“ Urbanization will eventually evolve towards areas in decline ”

If you want to literally keep the Netherlands out of the water, urbanization will soon take place in Brabant, Drenthe, Gelderland and Overijssel. That said landscape architect and government advisor Jannemarie de Jonge in WNL Haagse Lobby on NPO Radio 1.

When it came to social housing in the last election campaign, almost all parties used the mantra “build, build, build”. But where these additional houses should be placed is a bit more complex.

You won’t do it with just one Vinex neighborhood. Government adviser De Jonge says it’s important to look at the long term. Then the withdrawal zones appear. “There you get environments where agriculture, nature, recreation and life in green spaces are more mixed.

Although these areas still offer a lot of space for intensive agriculture, more space needs to be found elsewhere. De Jonge thinks of the Flevo and the marine clay polders, the southwestern delta and Groningen. “It’s good to really mark them as the richest land where agriculture plays an important role and which also produces great landscapes that everyone enjoys.”

Suburban

Martin van Rijn, chairman of the interest group for housing companies Aedes, also believes that the urbanization of regions outside the Randstad is important. In this way, you also give the residents of those areas a perspective on life. “So in declining areas you get new urban environments.”

The need is so great that it is not only necessary to build in today’s cities. Housing should also be built outside the city, according to the former minister. Does this also mean that there will soon be constructions in the prairies, as some fear? “I think yes.”

And this when there is already a dearth of nature in the Netherlands. This characterizes the pressure on space in the small Netherlands. It is no coincidence that the Dutch Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) recently published a report titled “Major tasks in limited space”.

In the report, the PBL calls on the new cabinet to accelerate a well-thought-out urbanization strategy. According to Hans Mommaas, director of the planning office, around 70% of homes are expected to end up in cities. “There are still quite a few industrial estates and old port suitable for this.”

Mommaas is therefore convinced that the mission will eventually succeed. Currently, housing programs are underway in several city centers. “We are already building around sixty to seventy thousand homes per year.”

Yet he also stresses the need to look outside the cities. “There is also an urban challenge. Do not pretend that it is “or or”, it is “and and”. “

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By: Thom Edinger