After a successful first meeting in Amsterdam in November the collaboration between Amsterdam and Groningen has been continued with another workshop, hosted by the University of Groningen this time. The objectives of the workshop were
· to strengthen the links that were found in the previous workshop;
· to explore new possibilities for cooperation, and
· to learn from each other on methodological and theoretical issues.
Following the first meeting in Amsterdam, Wendy Tan and Niels Heeres presented a paper on the developments taking place in the Delft-Schiedam corridor. In the paper two programs in the Delft-Schiedam corridor were discussed in order to compare Transit Oriented Development and the Area-oriented approach. The programs, Stedenbaan and Integrale Ontwikkeling Delft Schiedam, were used as representatives of either approaches. Conclusions were drawn about similarities and differences between the programs and between the approaches. In the discussion suggestions were made to strengthen the paper:
· Focus on a single geographical area as basis for complementary or contradicting developments
· Take one dimension (e.g. stakeholder cooperation) as basis for comparison in order to strengthen the theoretical basis of the paper
This paper may be followed by a Dutch or international publication.
After lunch the meeting commenced with a more theoretical section, focussing on the use of complexity issues in infrastructure and mobility planning research. Tim Busscher and Andrew Switzer, in the previous meeting identified as a possibly interesting link, presented the use of complexity in their research. It appeared that a direct link was not too obvious. However, a lively discussion (discussant Ward Rauws) showed a need to further focus on this topic, focussing on various subtopics and offering chances to involve many others. Interesting themes:
· Adaptive capacity
· Resilience
The final section of the workshop focused on research methodology. The majority of the Phd-researchers involved in the workshop apply qualitative research methods. In order to prepare their research, many of the Phd’s present have participated in Nethur’s CC6 course, which is an introduction to the application of qualitative techniques. The workshop aimed for a more in-depth discussion on the application of these techniques, specifically in the field of infrastructure and mobility research. Ajay Bailey presented an introduction to qualitative research methods, which was refreshing for many of the participants. After this introduction Sander Lenferink and Mendel Giezen, both more experienced Phd’s, further elaborated on the application of qualitative methods in their own research projects. They specifically focused on bottlenecks they have come across and provided some suggestions for overcoming these difficulties.
The workshop was concluded with a brief look towards the future of the cooperation between RUG and UVA. Some points:
- Scheme of links between participants was updated
- Next workshop to be organized by Guowen Dai and Tim Busscher. Possible themes:
o New spatial policy memorandum in the Netherlands
o Reflection on the research of Taede Tillema in USA (back from December/Januari)
- Further co-operation on complexity related issues could be an interesting opportunity (not limited to current participants, but within a new (broader) network?). Idea is to set up a new complexity related discussion group in the Netherlands (Ward and others).
List of participants:
1. Ajay Bailey
2. Andrew Switzer
3. Erica Gomez
4. Guowen Dai
5. Jan Duffhues
6. Jos Arts
7. Laksmi Wisnu
8. Leonie Janssen-Jansen
9. Luca Bertolini
10. Marc Beeftink
11. Marco te Brommelstroet
12. Mendel Giezen
13. Niels Heeres
14. Sander Lenferink
15. Tim Busscher
16. Ward Rauws
17. Wendy Tan
18. Wim Leendertse
19. Yin Ming
