Strategic planning of energy landscape:: Synergies and trade-offs in Parkstad Limburg

This research aims to test how energy could be used in landscape and then in which means energy landscape could solve the social and cultural issues.The energy transition is a spatial issue because it is forms of sustainable energy inherently entail new demands on space. A regional spatial vision on energy, based on which issues like landscape integration can be coordinated shortly, is called for. Parkstad Limburg currently is described as the fastest growing tourist destination in The Netherlands. It is a region full of contrasts and extremes. This place located in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands, with an estimated 2017 population of 245109 and consists of eight municipalities. It covers a total area of 211 km², with a population density of 1,161 per square kilometers. This region used to be known as the Eastern Mining Area. Around 1900, the formerly agricultural area rapidly developed as the epicenter of Dutch coal mining. In 1965, the Dutch national government decided to close the state mines. Most former mining complexes were demolished and replaced by natural areas, parks or housing areas, but the old miners hardly profited from those new jobs, so the city began to shrink. It is fascinating when the landscape is a tool to deal with a social and economic problem. My main interest in this Lab is energy flow in a landscape. In a large scale perspective, shrinkage is an inevitable stage and does not mean passive; While in the sight of Parkstad scale, it is a shame to losing both the identity and population. It is thought-provoking as a landscape architect to rethink about what will landscape act in this procedure and what will Parkstad benefit from. The energy transition is a spatial issue because it is forms of sustainable energy inherently entail new demands on space. To do energy-conscious spatial planning, and achieve synergies in such a complicated place, the questions are invited for: What are the energy-conscious spatial strategies, to integrate with energy sinks, urban green network, and differentiation of niches, to facilitate sustainable energy landscape design to improve environmental quality in Parkstad? With this research question, I come up with three strategies for the whole Parkstad region, based on the existing problems on a big scale. They are a green grid strategy, energy flow strategy, and spatial composition strategy. These three strategies are parallel and correlated in some respects, for example, social and cultural activities. It is a challenge as the complexity of this area but makes the intervention approach more interesting. And how to achieve a delicate balance between the synergistic effect and trade-off is my primary task and research orientation.Architecture, Urbanism and Building Science