Integrated planning of water and land-use

The role of water in spatial planning has received increasing attention in recent years. It was, for example, one of the leading motives in the preparation of the latest National Spatial Planning Note for The Netherlands. For the preparation of such spatial plans, and to support the associated policy analysis, there is a need to fully identify and characterize the interactions between the water sector and spatial planning and establish the process for making consistent joint projections for the water sector and land-use. This should account for spatial claims from the water sector, balance those claims with claims from other sectors, and feed back spatial constraints and opportunities. Land-use markets and government policies (translated e.g. in spatial reservations) form an important input in this balance. Modeling is indispensable to keep track of spatial characteristics and trace changes; a framework is proposed which includes three levels of detail, modeling of spatial allocation of functions, representation of markets, links with sector specific modeling, sufficient linkage between micro and regional level, and a link with impact assessment at macro/regional economic level as well as on micro level. This should allow to: determine opportunity costs for claims on space, prepare reliable projections for infrastructure development, and investigate alternative configurations of spatial- and sectoral development in order to minimize costs and realize economies of scale. The framework is illustrated with three present day planning problems involving a mix of water-space-transport aspects