Towards Adaptive Waterscape: Strategic Spatial Planning and Design for Synergy in the Living Landscape of the IJsselmeer Region

Water scarcity, exacerbated by climate uncertainty, is a growing global challenge for environmental sustainability. This research focuses on the IJsselmeer region, a vital area in the northern Netherlands where the basic functions are now under serious pressure: water storage during high water, the freshwater supply during droughts, and the ecosystem as the basis for the food chain. The water and ecosystem are reaching a tipping point, which also puts economic, landscape, and cultural-historical values ​​at risk. To meet the future-proof society, it is required to adapt to hydrological space in a way that accommodates both development needs and climate uncertainty, with dynamic and long-term planning needed. The study introduces a new adaptive planning approach to manage the hydrological system with urban development, offering principles of governance at a higher level and implementing design strategies from the local perspective. The approach emphasizes that identified adaptation pathways—rooted in regional systemic goals and qualitative assessments of preconditions, values, and activities—should be translated into spatial designs that allow for flexible decision-making across different future scenarios. In the design part, the study further proposes a multi-scale framework, from toolbox to system adaptive synergy, to respond to the goal and principle from the upper level. Ultimately, adaptation will be more complex and foster co-benefits between human and non-human entities in a water-based landscape.