Design Thinking in spatial planning

Business Parc De Run in Veldhoven is home to organisations ranging from ASML and Máxima Medisch Centrum to local manufacturers and SMEs. Rapid growth created a complex spatial challenge involving economic development, mobility, public space, nature and the different interests of organisations operating in the area.

In 2017, the Municipality of Veldhoven brought stakeholders together in a series of working sessions, facilitated by consultancy BMC, to explore a development agenda for De Run.

My role was to use concept development to turn abstract ambitions and political viewpoints into tangible possibilities. Rather than simply illustrating what people said, I translated emerging ideas into concepts that could be discussed, challenged, combined and refined. As the sessions progressed, these concepts became a shared language, helping participants move from individual positions towards common ground.

The process produced the outline of a spatial vision in which innovative entrepreneurship, mobility, nature, high-tech development and shared responsibility could coexist. This direction subsequently developed further and became embedded in municipal policy for De Run as an innovative work landscape.

Accessibility was one of the pressing issues. In the years that followed, Veldhoven implemented major mobility measures to improve access to De Run, including the reconstruction of the Kempenbaan, new cycling and public-transport infrastructure and the new connection to the A67. Municipal documents explicitly describe these measures as improvements to the accessibility and traffic flow of De Run.

For me, the value of concept development in this project was that it gave abstract and sometimes conflicting interests a tangible form. That made it easier to build shared understanding and helped turn discussion into direction and, ultimately, into policy.