A method for incorporating environmental aspects into spatial planning

'We can learn from the history of the Indians in North and South America, the small holder on Java Indonesia, the public worker in The Bronx in New York, the manager who feels responsible for his firm and people, the spatial planner and the scientist who believe and work in terms of mutual respect.' This statement speaks to the mutual relationship or the interdependence of human beings and their natural environment. This ethical concept is not bound to a certain location and certain time, and applies to everybody all over the world. The municipality of Zwolle, together with the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning and Environment of The Netherlands, has developed a method by which this concept can be translated into a practical instrument in which environmental values can be protected without overly constraining human land use. This instrument is called 'a Method for involving Environmental aspects into spatial Planning' or MEP. With this method, environmental influences caused by human activities, such as urban developments, are assessed in terms of the environmental sensitivities of the areas concerned, with the purpose of gaining insight into problems which might occur by implementing these developments. Practical experience has proven that the MEP works and can be applied very simply, not only within Zwolle but in other places within The Netherlands and in other parts of the world, such as the Third World. In The Netherlands the MEP has been published in a handbook or manual, which can be used by governmental employees dealing with the environment and spatial planning (Streefkerk 1992).