How water flows in strategic spatial planning: The strategic role of water in Dutch regional planning projects

To what extent can current attempts to link Dutch water management and spatial planning be regarded as a reflection of a more strategic planning style? How do prevailing institutional conditions offer constraints or opportunities for further strategic action in water planning? The paper employs the Dutch case and some Dutch projects, including a large-scale housing site ('Saendelft'), the Wieringen Border Lake project (North-Holland) and the Blue City project (Groningen) to explore these exemplary questions. Each of the cases, in their own way, can be regarded as exemplary for a further move towards strategic water planning, emphasizing new integration of water and land-use management through projects.