Spatial planning relates to policy interventions that aim to steer spatial developments in such a way that societal and environmental conditions are improving, whilst also meeting other objectives related to, for example, economic development, water management and biodiversity conservation. Reconciling these often conflicting objectives is an extremely demanding task that calls for: clear undisputed information on current developments; insight in possible future trends; the preparation of alternative policy measures and an understanding of their impact. Spatial analysis can provide the required information on past, current and projected spatial developments as well as indicate the impact of existing and proposed policy measures as is demonstrated in this thesis. See the figure on this page as an example of an analysis result (Source: Koomen and Dekkers, 2013).
SPINlab combines various forms of spatial analysis with newly available and highly detailed spatial data sets in research that supports the formulation of spatial polices in domains such as:
- open space preservation
- rural vitality
- urban intensification
- sustainable urban development
- attracting knowledge workers
Updates
Voor een appartement wordt meer betaald
Dat kopte de NRC op 27 april over een onderzoek dat mede is uitgevoerd door SPINlab onderzoekers Jip Claassens en Bart Rijken. In dit onderzoek werd een vergelijking gemaakt tussen de bereidheid om te betalen voor binnenstedelijke appartementen en suburbane (eengezins)woningen. Door de kenmerken van 2,6 miljoen verkochte woningen in...Read More »
PhD promotion Ting Zou
Last January Ting Zou successfully defended her PhD dissertation at the VU University. Her thesis Landscape service provisions and preferences on the urban–rural fringe ‘attempts to investigate changes in landscape service supply and people’s preferences towards these services over space and time on the urban–rural fringe, and assist in...Read More »
Space for Employment
SPINlab started a new research project on focussed on the transformation and expansion of formal business estates (bedrijventerreinen) with several societal partners.
The new ‘ruimte voor werken’ (space for employment) project has been granted by NWO as part of the VerDuS SURF Pop Up 2019 programme. The demand for residences and...Read More »
Urban densification session at RSA conference
VU-SPINlab organized a special session on urban densification at the Regional Studies Association’s winter conference in London last week. The central question was: Are cities dense enough? Several speakers from universities and the European Commission addressed this question, explaining regional variation in urban growth in Europe, proposing model approaches...Read More »
Urban sprawl report OECD
One of our alumni (Lara Engelfriet) contributed to an extensive urban sprawl study while working at the OECD. Using highly detailed spatial data the study quantifies the multiple dimensions of urban sprawl in a new set of indicators. The outcomes provide a new perspective to the nature of urban sprawl...Read More »