My PhD dissertation (the “Tiesis”): In 1986, the completion of the Eastern Scheldt barrier made Dutch flood risk policymaking world famous. What has happened since then? The comprehensive historical policy analysis in this thesis identifies three trends. National investments in flood protection have continued and were strongly supported by refined risk and acceptable risk analyses. The interplay between flood risk reduction and other water system objectives played a major strategic role and can be described by an upward movement in ‘Maslow’s hierarchy for water infrastructure development’, a concept introduced in this thesis. Nature development and landscape quality have become increasingly important, but a policy discourse analysis reveals a struggle to get to grips with these objectives and to find a balance between quantitative and narrative decision support.
Waterexperts willen het land op slot zetten
Als het aan veel experts ligt, krijgt waterbeheer absolute voorrang op andere ruimtelijke belangen, zoals wonen. Dat vraagt om een krachtig...