Concepts of participatory decision-making in dutch infrastructure planning

Abstract

Continued growth in traffic volume and infrastructure facilities such as airports, railroads, and highways can lead to a variety of environmental problems. Car traffic in particular consumes energy, produces congestion, causes accidents and pollution. Traffic is also a major generator of noise nuisance. Accordingly, a major challenge for infrastructure planning is to combine economic growth with an acceptable use of the available territory, nature, and biodiversity, and a restriction on environmentally harmful emissions. In a small, densely populated, country, such as the Netherlands, these environmental problems often emerge as highly complex decision-making situations that feature conflicting interests. Consequently, Dutch infrastructure planners find it difficult to guarantee the participation of all these interests and deliver good quality and environmentally sound outcomes. © 2009 Springer Netherlands.