ABSTRACT
The national government is retreating from spatial planning. Most national urbanization policies have been abandoned in the Structuurvisie Infrastructuur en Ruimte (SVIR), and spatial quality is no longer considered a national interest. Economic development is the main priority of spatial planning. Interestingly, national planning has not taken on one of the key characteristics of the regional economic approach found in other countries: balanced development. Instead, funding is focused on what are seen as the most competitive areas of the country. So there is convergence with respect to Europe as well as divergence: convergence because economic goals are dominating, divergence because fair distribution of economic development across the country is not what the present policy seeks to achieve. Dutch national spatial planning has changed course in more than one sense, which are, content: it is no longer comprehensive; influence over lower levels of government: what was binding in the past has been handed over to provinces and municipalities.
