$Unique_ID{COW02576} $Pretitle{433} $Title{Netherlands Urbanization and Transport} $Subtitle{} $Author{H. Meijer} $Affiliation{Information and Documentation Center} $Subject{towns population number netherlands country large growth dutch migration provinces} $Date{1989} $Log{Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge)*0257601.scf Table 7.*0257601.tab Table 8.*0257602.tab Table 9.*0257603.tab Table 10.*0257604.tab } Country: Netherlands Book: The Kingdom of the Netherlands Author: H. Meijer Affiliation: Information and Documentation Center Date: 1989 Urbanization and Transport [See Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge): Amsterdam. Courtesy Embassy of Netherlands, Washington DC] Man's impact on the Dutch countryside can be seen in terms of cultivation and in terms of towns and roads. The Netherlands is a highly urbanized country. As Figure 21 shows, most of the urban settlements existed by the late Middle Ages, although there are very few ancient towns. The Romans established a small number of settlements including those at Maastricht, Nymegen and Utrecht, but large present-day cities such as Rotterdam and Amsterdam were unimportant fishing villages in the early Middle Ages. Mediaeval towns were primarily centres of trade and were also fortresses which for centuries had a clearly defensive role. The fortifications of small towns have survived despite the 19th century craze for demolition. As a result of growing industrialization, the populations of towns increased rapidly and ramparts, moats, walls and gates together with the clearly defined division between town and country disappeared. Urban expansion took various forms; sometimes it was in concentric circles, or along roads or railway lines. Neighbouring villages were taken over giving rise to conurbations. The function of towns changed, too, as industry became as important as trade. The lack of large supplies of coal and iron-ore, however, meant that genuine industrial regions like the Midlands in England or the Rhine-Ruhr district in Germany did not develop in the Netherlands. Instead, industry was established in or near existing ports or trading centres, notably in North and South Holland, where the concentration of towns became known as 'Randstad Holland' (the western conurbation). Figure 22 shows how the town grew in this part of the country. The difference between the Randstad and London or Paris is that it consists of a number of separate towns each with its own particular function, history and character grouped around an 'open' central region. However, like so many other areas of countryside the 'Green Heart' of the Netherlands is being threatened by suburbanization, i.e. the rapid growth of small towns near the large ones further away from the conurbation. The growth of these small towns is due to the fact that many city-dwellers are seeking more attractive living and housing conditions outside the cities and increased mobility in the form of private transport has made commuting possible. In recent years an increasing number of businesses in the industrial and service sector have followed the commuter's example in the search for cheaper land and fewer traffic problems. These developments are undesirable from the point of view of the environment: towns deteriorate economically and socially when people and business move out and at the same time the countryside loses its rural charm. Furthermore, the increasing distances commuted between home and work result in an undesirable increase in traffic. In view of this situation, the government wishes to maintain as far as possible the clear-cut division between town and country, which has always characterized the Netherlands. This can only be done to a limited extent with respect to the traffic infrastructure. The Dutch countryside has always been criss-crossed by numerous rivers and canals. In the second half of the 19th century a dense railway network was added and this was followed this century by motorways and complex interchanges (Fig. 23). In the past ten years the road network has been considerably enlarged to accommodate the greater number of cars and the subsequent increase in mobility. The government is trying to slow down the rapid expansion of the road network by encouraging people to live near their work, by creating ample recreational facilities within reach of people's homes and by carefully integrating the various forms of transport. Conclusion The development of the Dutch landscape can be seen as a reasonably harmonious process until recently when various problems emerged. Man has largely fashioned the landscape, and his activities have continually created problems, but at a certain point a halt had to be called. Since 1945 there has been a rapid increase in the population and unprecedented economic growth and the problems have become increasingly apparent. The farmer, who for centuries acted as the guardian of the countryside, is now guilty of destroying its natural beauty by taking drastic measures to make his farm more profitable. Towns which used to blend with the countryside, now sprawl across more and more land. The same applies to the traffic infrastructure which has become so intricate that it dominates the countryside, dissecting it into tiny little sections. The Dutch have become more aware of these problems in recent years as a result of the desire to create as pleasant an environment as possible. Even in the struggle against the water, where until recently there seemed to be no alternative methods, consideration is being given to conflicting interests and the general public are being allowed to participate in the decision-making process. A good example is the discussion about the possible poldering of the Markerwaard in Lake Yssel. Demographic background Introduction The inhabitants of the Netherlands belong to the Caucasian race; their principal language, Dutch, is of Germanic origin, whilst Frisian, a fairly closely related Germanic language, is spoken in the province of Friesland. The Netherlands is also inhabited by people from the former Dutch colonies of Indonesia and Suriname as well as by foreign workers from the countries around the Mediterranean Sea (about 350,000), most of whom settled in the Netherlands in the sixties and seventies. Religion The table below shows religious denominations in the Netherlands and the shifts that have taken place since 1900. The most striking feature of these statistics is the fact that membership of the Dutch Reformed Church has fallen by more than half, against what is nearly a sixteen-fold increase in the non-denominational group. Generally speaking, Roman Catholics are concentrated in the provinces of North Brabant and Limburg, while Protestants predominate in an area stretching diagonally across the country from the south-west (Zeeland) to the north-east (Groningen). Secularism is largely characteristic of the large towns. A distinctive feature of the Netherlands is the extent to which denominational divisions - Catholic, Protestant and secular - are evident in many areas of social and economic life such as education, politics, the media, trade unions and even leisure pursuits. [See Table 7.: Denomination as percentage of total population] Size and growth of the population The table below shows that the population of the Netherlands has increased more than seven-fold since the first census was taken more than 150 years ago. It also shows that the percentage increase since 1900 is three times that recorded for the preceding period. [See Table 8.: Number of inhabitants] The growth in population is mainly attributable to natural causes. During the 19th century improved medical care and standards of hygiene brought about a decline in mortality. Between 1900 and 1988 the death rate dropped further from 1.8% to 0.83% (Fig. 24). In the fifties mortality was even lower (0.76% in 1958) but the growth in the number of elderly people has resulted in a slight rise since then. The birth rate also declined: from almost 3.2% in 1900 to 1.28% in 1987 (temporary sharp rises in birth and death rates during and shortly after the two world wars have not been included in these figures). Although population growth and mortality figures have remained fairly steady in recent years (1.2% and 0.82% respectively in 1983), it is extremely difficult to make any reliable projections for the future since birth and death rates are influenced by so many factors. This is confirmed by the fact that the official estimate of the population for the year 2000 has been amended in the space of ten years from 20 million to somewhat more than 15 million. Age structure Figure 25 shows the distribution of the Dutch population according to age in 1988. Here, too, the situation has changed over the years, as can be seen from the table below. [See Table 9.: Age structure] The decrease in the number of children per family has had a marked influence on the percentage in the youngest age group. On the other hand the percentage for the oldest group is steadily increasing, as illustrated by the fairly broad apex of the population pyramid in Figure 25. Distribution and migration With an average of 434 inhabitants per sq.km. (not counting stretches of water broader than 6 metres). the Netherlands is the most densely populated country in Europe. There are, however, marked regional differences, as shown in Figure 26 and the table below. The greatest concentration of people is in the three western provinces of North Holland, South Holland and Utrecht; in fact, about one fifth of the total area supports almost half the population. For every sq.km. in the most densely populated province of South Holland there are on average nearly eight times as many inhabitants as in the least densely populated province of Flevoland. Economic activity has always been centred in the western coastal provinces where fishing, trade and industry prospered. Eventually the farming provinces were unable to provide sufficient work for the inhabitants, especially in the second half of the 19th century when the population grew more rapidly and mechanization made many people redundant. This gave rise to heavy migration, most people heading for the towns in North and South Holland. However, about 1950 thousands of Dutch people emigrated to English-speaking countries such as Canada, the United States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. After 1960, the situation changed dramatically in three respects: 1 The net loss as a result of emigration became a net gain; 2 Net domestic migration to the western provinces was reversed, with the eastern and southern provinces experiencing the biggest net gains; [See Table 10.: Distribution of population] 3 The population of most large and medium-sized towns either stopped growing or actually decreased, while that of many small towns and villages grew rapidly. 1 The net loss as a result of emigration became a net gain. In the fifties, when the political situation in Europe stabilized and the economy quickly recovered, the number of emigrants decreased sharply. Rapid economic growth and greater prosperity round about 1960 resulted in a shortage of unskilled labour which meant an influx of workers from Mediterranean countries. In addition, after 1970 and until 1975 when the former colony became independent, there was an increasing influx of people from Suriname. Both groups of immigrants settled mainly in the towns in the west. 2 Figure 27 shows that in the 1970s and 1980s the pattern of inland migration became more or less the opposite of what it was in the 1950s and the trend of domestic migration to the west was reversed. Originally there had been a considerable movement to the west from all parts of the country except the south, but after 1970 the west of the country was the only region with a marked exodus. The reasons for migration and the changes in the patterns are complex but the main factors can be summarized as follows: the western provinces and notably the cities there became 'saturated'; large numbers of people began to settle in smaller towns, many of which were situated in neighbouring provinces, particularly in the east and south. As a result, the western conurbation spread across its boundaries extending eastwards, in the direction of Arnhem and Nymegen and southwards in the direction of Breda, Tilburg and Eindhoven. During this period the Delta dams in the south-west were completed (see also 'The Delta Project' in 'Public Works'). In addition, a number of large bridges were built. As a result the islands and peninsulas in the south-west became considerably less isolated. In fact in 1965, when a number of industrial concerns were established on the Western Scheldt, there was an influx of people to Zeeland rather than an exodus. Similar changes in Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe are essentially due to government's regional policy which since the late 1950s has aimed at stimulating economic activity in these provinces. The closure of the coal-mines in Limburg between 1966 and 1975 contributed to the emigration from this area. This is not apparent from Figure 27 because the loss was amply covered by the migration from North Brabant. There are similar inter-provincial differences in other parts of the country: emigrants from the west are more often from North and South Holland than Utrecht; and the influx in the east is far more pronounced in Gelderland than in Overyssel. 3 The population of most large and average-sized towns is static or even decreasing, while that of many small towns and villages is growing rapidly. Up until about 1960 urbanization in the Netherlands followed the usual pattern; the shifts in the distribution of work from the agricultural to the secondary and tertiary sectors gave rise to migration from the country to the towns. In the sixties the situation changed as a result of a number of factors. The towns could no longer provide sufficient accommodation, partly because many houses in town centres had made way for office blocks, shops and roads. Moreover, as families became smaller, housing was being built for single people, and there was a substantial reduction in the number of people sharing accommodation. Another factor which contributed to the drop in migration to the towns was the greater demand for homes outside the urban area, which was made possible by the greater mobility provided by the private car. Accommodation in smaller towns is not only more attractive-as far as surroundings are concerned for instance-it is also cheaper. The result of this development was that: a) the population of the large towns declined dramatically (Fig. 28). The exodus was accompanied by changes in age structure and socio-economic structure, with mainly young families from the upper and middle income groups leaving. Their place was taken by such people as students and foreign workers. The number of school pupils in the cities dropped rapidly and the standards of many other facilities also declined; b) problems have also arisen in the new estates in smaller towns where young families have settled. The facilities have in many cases been inadequate for the sudden influx of people and there is sometimes friction between the natives and the newcomers; c) the average distance between home and work grew because of the rapid increase in the number of commuters. Since the area involved is so large, public transport is not the answer. Consequently there are large traffic jams every day on the motorways, especially at bridges and tunnels. These developments are far from consistent with government policy which aims to reduce the number of commuters, especially those using private transport, and to retain green belts between urban areas. Efforts are therefore being made in town and country planning to make the inner cities more attractive, and to accommodate the population overspill in a limited number of growth centres or in new or expanding towns (Fig. 29). This enables stretches of countryside to be saved for agricultural or recreational uses. The government no longer adheres to the policy developed in the fifties and sixties of distributing the population as evenly as possible throughout the country. The concentration of the population in the west, notably in the western conurbation, is a historical fact; it would not only be impossible to alter this situation, it would destroy the economic, social and cultural importance of the area with both national and international consequences. The development plans for the 1980s place a greater emphasis than previous ones on house building in and next to existing towns. No new growth centres or new towns are proposed, and the decline in the population of the major cities would appear to have been halted (Fig. 28).