prof. dr. W.K. (Willem) Korthals Altes

Willem K. Korthals Altes (1964) is Professor in Land development (since 1997) and Managing director (since 2003) of the OTB Research Institute for the Built Environment of the Delft University of Technology. Within OTB he leads the programma on Governance of Geo-information and land development and co-ordinates the section active in this field. Between 1995 and 2003 he has also worked in practice as (senior) consultant and later partner with Kolpron Consultants and (after merger with NEI and Ecotec) Ecorys in Rotterdam. In 1995 he has finished his PhD (Cum Laude) ate the University of Amsterdam on a research project financed by NWO (the Dutch Science Foundation) and supervised by Professor Andreas Faludi on national spatial planning in the Netherlands. He has done (1989-1990) research on urban planning between 1919 and 1934 in Vienna at TU Vienna with a Research grant of the Austrian ministry. He holds a masters degree in planning (cum laude) at University of Amsterdam.

His present research interest is in Land development, which is about the interaction between planning and property markets, and the possible conflict between the private interests of landowners on the one hand and common societal goals and the interests of larger regions on the other. The present focus is on three interrelated subjects: 1) new legislation governing land development (New land development legislation: better practice?); 2) the authorities as land developers (Governments as land developers and private enterprise as project developers: does it work? Can provinces be land developers? Financially sound?); and 3) the European Single Market and land development (What is the impact of the Single European Market on the governance of land development? In what way does Europeanization frame the constellation of actors, and what new modes of operation are emerging? Developing new ‘Europe-proof’  land development instruments).

Willem teaches in the domain Land Use and Development of the MSc and BSc in Systems Engineering Policy Analysis and Management at the Faculty of Technology Policy and Management of the TU Delft. He is member of the board of research school NETHUR, and has been between 2006 and 2009 scientific director of the Habiforum programme Innovative Land Use.

Refereed journals

• Korthals Altes, WK (2010). The financial estimates and results of servicing land in the Netherlands. Environment and planning b-planning & design, 37(5), 929-941.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2010). Europeanization as discontinuous adjustment: a Düsseldorf court's impact on land development practice. European planning studies, 18(5), 815-832.
• Korthals Altes, WK & Tasan-Kok, MT (2010). The impact of European public contract law on networks of governance: a relational approach. European planning studies, 18(6), 971-988.
• Rij, HE van & Korthals Altes, WK (2010). Looking for the optimum relationship between spatial planning and land development. Town planning review, 81(3), 283-306.
• Turk, SS & Korthals Altes, WK (2010). How suitable is LR for renewal of inner city areas? An analysis for Turkey. Cities, 27(5), 326-336.
• Turk, SS & Korthals Altes, WK (2010). Institutional capacities in the land development for housing on greenfield sites in Istanbul. Habitat international, 34(2), 183-195.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2009) Taxing land for urban containment: reflections on a Dutch debate, Land Use Policy, 26, 233-241.
• Veen, M van der & Korthals Altes, WK (2009) Strategic urban projects in Amsterdam and New York: incomplete contracts and good faith in different legal systems, Urban Studies, 46, 947-965.
• Korthals Altes, WK & Tambach, M (2008) Municipal strategies for introducing housing on industrial estates as part of compact-city policies in the Netherlands, Cities, 25, 218-229.
• Rij, HE van & Korthals Altes, WK (2008) The merits of outmoded planning instruments for improving metropolitan green areas: the Midden-Delfland approach, Planning Theory & Practice, 9, 345-362.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2007) The impact of abolishing housing grants on the compact city policy of Dutch municipalities, Environment and Planning A, 39, 1497-1512.
• Muñoz Gielen, D & Korthals Altes, WK (2007) Lessons from Valencia: Separating infrastructure provision from land ownership, Town Planning Review, 78, 61-79.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2006) Towards Regional Development Planning in the Netherlands, Planning, Practice and Research, 21, 309-321.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2006) Stagnation in housing production, another success in the Dutch ‘Planner’s Paradise’?, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 33, 97-114.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2006) The Single European Market and Land Development, Planning Theory & Practice, 16, 247-266.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2005) The capacity of local government and continuing the decentralized urban regeneration policies in the Netherlands, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 20, 287-299.
• Levainen, KI & Korthals Altes, WK (2005) Public Private Partnership in Land Development Contracts: a Comparative Study in Finland and in the Netherlands, Nordic Journal of Surveying and Real Estate Research, 2, 137-148.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2002) Local Government and the Decentralisation of Urban Regeneration Policies in the Netherlands, Urban Studies, 39, 1439-1452.
• Faludi, A & Korthals Altes, WK (1996) Marketing planning and its dangers: How the new housing crisis in The Netherlands came about, Town Planning Review, 67, 183-202.
• Korthals Altes, WK & Faludi, A (1995) Why the Greening of Red Vienna Did Not Come to Pass, European Planning Studies, 3, 205-225.
• Faludi, A & Korthals Altes WK (1994) Evaluating Communicative Planning: A Revised Design for Performance Research, European Planning Studies, 2, 403-418.

Other scientifics

• Valk, A. van der, Dijk, T van, Korthals Altes, WK & Brink, A van den (2009) Planning open spaces: balancing markets, state and communities, in A van der Valk & T van Dijk (Eds.), Regional Planning for Open Spaces (London and New York: Routledge), 301-322.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2008) Evaluating national urban planning: is Dutch planning a success or failure?, in D Miller, A Khakee, A Hull & J Woltjer (Eds.), New Principles in Planning Evaluation (Aldershot: Ashgate), 221-238.
• Groetelaers, DA, Korthals Altes, WK (2004) Policy instruments in the changing context of Dutch land development, in M Deakin, R Dixon-Gough, R Mansberger (Eds.), Methodologies, Models and Instruments for Rural and Urban Land Management (Aldershot: Ashgate), 78-87.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2002). The use of information in land development planning. In H.J.G.L. Aalders & E.M. Fendel (Eds.), There is more than geometry. A collection of articles in honour of prof.dr. Theo Bogaerts (pp. 151-160). Liemeer: VBK Editorial Management.
• Korthals Altes, WK (2000) Economic Forces and Dutch Strategic Planning, in W Salet, A Faludi (Eds.), The Revival of Strategic Spatial Planning, KNAW Verhandelingen, Afd. Letterkundige Nieuwe Reeks 181, (Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences), 67-78.
• Korthals Altes, W.K. (2000) Innovationen in der Planungspraxis in den Niederlanden, D. Fürst (ed) Wandel der Planung im Wandel der Gesellschaft, Hannover: Universität Hannover, 65-73.
• Korthals Altes, WK (1995) Dutch Planning Doctrine in the Fin de Siècle. Preparation and performance of the Fourth Report on Physical Planning (Extra), Planning Theory, 14, 147-156.
• Korthals Altes, WK (1994) Preparing for Performance: The Dutch Experience, European Spatial Research and Policy, 1, 77-85.
• Korthals Altes, WK (1992) How do planning doctrines function in a changing environment?, Planning Theory, 7/8, 100-115.
• Tasan-Kok, MT & Korthals Altes, WK (2012). Transnational neoliberalisation and the role of supranational trade agreements in local urban policy implementation: the case of the European Union. In T Tasan-Kok & G Baeten (Eds.), Contradictions of Neoliberal Planning: Cities, Policies, and Politics (pp. 79-97). Dordrecht: Springer.

Overview publications Willem Korthals Altes