Urban and Regional Development

BUITEN Consultancy provides urban and regional development advice to public authorities and real-estate businesses: advice on housing, business accommodation and recreational issues at various levels of scale, ranging from village/district to regional and international plans. We provide our services for projects such as the development of a municipal office-market strategy; the study of housing needs in a re-development area; the formulation of an integral long term plan for a region; the quantitative estimation of the needs for facilities or employment; the preparation of a regional innovation strategy, or the creation of a labour-market plan of action.

Our expertise additionally extends to the development and management of European projects, and to the supervision of interactive processes.

BUITEN Consultancy works with small teams in which senior consultants make a major contribution. We combine quantitative methods with attention to quality and to contributions by the client and other interested parties, and we attach great value to communications and design.

The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area is the dynamic heart of the Dutch economy. With 2.2 million inhabitants, 1.1 million jobs, 185,000 companies and international hubs like Schiphol Airport and the Port of Amsterdam, it is one of the main European Business Gateways. Nevertheless, the region is facing serious problems. To mention some examples: large brownfield sites need to be regenerated, 2.2 million m2 office space is vacant and unsalable (17% of the total stock!), and property prices are falling.

Since 2006, local authorities have repeatedly asked BUITEN Consultancy for advice on economic planning strategies, to perform research projects, to monitor real estate developments, and to write grant proposals. Joost Hagens and Luuk Stevens have helped the region set up and implement a joint agenda on regional economic planning that is unique in the Netherlands. Nowhere else do local and regional authorities so closely work together on these themes. One of the main achievements is the establishment of a regional service desk where local municipalities can apply for help to regenerate old industrial estates. This service desk has been denominated as a national pilot project by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and will be implemented in other regions in the Netherlands as well.

As a part of a Dutch export-promotion project, leading Dutch planning consultancies have formed a consortium to offer the ‘Dutch approach’ to spatial planning challenges faced by cities in Romania – adapted to local demand. The Dutch approach principally entails a holistic approach to spatial development: integrating regional spatial strategy, stakeholder input and local demands and ambitions to form a tailor-made plan.

BUITEN is involved in designing planning policies for urban tourism development and economic sites and properties. In the autumn of 2011, workshops will be held with Romanian municipal staff and decision makers about the recommendations on these topics.

For a couple of years now, Sander Kooijman has been managing a number of projects in the region around Amsterdam. In this position, he is responsible for the negotiation process with regional authorities regarding the development of the city of Almere (more specifically, the infrastructure required to develop this multinuclear new town), the upgrading of some regional highways, and the development of a new water retention and housing area west of Schiphol Airport.