Gangen: More Nature, More City

SPATIAL CONCEPT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN FRINGES IN THE NETHERLANDS | IN COLLABORATION WITH SYNCHROON AND FLUXX

In the context of the Netherlands’ significant and urgent housing challenge, the proposal ‘Gangen: More Nature, More City’ —developed in collaboration with Synchroon and Flux—presents a visionary approach. It seeks to accommodate nearly one million homes on the edges of Dutch cities, while simultaneously strengthening biodiversity, enhancing climate resilience, and regenerating the landscape.

The limited open space between cities is under growing pressure from competing demands—data centres, logistics, agriculture, infrastructure, and the energy transition—all claiming a share of this valuable land. What is missing, however, is a coherent, overarching spatial vision. Without a coordinated strategy, the peri-urban areas of the Netherlands risk becoming fragmented, degraded, and spatially incoherent.

In response, we propose Nieuwe Gangen—a new spatial concept for the development of urban fringes and the interstitial spaces between cities. This approach integrates compact, high-quality, medium-to-high-density housing with the creation of productive, ecologically rich landschapsparken (landscape parks). Here, the city functions not as a threat to nature, but as a catalyst for ecological and spatial improvement. This proposal counters the conventional low-density sprawl that defines much of today’s suburban development and instead introduces innovative residential typologies that incorporate urban qualities on the fringes, creating vibrant, sustainable communities that are deeply connected to robust landscape structures.

A gang, in Dutch, refers to a transitional space—a corridor that links different places. Nieuwe Gangen are precisely these kinds of spaces: connective, layered, and multifunctional. They form ecological and recreational corridors where nature is given room to flourish, and where people can live, work, and engage meaningfully with the landscape around them.

These Nieuwe Gangen also address broader societal needs, from water management and food production to biodiversity enhancement and cultural continuity.

Thus, this document is not simply a proposal—it is an invitation. To everyone involved in shaping the future of our cities and landscapes: let us engage in dialogue. We believe that by connecting urban and rural areas, city and landscape, we can create something truly valuable for the Netherlands—spatially, ecologically, and socially.

More nature. More city. Let us shape this future together!

Find out more about the project here and the book can be ordered here.