that the western part of the region has the highest potentials for the production of renewable energy. The third question considers the interests concerning the energy transition, whether these are negative or positive and influential or negligible. A stakeholder identification was made that shows by its size how complicated the energy sector is, as it touches and influences so many organizations as well as individuals. Current initiatives have been illustrated to localize the current activity in relation to renewable energy and with that a targeted level of acceptance. Then a total of four interviews were conducted with different stakeholders; the province of Flevoland, local initiative Energy Park Zwanenburg, renewable energy supplier Van De Bron and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. From these conversations the general idea could be concluded that the energy transition can only really be executed on the large scale by powerful stakeholders (top down). Nevertheless small initiatives are social affairs and important for the awareness and behavioral change that is necessary to achieve the required amount of energy saving. Hereby the effect of following by example is crucial. Controversially, learning from the wind turbine discussions, the policies for solar panels are not appointed from top down but instead left to the initiatives of the municipalities. Thereby the variation in types of energy is difficult to proportionate and therefore it is better if the production is directed. And, confirming the design aim of multi-functionality, there is a need for research on how the energy transition can be interwoven with other spatial challenges. Next, by sorting the stakeholders in the power vs. interest diagram of Bryson [2004], it can be determined that the government poses the real challenge of the energy transition. Municipalities have a high interest in this as they all want to promote themselves by being sustainable,
but are overpowered by the provinces and Provinciale Staten which handle conservative regulations and are hesitant to make long-term investments. However their interest could be retrieved by making investments more financially attractive, making the changes (seem) less radical and continuing to build up the ‘green’ image so this becomes increasingly important for voters and therefor for politics.
spatial agenda in this way, financial support and general acceptance of the impact can be improved as the first investments for energy projects piggy-back on those of other strategic goals. Subsequently this increased level of acceptance can stimulate attitude and behavior, inciting new initiatives and investments. All these projects have been categorized in a strategy design for the energy landscapes of the AMA.
The fourth question addressed the limitations of the renewable energy sources and the landscape of the AMA, in order to be able to define the suitable locations for energy landscapes. The limitations of the energy sources on the scale of the AMA were derived from the maps of the research document ‘Verkenning Energietransitie MRA’ [Broekman, Posad & ECN, 2017] and on the scale of the energy producer itself from the illustrations in the graduation thesis ‘Meaningful Circular Metabolism’ [Nap, 2017]. From this a conclusion map has been made that shows the possible locations of the different energy sources in the region when safety and environmental restrictions are taken into account. Subsequently the landscape conditions formed by policies and perception, hence the psychological limitations, were analyzed and assigned a level of value. This concluded in the designation of several areas that should be restricted from energy purposes.
Ultimately, coming back to the main research question of this thesis, rough calculations were for the design to estimate its energy production. This resulted in a total of approximately 10,5 PJ, which is an extremely inadequate performance regarding the established aim of 187,8 PJ. Therefore it can be concluded that using the energy landscape as a condition for the energy transition is not quantitatively profitable, both in terms of energy production and in terms of money (although no research has been done towards costs, the assumption that the cost-benefit ratio is skewed, is legit).
The fifth and final question comprised the opportunities and implementations of integration. The AMA action agenda was taken as a leading motive to design projects that are based on multi-functionality and integrate the energy purposes with other challenges. At the same time the characteristics of the landscape, the source potentials, the interests and the limitations are kept in mind. By designing synergies with the government’s
Nevertheless, the final design does provide an answer to how the energy landscapes of the Amsterdam Metropolitan can be designed to be easier publicly accepted. Herein the energy landscape has proven to be a valuable perspective. By looking at the urban landscape through this definition, not only the physical but also the psychological impact of the energy transition was considered in the design. These various relations have been illustrated in the elaboration of the key projects. Therefore it represents a realistic future. However, if this is the realistic future, then the question remains: how is the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area going to achieve the climate goals of 2050?