The national government had a varying degree of influence over
urban quality in the key projects. Two examples may demonstrate
this. One of the objectives of the project known as The Hague New
Centre (Den Haag Nieuw Centrum) was to give the area a city centre
function. Redevelopment of the public space was thus prioritised. A
separate project group – De Kern Gezond (‘The Healthy Core’) – was
given responsibility for this. The Austrian urban planner Rob Krier
and Dutch architect Sjoerd Soeters became urban planning supervisors
for the area called ‘The Resident’. Urban quality was paramount
in the plan for this area and was based on creating public
space, to which the surrounding buildings were designed to add.
In the second example, the Amsterdam Zuidas project, urban planners
used many classic means, such as a mix of functions, high density
and a dense street pattern inspired by the inner city of
Amsterdam. The national government’s involvement is currently
focused on the decision to cover the ring road and railway with a
structure that can be built on. This will largely address the nuisance of train and car traffic and bring the Zuidas closer to
the inner city, functionally and instinctively. The question of
whether the national government will ultimately partly finance
this project has yet to be answered.