Artificial Green Corridors Crossing Large Infrastructure in Metropolitan Areas

Abstract

Metropolitan areas have a growing need for better connections with inter-urban green areas, which are better dissected by large infrastructure networks. This chapter analyses the planning process of the green Craailo bridge in the Netherlands, the world's largest artifi cial and a very expensive nature bridge. The planning process appears to have been far from linear. In fact, many incidents, sudden changes and unexpected opportunities were evident during the planning process, not described in common planning literature. The complexity perspective and planning process of the Craailo bridge were analysed based on several policy documents that were scrutinised, along with 19 interviews conducted with key players. A new perspective on highly complex planning processes in the spatial planning practice was introduced as a fi nal result of this research.