1. Who are you and what do you do?

First of all, thank you very much to NVTL for the request to share some thoughts on the profession from my perspective. It is also a great honor to be the first to answer the renowned “five questions” feature in this new year. Let’s start at the beginning: I was born in Austria, but in 2026 I will be celebrating a milestone: I have now lived in the Netherlands for thirty years. I have two teenage sons and experience daily the importance of landscape architecture and the design of public spaces, which is one of the reasons I am proud to be a member of NVTL.

I trained as an architect in Vienna and Delft. My career began at international offices. In the Netherlands, for example, I worked at Inside Outside / Petra Blaisse on various landscape projects before starting my own practice in 2005. I quickly developed a fascination with the city as an (eco-)system involving many stakeholders. At the same time, I became aware of the powerful role design can play in urgent societal transitions. With that broad perspective, I also led the Podium For Architecture for ten years in the growing municipality of Haarlemmermeer. I focused on international knowledge exchange and the development of young talent (through the BNA), which offered the opportunity to work smarter and more broadly on the pressing challenges of our time. Together with Maike van Stiphout, I founded the platform nextcity.nl in 2014, which promotes designs for biodiversity and the nature-inclusive city.

As a professional, I develop visions and strategies for sustainable urban development, ensuring both spatial quality and integration. My focus lies in exploring spatial solutions and harnessing the immense power of inspiration and imagination in our profession. What appeals to me about the disciplines united within NVTL is the attention to the long term and the bigger picture.

Currently, I serve as strategist and city architect (stadsbouwmeester) for the municipality of Zaanstad. In this role, I co-authored the Omgevingsvisie 2040 “Ruimte Maken”, in which we aim for integrated, qualitative growth. I also co-founded the Knowledge Program Nieuw Zaanstad, where we develop innovative solutions for spatial and societal challenges.

In addition, I advise the province of Utrecht on nature-inclusive construction. I also teach at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, and the University of Amsterdam, guiding design studios and supervising graduate project.

Paris, Hotel De Ville square transformation

2. Which cities or projects inspire you currently and why?

Cities are focal points for challenges, but also for opportunities. The fact is that most people already live in cities, and that number will only continue to grow. Cities provide the critical mass needed to work on the urgent transitions we face. I will highlight five particularly interesting cities, from A to Z: Amsterdam, Paris, some Scandinavian cities, Vienna, and Zaanstad.

• Amsterdam
  Amsterdam is embracing ‘radical’ greening, which aligns with my nature-inclusive vision of the city. This also includes rethinking parking (as a serious revenue model and with a shrinking spatial footprint) and making cycling more attractive through large-scale underground parking and better, faster cycling routes.
• Paris
  Under Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris is pursuing the 15-minute city and expanding green-blue infrastructure. On my recent visits, I barely used the metro thanks to excellent cycling infrastructure. For years, the city has also maintained a citywide Plan Biodiversité, which is excellent. There are always standout projects, such as the new urban forest on what was previously the completely paved Hotel de Ville square. Additionally, Nouvel’s Fondation Cartier and OMA’s Fondation Lafayette serve as ultra-flexible, eye-catching centrepieces.
• Scandinavian Cities
  There is always something to learn from Northern Europe. They prioritize quality: no Dutch “kaasschaaf” approach that chips away until quality is gone, but long-term vision, genuine sustainability, and a commitment to ‘true pricing.’ Malmö boasts beautiful nature-inclusive and climate-adaptive neighborhoods. Stockholm’s Royal Seaport hosts circular urban planning experiments. And Oslo offers top-tier public buildings, like the opera house or the central library, which function as living rooms for the entire city.
• Vienna
  Vienna frequently tops international rankings for quality of life. Remarkably, the city includes a large forest and the last foothills of the Alps within its borders: easily accessible by public transport, which costs just €365 per year for unlimited travel across the entire region. Every time I visit, there seems to be another metro stop added. The local government takes responsibility, continuing to build affordable housing. Nothing spectacular, just slow urbanism and a commitment to what truly matters.
• Zaanstad
  Zaanstad holds enormous potential, starting with the winding river through the city and its rich industrial heritage. The transformation of Zaandam with Inverdan, led by Soeters—already 25 years old this year—provides encouragement for other cities seeking to reinvent themselves.

3. What urban development misconceptions do you encounter the most?

We tend to think that cities need to expand, while the real challenge lies in making better use of space within the existing urban fabric and in strengthening quality of life.

No new cities, even if that would be possible. As firms such as KAW have demonstrated, there is more than enough space within the city itself. Moreover, inner-city growth is faster and more cost-effective. It is no coincidence that Zaanstad’s 2024 Spatial Vision is titled “Ruimte Maken” (“Making Space”): it is a no-netto-landtake vision that accommodates qualitative growth of more than 25 percent. Even extremely high densities and mixed-use combinations of living and working can go hand in hand with high-quality public space and improved livabilit; Little C in Rotterdam is a good example. This does, however, require more thoughtful approaches and smarter plans than simply “cramming in” more of what we already have.

Finally, a word on a common misconception about cities in public discourse. A city is truly much more than housing alone. Cities also require infrastructure, green space, and other social facilities and, not least, jobs. From an employment perspective, simply transforming work areas into housing-only districts, or relocating traditional industrial estates to “somewhere else,” often creates more problems than it solves. Keeping jobs close, broadening employment functions, and introducing work where it is currently absent strengthens the city as a system. It reduces mobility demand and mobility poverty, while fostering cross-pollination and innovation, both of which are essential if Western Europe is to remain competitive on a global scale.