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Environmental Law Tools for the Idea of a Compact City. Learning from the Dutch Case

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International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2018

Part of the book series: International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy ((IYSLP,volume 2018))

Abstract

The concept of a compact city is an important tool to support sustainable urban development. However, the intensified use of urban areas can also cause tension between environmental law and spatial planning policy. This chapter addresses the question as to what extent environmental law tools can support the idea of a compact city. It first discusses EU policy on this matter and then examines the Dutch approach on the idea of a compact city.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See (for instance) Communication from the Commission, Sustainable Urban Development in the European Union: A framework for action, COM (98) 605 final and European Commission, Urban Agenda for the EU, https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/urban-agenda and UNEP (2018).

  2. 2.

    OECD (2012), De Roo (2000) and Boeve (2017).

  3. 3.

    E.g. De Roo (2000), p. 151.

  4. 4.

    An English translation is available on https://www.omgevingswetportaal.nl/wet-en-regelgeving/documenten/publicaties/2017/01/24/unofficial-translation-of-the-environment-and-planning-act-and-parts-of-the-explanatory-memorandum.

  5. 5.

    The government is now working on an Implementation Act and Implementation Decree amending existing legislation in line with the new act.

  6. 6.

    Explanatory memorandum Environment and Planning Act (English version), p. 3. https://www.government.nl/documents/reports/2017/02/28/environment-and-planning-act-–-explanatory-memorandum.

  7. 7.

    Boeve (2017), p. 14.

  8. 8.

    OECD (2012), p. 28.

  9. 9.

    Dantzig and Saaty (1973).

  10. 10.

    OECD (2012), p. 31; Lee et al. (2015), pp. 1054–1070.

  11. 11.

    An important notion is that the different urban agglomerations have to be linked together by public transport.

  12. 12.

    OECD (2012), p. 28.

  13. 13.

    OECD (2012), p. 57; Fertner and Grosse (2016), pp. 65–79; Nabielek et al. (2012), p. 27.

  14. 14.

    UNEP (2018).

  15. 15.

    EEA (2015a), p. 53.

  16. 16.

    Geurts and Van Wee (2006).

  17. 17.

    OECD (2012), p. 57; Nabielek et al. (2012), p. 27.

  18. 18.

    OECD (2012), pp. 69–75; Nabielek et al. (2012), pp. 27–31.

  19. 19.

    UN, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld.

  20. 20.

    European Commission, Next steps for sustainable European future. European action for sustainability, COM (2016)739 final.

  21. 21.

    See https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg11.

  22. 22.

    Communication on Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment, COM (2005), 718 final.

  23. 23.

    The Sixth Community Environment Action Programme. Final Assessment, COM (2011) 531 final, p. 6.

  24. 24.

    Decision 1386/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2020 ‘Living well, within the limits of our planet’, (see no. 93).

  25. 25.

    Available via www.urbanagendaforthe.eu.

  26. 26.

    Guidelines on best practice to limit, mitigate or compensate soil sealing, SWD(2012) 101 final/2, p. 39.

  27. 27.

    COM (2006)231. See also the Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe, COM(2011)571 final.

  28. 28.

    Guidelines on best practice to limit, mitigate or compensate soil sealing SWD(2012) 101 final/2.

  29. 29.

    Guidelines on best practice to limit, mitigate or compensate soil sealing, SDW(2012)101 final/2, p. 20.

  30. 30.

    EEA (2015b), p. 22.

  31. 31.

    Art. 5 Treaty on European Union.

  32. 32.

    See COM(2011)321 def., p. 12 (noise). A proposal for a Framework Directive on soil was blocked by member states based on the principle of subsidiarity (PB EU C 153/3 and C163/15.

  33. 33.

    Art. 23 Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EU.

  34. 34.

    Directive 2010/75/EU of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions.

  35. 35.

    Art. 11 IED.

  36. 36.

    Art. 3 (6) IED defines ‘environmental quality standard’ as: ‘the set of requirements which must be fulfilled at given time by a given environment or particular part thereof, as set out in Union Law’.

  37. 37.

    Van Rijn-Bogaart (2017), pp. 276–277; Boeve and Van den Broek (2012), p. 82.

  38. 38.

    Spatial Planning Act, art. 2.1–2.3 (available in Dutch at www.wetten.nl).

  39. 39.

    Boeve (2017), pp. 31–34; De Roo (2000), p. 152.

  40. 40.

    Parliamentary Papers II 2003/4, 29435, no. 2, p. 84.

  41. 41.

    See for a summary in English of the SVIR: https://www.government.nl/topics/spatial-planning-and-infrastructure/documents/publications/2013/07/24/summary-national-policy-strategy-for-infrastructure-and-spatial-planning.

  42. 42.

    In the European context this approach seems not to be an exception. See EEA (2015), p. 22 and par. 3 of this chapter.

  43. 43.

    English Summary SVIR, p. 14, https://www.government.nl/topics/spatial-planning-and-infrastructure/documents/publications/2013/07/24/summary-national-policy-strategy-for-infrastructure-and-spatial-planning.

  44. 44.

    Spatial Planning Decree, art. 3.1.6 (2) (available in Dutch at www.wetten.nl).

  45. 45.

    Van Velsen (2016), par. 2.2. The ‘ladder’ is also simplified in 2017 by amending the provision.

  46. 46.

    RLI (2015), p. 31. See for an English summary of the report: https://en.rli.nl/sites/default/files/rli_2015-07_eng_1.pdf.

  47. 47.

    VROM-Raad (2009), p. 16; Boeve (2017), pp. 16–18.

  48. 48.

    Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EU.

  49. 49.

    Boeve (2017), pp. 200–201.

  50. 50.

    Van Rijn-Bogaart (2017), pp. 192–193.

  51. 51.

    Although under strict conditions a temporary exemption is possible.

  52. 52.

    Art. 5.2 (4) Dutch Environmental Management Act (available in Dutch at www.wetten.nl).

  53. 53.

    VROM-inspectie (2009).

  54. 54.

    Boeve (2017), pp. 208–210; Otten (2011), p. 450.

  55. 55.

    E.g. ABRvS 3 march 2010, ECLI:NL:RVS:2010:BL6194. Although the possibilities have expanded due to an amendment of the Dutch Environmental Act, see Boeve and Van den Broek (2012), p. 82.

  56. 56.

    E.g. ABRvS 22 April 2015, ECLI:NL:RVS:2015:1231 and ABRvS 27 maart 2013, ECLI:NL:RVS:2013:BZ7483.

  57. 57.

    In Dutch: Interimwet stad-en-milieubenadering, Stb. 2006, 17 (available in Dutch at www.wetten.nl).

  58. 58.

    In Dutch: Crisis- en herstelwet (available in Dutch at www.wetten.nl).

  59. 59.

    In Dutch: Wet plattelandswoningen, Stb. 2012, 493 (available in Dutch at www.wetten.nl).

  60. 60.

    See also Boeve and Van Middelkoop (2010), pp. 18–20.

  61. 61.

    Art. 2 City and Environment (Interim) Act.

  62. 62.

    E.g. Evaluatiecommissie Stad en Milieu (2004), p. 19.

  63. 63.

    That is not very surprising, it is for instance not possible for local authorities to deviate from limit values on air quality because of the European background of these standards.

  64. 64.

    Art. 2 and 3 City and Environment (Interim) Act.

  65. 65.

    Boeve (2017), p. 293.

  66. 66.

    Verschuuren (2013).

  67. 67.

    De Graaf and Tolsma (2015), pp. 294–296.

  68. 68.

    They are designated in the ‘Decree implementing the Crisis and Recovery Act’.

  69. 69.

    Another example of this approach is the Dutch approach on air quality, see Fleurke and Koeman (2005) and Boeve and Van den Broek (2012).

  70. 70.

    These reports ‘Voortgangsrapportage Crisis en herstelwet’ are available at www.omgevingswetportaal.nl (in Dutch).

  71. 71.

    Art. 2.3 (3) and (4) Crisis and Recovery Act.

  72. 72.

    This instrument is implemented in the Dutch Rural Dwelling Act, Stb. 2012, 493 and is only applicable in situations where the zoning plan allows new residents to live in former ‘farmhouses’. These new residents are not working at the farm. Background of this legal framework is the prevention of deserted rural houses, See Parliamentary Papers II 2011/12, 33 078, no. 3, pp. 1–2.

  73. 73.

    Bregman (2014), p. 10; Alders (2012).

  74. 74.

    Driesprong (2014), p. 51.

  75. 75.

    Boeve (2017), p. 268.

  76. 76.

    Explanatory memorandum EPA, p. 2, English version available on https://www.government.nl/documents/reports/2017/02/28/environment-and-planning-act-–-explanatory-memorandum.

  77. 77.

    Explanatory memorandum EPA, p. 13.

  78. 78.

    Parliamentary Papers II 2013/14, 33 962, no. 3, p. 267.

  79. 79.

    De Graaf et al. (2018), p. 313.

  80. 80.

    Explanatory memorandum EPA, p. 13.

  81. 81.

    The decrees are available at www.omgevingswetportaal.nl (in Dutch).

  82. 82.

    Parliamentary Papers II 2013/14, 33 962, no. 4, pp. 28–29.

  83. 83.

    In the sense that the allowed maximum level of pollution is fully used.

  84. 84.

    Boeve (2017), p. 336.

  85. 85.

    Art. 2.4 EPA.

  86. 86.

    Groothuijse et al. (2016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Marlon Boeve

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  1. Marlon Boeve
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Correspondence to Marlon Boeve .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. German Environment Agency, Dessau, Germany

    Harald Ginzky

  2. University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Elizabeth Dooley

  3. Specialist Group on Sustainable Soils and Desertification, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, Kleinmachnow, Germany

    Irene L. Heuser

  4. Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

    Emmanuel Kasimbazi

  5. Research Centre for European Environmental Law, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Till Markus

  6. Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Tianbao Qin

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Boeve, M. (2019). Environmental Law Tools for the Idea of a Compact City. Learning from the Dutch Case. In: Ginzky, H., Dooley, E., Heuser, I., Kasimbazi, E., Markus, T., Qin, T. (eds) International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2018. International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy, vol 2018. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00758-4_5

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