When fiction conveys truth and authority - The Netherlands Green Heart planning controversy

Spatial planners give us fiction, while at the same time asking us to take them seriously. Perhaps even more surprising, they get much of the authorit y they claim. In the case of the Netherlands Green Heart planning concept, the tension between fictionality and authority has become the focal point o f a public controversy about the value of the concept for making major poli cy decisions. The Green Heart concept has been fiercely criticized for its fictional nature. According to these critics, since the Green Heart does no t exist, it cannot be used to justify far-reaching policy measures. Surpris ingly, the concept seems to remain immune to this criticism. Advocates of t he concept admit its fictionality, but still maintain that it is the most a ppropriate basis for policymaking. Thus, the two sides in this controversy have become deadlocked. We propose a framework and undertake an analysis th at shows a way out of the impasse. We do this by showing how fiction convey s truth, and how truth and authority are welded to fiction, most importantl y through maps.