Empower Energyscape

Abstract

Located in the large urban area named Randstad, the Rotterdam-The Hague metropolitan area (MRDH) has the largest European port and the majority of Dutch greenhouse sector residing within its borders. Accounted for only 2.7% of the area in the Netherlands, the MRDH consumes 17.3% of the total energy use. However, the MRDH is almost impoverished in terms of energy resources. Most of the fossil fuel energy used in the region is imported. Therefore, this energy intensive development model has also brought challenges from both climate change and fossil fuel depletion, resulting in multiple ecological, environmental, economic and social issues, which obstruct the further growth of the region. There has been an urgency in transforming traditional energy landscape to sustainable energy landscape.

Although the Netherlands has released many policies and regulations on sustainable energy, the current approach is still far too slow. Only 6% of the energy used in the Netherlands comes from renewable sources in 2016. One of the reasons that can explain the slow approach is that the renewable energy technologies are facing public resistance. People keep holding protests because of the negative impacts on landscape. Thus, the practical gap within energy landscape which separates sustainable energy transition and landscape quality apart needs to be addressed. Energy transition and landscape quality have, to date, been treated as two separate conceptual domains. The deficiency in spatial planning and design has evoked the public resistance because people are more aware and concerned about the quality of living environment.

With the focus on sustainable energy landscape and landscape quality, this project gives a new insight on how spatial planning and design can improve the landscape quality of energy landscape, in order to increase public concern and support about sustainable energy transition, thus to contribute to creating a more sustainable, livable and resilient MRDH.