Today, we took the hour bike ride from Delft to Den Haag (The Hague), one of the four major metropolitan centres, including Amsterdam and Schiphol, comprising the Netherlands' major agglomeration. This agglomeration is the fourth largest in Europe. Once there, the municipality's traffic policy department gave us and overview of its transformative policies before enthusiastically embarking with us on a walking tour for a more on the ground experience to witness the transformations to this area since the 1970s
Admirably, The Hague's officials applied a proactive approach when dealing with the disruptive culmination of events including the 1973 oil crisis, a devastating increase in death from traffic-related incidents, and congestion on roadways. To break the habit, officials applied a 'build it and they will come' approach by installing bike lanes and storage facilities, halting plans to build more freeways, and devise other innovative solutions to increase connectivity, including introducing train and light rail systems, park and ride programs, and creating daily bike rental programs.
In addition, they placed parking facilities underground, and transformed parking lots into public spaces which are now used for public seating areas, art installations, and cafes for local businesses. Based on the tour guide's explanation, it appears that the Hague's officials ensured sufficient and iterative decision making based on multi-stakeholder consultation. They admitted that one failure while building a bike lane resulted from neglecting to consulting the businesses owners, and rather only seeking the opinion of cyclist community.
All that glitters is not gold...
Having a planning background, I fall into the habit of gathering various social groups' perspectives on an urban development issue. While the traffic policy officials were excited to show us the positive changes from their plans, where I remain skeptical with the Hague's urban policies is its slightly neoliberal approach. For instance, our tour guides mentioned that public land is up for grabs to sell and convert to a train station expansion. Beyond this, I felt hesitant about the number of urban megaprojects in the central area. Moreover, the architecture mimicked the modernism hailed in the 1950s (a bit too Le Corbusier for my taste).
An immigrant neighborhood bordering the downtown Hague seemed to lack proper bike lane facilities. While millions of euros are feeding into these downtown infrastructural improvements, I wonder if these peripheral areas get the proper attention they need. It wouldn't be the first time UMP get all the funding (Vancouver is particularly guilty!). Furthermore, with all the changes occurring in the core, are these residents at risk of displacement? Are their voices heard?
While the Dutch remain proud of their bicycle utopia, after experiencing a week of cycling in Delft and the Hague, and previously another week in Amsterdam, I am still a bit critical of their system. During the tour, we discovered a newly opened underground storage facility with capacity for 400 bikes that was already full. While biking is definitely one way to encourage sustainable communities, I'm not sure I'm all that ready to "go Dutch". Perhaps we ought to look more to multi-modal solutions to enable flexibility and fairness in traffic for urban quality of life.
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| Once a parking lot, this space has been handed over to the public realm and Mother Earth |
Historical Traffic Policy and Change
In addition, they placed parking facilities underground, and transformed parking lots into public spaces which are now used for public seating areas, art installations, and cafes for local businesses. Based on the tour guide's explanation, it appears that the Hague's officials ensured sufficient and iterative decision making based on multi-stakeholder consultation. They admitted that one failure while building a bike lane resulted from neglecting to consulting the businesses owners, and rather only seeking the opinion of cyclist community.
All that glitters is not gold...
Having a planning background, I fall into the habit of gathering various social groups' perspectives on an urban development issue. While the traffic policy officials were excited to show us the positive changes from their plans, where I remain skeptical with the Hague's urban policies is its slightly neoliberal approach. For instance, our tour guides mentioned that public land is up for grabs to sell and convert to a train station expansion. Beyond this, I felt hesitant about the number of urban megaprojects in the central area. Moreover, the architecture mimicked the modernism hailed in the 1950s (a bit too Le Corbusier for my taste).
An immigrant neighborhood bordering the downtown Hague seemed to lack proper bike lane facilities. While millions of euros are feeding into these downtown infrastructural improvements, I wonder if these peripheral areas get the proper attention they need. It wouldn't be the first time UMP get all the funding (Vancouver is particularly guilty!). Furthermore, with all the changes occurring in the core, are these residents at risk of displacement? Are their voices heard?
While the Dutch remain proud of their bicycle utopia, after experiencing a week of cycling in Delft and the Hague, and previously another week in Amsterdam, I am still a bit critical of their system. During the tour, we discovered a newly opened underground storage facility with capacity for 400 bikes that was already full. While biking is definitely one way to encourage sustainable communities, I'm not sure I'm all that ready to "go Dutch". Perhaps we ought to look more to multi-modal solutions to enable flexibility and fairness in traffic for urban quality of life.
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