Complexity in Decision Making: The Case of the Rotterdam Harbour Expansion. Connecting Decisions, Arenas and Actors in Spatial Decision Making

Abstract

Decision making about spatial projects is very complex. Decisions to develop the Rotterdam harbour are taken in the context of a network of local, regional, national, European and international actors, both public and private. These decision-making processes exhibit a lot of complexity and the outcomes are of great importance for the development of the harbour. The complexity is the consequence of interactions between actors connected in different arenas, who are all thinking about the same project. This article uses network theory, and the concepts of actors and arenas in particular, to highlight the complexity of decisions and the connections between various separate decisions. It is demonstrated that the outcomes of the decision-making process are a result of the various connections that are being made. The spatial project at the core of this article is a harbour expansion project called Maasvlakte II.

Keywords:

• Decision making
• network management
• harbour expansion
• complexity

Acknowledgements

This article is a result of a research project which is part of and supported by the BSIK research Innovative Land Use (Vernieuwend Ruimte Gebruik (VGR), which is co-ordinated by Habiforum. The research is also supported by a grant by the Port Authority Rotterdam and incorporated in the research project TransPorts in the BSIK research programme Transition Towards Sustainable Mobility (Transumo).

Notes

 1. In the period in which the Port Plan 2010 was prepared, the public organisations (national level, provincial and local) and some private actors were organised in the ROM-Rijnmond. This covenant for Spatial Planning and Environment was meant to research an integrated framework for a sustainable spatial policy in the Rijnmond Area (the area in which the port of Rotterdam is mainly situated).

 2. Power is also connected to the existing rules of the network, which give some actors more access or authority or prevent certain topics. This is the famous invisible side of power (for a detailed examination, see Koppenjan & Klijn, 2004).

 3. The word game is used here in the same sense as other public administration scholars (Allison, 1971) and sociologists (Crozier & Friedberg, 1980) and not in the rational formal sense of game theory. Although interesting connections have been made between network theory and game theory (Scharpf, 1997), the empirical relevance of a limited number of game types is limited. The word game here is a concept (as it is with Allison) to indicate the dynamics of the interactions and the idea that outcomes are a result of actors and their positions, strategies and the interaction of strategies (see Koppenjan & Klijn, 2004).

 4. Klijn participated in some of the meetings and two of his masters degree students were actively involved in the organisation of the VERM process (see Videler, 1997; De Vries, 1997). This enabled an inside view into the whole process (see also Klijn, 2003).

 5. The case was part of PHD research on deliberate forms of governance in The Netherlands.

 6. Zoning procedure is a free translation of the Dutch term “PKB” (Planologische Kernbeslissing) or Spatial Core Decision in English. The PKB is a zoning document (made in several steps) on which spatial decisions are based and find their legal basis.

 7. The concepts central and peripheral thus refer to the density of interactions in the game.

 8. Consultation Non-Public Actors will be named ONR (Overleg Niet Rijkspartijen in Dutch) in the remainder of this article. The ONR is the forum where the non-public actors met each other and discussed the alternatives of port expansion and tried to make their advice heard among the ministers and within the departments. The ONR was formalised in 2000.

 9. Public Consultation Mainports will be named BOM (Bestuurlijk Overleg Mainports) in this article. The BOM was the forum in which the public actors met each other and discussed the alternatives of the harbour expansion. They were directly linked to the departments and ministers.

10. The Top Council (Top Beraad in Dutch), was an organisational arrangement, which was directly linked to the minister of Water management, Transport and Public Works. In the early years of this round, only the BOM was directly linked, later on the ONR was incorporated as well.

11. See also an interview in 2005 with a member of the project team on the Maasvlakte II within the Port Authority in Rotterdam.