*Celebrating Spatial Planning at TU Delft: 2008-2019. Edited by Stead, Bracken, Rooij & Rocco

Urbanism . TU Delft 101
The Power of Regional Design
FRANCISCO COLOMBO & JEROEN VAN SCHAICK, REGIONAL DESIGNERS AT PROVINCE SOUTH HOLLAND.
At TU Delft we have a strong
tradition in teaching and
researching regional design.
This tradition was built up over
more than three decades working
in close cooperation with practice.
As practitioners, researchers, and
teachers we have experienced
the power of regional design as
a policy instrument serving the
practice of regional planning. As
such, regional design is fundamentally
different from classical urban
design.
Regional visioning through regional
design serves as a compass in a
complex planning context, providing
direction for a multitude of
stakeholders, and ensuring that
decisions are well-substantiated.
Regional design provides visual
answers to questions of how “the
region” is experienced as context,
space, institution, or physical precondition
for sustainable development.
Administrators, interested
parties, citizens’ collectives, and
market players can align themselves
with, and gather around,
such imagery. Local developments
and decisions can gain strength by
positioning themselves within “bigger”
regional narratives.
Regional designers now face the
daunting task of interpreting the
new assignments of economic
modernisation, energy transition,
the impact of new technology, and
climate adaptation in terms of concepts
and narratives. The power of
regional design will lie in the identification
and visualisation of these
new spatial challenges. To make a
difference, the university needs to
develop substantiated theoretical
and methodological frameworks
for regional design, and to prepare
professionals and academics for
work in multidisciplinary teams
and complex governance settings.
Fig. 64: Stedenbaan (TOD) in South Holland, Province South Holland. Map provided by F. Colombo.