This is the third of a series of episodes being led by the oldest friend of the podcast, Paul Smith.

Paul put it to Sam Stafford that debates about the planning system in England tend, for the most part, to focus solely on the planning system in England. We very seldom look to other countries for inspiration and ideas.

Paul wanted to remedy that and so in this series he is chatting with planning professionals and academics from a number of countries to find out what works well there, what works less well, and what can we learn.

In this episode Paul chats to Jannes Willems and Lilian van Karnenbeek about planning in the Netherlands.

In a conversation recorded online in October 2025 they talked about a new Dutch Environment & Planning Act; subsidiarity between the three levels of Dutch planning; active and passive land use policy; public engagement in the Dutch system; cycling obviously; and the role of land reclamation in making planning so central to Dutch culture.

Some accompanying reading.

Insights on the Dutch Environment & Planning Act

Icons of Dutch Spatial Planning

Brilliant Orange

50 Shades T-Shirts

Save The Date: Live Event 1 June 2026

Public Sector RTPI Survey

Private Sector RTPI Survey

Identifying the delays and barriers experienced in the planning applications process

Planning in the Pub

Some accompanying listening

The Fall – Kurious Oranj

Any other business.

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Sam is grateful to Richborough, Town Legal and Tyler Grange for supporting the podcast; to Vistry for sponsoring the 50 Shades mugs; and to Rachael Cooper and Adrian Meehan for recording and editing this episode.

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