Planning too fast to slow down traffic? The planning culture of Amsterdam as a 30 km/h city

Abstract

Cities throughout Europe are implementing measures and policies to reduce speed limits to 30 km/h on their roads, as the negative effects of cars on road safety and urban liveability are considerably reduced when vehicles drive at this speed. While the quantitative effects of such speed limit reductions on the environment are researched thoroughly, the influence that culture has had on the planning and implementation of such policies are less well understood. In this thesis, planning cultures are used as a lens through which the planning and implementation process have occurred in the context of Amsterdam’s “30 km/h in the city” project. Qualitative methods such as expert interviews and policy analysis have been used to understand the planning culture. It was found that, while planners and stakeholders shared views that a 30 km/h speed limit was desirable, planning cultures among the planning group and stakeholders differed during the planning process regarding the need to implement measures quickly and achieve results in a quick merit. Although the planning culture did not harmonize such as suggested by Wolff (2020), but rather a cultural divide between actors arose that caused them to dig trenches and defend their own views, in line with Hanssen’s (2011) findings, the planners managed to realize their goal of a quick implementation. The outlook that a quick implementation was necessary shaped how the planning process and implementation came to be.