Coping with the growing complexity of our physical environment: The search for new planning tools in the Netherlands

This chapter reviews new developments made in response to complex objectives by focusing on the Netherlands. The compact city and sustainability represent a belief system of how people want planning to be or to act. The European Commission is a strong supporter of sustainable urban development. In its Green Paper on the Urban Environment, the European Commission identifies urban problems that obstruct sustainable development, highlighting private transportation in particular. The concept of sustainable development may be politically accepted, but its translation into practice is cumbersone. The impact of specialisation became noticeable in the nineties as dilemmas between the policy sectors emerged. Policy conflicts thus arise out of an expanding and highly specialised policy system unable to foster internal cohesion and inconsistent in approaching the physical environment. The chapter examines the Netherlands where the latest developments show new initiatives. It evaluates the individual actors involved in the planning process and the formal and informal views of organisations.