"Land Use Scanner and Environment Explorer are among the best in the field"

This is one of the main conclusions of the scientific review of the Land Use Scanner and the Environment Explorer. The scientific review, carried out in January 2007, was organised by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.....

LUMOS-consortium granted co-funding by RGI and Habiforum

After a long tender-process the LUMOSpro-project, in which most of the partners of the LUMOS-consortium are involved, has been granted co-funding by the Ruimte voor Geo-Informatie (RGI)- and the Habiforum Programmes.

Seeking space for urban development

Where cities and towns can best be built with due consideration for soil, water, the landscape, nature and accessibility is a current question being asked by policy makers. A tool to answer this question is the arsenal of maps available at the MNP, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. Both the report and the "Site Seeker" tool included here provide insight into the use of these maps. The layer approach of the tool and report show how maps can be combined in urban planning situations.

Urbanisation in Zuid-Holland: making the choice between nature, housing and employment

The Dutch province of Zuid-Holland is not large enough to provide the space needed for housing and employment, and at the same time be able to offer optimal nature and landscape conservation and water protection. The conclusion that urbanisation in Zuid-Holland will require clear choices to be made here is reflected in a recent study carried out by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency for Zuid-Holland.

Will open areas between cities disappear?

Ongoing urbanization may force the urban sprawl to spread across the individual boundaries of neighbouring Dutch cities and villages in the Randstad causing open areas to disappear. The same development can be seen in the Dutch provinces of Limburg and Brabant. These conclusions can be drawn from a study calculating the spatial effects of the National Spatial Strategy policy document from the Dutch government.

Visualisation of future land use in the Netherlands

Visualisation of future land use in the Netherlands Both the rural and the urban physical environment will reflect sharp changes in the coming decades. Increased land use for housing, employment and leisure will contribute to further urbanization, especially in the centre of the Netherlands. Depending on the degree of government protection, this could result in the deterioration of nature areas and valuable landscapes.. These are the conclusions reflected in the spatial elaboration of scenarios developed for the Sustainability Outlook.