Ruimte voor een democratische rechtsstaat - RePub - Erasmus ...

Rotterdam Central
The redevelopment of the Rotterdam Central railway station area is a case study that comprises
three large investments. First, the realisation of infrastructure for the high-speed train to Belgium
and France. Second, the improvement of regional transport, particularly a light rail connection
between Rotterdam and The Hague. Third, various projects upgrading the city centre.
During 1998-2001 the city of Rotterdam, Dutch Railways, ING and Rodamco formed
an ‘alliance’ to produce a master plan for the redevelopment of the railway station area. This
alliance was to be the public-private partnership that national government required in key
projects. ING is a major bank and insurance company. Rodamco is a major real estate company.
The alliance set up a project organisation that facilitated the work on the master plan by the four
parties and that took care of public relations. The alliance invited local residents and commuters
to participate in the planning. National government awaited the plan. The plan failed the test,
particularly the government’s financial conditions. The redevelopment was then cast less
ambitious. Five parties continue the planning: the city and urban region of Rotterdam, the
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, the Ministry of Transport, Public
Works and Water Mangement and Dutch Railways.
The case study shows that public administration starts participatory policy-making and
that citizens do accept when they are invited to participate. However, public administration cannot
break with its tradition of representative policy-making. The ineffectiveness of participation
damages the trust given by citizens and business. Remark that an important reason for national
government to hold on to representative democracy is to give account, the risk to fail
institutionalised trust. The frustration in cooperative governance hinders connections between
spatial, transport and governance networks. The failure of connections reduces possibilities for
innovation in use of space. The large investments are taken up in a rather fragmented way, as a
result of which the potential railway station area synergy is perhaps not realised.
In this case the spatial context of policy-making seems split up. The meanings of a
transport network and flow are favoured in representative democracy, whilst the meanings of a
spatial network and place are favoured in participatory democracy. National actors on the one
hand and local actors, including private investors, on the other hand adhere to different values for
the use of space.
Both the relation between the models of democracy and the relation between spatial
orientations show that the allocation of the means to invest has major consequences for the
interactions between actors and for the policy executed by them. The inclination to partition
steering competencies (sectors, budgets) proves stronger than the willingness to connect solutions
to complex problems.
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