Both generations of the key projects are comparable in terms of
the motivation for national government involvement, with arguments in favour of this involvement focusing on the generation
of additional national wealth through the creation of appropriate
locations for international companies and the notion of public
space as a public good. However, in spite of these similarities in the
justification of national government involvement, there are significant
differences in the policy instruments used by the national
government. Governance in the first-generation projects rested
particularly on procedural instruments such as coordination measures
and policy agreements, while, as suggested above, in the second
generation an additional national budget was specifically
deployed for the key projects. Furthermore, a review of urban quality
was reinforced by calling in the Chief Government Architect
(Atelier Rijksbouwmeester), who holds an independent position in
the Netherlands, intended to promote the quality of architecture
by advising the government on architectural policy and government
housing. Consequently, the Chief Government Architect
monitored the results of national investment in the second-generation
projects more intensely and more systematically than the
first-generation projects.