Complexity in land use change; the case of the Dutch dairy sector

Abstract

Land use systems determine our well-being to a considerable extent, and therefore many policies have been formulated to regulate them. If land use systems are not fully understood, policies may fail or have unexpected consequences or even lead to sudden transitions in the land use system. This PhD research investigates the causes of potential sudden transitions in land use systems and more specifically in the Dutch dairy sector. In the thesis I show that certain system properties in combination with certain policies have the potential to cause sudden transitions in the Dutch dairy sector and more general in land use systems. An example could be the abrupt stop in maintaining landscape elements -such as hedgerows- in a specific region as a consequence of a change in agri-environmental policy.