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In many European metropolitan regions, new economic centres have emerged at the edge of large cities or in their (post-)suburban areas. This paper explores the possible contribution of these new centres to a more sustainable regional development of European metropolitan regions. The realization of sustainable business parks is even more complicated at 'greenfield' sites than at 'brownfield' sites. With the absence of space scarcity or congestion problems, the temptation to choose easier, less sustainable solutions is hard to resist. Nevertheless, in the Dutch Randstad region, some edge-city and suburban business locations try to meet high sustainability standards. Two case studies in Hoofddorp and Almere illustrate the tough road towards truly sustainable business parks, focusing on the role of the various stakeholders that either encourage or discourage the realization of sustainability potentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the aspirations and strategies of self-builders of owner-occupied homes in a facilitated self-build scheme. It draws on a qualitative case-study of the Homeruskwartier in Almere, the Netherlands, one the largest assisted self-build schemes in present-day Europe, which caters to lower- and middle-income households. The study problematizes the notion that self-building necessarily leads to the pursuit of use values over exchange values. This questions the positive benefits attributed to self-building. The aspirations of self-builders are not only framed by social and material conditions, but are also being reframed in the action process. The paper stresses the contingent nature of aspirations and strategies and emphasizes the experimental nature of the self-building process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Loss of function of the astrocyte-specific protein MLC1 leads to the childhood-onset leukodystrophy "megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts" (MLC). Studies on isolated cells show a role for MLC1 in astrocyte volume regulation and suggest that disturbed brain ion and water homeostasis is central to the disease. Excitability of neuronal networks is particularly sensitive to ion and water homeostasis. In line with this, reports of seizures and epilepsy in MLC patients exist. However, systematic assessment and mechanistic understanding of seizures in MLC are lacking.Methods: We analyzed an MLC patient inventory to study occurrence of seizures in MLC. We used two distinct genetic mouse models of MLC to further study epileptiform activity and seizure threshold through wireless extracellular field potential recordings. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and K+ -sensitive electrode recordings in mouse brain slices were used to explore the underlying mechanisms of epilepsy in MLC.Results: An early onset of seizures is common in MLC. Similarly, in MLC mice, we uncovered spontaneous epileptiform brain activity and a lowered threshold for induced seizures. At the cellular level, we found that although passive and active properties of individual pyramidal neurons are unchanged, extracellular K+ dynamics and neuronal network activity are abnormal in MLC mice.Interpretation: Disturbed astrocyte regulation of ion and water homeostasis in MLC causes hyperexcitability of neuronal networks and seizures. These findings suggest a role for defective astrocyte volume regulation in epilepsy. Ann Neurol 2018;83:636-649. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suburbanisation has been a prevalent process of post-war, capitalist urban growth, leading to the majority of citizens in many advanced capitalist economies currently living in the suburbs. We are also witnessing, however, the reverse movement of the increasing return to the inner-city. This contradiction raises questions regarding contemporary urban growth and the socio-spatial production of the suburbs. This paper draws on the case of new town Almere in the metropolitan region of Amsterdam to cast light upon the changing suburban-urban relationship, by investigating the mobility to and from Almere for two decades through socio-economic, demographic data between 1990 and 2013. We demonstrate that Almere has developed from a typically suburban family community to a receiver of both international unmarried newcomers and families; its population has also become relatively poorer, yet the levels of upwards income mobility have remained stable. These trends emphasise alternative types of mobilities emerging in concert to the more typical suburban migration. The town’s transformation challenges the urban-suburban dichotomy, pointing to alternative explanations of contemporary urban growth and metropolitan integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can cities grow without harming the environment? Nicholas Falk and David Rudlin won the 2014 Wolfson Economic Prize by showing how to build New Garden Cities that are visionary, viable and popular. The principles were tested out first in York and then in Oxford, and are now being applied in a number of other cities. The basic idea is to use the uplift in land values to fund improved local infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many sixteenth- to eighteenth-century shipwrecks have been found after land reclamation in parts of the former Zuiderzee, one of the busiest waterways in Dutch history. After the land fell dry, some shipwrecks were excavated, destroyed, reburied, or covered with sand or clay. In the late 1970s a method was developed to mitigate degradation processes of some of the wrecks remaining in good condition by wrapping them in plastic foil. The idea was that the plastic would prevent evaporation and lateral subsurface flow. Wet conditions prevent decomposing of wood by especially soft rot fungi. Oxygen will be rapidly depleted by decomposition of organic matter. Recent monitoring of wrapped shipwrecks has shown that this method of preventing rot worked exceptionally well. We adapted wrapping using new technology nowadays applied for sealing tunnels and landfills. We will present the implementation requirements, materials and new adapted method for wrapping shipwrecks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows what a niche construction theory (NCT) approach can contribute to the long-term social and environmental history of an area when applied to both sedentary and non-sedentary communities. To understand how communities create and respond to environmental change, hominin presence of the central Netherlands within the last 220,000 years is used as a case study. For this case study we studied the interrelationship between hominins, water and landscape gradients for four periods of interest within this long-term hominin presence. During each of these periods the study area had a specific environmental setting and (possible) traces of hominin presence. These periods cover the (1) Middle to Late Saalian (~220-170 ka), (2) Late Glacial (~14.7-11.7 ka, (3) Mid-Holocene (6000-5400 BP) and (4) Late Holocene (1200-8 BP). This review shows that traces of niche construction behaviour related to water and landscape gradients in the central Netherlands can be shown for both sedentary and non-sedentary communities. Furthermore, in this review it is shown that the transition from inceptive to counteractive change in ecosystem management style in the central Netherlands took place between the Mid- and Late Holocene periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Dutch and Australian planning regimes are examined to determine whether they are ready to face climate extremes. Five different “cultural” facets of spatial planning determine the differences between the two regimes. These planning characteristics are first confronted with current climate change. The Dutch planning regime performs better under these conditions than the Australian. Secondly, a suite of spatial scenarios is confronted with both current change and a changed risk landscape, in which climate extremes are introduced. Again, the performance of planning characteristics to deal with these new vulnerabilities is tested. For type-1 impacts, exaggerating current change, a limited number of Dutch planning characteristics still hold, where the majority of Australian planning properties is likely to lose functionality. Under type-2 impacts, surprising climate events, the Dutch approach is no longer sufficient, while some Australian characteristics suddenly imply opportunities. The sectored planning approach, together with culturally determined individual responses, might prove to offer solace, under the condition that dealing with extreme events is made priority. Overall, current regimes face difficulties in dealing with surprising climate events and a fundamentally different planning approach is required. Swarm Planning, which dynamically deals with uncertainty, is proposed as a beneficial new planning method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neo-liberalism and decentralisation are eroding the capacity of central governments to implement their national spatial objectives. National government, with fewer financial and political resources at its disposal, has little power to intervene in strategic urban development, because cities have sufficient autonomy to define their own land use plans. This paper challenges this understanding of the contemporary condition of national spatial planning. It demonstrates that, although national governments have a weaker grip on local spatial dynamics, they play an active role in governing complex spatial development. Two urban development projects in the Dutch Randstad will be discussed in order to demonstrate empirically four different logics of involvement: endorsement, monetary impulse, propulsion and effectuation. It is concluded that there is great potential for national planning in a ‘lighter’ profile, with instruments used to strengthen the interconnectivity of networks—a condition for generating strategic capacity and ensuring the governability of spatial policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The concept of a planning doctrine can be used to analyse spatial planning systems, making reference to the ways in which their performance is influenced by patterns of thought. In the Netherlands the performance of the planning system has been attributed to a strong national consensus on a set of interrelated and enduring notions on spatial configurations and development strategies and how they should be handled: in plain terms, a 'spatial planning doctrine'. The spatial planning context has changed so much in the past fifteen years that many critics are questioning whether Dutch spatial planning can continue to live up to its internationally acclaimed reputation. We analyse the workings of the planning doctrine and conclude that it is still having an effect on planning practice. However, if it does not evolve more dynamically, it might be wrenched out of joint by the constantly changing planning context. We furthermore reflect on the potential role of a planning doctrine in the analysis of planning systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst personal knowledge networks between organisations have been argued to be important for regional economic development, their functioning and, within this context, the exact role of spatial proximity has been empirically underexplored. This paper addresses these issues by, first, examining the dynamic mechanisms of the formation, maintenance, and knowledge interaction of important knowledge relationships of R&D workers in the Cambridge information technology cluster in the UK. It is demonstrated that personal relations tended to transform from an initially professional context into privately governed relationships. Furthermore, it is argued that a sophisticated understanding of the role of spatial proximity requires an investigation of the spatiality of several stages of the network mechanisms. The results show that permanent spatial proximity and face-to-face interaction are more important for the formation of relationships than for the maintenance stage and, in particular, for work-related knowledge interactions. Finally, it is argued that, in contrast to the emphasis in much of the literature on communities of practice and epistemic communities, the knowledge relationships do not tend to be anchored in collective groups. Instead, the paper highlights the usefulness of the concept of individualised networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many factors affect the investment of individual households in renewable energy sources, we highlight one of them: the local spatial development plan. It is one of the planning tools for implementing development policies at the local level. Since it is on the basis of local spatial plans that investments are carried out on the ground, their role in the implementation of renewable energy sources is one of the most important. This article presents the results of a study of local spatial plans in terms of facilitating, on the one hand, and limiting, on the other hand, the implementation of various renewable energy investments. To a large extent, the focus was on examples of planning acts adopted in Polish communes, but they were compared with examples from other European countries. The authors focused on qualitative assessment, taking into account the regulations applicable to all investors, containing generally binding standards, which specify the development's land use and detailed building principles. The conclusions include recommendations for the provision of local development plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]