Availability of green spaces around towns in the Netherlands
Green spaces around towns play an important role in people's leisure time. The proximity and accessibility of green spaces are also very important. How much green space is there around Dutch towns?
Green spaces around towns must be nearby and accessible
For the use of green spaces around towns, it is important for them to be close enough to homes and for people to be able to cycle or walk in them. Cycling or walking trips from the home usually last an hour. This means that the maximum distance away from the home is often five kilometres at the most.
The opportunities for cycling and walking also depend on the number of paths and roads, and on the amount of shelter. This means that there are fewer options for walking and cycling in open agricultural areas than in nature areas. It is possible that there may actually be more options in parks.
Appraisal of green area around towns
To test the availability of green spaces around towns, therefore, both distance and accessibility are important. De Vries and Bulens (2001) have developed an appraisal instrument in which both factors play a role: recreational capacity. This capacity is expressed as the number of recreational locations per hectare within five kilometres of a built-up area. The more facilities, footpaths and cycle paths, shelter etc., the more people can engage in recreation in an area.
Policy for green spaces around towns
National government and provincial authorities are responsible for the development of green spaces around towns, including the Randstadgroenstructuur (green infrastructure in the Randstad urban agglomeration in the West of the Netherlands). The target for the period up to 2013 is 18,685 hectares. The acquisition and structuring of land is proceeding laboriously, among other things because of the shortage of space around the large cities.
In 2002, on the basis of the shortages calculated by De Vries & Bulens (2001), the ANWB (the Royal Dutch Touring Club) proposed the establishment of 60,000 additional hectares of green space around towns. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has studied this claim for additional green spaces (Farjon & Lammers, 2002).
In the paper 'Natuur voor mensen, mensen voor natuur' (Nature for people, people for nature) (LNV, 2000) the government indicates that an additional target of 10,000 hectares is desirable. The financing for this supplementary target is not yet available.
When identifying shortages, the basic premise is the percentage of people who go walking or cycling on the fifth busiest day of the year, in other words 17% of the Dutch population.
Interactive atlas for green spaces in and around towns
You can consult the information in the Environment and Nature Compendium about green spaces in and around towns interactively using a digital atlas. To help you, we have selected two maps:
- the average area of public green spaces per home in built-up areas per municipality (urban green spaces).
- the average number of recreational locations per capita and per municipality (green spaces around towns).
