Preface
The position of the city-urbanist in a city like The Hague is never fixed, but always in motion. It follows the rhythms of the city. Thus an accurate idea of how I look upon and observe the city cannot be contained within one single sentence or paragraph. For this one requires various views, studies and interpretations. I refer here not to the usual design research, but to research that maps out the urban dynamic of The Hague, independent of the current design task. This resulted in the publication of DNA Atlas Den Haag in 2002. In this book the individual spatial layers that form the DNA of the city were presented in three scales. The second study, Den Haag 7 Lijnen, concentrated itself around 7 specific lines in the city, 6 lines along which in the last 20 years a large-scale renovation of the public space of the inner city has taken place, the so-called De Kern Gezond. Den Haag 1908-2030 takes a close look at the position of The Hague within the surrounding region.In 2007, a research was set up to investigate the spatial possibilities to strengthen The Hague, city of Peace and Justice. This resulted in the publication The Hague Int. Due to its international topic is this publication exclusively available in the English language. The final publication in this series researches four cases of urban development the city of The Hague will has to deal with in the near future. The title of this publication is The Hague to be continued...
The publications are connected by Schmitt Favorites (SF). These are places within the network of The Hague, that repre sent a specific notion. Schmitt Favorites has therefore become the title of this website, where the studies and thus my city as well present themselves digitally; arranged in a matrix.
I hope you enjoy this voyage of discovery through The Hague.
Maarten Schmitt
