business model
Park-inclusive development Utrecht is one of the most centrally located and fastest growing regions in the Netherlands, with hundreds of thousands of housing units planned to be built until 2050. It is also a region of iconic landscape areas, ranging from typically Dutch peat meadows and 17th century estates to the forests and hills of the National Park Utrechtse Heuvelrug, which is annually used by over three million people. In the current situation, planners struggle to find suitable and available locations for these housing units, while landscape managers struggle to find sufficient funds to develop and maintain the landscape areas. Park-inclusive development intends to solve these two problems by connecting them strongly in a paradoxical concept: strengthen nature by development. A sensible but paradoxical concept In the financing of landscape, the costs and the benefits are usually not fairly shared. Some homeowners for example enjoy a rising value of their property when a park organization or government invests in a landscape project. So the idea of coupling development of cities and landscapes makes sense, but the idea is bound to raise suspicion. How can we strengthen the landscape in the region, while ‘consuming’ it at the same time by building houses? To achieve the most robust park development and the financial flexibility that is needed to spend more on landscape in the housing area itself, housing projects need to be of a considerable size and density. Something that especially the suburban municipalities find difficult, as it goes against their self-image of a village community. At the moment, existing housing areas
in the vicinity already become more and more part of the national park by clever vegetation strategies, focusing on public space and private gardens (initiative ‘Heuvelrugtuin’). This links closely to the idea of natureinclusive design of new buildings and infrastructure. The focus of Park-inclusive Development is on spaces around, not within, the National Park. Landscape investments and raised awareness around the park are establishing green ‘fingers’ and other connections to the park, thereby increasing the area of influence of the park.
Initiative: Park-inclusive development, 2018 Type of organization: think tank Landscape focus: national park Scale: region Website: www.np-utrechtseheuvelrug.nl Financing model: private donations, public subsidies and business revenues from care and hospitality
Park-inclusive development. Photos: Martine Sluijs Contact with Think Tank and advisors: Martine Sluijs (PIP), Janine Caalders (NP Heuvelrug), Jasper Kuipers (Staatsbosbeheer), Sander Jansen (Zeist), Merten Nefs (Deltametropool), Paul Roncken (Utrecht), Walter Kooy (advisor), Bertus Cornelissen (Utrecht) and Theo Stauttener (Stadkwadraat) Read more: https://deltametropool.nl/nieuws/ parkinclusief-ontwikkelen/ Ring ring ring ring! Ringpark Magazine https://www.np-utrechtseheuvelrug.nl/nl/ Heuvelrugtuin
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