The Netherlands is a river delta where 16.7 million people live on just 41.000 km², for the greater part selfmade land. Urban and regional planning runs in the blood of this country and its culture. For centuries development planning and land use control have been adopted to reclaim large areas, as well as to keep the country safe and dry. Hardly a square metre of the Mondrian-like polders and the carefully planned cities has escaped the planners' hands. Even nature is thoroughly managed and sometimes created. In the 20th century, the Dutch planning system became one of the most sophisticated in the world. As a result, planning, occupation and urbanisation in the Netherlands mirror its social, economic and cultural life. THE SELFMADE LAND is a complete remake of the well-known Dutch textbook Van Grachtengordel tot Vinexwijk, which has had four reprints and sold over 10,000 copies since 2003. It describes the evolution of urban and regional planning in the Netherlands since the 16th century, unfolding a history of not only master pieces like the Amsterdam Canal Belt and spectacular public works like the reclamation of the Zuyderzee and the Delta Works, but also numerous smaller planning projects in cities, villages and the countryside. It tells the continuing story of the birth and rebirth of planning concepts on different time scales, the intriguing debates regarding a sustainable environment in the melting pot of Dutch society, and the final outcomes in terms of quality of space. AUTHORS: Len de Klerk, is emeritus professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Amsterdam. After completion of his degree in urban and regional planning at the Radboud University of Nijmegen he held various positions as a planning officer at the city of Deventer and the city of Rotterdam, amongst others as deputy director of urban development and maintenance. In 2000 he took tenure at the university. Hans van der Cammen received a Ph.D. in spatial planning from the University of Amsterdam (1979) and lectured at this university till 1989. He then joined the Institute for Traffic, Logistics and Regional Development at the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO in Delft. Since 2003 he has consulted for various public and private bodies in the Netherlands. Gerhard Dekker was fortunate enough to complete his urban and regional planning degree at the dawn of the new democratic South Africa. His first experience as a planner was to partake in a central place study that produced a proposal for the re-demarcation of all local and provincial boundaries in the country. He went on to practice as urban and regional planning consultant, working on a diversity of projects from strategic visions to hands on urban renewal projects. He also moderated an Environmental Engineering Course of the Pretoria Technicon. Peter Paul Witsen completed his urban and regional planning degree at the University of Amsterdam. He is an urban and regional planner and journalist. He currently heads his own consultancy firm Westerlengte. ILLUSTRATIONS: 200 colour illustrations
