The Netherlands is the most densely populated country in Europe, constantly seeking space for more homes, jobs and infrastructure as well as for recreational and other public amenities. With over 16 million people living on 41,528 square kilometres, you have to be careful how you use every square metre of land. So before making decisions, planners have to consider many interests and devise creative solutions.

• Spatial development
• Decent and safe housing
• Government encourages house building
• Private organisations with public tasks
• How do the Dutch live?
• The Green Heart

Spatial development

The Netherlands is a country of rules and regulations, which government has undertaken to reduce and simplify in the next few years. The Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) issues guidelines on spatial policy and development in the Netherlands.

It also encourages other tiers of government and private parties to cooperate from as early as possible a stage on land-use projects. They examine the options for an area’s development and work together creatively to draw up a development plan. The Spatial Planning Act provides the legal framework for planning in the Netherlands.

The municipalities are responsible for planning at local level. The municipal councils draw up land-use plans, which have to be approved by the provincial authorities, setting out how land is to be used and what may be constructed on or under it. The provincial authorities draw up regional plans. Development plans are also coordinated internationally.

Decent and safe housing

More, affordable homes of an acceptable quality, more choice for individuals, green construction materials, safe residential surroundings: these are the goals of Dutch government policy on housing.

The Dutch government is encouraging the speedy construction of more homes because the country still has a shortage of them. It is also concerned with their quality – not only the quality of their construction, but also that of their social and ecological surroundings.

An important aspect of a home’s quality is sustainability. This relates to people, their homes and their surroundings. A sustainable neighbourhood is one where the residents feel safe and at ease, with an adequate infrastructure and enough amenities like shops and sports facilities.

To ensure that everyone in the Netherlands can live in decent, affordable homes, the government has invested large amounts in urban renewal and housing for those on low incomes.

Government encourages house building

Before the 20th century, government rarely concerned itself with housing. Municipalities and housing associations were in charge. But all that changed with the 1901 Housing Act, which gave central government much more influence over housing and urban development.

The shortage of adequate homes lasted well into the 1980s. In the 40 years after the Second World War, 100,000 new homes were built on average every year, the vast majority with government subsidies. This enabled rents to stay low and large-scale construction programmes to continue.

Quantity rather than quality was the principle underpinning housing policy in the years immediately after the Second World War. In the 1970s, however, the emphasis shifted to quality. The government introduced a new policy instrument, housing benefit, for tenants who would otherwise be spending too much on rent.

Private organisations with public tasks

In 2003, the Netherlands had 6.7 million homes, with an average of 2.4 people living in each one. Some 2.3 million rented homes – around 35% of the total – are owned and administered by housing associations, a peculiarly Dutch civil society institution. For decades, housing associations had close financial ties with the government, but since 1993 the ties have become much looser.

How do the Dutch live?

The most common type of dwelling is the terraced, or row, house: a family home, two or three storeys high, with a front and back garden, constructed in a row with two, three or more identical homes. In the cities, where space is at a premium, many people live in low or high-rise flats.

Most Dutch people live in urban areas. But the limitations of space are putting pressure on rural areas too. Many city dwellers would love to live amid the water and greenery of the countryside. But the development of rural areas is driven not only by the demand for homes, but also by the requirements of water management, changes in agriculture and the creation of a National Ecological Network linking protected areas.

The Green Heart

The government aims to maintain a balance between urban and rural areas, as exemplified by the Randstad, a conurbation in the west of the Netherlands. The Randstad encloses a rural area called the “Green Heart”, which is being encroached on despite a ban on development.

But if you consider the Randstad as a delta metropolis, you gain a new perspective on how it should be developed. The whole of the west of the Netherlands, including the Green Heart, starts to look like a single entity: a green delta where urban buildings are constructed in harmony with their natural surroundings. This will require the agreement of many parties.