This book is about Dutch strategic planning. Although the Netherlands is often considered a planner's paradise, it should be realized that it is one that is carefully constructed and maintained by the planners themselves. In discussing national planning, and in this framework provincial and local planning, the authors invoke the notion of planning doctrine. Planning doctrine encompasses a definitive view of what the country should look like. In the Dutch case this entails preserving a distinct pattern of urban settlements called 'Randstad' enclosing the open area in the middle called the 'Green Heart'. Doctrine also addresses how government should pursue its policies in the face of mounting pressure. By means of the 'planning doctrine' planners are stimulating public support. This book comprises the origin and establishment of the 'doctrine' up to and including the Fourth Report on National Physical Planning. This book will be of interest to scientists, researchers and practitioners in urban, regional and strategic planning, urban and social history, social geography, public administration and policy sciences.
