21st Century (2000–present)

Brabant Omgevingsvisie

2018 · Netherlands · Western & Central Europe · Ecological, landscape-led, and resilience planning · Planned by Provincie Noord-Brabant
Aerial photograph of 's-Hertogenbosch, capital of North Brabant province, the area covered by the Brabant Omgevingsvisie.
Aerial photograph of 's-Hertogenbosch, capital of North Brabant province, the area covered by the Brabant Omgevingsvisie. · CC BY-SA 4.0

Core idea

Smart mobility, energy, nature networks

Why it matters

Provincial growth + transition guide

Description

The Brabant Omgevingsvisie of 2018 is the environmental and spatial vision of the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant, prepared in anticipation of the national Environment and Planning Act. Rather than allocating land uses, it sets strategic ambitions for the province: energy transition, smart mobility, a competitive economy, climate-proofing and a connected nature network, to be worked out with municipalities and water boards. It covers a polycentric urban region including Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda and 's-Hertogenbosch.

Significance

The vision illustrates the Dutch shift from prescriptive spatial planning to integrated 'omgeving' policy, merging environment, water, mobility and land use into one strategic instrument. It is significant as an early provincial test of the Environment and Planning Act's philosophy of invitation and co-production rather than blueprint control. Commentators debate whether such open frameworks can still deliver hard choices on nitrogen, agriculture and urbanisation in a contested countryside.

What shaped it

Sources

Open it on the interactive timeline →
hub.toekom.st — History of Urbanism · an interactive timeline of 850 planned cities across 6,000 years.