Art van de Lay

Art van de Lay (fully, Arthur Wilhelmus Frederik van de Lay) born 19 September 1960, is a Lindian politician of the Union of Democrats. He is currently the leader of the VUSL in the Vestean Parliament and was president of the Vestean Union between 2004 and 2014. Before entering politics he worked as an urban planner. In the 1990's he became a member of the Artwingen city council and served as an alderman. Right after being elected to the States General he became minister for spatial planning and infrastructure until his resignation in 2004, when he was elected as President of the Vestean Union.

Van de Lay studied to become an architect at the Ultingen University of Technology. In 1984 he graduated with a master’s degree specialising in urban planning. Instead of pursuing a PhD, as he had initially planned, he enrolled in both the bachelor’s and master’s programmes for at Artwingen University. During the early 1990's he worked at the ministry for spatial planning and infrastructure as an urban planner. It was around this time that he became politically active, citing a lack of vision within politics as the reason. Next to his full-time job he was a member of the Artwingen city council, where he resided at the time. In 1996 he was appointed to the position of alderman for mobility, housing and urban planning in the city. At that point he left his post at the ministry.

During the general elections of 2000 he was elected as a member of parliament. In 2001 a coalition was formed between the Labourers Party, Union of Democrats and the GreenProgressives. Van de Lay was offered a post as minister for spatial planning and infrastructure. His tenure is considered to have been of great importance by many; as it saw the considerable expansion of Lindenholt’s high speed rail system (HSL). Most notably, Van de Lay was directly responsible for connecting Lindenholt’s high speed rail system to Allentyr, Ripuaria and Umbrellia.

Early life
Arthur Wilhelmus Frederik van de Lay was born on 19 September 1960 to a mixed (father)  (mother) family. His father, Jan van de Lay, was an importer-exporter of rubbers, primarily. The company, Vandelay Industries, grew significantly during the 1960s but was bought out by Chemindgiant upon Jan van de Lay's retirement in 1996. Van de Lay's mother, Karin van de Lay, worked as a school teacher until the success of her husband's company no longer required her to work.

Art van de Lay attended the Stedelijk Gymnasium Ultingen middle school from ages 12 through 18. After completing his final exams, he received his diploma. Directly after this he fulfilled his military service with an engineering regiment. According to a 2017 interview, his military service was the main reason he pursued a career in urban planning as: "the [military] base's urban planning was not what it should have been". At the age of 19 he started his studies at the Ultingen University of Technology, completing the bachelor and master's courses for architecture at the age of 25. During his studies he was still living with his parents. After moving out he studied at the University of Artwingen, where he obtained a master's degree in public administration.

Following this he was hired by the ministry of spatial planning and infrastructure. He never reached a high position within the ministry (until he was appointed minister), but served in various roles such as planning new urban areas and negotiating the purchase of land for the construction of a new motorway.

Local politics
While working at the ministry Van de Lay was involved in the design of a new Artwinger suburb. His project team had suggested that providing extensive public transport links in the suburb would be preferable to a major motorway connection. The Artwingen municipal council argued that cars, bikes and a single bus connection would be sufficient in providing mobility. Convinced that the planned public transport links were insufficient, Van de Lay decided to contact local politicians regarding the issue. The media also picked up on Van de Lay's discontent. During a nationally broadcast talkshow Van de Lay accused the Artwingen city council of "lacking vision". A presentation he held at a UVD party gathering led to his inclusion on the party list for the 1991 municipal elections. Van de Lay was elected as as a member of the municipal council, where he successfully lobbied for the construction of a metro line to the otherwise inadequately connected suburb.

In 1994 the new UVD mayor appointed him as alderman for mobility, housing and urban planning. Van de Lay had been working as an urban planner and as city council member simultaneously, this new role however led to his resignation at the ministry. Van de Lay was responsible for expanding Artwingen's tram lines to reach outside of the 19th century city centre. In addition to this, the introduction of a universal public transport pass in Artwingen can also be credited to Van de Lay. As alderman he oversaw the renovation of the city's, contributing to a safer and uncluttered street layout that had a large role in reducing crime and abuse that took place in the area before. Similar street layouts, colloquially called "Vandelays", have since been used in other problematic areas throughout the country.

National politics
Van de Lay's successes in the municipal administration of Artwingen, along with several media appearances, significantly increased his popularity. This popularity led to the UVD party leadership offering him a position on the national UVD for the general elections of 2000. Van de Lay became, having received enough. His time as MP was rather uneventful as it was short and took place under a. When in 2001 a governing coalition was formed, Van de Lay was appointed as minister of spatial planning and infrastructure.

As minister, Van de Lay was held responsible for delays in the construction of the A106 motorway. A miscalculation had caused parts of the road to sag in to the ground by several centimetres. He also faced criticism for drastically decreasing the number of unlimited speed motorways and instituting a nation wide project to build wildlife crossings across existing motorways, especially as the surveying and construction caused major traffic jams. Efforts such as the expansion of Artwingen's Antende airport were met positively by some, but endured opposition by the governing coalition. Most notably from the GreenProgressives.

Lindenholt's high speed rail line (HSL) saw major expansions during Van de Lay's tenure. While many credit him for the expansion plans, the current routes are largely based on plans drafted during the 1980's en 1990's. The most influential of these plans was a report released in 1993 that advocated for at least 70% of Lindenholt's population to reside within a 50 kilometre radius of a high speed rail link. By Van de Lay's appointment, only a single planned line had been built, the Artwingen-Seigerberg line. Van de Lay adopted the existing plans, with the media dubbing the 70% within 50 kilometres of a high speed link figure the "Van de Laynorm". An addition to the plans made by Van de Lay was that the HSL should feature ample foreign connections; most notably with Ripuaria and Umberllia. For this Van de Lay founded the Vestean Infrastructure Cooperation Concordat (VICC). This made him a public figure in neighbouring Vestean countries. In accordance with the plans, the 2001 budget allowed for the construction of six additional lines and the expansion of existing lines for a total cost of 80 billion Aurei. The Vestean Union pledged to support the project also, contributing 10 billion. In 2017 the final line was completed and opened by Van de Lay himself, eventually costing the Lindian taxpayer 124 billion Aurei.

Lack of women in executive boards
Van de Lay was criticised in 2012 when he stated that "the lack of women is not something the VU or any other governmental body should try to solve. The reason why there are fewer women in executive boards is not because men are preferred or women are discriminated against; it's because the pool of suitable women is too small." Van de Lay later elaborated on the statement, saying that he would prefer an even distribution of men and women in every line of work; specifically mentioning engineering and construction. Adding however that he deems it impossible for this to happen as long as women are not encouraged to take up such professions and men are not encouraged to take up professions where they are underrepresented.

Drugs
Somewhat controversially, during his tenure as minister in 2004 Van de Lay noted that the Lindian drugs policy is "not thought through and weak", arguing that it should be legalised and completely regulated by the government. While the opinion is considered to be controversial in and of itself (especially so considering the policy was drafted by the UVD), the statement came at a very unfortunate timing. The week before four police officers had been killed by drug dealing maffia. Because of this statement, the newly formed right weing populist V'04 filed a motion of no-confidence which failed to pass. During a 2020 interview he re-affirmed his stance.

Direct democracy
Art van de Lay is an outspoken opponent of direct democracy and referenda.

Iron Rivers Initiative
In 2020 Van de Lay proposed the so-called Iron Rivers Initiative. While planning is still ongoing and the project's feasibility and cost are still being researched, Van de Lay argues that inland shipping over rivers and other waterways should be replaced by an extensive system of cargo railways. The primary reason for this is that inland shipping vessels make up a large proportion of (Lindian) green house gas emissions. These railways should be electrified and separate from existing passenger railways. Some plans call for using different track gauges and overhead line voltages that are specifically meant for cargo. The newly built lines would run parallel along rivers to service existing harbours, but can also be built inland to service new and existing industrial areas. During his presentation he reiterated that it was a personal project of his, and was not affiliated to VUSL or UVD until their approval.

Other activities
Van de Lay is an avid hockey fan and despite his age, as of 2019, still regularly plays and trains with his local amateur hockey club. He is also a member of the Royal Lindian Hockey Association and served as its chairman until 2017. In his free time he is said to enjoy listening to jazz music. In addition to this he is involved with his (grand) children's lives. After his VU presidency ended he was spotted numerous times onboard high speed trains throughout the continent.

Honours

 * Tross: Knight Grand Cross of the Most Serene Order of the Merlion (1 September 2014)
 * Lindenholt: Knight Grand Cross in  the Order of Maximilian (4 July 2017)
 * Ripuaria: Knight of the Order of Lauther (20 September 2019)

Publications

 * Art van de Lay: Randvoorwaarden voor het ontwerp van een voetgangersvriendelijke leefomgeving, Technische Universiteit Ultingen 1983
 * Art van de Lay: De integratie tussen woonwijken en kernsteden, Technische Universiteit Ultingen 1985
 * Art van de Lay: De rol van technici in bestuurskunde, Universiteit van Artwingen 1988
 * Art van de Lay, Sabréṅna Port Amreya: One Vestea, United by Iron, Meidoorn Publications, Artwingen May 2017, ISBN 978-0-31635-840-8