Including participation requirements into planning law

This paper analyses how ambitions to enhance participation in spatial planning decisions were translated into the new Environment and Planning Act in the Netherlands that took effect in 2024. The study analysed the various ambitions for enhancing participation and compared the participation require...

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Main Authors: Daniel Hollemans, Saskia Bisschops, Raoul Beunen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Politecnico di Torino 2025-07-01
Series:European Journal of Spatial Development
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.polito.it/index.php/EJSD/article/view/442
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author Daniel Hollemans
Saskia Bisschops
Raoul Beunen
author_facet Daniel Hollemans
Saskia Bisschops
Raoul Beunen
author_sort Daniel Hollemans
collection DOAJ
description This paper analyses how ambitions to enhance participation in spatial planning decisions were translated into the new Environment and Planning Act in the Netherlands that took effect in 2024. The study analysed the various ambitions for enhancing participation and compared the participation requirements before and after the legal reform. The study showed that participation requirements hardly changed. Despite ambitions to enhance participation through new legislation, new rules have been formulated that however do not regulate the content of the participation process beyond the requirement that were into force before the new act took effect. The study shows that the formulation of legal rules concerning participation was strongly influenced by overly optimistic expectations about possible positive effects of participation, while no attention was given to the conditions that are needed to ensure that these positive effects indeed materialise. This makes it debatable that a desired improvement of participation comes about.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1650-9544
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Politecnico di Torino
record_format Article
series European Journal of Spatial Development
spelling doaj-art-f6c8a3cb3dd742d5bd8394b5d7906db22025-08-20T03:51:09ZengPolitecnico di TorinoEuropean Journal of Spatial Development1650-95442025-07-0122110.5281/zenodo.16091834Including participation requirements into planning lawDaniel Hollemans0Saskia Bisschops1Raoul Beunen2Open University, Faculty of Sciences, Valkenburgerweg 177, 6419 AT, Heerlen, the NetherlandsOpen University, Faculty of Sciences, Valkenburgerweg 177, 6419 AT, Heerlen, the NetherlandsOpen University, Faculty of Sciences, Valkenburgerweg 177, 6419 AT, Heerlen, the Netherlands This paper analyses how ambitions to enhance participation in spatial planning decisions were translated into the new Environment and Planning Act in the Netherlands that took effect in 2024. The study analysed the various ambitions for enhancing participation and compared the participation requirements before and after the legal reform. The study showed that participation requirements hardly changed. Despite ambitions to enhance participation through new legislation, new rules have been formulated that however do not regulate the content of the participation process beyond the requirement that were into force before the new act took effect. The study shows that the formulation of legal rules concerning participation was strongly influenced by overly optimistic expectations about possible positive effects of participation, while no attention was given to the conditions that are needed to ensure that these positive effects indeed materialise. This makes it debatable that a desired improvement of participation comes about. https://journals.polito.it/index.php/EJSD/article/view/442law development, participation, planning law, planning reform.
spellingShingle Daniel Hollemans
Saskia Bisschops
Raoul Beunen
Including participation requirements into planning law
European Journal of Spatial Development
law development, participation, planning law, planning reform.
title Including participation requirements into planning law
title_full Including participation requirements into planning law
title_fullStr Including participation requirements into planning law
title_full_unstemmed Including participation requirements into planning law
title_short Including participation requirements into planning law
title_sort including participation requirements into planning law
topic law development, participation, planning law, planning reform.
url https://journals.polito.it/index.php/EJSD/article/view/442
work_keys_str_mv AT danielhollemans includingparticipationrequirementsintoplanninglaw
AT saskiabisschops includingparticipationrequirementsintoplanninglaw
AT raoulbeunen includingparticipationrequirementsintoplanninglaw