Recently, the government announced through the Structural Vision for Infrastructure and Space that it would relinquish central control of planning by shifting tasks to the province and municipalities. A bad plan. This capitulation throws away the last chance to make something of Randstad Holland.
It is well known that the Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. But what far fewer people know is that Randstad Holland, the agglomeration of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, is one of the most open urban agglomerations in the world. Nevertheless, many Randstad residents are short of breath. There is much, much of the same and it feels like there is no escape. In a crowded Randstad Holland, density is apparently not a matter of measuring but a matter of observation. It is therefore worthwhile to check whether there are identifiable elements or properties that cause congestion or better, can influence the feeling of congestion. The question then arises as to how the arrangement or arrangement of space affects the image of the environment. After all, it is not the truth that we see, but reality. It is not the numerical facts that we experience every day, but the way in which we come into contact with them.
The image of Randstad Holland
Where the perception of the object mainly takes place in stationary mode, it can be said that the image of the city is mainly created in movement. Our image of city and country is formed by walking, cycling and driving in it. Spatial planning is therefore primarily achieved through the construction of roads. The perception of space or the feeling of lack of cohesion can therefore largely be traced back to the way in which roads are built. From this it can be deduced that both the shape of streets and roads, and the pattern that all roads together form are guiding in the perception of reality. Logical and pleasant connections and connections strengthen the network, while conversely, interruptions or faulty connections result in disruptions in the network. So when we experience Randstad Holland as cramped, streets and connections are apparently made in such a way that it gives us the illusion of a full metropolis.
Roads are the mirror of society
In most countries, the construction of roads is the means of organizing space. In the United States, the rectangular street system aims for equality as a basic condition for freedom. Straight, open-ended streets are the physical hallmarks of freedom that are strongly felt in a city like New York. In France, the roads show that hierarchy is an inseparable feature of French culture. That is why churches and palaces are given the opportunity to dominate by their position in the line of sight of the street. Conversely, power would be meaningless if the street and street walls did not exist to frame the viewer’s gaze. In Nazi Germany, the network of highways was designed by engineer Fritz Todt. Germany does not have an undisputed centre, but rather a connection with the subsoil, the landscape. And so the highways do not lead to, but rather past the cities. Nazi Germany strived for an expansive empire, which included the illusion of infinity.
The road pattern expresses the ideology of a country. New York has an open character, France is monumental, Germany is vast. Roads are the mirror of society.
The roads of Randstad Holland show a culture of bottom up
It is therefore interesting to find out what message the roads in the Randstad convey. It turns out that Randstad Holland is created from the bottom up. Well-thought-out neighborhoods and districts come to the surface one by one. Innovation takes place here. Within a precisely defined plan area, with clear responsibilities and a concrete time horizon, we have worked energetically on growth and progress. The result is an unprecedented wealth of plans in which the streets achieve the ideal of sheltered communality and rounded planning. This conviction apparently is so strong that the street system is constantly developing. Every ten years or so, this leads to new forms, precisely tailored to the vision of living together at that time. Seen from the inside, the structure of roads steers towards rest and the exclusion of undesirable influences. The road system is used as a means to limit and control plan developments, as if the most recent expansion will really turn out to be the last. In this way, the Randstad could maintain the illusion of planning without making statements about the whole.
Outside the neighborhoods, our roads are cumbersome, confusing and subversive. Institutions of national importance, such as parliament, ministries or museums, are rarely located on main roads and our monarch lives invisible. Neighbourhood collection roads, neighbourhood access roads and ring roads, no matter how carefully constructed, will remain anonymous. As if they have to keep the world at a distance. Boulevards are almost completely absent. The old provincial roads and the long lines from church tower to church tower were cut out of the system in the course of the 20th century. Highways are not given space.
Roads are the mirror of society. Our roads tell us that we do not want to name the relationships within Randstad Holland, as if we want to hide reality from view. Randstad Holland appears to be an accumulation of optimized project areas in which it is good to live. In between lies a no man’s land of unknown ownership and unnamed relationships.
Freedom in no man’s land
This no man’s land between the cities gets a little smaller with every cabinet term. So small, in fact, that it could easily be abolished in the recently presented Structural Vision for Infrastructure and Space by Minister Schultz. The government is no longer in charge of that. Decentralization and deregulation are the key concepts. Literally, the Minister said in her speech: ‘Decision-making space as close as possible to the citizen, will be the starting point. Trust is the basis. The central government will take the place of provinces and municipalities as little as possible. People themselves know best how to respond to their own situation.’
This capitulation may well throw away the last chance to shape Randstad Holland. With bottom-up planning, Randstad Holland cannot grow any further. The neighborhoods, villages and cities are starting to get in each other’s way. As a result, they lose their ideal of independence and protection without a new foothold in return. In short, the Randstad is gradually becoming unattractive, inefficient and completely incomprehensible. Large urban systems need structure, hierarchy in order to function. The government will have to focus on creating and improving networks for the Netherlands and the Randstad. With roads and highways that show us the green space, as the controversial Motorway A3 through the Green Heart could do. With provincial roads that may bind us to the everyday life of Holland. We need to overcome our innate fear of infrastructure and understand that roads are the sustainable fabric of the city. Against this background, it is desirable for the government to work top-down on a Randstad plan. A plan with roads that brings out the core qualities of Randstad Holland, for example, the historically rooted diversity and the green space. A network of roads that makes the Randstad efficient and understandable again and connections are made. After all, that’s where roads are for.
Henk Hartzema, Archined, 15 July 2011
