideas and knowledge can be transferred or adapted to another urban region. To grasp the dynamics and complexities of the Dutch institutions, planning traditions, and design approaches and their outcomes, it is crucial to explore and analyze: (1) the factors that have contributed to making the Randstad the economic powerhouse of the Netherlands, (2) the impact of the Dutch National Spatial Strategy, and (3) approaches that have encouraged innovation in Dutch planning and design.
