Zuid-Holland Omgevingsvisie
Core idea
Economic clusters + living environment
Why it matters
Regional framing for Randstad south
Description
A provincial spatial vision adopted by the Province of Zuid-Holland in 2019 under the framework of the incoming Dutch Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet). Rather than a blueprint, it is an integrated policy framework linking the province's economic clusters, including the Rotterdam port complex and greenhouse horticulture areas, with ambitions for the quality of the living environment, energy transition and climate adaptation. It covers the densely urbanised southern wing of the Randstad, coordinating growth across a polycentric field of cities from Rotterdam and The Hague to Leiden and Dordrecht.
Significance
The plan exemplifies the Dutch shift from prescriptive spatial planning towards integrated 'environmental visions' that merge land use, economy, ecology and health in a single adaptive document. It matters as regional framing for the southern Randstad, one of Europe's most intensively planned polycentric regions, and illustrates the debates over how much steering capacity provinces retain after the decentralisation of Dutch national planning.
What shaped it
- The master plan (early 20th c.)
- Zoning (1884 Germany / 1916 NYC)
- The compact city (1973-1990s)
Plans it influenced
Sources
- https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/prb-2019-2349.pdf
- https://omgevingsbeleid.zuid-holland.nl/omgevingsvisie