crises and innovation in sustainable city planningsystem, coupled with green spaces, was to form a...

Crises and innovation in sustainable city planning

W. Timmermans Alterra – Green World Research, Wageningen University & Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Abstract

The environmental problem demands drastic changes. There is a need for innovation. This paper is the first on a new project, that started in 2004, studying sustainable planning processes. The hypothesis is that innovations do not occur in traditional linear processes, but arise from crises in complex processes. In this research, projects are studied in which sustainable innovations have been realised. Interviews have been carried out to describe the planning processes. Redescriptions have been made to compare the process characteristics with the characteristics of unstable dynamic systems. From this research a first characterisation of different types of crises can be given.

1 Introduction

Prigogine is at the forefront of a new science: the physics of unstable processes [14,15]. Unlike deterministic-mechanistic thinking, exhaustive knowledge can no longer lead to irreversibility in time, nor to absolute certainty, but only to insight into the possibilities of future developments. Research must be directed towards unstable dynamic systems. The world is made up of individual, chaotic systems that are constantly interfering with each other. Gleick [8] and Lewin [12] amongst others assess the work of scientists involved with more than one discipline and describe how new insights are beginning to penetrate. Theories about unstable processes appear in many sciences such as ecology [18], archaeology [10], neurobiology, management science [3], mass communication [6], history [19] and the history of architecture Kulic [11].

© 2004 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-720-5The Sustainable City III, N. Marchettini, C. A. Brebbia, E. Tiezzi & L. C. Wadhwa (Editors)

2 Problem

The environmental problem in the Netherlands demands drastic changes. Environmental quality objectives have been devised from both a legislative and a policy point of view. For the benefit of town and country planning for example. Legislation is technically functional in character: it approaches the problem from the relationship between cause and effect. The procedure is modern, based on a mechanistic image of the world, in which ‘effects are produced by an unbroken sequence of components’ [17]. The realisation of environmental norms in sustainable spatial planning is especially demanding. Town and country planning processes are creative and complex in character, and do not lend themselves well to implementing sectoral, standardized quality objectives [20]. Usually norms relating to a variety of sustainable themes such as energy, domestic noise pollution, nature and spatial use are all financially or spatially in conflict with each other. In spite of this, many innovative sustainable projects are being implemented in urban development projects without, or sometimes in spite of, clear environmental objectives. The main question in this article is whether Prigogine's philosophy about unstable processes can be helpful in explaining why these innovations have been allowed to happen. The hypothesis is that innovations do not occur in linear processes based on norms, but arise from crises in complex processes.

3 Method

The research has been aimed at a number of sustainable planning processes. In doing this, the planning processes have been seen as unstable dynamic systems. These systems are defined as societal processes aimed at completing the undertaking as part of an attempt to achieve sustainable urban development. They have several characteristics in common. They display chaotic and unpredictable behaviour. They have so-called attractors: within the existing chaos there is a certain regularity and organisation. The development processes within the system stay linear for quite a long time and remain within the stability of a certain attractor. Due to certain circumstances however, often additional development on the periphery, the system can become unstable; and then small provocations, crises, can have unexpectedly significant consequences (figure 1), whereby the system suddenly becomes influenced by another attractor (figure 2) [4,8,12,15,23]. A crisis however is not recognized in the same way by each observer within the system [4]. In this research, projects were studied in which sustainable innovations had been realized. The first project was a plan to achieve a sustainable water system in the newly developed housing estate in Westerpark, Breda. The second was a study commissioned by the Innovation Network for Town and Country Planning and Agro-clusters to create numerous green urban corridors in the delta metropolitan landscape of the Netherlands. Interviews were carried out to describe the process [7,22]. Redescriptions have been made to compare the studied processes with the characteristics of the unstable dynamic systems


54 The Sustainable City III

already mentioned. Finally, the innovation moments are related to the characteristics.

Figure 1: Small crisis cause innovation of unstable systems (after Geldof [4]).

Figure 2: Steps of innovation in process x during time t [15].


The Sustainable City III 55

4 Sustainable water systems in Westerpark, Breda

In 1991 the borough council of Breda started planning the new housing estate, Westerpark. About 1500 dwellings were to be built. At the same time the borough council had approved the first Environmental Policy Plan with one of its objectives being: Westerpark will be a sustainable estate. Part of the plan for the new estate included sustainable water management. In the final plan, the water system, coupled with green spaces, was to form a sustainable base for the plan, part of the borough council's green and water strategy [21]. There would be nature-friendly riverbanks and watercourses; rainwater would be collected in the streams and there would be fewer hard surfaces in the estate than is normally the case [7]. In redescription we are faced with the following. Influenced, among other things, by the Brundtland report, the borough council's Environmental Policy Plan was set up. Civil servants responsible for the environment are convinced of the need for change: in their view the traditional way of planning a new estate does not satisfy the new standard of sustainability, town and country planning is sometimes even regarded as an instrument of environmental policy. In the opinion of the planners however, not much has changed; in their view sustainability is of no consequence to the design and development of the new housing estate; sustainability is primarily a question of management. There is little experience of sustainable urban development and little support to even evaluate it well. In the initial stages, however, the planning becomes influenced by a new procedure, which is being applied for the first time. All borough council services must now first submit a quotation for the work to be carried out to the Development Corporation. As yet no one has had any experience of this and there is no clear format that must be satisfied by the quotations, and these quotations must be based on the estimated number of man-hours. The only thing to be done by the Environmental Department is to impose an extra cost of more than 100,000 euros for calculating some of the aspects of sustainability in the plan: water, building, economy and traffic. The Development Corporation is furious: the plan is already expected to go over budget by several tens of millions. The Environmental Department is persistent and the total quotation, against the wishes of the Development Corporation, is submitted to the City Council. The councillors responsible for Land Development, Financial Affairs and the Environment decide to honour the quotations. Before the start of the Westerpark plan there has been an `officials' conflict about water management. The Civil Engineering Department has built up a routine based on quantitative water management. For years the Environmental Department has been begging for riverbanks that are friendly both to the environment and nature. The discussion resembles trench warfare, with the ultimate weapon being that nature-friendly riverbanks attract exhibitionists. At the start of planning it is obvious that the Civil Engineering Department has come up with a traditional water plan. At that moment there is neither a national nor a provincial plan and absolutely no norms at all with regard to local



environmental or nature policy in the field of urban water management. Another never-ending round of trench warfare seems to be looming on the horizon. At that moment the Department of the Environment suggests that the Land Development Department should construct an ecological water system in order to considerably reduce the amount of space required. A system of urban watercourses may have relatively large differences in water levels. Rainwater from peak drainage would then be stored vertically instead of horizontally which is traditional [1]. Millions would be saved. So this is approved and more money will be invested in the development. Once constructed the system appears to be so successful that the local council decides to construct such an ecological system in all future new development plans.

5 Eco-corridors

In the nineteen-seventies, a number of eco-corridors were constructed in the Netherlands. These are large fauna passageways over which deer and other animals can cross the motorways. Recently plans were suddenly made, and implemented, that included green corridors over motorways in an urban environment. The aim was not to make things easier for the animals but to increase the quality of life for the city-dwellers. It is now more to do with reducing noise pollution and developing more relaxing and ecological connections. In a research project commissioned by the Innovation Network for Town and Country Planning and Agro-clusters, the question of how this innovation took place and under what conditions is being studied [22]. The focus now therefore is to study the role of crises in the decision-making.

6 Urban corridors in Breda

To the west of Breda is the A16, a busy motorway between Rotterdam and Antwerp, which also divides the communities of Breda and Prinsenbeek. The Dutch Ministry of Transport and Public Works made plans to widen this road considerably, which of course resulted in major social unrest due to fears of increased noise pollution. However, just before the work was to be carried out plans were also being made to construct the High Speed Link (HSL) to Paris alongside the A16; the HSL was to be laid at a raised level because much of the existing infrastructure would have to be intersected. This also led to considerable public unrest in the region. The Ministry was forced to stop work on the first procedure, which was almost at the implementation stage, and bundle the two processes together, thus gaining more room for negotiation about the negative environmental consequences of the infrastructure bundle. At the same time the local boundaries were being redrawn: Breda and Prinsenbeek were to be merged. A strong lobby was now set up for an integral contingency plan. The Dutch government, influenced amongst other things by an impressive protest organised by Prinsenbeek's carnival society, made more money available so that the HSL line could be laid underground. The result is that it will be laid less deeply with



two broad green areas or urban corridors, so that the cities can be connected as part of the urban development plan. The redescription is as follows. Two originally linear infrastructure developing processes will be interfering with each another, partly due to growing criticism of the planned approach. At the same time, criticism and dissatisfaction interfere with further dissatisfaction about the joining together of the two communities, and an escape valve is found in the conflict about the infrastructure bundle. The result of the first two processes, in combination with the third, is a deepening of the infrastructure costing 125 million euros, combined with a couple of urban corridors, which will bind the newly joined communities together [9,13,22].

7 Office Corridor in Almere

Almere is a so-called new town situated in close proximity to Amsterdam. Within twenty-five years the number of inhabitants has grown from 0 to 150,000. The Almere Gate Structure Plan marks the following phase in the growth. An important part of this plan is a business park that for those who come from Amsterdam, actually symbolises the Gate of Almere. It is a spectacular plan, whereby a choice has been made for an unconventionally high density of buildings so that the green areas can be developed in a robust zone. An office building, with an eco-corridor on top of it, forms the `gate' over the motorway (figure 3). This eco-corridor connects the robust green zone with nature reserves on the other side of the motorway (Almere borough council, 2001). A project developer is prepared to construct the building; the councillor requests a plan to be drawn up. The driving forces behind the plan are the project leader and the councillor [22]. Then there's an election and a small landslide takes place. Just like almost everywhere else in the Netherlands, `local' Almere comes from nowhere to become the largest party. The most important point on their agenda is not further growth, spectacular innovations and landmarks, but a better quality of life on the estates together with social cohesion. The councillor, the driving force behind the office corridor, disappears. The project leader accepts a new job elsewhere. Now the project developer arrives with the promised result, even though there is barely any remaining demand for it [2,16,22]. The redescription is as follows. Under favourable conditions one or more individuals can come a long way with an innovation. In practice the whole process and the end result depends on these individuals. If they leave, the momentum disappears; if they carry on then the project also often still goes ahead. Throughout history there have been many examples of innovations that have come about in such a way. It is not the direct social value but the gesture that is often the driving force. The boundaries for what can be achieved can be clearly moved up, but innovation is tremendously vulnerable because it is dependent on just a few individuals.



Figure 3: Kantoroduct Almere [2].

Figure 3: Kantoroduct Almere [2].



8 Analysing the redescriptions

If we return to the societal systems and look at how, according to Prigogine [14] and others, they work in unstable situations we should ask how, according to Prigogine's ideas, some of the phenomena observed by us can be explained? The systems display chaotic behaviour. In all the cases described, in certain aspects the end product is completely different to what had been expected: natural watercourses in the city, an underground instead of a raised HSL line, and no office corridor. Attractors are recognizable. Especially the routine processes of the development plan give a lot of stability. Whichever way you look at it there is, for example, always a percolation plan, a design plan and a zoning plan containing an exploitation suggestion and a juridical paragraph. Development processes run linear for a long time. The Civil Engineering Department in Breda had already developed a traditional water management plan for Westerpark, long before it was commissioned, thus attempting to continue with its traditional approach. The ambitions of the environmental services in the field of sustainable water management have been frustrated for years due to smooth-talking discussions. For years the widening of the A16 near Breda has been running parallel to the plan for the HSL and the Ministry has hung on to this for as long as possible. Due to certain circumstances a system can become unstable. Geldof [4] calls these circumstances crises if they are the cause of the transfer of one linear process to the other. Developments from outside. In the examples given, the effect of a trend can often be seen in the form of a crisis. The Brundtland report in Westerpark, increasing interest in the quality of life and social cohesion in Almere are examples of social trends that radically affect the current linear processes. The wide, but also recent local unrest about infrastructure projects was a deciding factor in Breda. Interference of linear processes. In Breda at least three linear processes interfere with each other. Each finding itself influenced from outside, so that they become radically changed. Individuals play an important role in crises. They can be the deciding factor in whether or not to continue with or change a process. The councillor in Breda does that in regard to Westerpark; the project leader and the councillor did that together in Almere. Not everybody regards a crisis in the same way. In Westerpark it became clear to the Environmental Department from the very beginning that there was a crisis and that the traditional process must be adapted; at first this was not even considered by the Planning Department. It is in this way that small variations in the process can eventually result in radical consequences.



9 Crises and innovation

Based on the analysis of societal processes as complex dynamic systems, innovations can be better understood. Changes come about suddenly and unexpected. Also different types of crises can be mentioned: interfering linear processes, external trends and the qualities of individuals seem to give the decisive push towards the introduction of innovations. Further research on crises is essential in order to be able to speak with more confidence. Such research must cover more than one discipline so as to reach a realistic classification of crises. Crises are found everywhere, not just in planning processes or sustainable urban development.

References

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