Publiek belang: hoe houd je het op de rails? : een studie naar de effectiviteit en legitimiteit van planvorming voor stationslocaties

The role of government in the spatial domain has changed significantly in recent decades.\ud Developments in society and in the spatial sector have led to the traditional domains of government, market and citizens becoming increasingly interwoven. The view which until recently has predominated - of a government that centrally, and in a top-down way, sets the standards for spatial developments - is no longer applicable. Today, the need for cooperation between governments and other actors in the field in order to find solutions for contemporary spatial issues is increasingly emphasised. Public administration and planning literature pay much attention to the growing interdependencies and the inter-organisational setting in which spatial developments take place. However, little research has been done on the impact of these new arrangements in terms of safeguarding the public interest. In the wider debate on this subject, it is pointed out that conflicting interests and blurred boundaries can undermine the ability to safeguard the public interest. However, it is rarely clear what exactly the public interest is, and whether or not this interest is safeguarded. This research contributes to filling this knowledge gap. This is achieved through developing a conceptual framework - based on theoretical insights - that can serve to evaluate the public interest in specific spatial projects, and an empirical analysis of the relationship between the design of planning processes and the safeguarding of the public interest. In this second part, a number of redevelopments of station areas in the Netherlands are studied