The Governance of Order

Abstract

God created the world, but the Dutch made their own land. They had to, since a quarter of the country lies below sea level and another 30% along rivers, all endangered by spring tides and temporarily high water levels. As from 1000 AD the Netherlands have been shaped and reshaped, controlled and vehemently protected against natural forces, its main natural enemy being the water wolf. Water management is part of the DNA of Dutch culture, and to mastering nature has been the rule rather than the exception throughout Dutch history. Building dikes, reclaiming land from lakes and the sea, shaping polders and to construct orderly cities required collective efforts and investments. These activities, driven by collective gains and compelled the cooperation of private organisations and public authorities, are reflected in the Dutch landscape breathing optimisation, order and symmetry, straight lines and geometrical patterns, as if designed by Dutch painter Piet Mondriaan.

Governance is a too big container of policy, private and public parties, juridical frames, common values, formal and informal rules of government, age-old practices of social and political deliberation, and changing attitudes to all these characteristics. This chapter traces some headlines of the culture, methods and instruments of governance of what may be called, geography made by governance, with a focus on spatial planning.