Bas Jurrijean Kramer
Urban Transformation and Sustainability
A RECHARGED ‘HART’: Synergizing the Housing Pressure in the Depleted Landscape on the Fringe of the ‘Groene Hart’
The current spatial policy, characterised by market-driven housing and intensive agriculture, is depleting the fringe of the ‘Groene Hart’ (Green Heart) in the Netherlands. Economic, ecological and social imbalances dominate housing developments under terrestrial urbanisation pressure. This imbalance turns the fringe into the Randstad’s hinterland, facing housing shortages, environmental degradation and social polarisation.
To address these issues, redefining urban-rural relationships is essential. An ecocentric approach, treating humans and nature as equals and combining housing with landscape development, offers an alternative. This Ecocentric Regionalism approach synergistically integrates social, economic and ecological interests into non-exploitative practices.
This strategy transforms the fringe into a dynamic transitional mosaic of agro-ecological urban housing projects and regional landscapes, creating the Fringe National Parkland. The fringe becomes an eco-cultural biodiversity ring, integrating pressures within a synergistic system, allowing sustainable land use and limiting urban growth.
By adopting this flexible strategy, the Parkland can provide 468,929 homes across 84 locations, revitalising the region for an ecocentric future.