Taking planning seriously: Compulsory purchase for urban planning in the Netherlands

•Studying urban policy instruments reveals novel insights about Dutch planning.•Landowners may evade compulsory purchase by realising the plan themselves.•The Dutch Crown dismissed 72% of self-realisation claims between 1995 and 2012.•The self-realisation principle puts planning above private proper...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cities 2014-12, Vol.41 (a), p.71-80
Main Author: Korthals Altes, Willem K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Authority
City Planning
Compulsory purchase
Eminent domain
Expropriation
Netherlands
Payment systems
Planning
Public policy
Regional planning
Urban Areas
Urban development
Urban economics
Urban planning
Urban policy
Urban policy instrument
Zoning
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Summary:•Studying urban policy instruments reveals novel insights about Dutch planning.•Landowners may evade compulsory purchase by realising the plan themselves.•The Dutch Crown dismissed 72% of self-realisation claims between 1995 and 2012.•The self-realisation principle puts planning above private property interests.•This principle may strengthen rather than weaken Dutch urban planning. Public policy instruments such as compulsory purchase frame the relationships between authorities and those affected. In Dutch planning local authorities may not issue compulsory purchase orders if landowners are able to realise the plan themselves. This self-realisation principle has been strongly criticised. However, the arguments are not based on a study of compulsory purchase in practice. This paper fills this gap by analysing both the historical path of compulsory purchase and the Royal Decrees on compulsory purchase issued in the Netherlands between 1995 and 2012 in which the parties concerned claimed self-realisation. The analysis revealed that 72% of the self-realisation claims assessed by the Crown were dismissed. Consequently, the impact of this principle does not bear out the expectations of the critics. Indeed, it may strengthen rather than weaken the position of planning in relation to landowners. The paper also shows the merit of an instrumental approach in the context of urban and regional studies.
ISSN:0264-2751
1873-6084
DOI:10.1016/j.cities.2014.05.011