Helmut Thoele

Helmut Thoele (1973) is urban and regional planner and studied urban planning and architecture in Germany and Russia. His working experience contains design and research projects within architectural and advisory offices as well as strategic planning within public and governmental context. Since 2008 he works as a senior policy advisor at the Province of South–Holland. Main field of his work is the development of spatial policies. Within that field he is working on the implementation of spatial strategies, research and 'design by research' into the planning instruments of South-Holland. Currently he is setting up and implementing a programme to involve knowledge institutions and a broader range of stakeholders into the spatial agenda of the structural spatial plan of the province. He is participating in the debate about future development of areas and the role of urban planners by publications and articles and has lectured and tutored at several universities and academies. Special interest is in spatial-economy, landscape strategies for metropolitan areas and in further development of 'design by research'.