Our trip to The Hague was my favourite day by far. Usually not a fan of guided tours, rich with forgetful factoids and usually a focus on only the most prominent parts of the city, tours aren’t my favourite way to get to know a city. This tour pointed out some of the more nuanced elements of den Haag, with an obvious focus on the transportation elements. Getting a tour from Urban and Transport Planners and Director of Transportation was such a great opportunity. They were more than happy to answer our questions, and we had some really great conversations about issues back in Vancouver, such as the lack of cycling impacting how construction around transportation hubs is planned.
We had a lot of interesting conversations about how to go about changing the minds of people, especially shopkeepers when it comes to redesigning streets to accommodate bicycles and restricting cars. It seems like the Netherlands has a very pragmatic approach to these infrastructural projects, focusing on the fact that making cities more bike and pedestrian friendly and less car dominated is actually better for economic stimulation. They said that using this argument is the best way to convince shopkeepers to be pro-project. When we asked about failed designs they said that the most noteworthy cycle path and road closure projects were considered failed were due to lack of consultation with the shop keepers in the area.
The strangest part for me was seeing all the parking lots and roads that were converted into what seemed to be quintessential terraces. The public space seemed so natural, like it had always been there, but in reality as little as 20 to 30 years ago it was totally different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why, but when similar efforts have been made in Vancouver it hasn’t achieved that same level of naturalness that the Netherlands has.
Todays visit to The Hague also brought about some really interesting conversation amongst ourselves later in the evening. It was very interesting to hear the different things people had picked up on during the tour. We discussed the challenges facing the Netherlands in the future, including sea level rise, increasing bike usage and the storage solution issue, and the different political climates in North American and the Netherlands that have created very different planning structures.
