Moving with the Times: An Examination of Ten Years of Dutch Transport Planning

Abstract

When the Dutch government presented the Second Transport Structure Plan (SW-II) in 1988, it pronounced a new view on transport planning that would give equal weight to accessibility and liveability. Mobility control and selective accessibility were central themes, which would benefit both the environment and economy. A few years later, it became evident that most of the core objectives of the SW-II would not be reached. The professional debate on the implementation of Dutch transport planning indicated a number of explanations for the inadequacy of the national policies, mainly related to the institutional context of public planning, and the lack of coordination between the actors involved. In response to the experiences of the SW-II, the proposed new national transport policy announces better cooperation between the actors in the field of transport planning, and replaces sustainable development with sustainable economy. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.