Geography of The Netherlands.

The Netherlands are blessed with a fascinating geography. Nearly a quarter of its territory is below sea-level and half of the country would flood if it were not for the dikes. To the Dutch these conditions are hardly something special. Over centuries they lived in these conditions and organised the spatial planning accordingly.

Many other facets of the spatial planning are also typical Dutch. Instead of one large metropolis, The Netherlands have the Randstad. Principally, the Randstad are four cities with an agricultural green heart (groenehart) in the Western part of The Netherlands. These cities all perform some of the metropolitan functions.

With a population density of 465 people per square kilometre of land, it is fairly safe to state that - statistically - The Netherlands are crowded. This becomes all to clear on Dutch holidays. At these moments a large part of the population concentrates in some small parts of the country. Add to this the foreign visitors who are attracted by the same areas and it is no wonder that an important part of holidays is spent on congested roads.

Natural setting of the Netherlands:

On approaching Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, visitors from abroad will find that the Netherlands is exactly as they expected: a flat, low-lying country criss-crossed by waterways, in which permanent settlement was only possible once dikes had been built to withstand the sea. The land reaches 200 metres above sea-level only in the extreme southeast of the country. If the Netherlands were no longer to be protected by its dikes and dunes, water - the sea, but also the rivers - would claim the most densely-populated part of the country, which comprises 50% of its total surface, little of which is more than 1 metre above sea level. Of this area, also referred to as the low Netherlands, approximately 50% - or 24% of the total surface area of the Netherlands - is below sea level.

While the low Netherlands largely consists of totally flat landscapes dominated by water, the picture is somewhat different in the high Netherlands. The land is higher and displays a measure of relief, while land use is varied; in addition to crop and livestock farms and market gardens of various types, the high Netherlands contains the major part of the Netherlands heath and woodland, areas which are of great importance for outdoor leisure pursuits. Practically the entire west and low north of the country consists of polders: drained land which is mainly surrounded by dikes, within which groundwater levels can be controlled. There are some 5.000 polders in all. The largest polders are the result of the Zuyderzee works. Since 1920 - when the decision to carry out the works was taken - these have resulted in the inland sea (Zuyder Zee or Zuiderzee) becoming a lake (the IJsselmeer) and a gain of 1.650 square km of land.

A second major project in the Netherlands' fight against the water is the Delta project. The construction of the Delta works (Delta Werken) started after a devastating storm surge hit the low-lying polders of the southwest Netherlands on 1. February 1953, killing more than 1.800 people and flooding large areas of land. In the following decades, nine dams were built that reduced the cost length in the effected part of the estuary from 800 to 80 kilometres. The most extensive and complex part of the Delta project is the 8 km long storm surge barrier on the Eastern Scheldt river (Oosterschelde stormvloedkering). After a lively debate on its environmental effects, it was decided to built an opening barrier. A total of 62 moveable steel gates - each 45 metres wide - are lowered in times of high flood risk. Over the centuries, the result of regaining land on the sea - and protecting land from the sea - produced some of the most outstanding features of the geography of the Netherlands.

Urbanisation: The Randstad

The population in the Netherlands is not evenly distributed. Close to 45% of the population live in the three central-western provinces (North-Holland, South-Holland, Utrecht). These provinces, however, account for just over 20 % of the country's surface. In the central-western provinces are the main cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht) located. Together these cities and their urban fringes make up the Randstad.

The term Randstad was introduced in the 1930s to denote the cities in the west of the Netherlands, which are situated very close together. The term has, however, never been made official and no-one knows precisely where the Randstad begins and ends. No clear figures on surface area and population exist.

When, after the ice age, the sea level began to rise, the largestsection of what is now known as the Randstad became a marshy lagoon. With a few exceptions, no settlements were established in the area until the Middle Ages. Higher locations were chosen: the dunes in the west (Haarlem and The Hague, for instance), the Pleistocene sands in the east (Hilversum) and along the banks of the rivers (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Leiden). This largely explains the emergence of a belt of cities encircling a more open centre, now known as the "green heart".

In just over a century, the cities and villages of the Randstad have spilled over into one another. A clear example can be seen on the photo. In the foreground we see part of a residential quarter in the northwest of Rotterdam. The buildings that can be seen in the background, a few kilometres further on, are part of the city of Delft, which stretches, almost without interruption, as far as the conurbation of The Hague (see map). The Hague - with the North Sea behind it - can just be seen on the horizon. Yet each city maintained its own identity - not only with regard to layout, but also in relation to function and character and the attitude of residents towards their hometown. An essential difference between the Randstad and cities such as London and Paris lies in the fact that the traditional functions of the metropolis, such as administration, industry and the provision of services, are distributed among a number of cities rather than being concentrated in one urban centre.

Amsterdam and Rotterdam developed into commercial and industrial centres, while Amsterdam is also the financial and cultural centre. The Hague is the seat of national government, though Amsterdam is the capital. Utrecht, in the centre of the country, forms the hub of the road and rail network. In addition it functions as the national centre for education, business services, exhibitions and conferences.

Overpopulation:

The Randstad as a whole now has a population of 6 million, of whom 4 million live in or near the cities. Up to 1970, the population of the Randstad grew rapidly, after which this trend was reversed, mainly because there were fewer foreign immigrants than migrants to other parts of the country. In the 1970s, the populations of the four major cities dropped by as much as 15%, while those of the smaller municipalities in the "green heart" grew. In the past few years, however, this discrepancy has disappeared: suburbanisation is being brought to a halt, and people are being encouraged to return to the cities.

Many problems in the Randstad arise from the overpopulation of city districts:
Housing is a great problem in many cities; there is a shortage of decent accommodation and too little land to build; Widespread commuting has led to enormous traffic problems, especially during the morning and evening rush hours; There is too little space for recreational facilities in and near the Randstad; the polders of the "green heart" are mainly used for farming and - with the exception of the areas surrounding the lakes - are not suitable for mass recreation; Environmental pollution (water, air and soil pollution and noise nuisance) is now a serious problem in many places. In addition, the "green heart" is under threat from suburbanisation - as a result of both new housing projects and increasing activity in the secondary and tertiary sectors - and from road and railway construction. Population density in the green heart has now reached the national average.

Urban and regional planning:

The principles underpinning policy on the Randstad and its role within urban and regional planning policy for the whole of the Netherlands have changed considerably since the early 1970s. Prior to that date, the main objective was to curb the growth of the Randstad and develop the northern, eastern and southern provinces. The policy was aimed at redistributing the population. In order to prevent individual towns and cities in the Randstad from spilling over into each other and urban sprawl encroaching on the green heart, growth centres were planned on the outer edges of the Randstad's urban belt to house the growing population. In the 1970s, migration from the cities had reached such proportions that the strict policy of redistribution pursued up to then had to be relaxed. It was feared that the Randstad would forfeit its position at both national and international level if locating in this part of the country - with its obvious advantages - was to continue to be actively discouraged. The revised policy (1988) expressly endorsed this approach: the terms population redistribution and growth centres are no longer used. Locations for new housing are now mainly sought on the peripheries of the major cities.

Maintaining the green heart is still regarded as a priority, though concessions have had to be made in some places: to the east of The Hague, where Zoetermeer was designated as a growth centre, along the eastern railway line between The Hague and Rotterdam, near Schiphol Airport in the Haarlemmermeer, and to the west of Utrecht. Attempts are also being made to prevent cities and conurbations from spilling over into each other; buffer zones have been designated to counter urban sprawl in these areas.


Basic Facts (CIA Factbook, updated as of 1 November, 2005):