The Issue of an Issuemaker: five questions to a colleague about which social issue concerns them. Advisor Daan Bos is busy with spatial planning. He is involved in the movement 'Wij Maken Nederland', we ask him a few questions here.
Why is spatial planning your issue?
When I started my studies in Utrecht, they were working hard to transform the highway that ran right through the city back into a canal. Now that part of Utrecht is a green canal park where people can walk, instead of the gray asphalt dominating. The difference is so big. That showed me how important it is to think about what we want with our living environment. Spatial planning is always about the future. In this time of climate change, energy transition and nitrogen crisis, it is urgently necessary to think about that future.
How did you turn your issue into action?
Much is already happening to regain control of the scarce space, only politics avoids the debate about it. What does the country we want to live in look like, what is the political support for? That is why I wrote a opinion piece in Trouw in which we called for a debate on the scarcity of space. This opinion piece was widely heard by people who work in spatial planning. This was the reason to bring together some of these people in the movement 'Wij Maken Nederland'.
What does the movement want to achieve?
Wij Maken Nederland wants to stimulate the social dialogue and the political debate in the run-up to the new Nota Ruimte, the spatial vision for the future that the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning is currently working on. Quite a mouthful, but that document creates the framework for the next 25 years and already provides a start towards 2100. What will be included in it will therefore be very impactful for a very long time. And now is the time to have a debate and dialogue about it.
What does Issuemakers have to do with spatial planning and real estate?
In all honesty, most of our clients are still in other sectors. And I think that is precisely our strength: in the scarce space, interests from all kinds of perspectives come together, such as healthcare, energy and mobility. We know all these perspectives very well and we see in our work that more and more social issues are related to the scarce space. Communication can help to stimulate the debate about this, to guide it in the right direction or to come to actions that have a lasting impact. I think that we, as an agency that is at the heart of society, can contribute well to this.
When will we hear from you again?
Quick, haha! Wij Maken Nederland is organizing dialogues in all corners of the country in the coming months, send me an email if you want to be there. And for updates, be sure to follow me on LinkedIn, I will keep you informed of the latest developments!
