1. Towards sustainable work locations in post-suburbia Marco Bontje AESOP CONGRESS - GRENOBLE, FRANCE - JULY 1-4, 2004

2. Points of departure Deconcentration can be sustainable Sustainable work locations can be created both inside and outside of cities Transformation ‘from suburbia to post- suburbia‘ offers chances for sustainable regional development

3. From suburbia... to post-suburbia Monocentric urban region Monofunctional (housing + pers. services) Suburb-city commute dominant Radial connections Quantitative growth Polycentric urban region Multifunctional (+ work, leisure, retail) Increasing city-suburb & suburb-suburb commuting Tangential connections Qualitative growth (specialisation)

4. Dimensions of sustainability Land use Building design & construction Transport Energy Pollution Material flows Social & cultural issues Policy Sustainable development? Social justice Economic growth Environmental protection

5. The case studies Business Park Beukenhorst

6. Strengths & weaknesses General strengths: integration in built & natural environment, efforts to reduce pollution & waste General weaknesses: discouraging unsustainable transport, policy co-ordination Diversity between cases: efficient space use, ecological construction, public & slow transport, park management, participation, energy saving, local employees / firms

7. Potentials & threats Potentials: improved public transport, added functions for ‘locals‘, increasing share of local employees, sustainable park management Threats: competition with unsustainable locations, over-dependency on few branches and/or foreign capital, only ‘clean & safe‘ park management, less political priority for sustainable development

8. Sustainable stakeholders? Architects / landscape designers: ‘artificial space scarcity‘, ‘intelligent working environments‘, ‘second ground level‘, ‚homely spaces‘ Project managers: between scepticism and enthusiasm Developers: conservative ‘zoning‘ preferences (with exceptions); ‘does it sell‘? Public institutions: ambivalent and often contradictory actions, programmes and attitudes Companies???

9. Conclusions More sustainable work locations in ‘post-suburban‘ environments are possible......but depend strongly on engagement of individual organisations, or even individuals......and are still rare exceptions in European metropolitan regions To make such projects more widespread, ‘sense of urgency‘ should grow, but currently, trends point in opposite direction!