Ruimte voor onzekerheid:interactie tussen actoren in de dynamiek van infrastructuurplanning

In spatial planning, there is an increasing awareness that uncertainty must be taken into account in decision-making. At the same time, it appears to be difficult to include uncertainty in decision-making due to the interaction between policymakers and other actors, and because of a changing environment during the decision-making process. This research examines the way policy makers deal with uncertainty in infrastructure planning under the influence of the aforementioned factors. To this end, the decision-making process for three area-oriented infrastructure projects is analyzed: the redevelopment of Airport Twente, the construction of a bypass of the IJssel River near Kampen, and the redevelopment of the provincial road N340 Zwolle-Ommen.The research shows that in their efforts to keep the decision-making process manageable, policymakers continue to strive for uncertainty reduction. They adapt their handling of uncertainty only gradually to their changing environment, and seem to do so mainly for opportunistic reasons or when they are forced to do so. In response to these efforts of policymakers for uncertainty reduction, opponents try to increase uncertainties so that alternatives are considered. The resulting 'contested community' makes it difficult to arrive at a broadly supported area-oriented infrastructure plan. On the basis of this research, it is recommended to break through the pattern of 'action-reaction' between policymakers and opponents in dealing with uncertainty through an early open dialogue and through 'joint fact-finding' in which there is room for uncertainty