leisure landscapes in the netherlands

Landscape and recreation in the Netherlands: consequences of shifting
policy on Dutch metropolitan landscapes
Alexandra Tisma
1.
Introduction
Recreational needs of the urban population are changing all the time. Due to
greater wealth, many people can now spend more on leisure and on travel for
leisure purposes than ever before. Consequently Dutch expenditure on leisure
has soared in recent decades and the same is true for the amount of time spent
on leisure-related mobility (Harms 2006). Leisure has become a booming
business offering a very wide spectrum of opportunities. People nowadays can –
and perhaps even have to – select those leisure activities they really want to
pursue or the attraction they really want to visit. Making such choices has
become even more necessary as the average available free time per person per
week in the Netherlands has decreased, from 48 hours in 1975 to 45 in 2005
(Tisma and Jókövi, 2007), the main cause of this being rising female
employment (Breedveld et al. 2006; Breedveld and Van den Broek, 2001).
Remarkably, though, this situation has not led to a decrease in the number of
different leisure activities undertaken in any one year. This implies that people
are choosing to do more activities, but each less frequently, and that the
diversifying leisure supply therefore suits their needs (Van den Broek et al.
2004).
Leisure consumers have very different lifestyles, are demanding and critical.
According to Brinkhuijsen (2007) suppliers of leisure activities in rural areas are
competing to offer variety of new activities to consumers as for citizens the rural
areas are not any more seen as production but as consumption landscapes. As a
result the new consumption landscapes offer rest, space and recreation and often
accommodate functions that are not any more rural but urban. Many farms are
opening their doors to citizen for amusement and old fashion farmers sports, golf
playgrounds and the new housing areas combine, fantasy cities, theme parks,
open air museum, shopping cities, etc. are spread within the country and the
borders between urban and rural are becoming blurred.
In the recently published literature on this subject there are various aspects
already tackled. Still there are considerable differences in the approach of those
studies and the one presented in this rapport. The latest related project
“Landscape and Leisure in Europe” (www.landscapeandleisure.eu) was initiated
by the former governmental advisor for landscape Dirk Sijmons during 2007 and
completed by the international conference “A wider view” in Apeldoorn and the
publication “Greetings from Europe” in summer 2008. This was actually why this
study was started – it was inspired by the same theme but focused on the
Netherlands situation only. The methodology and the way data were used and
analysed in this study are very different too.
Another, even more closely related study is Tracy Metz’s book “Pret! Leisure en
Landschap” (2002). In her book Metz uses data, interviews and her observations
to write several essays focusing on the newest developments in leisure and
tourism in the Netherlands and their consequences for the development of cities,
urban peripheries and rural areas. Growing entertainment in urban centres, rise
of shopping malls, theme parks, mega movies, new entertainment halls, but also
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bungalow parks, rural impressions, and outdoor recreation like biking and hiking
are the subjects of the essays.
Changes in Dutch landscape are the theme of a book by Baart, Metz and
Ruimschotel (2000) “Atlas van de verandering, Nederland herschikt” (Atlas of
change, Netherlands reordered). However in that book the word landscape is
used in much wider meaning, as synonym for spatial occupation of the land
where especially new developments in land use, spatial planning, housing and
use of free time are the reason for changes of the landscape in the past and in
the future.
In the recent Dutch policy advice documents1 issues of leisure and landscape
have got a lot of attention but often have contradictory goals. On one hand it is
the aim of landscape development policy to protect and reinforce landscape
qualities. On the other recreational needs seek for opening, intensifying and
transformation of landscapes in accordance to leisure needs of citizens. Hence
the question raises – what is the potential of Dutch landscape for recreation and
which recent developments in both leisure and rural landscapes can be used to
reinforce both of them?
2.
Definitions
In the following text both leisure and landscape terms will be defined to make
clear how they will be used in the study.
Landscape
The word "landscape" is derived from the medieval Dutch term "lantscap", which
consists of the roots "lant", meaning region or territory, and "scap", meaning
shaping or creating. Originally, the word referred to landscape as a (manmanaged) territory. However, when the word was introduced in the English
language in the late 16th century, it especially referred to Flemish and Dutch
landscape painting, denoting a picture or natural scenery (Schama 1995; Olwig
1996; Whiston Spirn 1998; Lörzing, 2001).
The word "landscape" is ambiguous insofar as it may refer to region or territory
on the one hand, and view or panorama on the other. In the words of Corner
(1999): "Landscape is a less quantifiable object than it is an idea, a cultural way
of seeing, and as such it remains open to interpretation, design, and
transformation" (Corner, 1999: x). Many attempts have been made to find an
adequate definition expressing the ambiguous character of the landscape. In
2002, the Council of Europe agreed on the following definition: "Landscape
means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the
action and interaction of natural and/or human factors" (CoE, Landscape
Convention, chapter I, General provisions, article 1, Definitions, paragraph a).
This and other, similar definitions emphasize that "landscape is not simply
another word for environment – it is created in the eyes, minds and hearts of
beholders when the material ‘real’ components of our environment are seen
through the filters of memory and association, understanding and interpretation"
(Ballester 2002, source unknown).
1
VROM raad (2006): Groeten uit Holland. Advies over vrije tijd, toerisme en ruimtelijke
kwaliteit
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2
Generally spoken, most definitions of landscape include natural, rural and urban
settings. In this project the focus will be on the countryside – rural and natural
landscapes - and on urban-rural transition areas (urban fringes). This means that
leisure activities in an urban setting will not be part of the study. In mostly manmade or man-influenced countries like the Netherlands, natural landscapes in the
sense of pristine, unspoilt tracts of land are virtually absent. Still, landscapes
may have an important natural (or better: ecological) component. The
omnipresence of man-made and man-influenced landscapes in Europe has led to
the wide acceptance of the term "cultural landscapes", denoting all kinds of rural
areas that bear the stamp of human intervention, especially for agricultural
purposes. Today, cultural landscapes are no longer exclusively shaped by
agricultural demands. Open-air recreation, tourism and nature conservation have
become important "players" in the present-day cultural landscape.
Leisure2
In this field, we see many interrelated terms, with leisure, recreation and tourism
as the most widely used. Even for those that can be considered experts in this
field, the overlaps can be confounding. For instance: "Tourism3, recreation and
leisure are generally seen as a set of interrelated and overlapping concepts.
While there are many important concepts, definitions of leisure, recreation and
tourism remain contested in terms of how, where, and when and why they are
used" (Hall & Page 2002: 3). In a recent report by a Dutch advisory board to the
national government, it is stated that "sports, entertainment, art and culture,
nature and recreation can be considered as being part of the 'cluster of leisure
and tourism'" (VROM-Raad 2006).
Leisure can be defined as "All time that remains after deducting time required for
(domestic) labour and educational commitments (and the therewith involved
transport) and the time required for personal care and care for the family
members" (Beunders & Boers 1997: 35), while a more experiential approach
sees leisure as "time over which an individual exercises choice and undertakes
activities in a free, voluntary way" (Herbert 1988). The concept of recreation is
closely related to leisure and is usually defined as an activity in leisure time or
the ‘re-creating’ impact of leisure activities on one’s body or mind.
Different countries use different interpretations of leisure and tourism as well.
Usually the same kind of activities are considered as leisure activities (walking,
biking, swimming, sunbathing), but social and cultural connotations are different.
In Scandinavian countries for example, leisure is closely related to outdoor living,
in Germany to sports and activity, and in the UK to rural tourism (Bruls 2002). In
Southern Europe, social relations and social space characterize leisure culture,
converging in a strong food culture that brings people together to eat or drink
outside the working place or the home.
Within these wide definitions, leisure comprises a wide variety of activities of
variable duration in various environments. It includes urban, rural and natural
environments, both public and private, indoors and outdoors. A daytrip in the
2
The text on leisure has partly been adopted and adjusted from Brijnkhuijsen, M. et all, Leisure
and landscape: trends and impacts, facts and figures. Alterra Helpdesk vraag 1094, 19 januari
2007.
3
Tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business or other purposes,
according to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO 1991). This definition of the UNWTO was
subsequently endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in 1993.
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weekend can be considered as leisure, and so is shopping or a little stroll in the
daily environment.
3.
Leisure in the Netherlands
3.1
A brief history
As in most countries, outdoor recreation in the Netherlands used to be a pastime
for the rich. The landed gentry went hunting in the countryside and the urban
elite cherished their weekends in often lavishly decorated second homes out-oftown. For the less well-to-do, who had much less free time to spare, beer
gardens and pall-malls constituted cheaper ways to spend their few hours of
leisure.
The twentieth century brought many changes. Gradually, all strata of society,
including the working class, got more free time. Because of the availability of
bicycles and means of public transport for all (like suburban rail lines), the
countryside became more and more accessible for city-dwellers. Typical for the
early twentieth century, many organizations in society, like labour unions,
political parties and government-run utility companies built their own recreational
facilities like schooling centres, gathering grounds, campsites and even holiday
villages. Until well into the 1950s, it was a not uncommon sight to see strings of
Dutch men, women and children on heavily loaded bicycles, pedalling from the
city towards a communal destination in the forests and fields of the countryside,
often a day's journey from home. The first half of the twentieth century also saw
the rise of nature conservation societies that raised the awareness of the public
towards the variety of nature, even in a small and densely populated country like
the Netherlands, and towards the beauty of the countryside in general.
After World War II, mass outdoor recreation took off slowly but surely. People of
all strata got more leisure time and means of transportation became available for
an increasing majority. Car ownership tended to rise a little slower than in
surrounding European countries, but bicycles, mopeds and public transport
ensured that everyone could reach most leisure destinations. From the 1950s,
the national government felt that it should be involved in outdoor recreation,
from a social as well as a planning point of view. From 1966, the word
"recreation" became part of the name of one of the Dutch ministries. The then
minister coined the term "meaningful spending of free time", as an important
objective of national policy.
This new field of policy was in part motivated by the idea, that mass outdoor
recreation could be detrimental to the natural and landscape values of the
countryside. The policymakers' general fear was, that people from the cities
would use private or public means of transportation to go to the well-known
nature reserves and other areas of outstanding ecological and scenic values,
thereby endangering these very same values. They should be offered an
alternative, preferably as close to the cities as possible. This became the leading
idea behind the so-called "Green Star" planning, a policy aimed at creating large
park areas in the vicinity of the largest cities. Over the years, a number of green
stars have been laid out, especially near the Randstad cities in the West of the
country.
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The last quarter of the twentieth century saw some serious changes in
recreational behaviour and policy. Perhaps the most important change was the
trend towards more individual ways to spend free time. Typical group activities
made way for activities that could be undertaken by small groups and
individuals. These activities also called for less collective and large-scale
environments; this brought a change in recreation planning from park-like areas
(like the green stars) towards low-density, landscape-oriented ways of outdoor
recreation. Small recreational facilities, sometimes no more than a picknick
bench or a fishing pier, became an important feature of rural reconstruction
plans. Another new trend, partly coinciding with the latter, is the need for nature
experiences. A better educated and aging population develops a preference for
quiet, naturally-looking environments. Policy-makers responded to this need by
opening up more parts of nature reserves (also prompted by the growing
membership of conservation associations; members wanted to see what they
were paying for) and, on the other hand, creating areas of so-called "new
nature", where ecological, educational and recreational purposes were integrated
from the beginning.
Next to these relatively quiet forms of recreation the new trends in the last years
go towards more intensive and active ways of recreation. Some of them are
landscape related (golf playgrounds or recreation on farms) but other ones have
actually an autonomous position, unrelated to any kind of landscape type or
quality. Those are wellness centres, attraction and theme parks, shopping malls,
artificial ski hills etc.
3.2
Recreational behaviour of Dutch citizens
In general, the kind of recreational activities in which Dutch citizens take part do
not differ greatly from those in surrounding countries. Still, it will be interesting
to consider a breakdown of these activities and their changes in the recent past,
in order to get a good picture of the recreational needs in this country and the
role, played by the landscape in providing a background for these activities.
Figure 3 gives en overview of the most important activities and their
development over time from 1990 to 2002, based on data provided by CBS, the
Dutch national statistical office known in English as Netherlands Statistics. In
2001/02, more than 175 million day trips with a minimum length of 2 hours were
made for the 10 recreational activities shown in the chart, ranging from
"walking" to "visiting nature reserves". This number represents 18% of the total
of 982 million day trips made altogether in 2001/02. Depending on the definition,
the percentage for outdoor recreation will probably be higher than 18%, if we
take into account that activities like golfing, outdoor sports and visiting allotment
gardens were not included because of the consideration that they normally take
place on semi-private grounds and not in public open spaces. Other activities like
skating, skeelering and jogging are not on the list either although they will
mostly be done in public open spaces, probably because of their rather recent
rise to popularity.
The results of CBS's research, as shown in figure 3, make clear that walking and
cycling are by far the most popular categories of recreational activity in the late
20th and early 21st century in the Netherlands. Especially the scores for cycling
(rising from 22% to 27% of all outdoor recreation trips over the research period)
will strike many as "typically Dutch), as they are only outdone by the
internationally more usual activity of walking (up to 37%). Both activities have
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increased over the 11 year period; this goes for most other activities with the
remarkable exception of outdoor ice skating (another typically Dutch outdoor
activity!) and, to a lesser extent, for fishing. For outdoor skating, the change in
weather conditions during the research period, with 1996/97 being the last cold
winter so far, may offer at least a partial explanation.
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Figure 1: participation in ten outdoor recreational activities, measured in day trips (x
1,000) over the period 1990/91–2001/02; Source: CBS-statline by Netherlands
Statistics, adapted by NEAA
A much higher participation in outdoor activities has been measured by a more
recent study: the so-called CVTO (continuous leisure time study), for the first
time done in 2004/05. This study shows a total of 975 million day trips of at least
1 hour (as opposed to 2 hrs in the CBS studies). This difference accounts for at
least part of the higher outcomes of the CVTO study. Another important factor is
the wider range of activities counted: unlike CBS, the CVTO study takes for
instance jogging and skeelering into consideration.
The aforementioned outdoor activities take place in various environments. For
this paper, the choice of environments is obviously an important feature. More
than CBS, CVTO provides us with a reasonably wide range of outdoor
environments and their popularity for recreation. The categories do not match
landscape units as they are used in the most common landscape classifications,
but they comprise land-use and landform categories that are most relevant for
outdoor recreation.
Figure 4 shows some results from the CVTO study, in percentages of day trips
visiting different kinds of outdoor environments. Some categories are not
"outdoor", like "centre of city or town" and "urban park", but for most other
categories, the chart gives a good picture of the relative popularity of landscape
environments for recreation. Forest and farmland turn out to be the two most
popular environments by far, with both around 18% of all trip destinations.
Water, or more exactly the sea, rivers, lakes and their shores, together make up
16% of the total (9% and 7% each, respectively). Designated areas for
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recreation (which in this study must be public open spaces, which means that
they will be out-of-town park areas rather than theme parks) attract almost 6%,
which may be an indication of the success of the "green stars" and their likes.
Categories like "dunes", heathland" and "wet nature reserve" are much less
popular, which is understandable because of their rareness and lack of
accessibility.
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2%
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6%
8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% 20%
Figure 2: percentages of recreational visits to some types of outdoor environments;
Source: CVTO 2004/2005, adapted by NEAA
The latest Natuurbalans (PBL 2008) shows that the situation is not very much
changed in the last 10 years as the amount of biking and hiking in the nature
stayed approximately the same. About three third of Dutch population recreates
in nature and the most daily trips occurs in forest and heather areas.
3.3 Demand and supply of recreational facilities in the Netherlands
As assignment of the Dutch government the research institute Alterra developed
a spatial model to calculate demand and supply or recreational areas which is
called AVANAR. For the needs of recreational research some years ago Alterra
developed a model that can be used to calculate how recreational supply meets
the needs of Dutch population, where are the largest demands for recreation in
green spaces are, where are the largest deficiencies and how large they are. The
model can calculate how much the future plans contribute to the improvement of
the situation. It is based on availability and appropriateness of land use
categories for recreational use and not on the quality of the facilities and
attractiveness of the landscape. As Figure 3 shows according to AVANAR model
the highest recreational pressure occurs in the most urbanised areas in the
Netherlands, the west part of the country around the four largest cities
Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht. At the same time, as the figure
4 shows, the capacity for recreation is the smallest in the same areas.
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Figure 3. Recreational pressure according to AVANAR model
Figure 4. Recreational capacity according to AVANAR model
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Figure 5. Possibilities for biking and hiking according Natuurbalans 2005 (MNP)
Figure 5 shows the availability of recreational spaces within 5 km form the home
in 50 largest cities in year 2000 (CBS data for Natuurbalans 2005). Similar to the
Alterra calculations the availability is the lowest in the largest cities. In the
majority of the municipalities the availability of recreational areas decreased
between the years 1996 and 2000.
In the last few years the situation didn’t improve. In the latest Natuurbalans
from 2008 (PBL, 2008) it is again concluded that the largest deficiency of biking
and hiking possibilities lies in the western part of the country. According to PBL
the acquisition of recreational areas follows the planned schedule but
construction and design are delayed. Most probably that is the reason why the
citizens of the Randstad area are less satisfied with the green areas around the
cities than the rest of the Dutch population.
4.
A short landscape typology of the Netherlands
4.1
The essence of the Dutch landscape
The Netherlands has a great variety of landscapes, especially when we take into
account the modest size (nearly 40.000 sq km) of the country. The coastline and
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its inlets, the marshlands behind the dunes, the sand and loess belts with their
valleys provided a natural base for this variety which was enhanced by human
interventions in the landscape over the centuries. The Netherlands is known as an
all-flat country. This is essentially true, as most of the country, apart from regions
in the Eastern and Southern extremities, lies between -6 below and 20 meters
above sea level. In the central part of the country, we find hills up to 100 meters,
and in the Southeast (near the three corners with Germany and Belgium) the
terrain rises to 200 meters and more, with the highest point at 321 meters.
The Dutch landscape is as we see it today is almost entirely man-made; it is the
quintessential cultural landscape. In the course of the time it was developed by
combination between the natural processes (such as geology, hydrology, and
climate) and the use of the land by human societies of different historical periods.
The layers of both of the influences are sometimes still visible in the parts of the
Dutch landscapes, but very often covered with the latest layers of land use and
urban developments.
In terms of physical (mostly soil type) characteristics, Dutch landscapes can be
seen as a series of zones (or belts) running more or less parallel from the North
Sea coast inwards (or vice versa, for those who prefer a more European
continental perspective). The main landscape zones are the coastal zone, the
marine clay belt (locally interrupted by peat bog areas), the sand belt (with local
pockets of peat colony areas, see hereafter) and finally the loess belt. All four
zones are part of larger European entities; in the case of the loess belt, the zone
covers only a small part of the Netherlands in the South of Limburg Province), but
is a quite common feature in most of the continent. Apart from these four belts
(and enclosed peat areas), the river clay landscapes and the reclamations deserve
mentioning. The former, based upon the Rhine and its Dutch branches, split the
sand belt in a North-eastern and a Southern part; the latter comprises all new
landscapes, created on the bottom of former lakes and sea inlets.
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Figure 6. The simplified map of the geography of the Netherlands
Looking at the geography of the country (figure 6), the most typical and,
especially for foreign visitors, striking fact about the country is that more than
one third of it area lies under the sea level. Even more surprising is that the
largest cities, the biggest seaports, the international airport and the centres of
economic and political power all lay in the most vulnerable part of the country.
Since the beginning of the last Millennium, settlers, farmers, city dwellers and
(later) engineers have created a system of dikes, barriers and locks that defends
individual pieces of land as well as the coastline of the country as a whole. The
abundance of land units with a man-controlled water level has made the word
"polder" a Dutch contribution to many languages of the world.
The lie of the land has great consequences for the appearance of the landscape.
Water levels in the country as a whole, and the low-lying areas in particular, are
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totally controlled by man, using advanced technology to create subtle differences
in level throughout the country. In the clay and peat areas, the first drainage
systems could spill the water through natural differences in level onto the open
water of rivers, lakes and the sea. Over time, the land gradually subsided
because of intensive drainage (this is especially true of peat soils), and technical
assistance became necessary in order to ensure the permanent discharging of
drain water. These technical solutions became well-known as windmills, which in
the low-lying part of the Netherlands were built for the one and only purpose of
pumping drainage water from the polders onto the higher water level of natural
bodies of water. Originally, these elaborate management systems were primarily
aimed at improving conditions for housing and agriculture. By now, outdoor
recreation and nature conservation equally benefit from the water management
system; although in some circumstances interests may conflict.
The influence of man on the landscape is most obvious in the low-lying parts of
the country. Still, the so-called "higher" parts of the country in the East and
South also have water management of their own. They reflect similar systems in
other countries, based on facilitating and improving the run-off in river basins. In
the 1990s, when the coastal defence line against the North Sea has been
perfected to prevent future storm surges like the one that killed 2,000 people in
Zeeland Province in 1953, the Dutch discovered that now the danger of flooding
occurred in the higher parts of the country. Serious flood risks in the midnineties, threatening historical cities on the Maas and IJssel rivers and almost
inundating large rural areas in Gelderland province, brought the message home
that the country may be protected from the sea, but not from the rivers.
Current land use in the Netherlands shows the vast domination of agriculture,
almost the smallest percentage of forests in Europe and surprisingly enough not
so high percentage of inner waters as one would expect.
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LANDUSE 2000
infrastructure (3,2%)
housing (6,2%)
work (2,8%)
recreation (2,5%)
agriculture (65,5%)
forest (9,9%)
nature (3.8%)
inner water (4,9%)
rest (1,3%)
Figure 7. Current land use in the Netherlands
During many years geographers, planners, landscape architects and other
professionals were dealing with the classification of the Dutch landscapes. The
knowledge about different layers of the landscape and their changes in the
course of time is reach and various. The following chapter is giving a short
summary of landscape typologies developed by different authors and the
chapters after it explain the typology developed for the purpose of this research.
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4.2. Overview of the Dutch landscape classification systems
It is fascinating to see how many different landscape classification systems this
country has. For someone coming from a country where landscape is neither
carefully studied nor scientifically documented it is difficult to understand how
this classification systems came to existence and what would be the reason do
have such a variety.
There are several criteria commonly used for landscape classification such as
relief, soil, water, water management, nature, environment, land use,
settlements, and finally image of the landscape. Further on there are basically
three types of typologies which prevail in the Dutch classification systems:
•
•
•
Physical-geographic characteristics of the Dutch districts
Historic-geographic (or cultural landscape) approach
Landscape character based classification
Within each of these main groups there are several versions and very often it is
not easy to make clear distinction between the three approaches. It is not
surprising because the evolution of Dutch landscape started long ago with
natural influences such as geomorphology, soil formation and climate. In time
the influence of man was growing, and that man made landscapes were of
course not the same in the different geographical districts of the country.
Historically seen the traces of different times are still visible in many
contemporary Dutch landscapes, but as a result of agricultural cultivation and
growing urbanization they partly disappeared. Finally, the picture o the
landscape today is very much changed by the latest interventions of man, the
greatest one being urbanization, land consolidation and large scale agricultural
production, so that in some cases even the physical structure of landscape is
modified.
The tables in appendix 1 give the overview of the existing classifications of
landscape in the Netherlands.
4.3
Characteristics of the main landscape types of the Netherlands
The following description of cultural landscape types is based on a number of
classifications, among which the ones by H.J. Keuning (De Historisch-geografische
Landschappen van Nederland, 1946) and J.I.S. Zonneveld (Levend Land, 1991).
Both books are generally accepted as important sources for landscape
classification in the Netherlands. The basis of the classification is a combination of
soil characteristics and historical land-use.
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Figure 8. Landscape types
Coastal landscapes
Hardly more than one thousand years ago, the North Sea directly influenced about
half of what later became the Netherlands. Since then, cultivation and reclamation
have reduced the endangered area. By now, the Dutch coastline has been cut
down to an almost straight line, made up of dunes, dikes and islands.
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Y
YYYYYYY
YYY
Figure 9. Costal landscape by Katwijk
In Zeeland Province, all but one of the sea inlets have been blocked off with solid
or half-open barriers. Dunes can still be found on the western heads of the
Zeeland Islands. By contrast, the coastline of both Holland Provinces is a
continuous strip of dunes, with additional dikes in places where the dune coast
proved to be vulnerable. Right behind the dunes, a mixture of marine clay and
sand provided the right soil conditions for horticulture and bulb-growing. Especially
the Bulb Region (Dutch: Bollenstreek) northwest of Leiden has become worldfamous for its bulb fields, especially in the spring when multi-coloured carpets of
tulips and other bulb flowers make a major tourist attraction.
Figure 10. Bulb production area
In the North, the coast of Fryslân and Groningen Provinces is protected by dikes.
Offshore at 10 to 20 km from this coastline, a series of islands stretches out from
the Netherlands into Germany and Denmark. These Wadden Islands (Dutch:
Waddeneilanden), connected to the mainland by a number of ferries, are a tourist
destination in their own right. The landscape of these long and narrow islands
features sand dunes, clay polders and wetlands.
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Marine clay landscapes
The oldest human settlements in the marine clay belt were built on artificial
mounds (Dutch: terpen). The earliest of these mounds date back to the beginning
of the first Millennium, which makes them the oldest signs of permanent residence
in the lower parts of the Netherlands. Although these artificial mounds were raised
initially in most of the coastal zone from Flanders to Germany, they survived
largely in the northern provinces of Fryslân and Groningen.
Figure 11. Mounds landscape in Friesland
Around 1000 AD, large areas in the coastal zone of Flanders and the Netherlands
had been reclaimed from the sea by improved drainage and dike-building. The
settlers started from islands and sandbanks and used their skills in reclamation to
create ever larger islands, surrounded by dikes. A characteristic feature of these
early marine clay landscapes is the often meandering course of roads and
waterways, still following old creeks and inlets. In the parcellation, irregular block
patterns prevail.
Figure 12. Wide and open polders in Hoeksche waard
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17
From the 17th century, improved windmill technology facilitated the reclamation of
larger and deeper parts of the marine marshlands. Creeks and inlets that had been
too dangerous to reclaim so far, could now be converted into wide and open
polders. As modern developments in their days, the new polders were laid out by
the latest standard in polder design in a straight, rational block pattern.
Lowland peat bog landscapes
To many foreigners, these landscapes represent the archetypal Dutch landscape.
In any case, they are typical for the country in a sense that they are common in
large parts of the North and West while they are equally rare elsewhere in Europe.
Their origins go back to the 11th century, when settlers started to drain parts of
the peatland marshes in the coastal zone by digging out ditches in the marshland
to collect the water. Because a lot of water had to be drained off, the ditches had
to be spaced at close distances. The result was a system of long and narrow strips
of land, separated by near-parallel ditches. They are referred to as strip parcel
landscapes. In some examples, these strip parcels (Dutch: slagen) can reach a
length of over 2 km.
Historically, settlements in strip parcel landscapes were restricted to the roads on
the clay or sand ridges that had served as base for the peat bog cultivation. This
means that these settlements became long and narrow, often meandering strips,
known as ribbon villages. The land around the ribbon villages is almost exclusively
used for cattle and dairy farming.
Figure 13. Strip parcels and ribbon village in Green Hart
Apart from occasional pollard willows along the ditches, the parcels are virtually
treeless, making the strip parcel landscapes vast open spaces framed by dense
village ribbons.
In the late Middle Ages, the appearance of the strip parcel landscapes changed
drastically when large areas were excavated for peat mining. Initially, the idea was
to maintain strips of land between the mining parcels for easy access and
transport. Strong winds and high waves, however, made many of these dikes
collapse, after which the mining parcels grew together to form lakes. Not all these
'lakes by mistake' survive today: many were later reclaimed and converted into
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18
polders (see hereafter: reclamation landscapes). But some can still be seen in the
Holland and Utrecht Lake District between the cities of Amsterdam, Leiden and
Utrecht. They are now important areas for outdoor recreation and nature
conservation purposes.
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Figure 14. ‘Lake by mistake’ Close to Gouda, Reeuwijkse Plassen
River clay landscapes
The central part of the Netherlands is often referred to as the Riverland
(Rivierenland). The Rhine, its main branch the Waal and also the Maas
(internationally known by its French name Meuse) run parallel at short distance
from the Eastern Netherlands to the sea. The landscape between and around
these rivers is strongly influenced by them. Well into the Middle Ages, the rivers
were still untamed. As natural rivers do, they periodically changed their course,
cutting off meanders and creating new ones. Sand and clay were deposited in
seemingly random patterns; the sandy deposits directly around the river branches.
The sand ridges that we see now in the Riverland are the remnants of old
watercourses that have often completely disappeared.
The sand ridges were the first places where people settled in the Riverland. As the
surrounding land had started to subside, the sand ridges, once a dangerous part of
the river's floodplain, had become the most solid soil in the area to build on. Soon,
the settlers started cutting off river branches and oxbows by building dikes,
thereby connecting isolated sand ridges. The natural course of the rivers was
further curtailed when more dikes were built and larger areas were cut off from
the floodplains.
Most of the Riverland is used for agriculture: horticulture (fruit, tree nurseries) on
the more sandy soils and cattle farming on the relatively low and wet soils in the
heart of the area.
The marshlands of the rivers in this part of the country are a special kind of
landscape. In summer, we see a relatively narrow riverbed between low dikes
('summer dikes'). In the fall, the river widens its bed by overflowing the summer
dikes until it reaches the much higher 'winter dikes'. The rivers themselves have
become important routes for cargo barges travelling between Rotterdam and the
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19
hinterland river ports in Germany, Belgium, France and Switzerland. Especially on
the Waal, busy traffic can be impressive.
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Sand belt landscapes
In the sand belt areas of the eastern and southern Netherlands, settlements go
back to the Early Middle Ages, when settlers cleared a piece of forest to build their
village amidst of open, often collectively tilled arable fields. These complexes of
open fields can be found in the transition zone between low, wet creek marshes
and higher, infertile sand plateaus. In general, the open field villages have been
built around a central meadow (like the British 'common') while roads radiate from
the common in an irregularly spider web-like pattern.
A typical feature of the classical open field village is the close relationship between
different types of land use in and around the village. The wet soils towards the
nearby watercourse were used as cattle grazing meadowlands. Surrounding higher
grounds were gradually deforested. They were spontaneously covered with
heather and subsequently became sheep grazing areas. Every day, these sheep
were driven from their village barns the to the heath lands and back, following
sheep routes that can still be found in the landscape as historical dirt roads. In the
barns, sheep dung was gathered. It was later spread out over the open fields,
thereby improving the fertility of the soil and raising its top layer. After centuries
of manuring, many of the open field complexes have been raised by several
decimetres. In a generally flat country, the visual effect of this process can be
striking; the most prominent of these dung-raised fields are known as 'bulging
acres'.
In the 19th century and early 20th century, when sheep farming started to decline
and the opening of coal mines in Limburg Province increased the demand for
timber, large areas of heath land in the East and South were reforested. The
choice of trees was adapted to the poor soil conditions: mostly coniferous species
like Scotch pine, larch and Douglas fir. These relatively new and by all means
man-made forests make up more than half of all forest areas in the Netherlands.
05/11/2009
20
Undoubtedly the most surprising part of the Dutch sand belt is made up by hills,
varying in height from 40 to 100 meters. These hills date back to the Saalien Ice
Age (roughly 200,000 years ago), when the land ice pushed huge quantities of
rocks and gravel southward from Scandinavia to Central Europe. In the
Netherlands, the ice reached its southernmost boundary in Utrecht and Gelderland
Provinces. The final deposits of ice-pushed rock, in geology known as end
moraine, are now the hilly areas of Utrecht Ridge and the Veluwe. The present-day
landscape here features large surfaces of heath land, drift sands and forest.
Although the moraine landscapes look quite natural in their appearance, they are
just as man-made (or man-influenced) as the polders: after cutting the natural
forest vegetation, man introduces sheep grazing which resulted in the heath lands
and the drift sands. Later, in the late 19th century, new forests were planted using
foreign species.
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Peat bog colony landscapes
Peat soils are a result of a long process of plant growth and decay. Unlike
countries like Belgium, which has the Hautes Fagnes plateau in the Ardennes, live
peat bogs are extremely rare in the Netherlands. The vast bogs that once covered
large areas in the Dutch sand belt have mostly been cultivated in the 19th and
early 20th century. They were used for peat mining by settlers, entrepreneurs and
city administrators. Straight roads and canals were built to transport the dried
peat to cities and factories, where is was burnt for fuel. Because in the
Netherlands the peat mining process was described in terms of colonization, the
resulting landscapes were dubbed peat bog colonies. After the peat layers were
exhausted, the remaining sand soil was converted into farmland with the help of
manure and fertilizer.
05/11/2009
21
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Loess belt landscapes
The Dutch part of the loess belt is rich in relief, with relatively flat and open
plateaus divided by valleys with dense broadleaf forests on the steepest parts of
the slopes. While these landscapes are extremely common to large parts of
Europe, they are an exception in the Netherlands, actually confined to the
southernmost tip of Limburg Province. The area is known as the Hilly Country.
As the loess soil is extremely fertile, the plateaus are primarily used for
agriculture, which adds to their openness. Forests on the hillsides are almost
exclusively deciduous. Typical for the architectural heritage of this part of the
Netherlands are the courtyard farmhouses, an enclosed complex of farm buildings
that can be integrated in a village or free-standing in the open country.
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05/11/2009
22
Reclamation landscapes
Improved technology in the 17th century made possible the reclamation of larger
and deeper waters than ever before. All over the coastal zone, inlets and creeks
were converted into polders (see before: marine clay landscapes). But the most
spectacular reclamations were those that made lakes into fertile farmland,
especially in the provinces of North and South Holland. Initially, in what is 'Holland'
in the strictest sense, the surface areas of land and water were comparable. The
windmills that were needed as pumping engines, were often built in groups so that
the water could be pumped out in steps. In those days, windmills could pump
water upwards to a maximum of approximately 1 m, so for 3 m deep lakes the
engineers needed a series of three windmills). The drainage systems of the old
reclamation still exist, including many of the windmills. Although these windmills
are now disused and water level control in the reclamation is taken over by more
modern engines, they have become an essential part of the landscape.
With their surrounding dikes and canals, the larger reclamations have become
highly recognizable landscapes in their own right. They are known as reclamation
landscapes. Their layout shows a rational block pattern with a clear hierarchy in
roads and waterways. Farmhouses were built at distances along the roads.
Famous reclamations from the 17th century are the Schermer and Beemster in
North Holland Province. Beemster reclamation in particular has a rich layout with
often monumental farmhouses and dense tree planting along all roads. It was
added to Unesco's World Heritage List in 1999.
Figure 19. The map of large scale reclamation projects in the Netherlands
In the 19th century, steam engines provided more power for water pumping than
the windmills ever could. This became the era when the last and most difficult
reclamations in the West of the country could be undertaken. Large surfaces of
05/11/2009
23
water like Zuidplas northeast of Rotterdam and Lake Haarlem southwest of
Amsterdam could now be reclaimed (figure 19) . With its 6 m below sea level,
Zuidplas reclamation is considered the lowest point in all of the Netherlands.
Haarlemmermeer reclamation, although 'only' 4 m deep, is internationally famous
for the fact that Schiphol Amsterdam Airport lies in its middle, making it the lowest
lying international airport in the world.
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Figure 20. Reclamation landscape of Noordoostpolder
Most of the reclamation landscapes of the 20th century can be found in the
Zuiderzee polders. Originally an inlet of the North Sea, the Zuiderzee became
separated from the sea after the completion of a barrier dam. In the new
freshwater lake, now known as Lake IJssel, large polders were reclaimed. The
development of these polders was made possible by the availability of the electric
pumping station.
5.
Leisure landscapes
5.1
Recreational activities in space and time
Theories of and studies into recreational behaviour are many. In most if not all
research, an essential differentiation is made between "day recreation" and
"tourism4", the former restricted to trips and visits within a day and the latter
consisting of tours including at least one overnight stay.
For this paper, time is less a meaningful criterion of categorization than space;
especially when "space" stands for different types of landscape and their
suitability for different types of recreational use. Therefore, we will concentrate
on types of recreational behaviour that are inevitably linked with landscape types
or specific landscape areas.
In this chapter, the distinguished categories will be firstly derived from a land
use point of view and than from the landscape point of view. At first sight, this
seems not to do justice to the social perspective (recreation being a social
4
For the definition of tourism see page 3 of the introduction
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24
activity), but we hope to make clear that the landscape perspective serves as a
logical way to categorise recreational behaviour.
Starting from the land use point of view we will make distinction between
categories suitable for recreation derived from the land use map of the
Netherlands. The categories are: forest, dry nature area, recreational areas and
inland water (lakes and pools). These categories are shown on the figure 18.
According to studies into the preferences regarding recreational environments,
forests are for Dutch people the most favourable place for recreation (see
Chapter 2, results of the CVTO research, figure 2). At first sight, this may strike
many as odd, given the obvious lack of forests in the Netherlands. According to
available land statistics, slightly over 10% of the country is covered with forest,
and these forests are rather unevenly spread over the country. Still, the
popularity of forests is an internationally known phenomenon, although the
precise definition of a forest may differ considerably from the average visitor to
the expert.
Originally, large parts of the Netherlands were covered with forests. Historians
claim that the name Holland can be traced back to "Holtland", meaning wooded
land. After 1500 however, the forested area diminished substantially due to the
need for timber in housing construction and shipbuilding. Only in the late 19th
century, this process was reversed when landowners in the poor soils of the sand
belt began to experiment with fast-growing conifers from North America, to find
an alternative for the rising imports of timber from Scandinavia and Russia.
These forests, many of them douglas fir monocultures, van still be found in the
East and South of the country.
Contrasting with this forestry motive, "park forests" were planted during most of
the 20th century for recreational reasons. These woodlands can be found
primarily around the big cities in the West of the countries, like the Amsterdam
Forest from the 1930s, developed as part of the famous General Extension Plan.
The "green stars" (see chapter 2) also belong to these mid-20th century
recreational forests.
By the end of the 20th century, a third motive came up as a new leading
principle for planting forests. The wave of new nature projects started with the
recognition of the importance of redeveloping river areas in the central part of
the country. The idea of a prize-winning competition entry ("Ooievaar", or
"Stork") was to bring back natural floodplains in the extensively regulated river
basins of the Rhine and its branches. Marshland forests were promoted as an
essential feature of "wild meandering rivers". By now, many new nature projects
in the river marshes and elsewhere have been materialized, many of them
containing wetland forest areas. These newly developed forests are to a certain
extent accessible for the public, while some restrictions apply because of
seasonal flooding and wildlife protection.
In the categorisation of CBS there are two types of nature areas: dry and wet. As
most wet nature areas are inaccessible most of the year and thus not suitable for
recreation in this category we only have taken dry nature areas. Those are
according to CBS: dry heath land, grasslands which are not used for agriculture,
dunes, beach, sand bar (hurst) and shifting sand. Dry natural areas are often a
part of a national landscape, national and regional parks but if they are outside
05/11/2009
25
of these areas they are protected by some of the several nature protection
organisations (Provinciale landschappen, Statbosbeheer, Natuurmonumenten,
natuurreservaten). Recreational values of these areas are limited to walking,
biking, eventually picnicking and observing nature because the policy is to
protect and conserve, and limit new developments in these areas.
Recreational areas include day recreation and residence accommodation5.
According to CBS classification of land use day recreation areas involve day
camping, zoo and safari park, fairly tell garden, amusement park, open air
museum, marina excl. water, belonging parking facilities and forest or shrub
strokes, children playground, picnic place, dear camp, children farm, midget golf
playground and grassland for free play. Residence accommodation include:
camping and caravan areas, camping farms, camping in forest, areas with
second houses, bungalow or holiday houses, youth hostel, belonging parking
facilities and forest or shrub strokes. In our classification we have actually two
times mentioned the same categories – once as areas and another time as
points. To prevent confusion here is the explanation. Recreational areas if seen
separately are relatively small areas and in the map of the Netherlands shown on
the scale of this study they look like points (figure 35) therefore we named them
that way. But, if we make a sum of all these small areas within one landscape
type we get a surface which is considerable and worth comparing, and that is
why we take them also as a land use category (figure 21).
Water areas will be described under the Chapter “Lakes and lake districts”.
The percentage of recreational areas per landscape type is shown in the table 1
and figures 18, 19 and 20.
Landscape type
Recreation Forest Nature Water Totaal
droogmakerijen
1,0
7,6
0,5
5,0
14,0
duinlandschap
2,9
11,7
39,0
2,0
55,7
Hoogveen
0,6
6,4
1,6
2,4
11,1
Laagveen
0,8
2,6
0,1
8,3
11,8
lösslandschap
0,8
8,8
0,3
1,2
11,1
rivierkleilandschap
0,7
4,8
0,2
6,6
12,3
zandlandschap
1,0
18,8
2,7
1,0
23,5
zeekleilandschap
0,7
1,5
0,7
4,8
7,7
Table 1. Percentage of land use categories suitable for recreation per landscape type
So to see the participation of the sum of the surface of all areas suitable for
recreation is the highest in dune and sand landscape types while the other
landscape types do not show significant difference.
The more differentiated picture of distribution is presented by figure 22 where
the areas are broken down in four categories of land use. Again the highest value
of forest and nature areas are to find in dune and sand landscape types. For
dune landscapes this is not surprising as the participation of agriculture is very
low in this areas and dunes are as such a very valuable natural defence from the
north see and therefore always under the special protection.
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Figure 21. Distribution of areas suitable for recreation according to land use classification
05/11/2009
27
45,0
Recreation
40,0
Forest
Nature
35,0
Water
30,0
25,0
20,0
15,0
10,0
5,0
lö
ss
la
nd
sc
ha
riv
ie
p
rk
le
ila
nd
sc
ha
p
za
nd
la
nd
sc
ha
ze
p
ek
le
ila
nd
sc
ha
p
La
ag
ve
en
H
oo
gv
ee
n
dr
oo
gm
ak
er
ij
en
du
in
la
nd
sc
ha
p
0,0
Figure 22. Forest, nature, recreation and water areas per landscape type in km2
Totalpercentage of large surface recreational areas per landscape type
60,0
50,0
40,0
30,0
20,0
10,0
lö
ss
la
nd
sc
ha
riv
p
ie
rk
le
ila
nd
sc
ha
p
za
nd
la
nd
sc
ha
ze
p
ek
le
ila
nd
sc
ha
p
La
ag
ve
en
H
oo
gv
ee
n
dr
oo
gm
ak
er
ije
n
du
in
la
nd
sc
ha
p
0,0
Figure 23. Relative participation of large recreational areas per landscape type (in %)
The second categorisation we will use to categorise space for recreation is based
on landscape point of view. Here we will make a first distinction between three
main levels of scope: the large "areas", the long but narrow "lines" and the
small, concentrated "points" (table 2). This simple division is in line with the
perception elements made by Kevin Lynch (1971), where areas are described as
districts, lines as paths or edges, and points as nodes or landmarks. Similarly, in
ecology terms like patch, corridor and stepping stone are used. On each of these
levels, we will discuss the corresponding types of recreational use.
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Areas: Large surface
areas
National parks
National landscapes
National Buffer Zones
“Green Star” park areas
Beaches and seaside
resorts
Lakes and lake districts
Sandpits
Policy defined areas
Points: Recreational
amenities
Theme parks
Zoos
Holiday villages
Golf courses
Marinas
Other recreational
amenities
Lines: Recreational
routes and networks
Network of bicycle trails
Network of walking trails
Other linear elements
Table 2. Overview of recreational areas, points and lines
It is interesting to mention here that there is a considerable difference not only in
the shape of these areas but also in the way they came to existence. A part of
‘areas’ like national parks, national landscapes, regional parks and ‘green stars’
are pure product of large scale national spatial planning policy and nature
protection. And as such they are sometimes only partly visible or partly realised
(national landscapes and green stars). On contrary recreational amenities, thus
‘points’ are small scale commercial and private projects. And as last, ‘lines’ are
the result of provincial and municipal governments planning but are much more
concrete and fully realised in comparison with ‘areas’. It is interesting to notice
that the ‘leisure landscape’ of the Netherlands is the result of interaction of these
three strong actors of spatial development.
5.2
Large surface areas of recreational importance
National parks
As a first category, we will look into the existence and recreational use of
national parks in the Netherlands. This country certainly was not the first to
designate natural areas of outstanding beauty and ecological diversity as national
parks. Whereas in the U.S., for instance, the first national park was established
in 1903 and in 1909 the first national park opened in Sweden, the national park
system of the Netherlands kicked off in 1930 with the designation of Veluwezoom
(Veluwe Fringes) national park. Veluwezoom consists of the south-eastern slopes
of the Veluwe moraine landscape East of Arnhem. National park Hoge Veluwe
(Veluwe Heights) followed in 1935, occupying a large part of the central plateau
of the same Veluwe moraine, between the cities of Arnhem, Ede and Apeldoorn.
In the Dutch planning system, national parks are areas of exceptional or
outstanding natural value. A national park must cover a surface area of at least
1,000 hectares (approx. 2,500 acres). Policymakers treat the national parks as a
single unit, referring to it as the System of National Parks in the Netherlands.
Landowners, site managers and other stakeholders are jointly responsible for the
conservation and development of the quality of these nature areas. The national
parks were established with four main objectives in mind:
•
The protection and development of nature and the landscape;
•
Outdoor recreation;
•
Education and extension;
•
Research.
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Figure 24. National parks
According to the website of Samenwerkingsverband Nationale Parken (the
Cooperative Body of Dutch National Parks): "the twenty Dutch National Parks
form a colourful mosaic of nature areas, characterised by their exceptional
landscapes and rare plants and animal species. Landowners, site managers and
other stakeholders ensure that the special characteristics of these areas remain
intact and the most exquisite nature sites are preserved. In National Parks
nature can be experienced at close hand, for recreation, obtaining information or
education and research."
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30
The national parks make up an important part of a nation-wide ecological
network made up of large, interlinked nature areas, the so-called Ecological Main
Structure (in Dutch shortened to EHS). Together, the National Parks cover an
area of nearly 130,000 hectares, or 3% of the territory of the Netherlands.
The two oldest national parks were founded by private parties. Hoge Veluwe, not
only famous for its natural value but also for its Kröller-Müller Museum of modern
art, was originally bought as the hunting ground for a wealthy Rotterdam
merchant couple. Veluwezoom is owned by Natuurmonumenten ("Nature
Monuments", the society for the preservation of nature in the Netherlands). After
World War II, many national parks were to follow. Successive ministers for
Agriculture, Nature and Food quality have established many national parks over
the last twenty-five years. At this moment, the tally stops at 20 (see figure 24).
The largest of these national parks is Oosterschelde (Eastern Scheldt) in Zeeland
Province, with its 37,000 hectares. This is one of the parks that consist mainly of
water. The largest national park on land is Beek- en Esdorpenlandschap
Drentsche Aa (Brook and open field villages landscape Drentsche Aa river) in the
North (10,000 hectare). The main reason for the reluctance of Dutch authorities
to establish national parks at an early stage may have been the obvious lack of
large, unspoilt natural areas in this country. Agriculture is the prevalent type of
land-use in the rural part of the Netherlands, more than in most European
countries. (see table .....).
Ecological values of the now existing 20 national parks are substantial, as is the
variety in landscape types and ecotopes between them.
Ownership of national parks can be complicated in the Netherlands. Few of the
parks are owned by the state, the provinces or the municipalities. In fact, large
parts are in private hands, ranging from large, nation-wide operating
organizations like Natuurmonumenten (Nature Monuments) to small-scale
private owners of a few parcels of forest or farmland. Therefore, the list of
partners in park management and public information is seemingly endless.
Important groups concerned are:
•
landowners;
•
site managers (like Staatsbosbeheer, the governmental organisation for
forest and nature management, provincial landscape trusts; municipalities; the
Ministry of Defence),
•
various public bodies (national, provincial and local authorities, water
management boards),
•
educational institutions (like IVN, the organisation of nature and
environmental education in the Netherlands)
•
recreational organisations (like ANWB, the royal Dutch Touring Club, and
regional recreation authorities)
•
local businesses.
Together, all these parties pursue a common mission, which reads in the words
of the Cooperative Body of Dutch National Parks: "to manage, protect and
develop the park in a sustainable manner, to enable research and ensure public
access." It is felt to be vital that the people who live in and around a National
Park support the park and its objectives. The task of generating regional support
is taken very seriously. More and more initiatives with private parties are coming
off the ground and benefiting local economies.
Links: http://www.nationaalpark.eu/documents/home.xml
05/11/2009
31
National landscapes
Recently, 20 so-called "national landscapes" have been designated in the
Netherlands. Situated in all parts of the country, these national landscapes were
defined in the Nota Ruimte (Report on Spatial Development), a planning
document issued by the national government in 2004. Other than the national
parks, the national landscapes were not delineated from the beginning; in the
Nota Ruimte, their locations were described in general terms only. Their final
delineation is being made (and in most cases made) by the provincial
governments concerned.
Three of the 20 national landscapes were delineated from the outset in 2004:
•
the Green Heart of Holland (the relatively rural area between the four
largest cities in the West of the Netherlands, which has been a perpetual icon in
the Dutch planning system since the 1950s; for decades, the boundaries of the
Green Heart have been drawn with the utmost precision, taking into account
wanted or unwanted urban extensions;
•
the New Inundation Defence Line of Holland (Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie),
a more or less continuous historical defence system, consisting of fortresses,
dikes, sluices and parcels of land that could be inundated in times of war;
•
the Amsterdam Defence Line (Stelling van Amsterdam), a series of
fortresses around Amsterdam, designed to keep the national capital defensible in
case of war.
By now, delineation of all but a few of the other 17 national landscapes has been
completed. Together, the Dutch national landscapes cover approximately twenty
percent of the total surface area of the country.
The main reason for the designation of national landscapes lies in the awareness
that the appearance of the countryside is rapidly changing. On the one hand,
outside pressure from urbanization processes and infrastructure construction
threatens to diminish the size of the rural areas, physically as well as visually. On
the other, new developments in agriculture and village extension change the
countryside from within. These changes make the countryside less accessible and
less attractive for visitors. A specific change that has enormous consequences for
the landscape is the rapid decline in the number of farms; since the 1950s, more
than 50% of all farms (and farmhouses) lost their agricultural ownership and
use. These and other trends in the rural areas became a source of great concern
for successive governments.
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Middag-Humsterland
Noordelijke Wouden
Drentsche Aa
Zuidwest Friesland
IJsseldelta
Laag Holland
Stelling van Amsterdam
Noordoost-Twente
Stelling van Amsterdam
Arkemheen-Eemland
Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie
Veluwe
Graafschap
Groene Hart
Winterswijk
Rivierengebied
Gelderse Poort
Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie
Hoeksche Waard
Zuidwest-Zeeland
Groene Woud
Zuidwest-Zeeland
Zuidwest-Zeeland
Zuid-Limburg
Figure 25. National landscapes
In the 2004 Report on Spatial Development (Nota Ruimte), the government
outlined the "core qualities" these national landscapes would have to meet.
These core qualities ("kernkwaliteiten" in Dutch) refer to the unique landscape
values of the areas concerned. As the national landscapes differ in appearance,
so will their core qualities. In its 2004 report, the national government has given
a description of the qualities of each national landscape. They refer to:
•
natural elements: soil, water, relief, geology, plant and animal life;
•
cultural aspects: cultural history, cultural renewal and architectural design
•
use: amenities for recreation and tourism, accessibility and multiple use of
space
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33
•
perception: spatial diversity, educational value, contrast with the urban
environment, peace and quiet, nocturnal darkness
The provinces involved will make clear in their plans how to safeguard and
strengthen these core qualities in the national landscapes in their territory.
De status of national landscape implies that national, provincial and municipal
authorities will give extra attention to enhancing the core qualities in these
areas. On state level, additional financial means will be available for this purpose.
National landscapes differ in many respects from national parks. In the first
place, they have a much more versatile land-use compared with the primarily
ecological motives behind the designation of a national park. National landscapes
are comprehensive areas, where people live and work, and where recreational
use is encouraged. Although agriculture is the prevailing type of land-use in most
of the national landscapes, a surprising number of 2.5 million people (some 15%
of the national total; source???) live in a national landscape. A highly illustrative
example here is the Green Heart of Holland, the largest of all national
landscapes, which has a population density of more than 450 people per square
kilometre, nearly the same density as the Netherlands as a whole, one of the
most densely populated countries on earth.
Because they are large areas with a great diversity in land-use, national
landscapes have many landowners. These can vary from governments and
governmental organizations to institutions for nature protection and heritage
conservation, to various relatively small landowners like farmers, campground
owners and home-owners. The majority of these landowners is directly
responsible for exploitation, management and maintenance of their property
within the national landscape. For the moment, no special authorities for
acquisition and management of national landscapes are being envisaged, but
each landscape will have its policy-making body run primarily by the provinces
involved.
Designation of an area as national landscape does not mean that all further
development has to come to a standstill. Preserving the characteristics of the
area will be mainly done by eliminating "alien" developments like large-scale
urban extensions, industrial areas and commercial centres. Local communities
and enterprises will be enabled to grow according to the scale of the rural area.
As the national landscapes' website puts it: "National landscapes are no
museums but areas where people should be able to live and work". In planning
terms, the principle of "zero migration balance" will apply to all national
landscapes. This means that population growth will determine the growth of the
housing stock in the towns and villages within a national landscape; building for
newcomers from outside will be discouraged.
The national landscapes are designated with the aim, to give a good cross
section of the "classical" Dutch countryside. In spite of large and ambitious rural
reconstruction schemes (also referred to as "reallotment" or "land
consolidation"), many rural areas in the Netherlands still resemble their historical
predecessors. Even after centuries of change, large areas like the Green Heart of
Holland still bear witness to their early beginnings. The fact that all national
05/11/2009
34
landscapes are man-made is certainly no put-off here; on the contrary, from the
early settlers to the modern farmers the characteristics of these archetypal Dutch
landscapes have been defined by the fact that they can only exist under human
influence. In fact, one may wonder why a country with such a surprising variety
in historical man-made landscapes did not come up with a category like the
national landscapes sooner. A possible explanation may be the abundance of
these landscapes, which made them commonplace until they were threatened by
post-war developments in urbanization, road-building and modern agriculture.
Even the term national landscape is rather new. Since the 1960s, the national
government has used a succession of terms in its successive planning documents
to describe these areas (examples!!!). For international comparison, the now
broadly accepted term "cultural landscapes" (refer to the CoE) gives an apt
description, as far as it stresses the man-made nature of landscapes.
Figure 22 shows the national landscapes of the Netherlands, as named in the
Spatial Planning Report 2004. As can be seen, like the national parks, the
national landscapes appear in virtually every kind of landscape type. By far the
two largest are the Green Heart (Groene Hart) between the four largest cities in
the West of the country and the Veluwe, the moraine massif in the central part of
the Dutch sandbelt. As an interesting, and not insignificant detail, it turns out
that some national parks overlap with national landscapes, like for instance the
two oldest national parks (Veluwezoom and Hoge Veluwe) are both completely
covered by the national landscape Veluwe. In itself, this could be seen as a
watering-down of the "national landscape" idea, because of the inclusion of
rather large, non-(agri)cultural areas. On the other hand, we should not forget
that most of the "natural areas" of the Netherlands are in fact just as much
influenced by, or even made by man as are the cultural landscapes.
Links: http://www.nationalelandschappen.nl/
National Buffer Zones
Buffer zones were first mentioned in a forerunner of the regularly published
series of national planning reports, the Western Netherlands Planning Report
(1956). Since then, they have been essential tools in national planning, as
necessary separations between the largest urban areas in the country. Buffer
zones were especially important in the Randstad Holland, the ring of cities and
urban areas in the West of the country. To prevent Amsterdam, The Hague,
Rotterdam and Utrecht from growing together into one ribbon-shaped supercity,
the urban area of the Randstad was interrupted by a total of 7 buffers. These
buffers had to be kept open (or better: free from large-scale urbanization), and
some of them were to be transformed into large park areas. Later, two additional
buffer zones were envisaged for the urban conglomerate in the Southeast of the
Netherlands, comprised of the cities of South Limburg (Maastricht, Heerlen, etc.)
and their suburbs. The nine buffer zones from earlier planning documents were
simply renamed "regional parks" in 2001. Although the term "regional park" may
be a well-established phenomenon in many countries, it is a relative newcomer in
the Netherlands. The origins of regional parks date back no further than 2001,
when they became a new category in the planning system, mentioned in the fifth
national report on spatial planning (in Dutch known as Vijfde Nota, an ill-fated
report that, as a first for national planning reports, was never formally adopted
by Parliament). In the Vijfde Nota, the term regional park was introduced as a
replacement for the buffer zone, a phenomenon with decade-long roots in the
05/11/2009
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post-war planning system. The term National Buffer Zones is the most recent
name for the same areas. In the last WRO and AMVB they got stronger
protection status, and also empahasis on recreational function next to buffer one
they had.
Perhaps the most striking feature of the regional parks is their diversity in terms
of geography and land-use. The reason is, undoubtedly, their common origin as
erstwhile buffer zones, as the only purpose of buffer zones in the planning
system is to separate zones of urban character and density. As long as the
buffers were kept free of serious urbanization, their actual land-use was hardly
relevant. This can still be seen in the spatial differences between the ten NBZ.
Some are areas with a mixed kind of land-use, with villages, strip developments
and greenhouses. By contrast, others show wide-open agrarian landscapes and
vast stretches of water. Some NBZ come closer to the more familiar idea of a
regional park, with park areas, woodlands and forests. The latter category is the
most interesting as example of an active approach to "buffering" urban areas.
Here, the wish to keep buffers free from substantial urbanization was supported
by the creation of heavy ”green areas" that were supposed to keep all future
urbanization at bay. The best examples are the buffer between Amsterdam and
Haarlem, which was to be converted into the park area of Spaarnwoude, and
Midden-Delfland buffer zone (between the Rotterdam Area and Delft), the only
buffer for which a special law was passed (Reconstructiewet Midden Delfland or
Central Delfland Reconstruction Act, 1977) that guaranteed legal and financial
support for a "complete make-over" of an area of over 5,000 hectare.
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36
Amsterdam - Purmerend
Amsterdam - Haarlem
Amstelland - Vechtstreek
Utrecht - Hilversum
Den Haag - Leiden - Zoetermeer
Midden-Delfland
Park Lingezegen
Oost-IJsselmonde
Sittard/Geleen - Heerlen
Maastricht - Sittard/Geleen
Figure 26. National Buffer Zones 2009
As figure x shows, some National Buffer Zones overlap in part with national
landscapes. Others coincide, again partially, with recently created out-of-town
park areas known as "green star" areas (see below). This, again, is proof of the
diversity of this recent category.
National Buffer Zones are not necessarily administrative or management units.
First and foremost, they have been designated as planning tools. Their original
task of keeping areas free from urbanization is primarily achieved with zoning
restrictions in regional and municipal plans. In cases where regional parks concur
with areas from other categories, like national landscapes, the other category will
prevail in terms of administration and management. The only two cases in which
the whole area of a regional park has an administrative body of its own, are the
aforementioned Spaarnwoude and Midden-Delfland regional parks.
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"Green Star" park areas
Representing park areas with a distinctively man-made background, the Green
Star phenomenon is one of the most intriguing testimonies of the Dutch planning
system. These green stars originated in the post-war years, with governments on
every level (national, provincial, municipal) working together to create large outof-town park areas. The two most important reasons for these initiatives were:
•
the lack of green space in the cities, even when, since the 1930s, standards
for park surface areas in new urban extensions had increased substantially;
•
the increasing mobility of the Dutch, partly because of the rise of leisure
time, partly because of rising car ownership.
Planners and politicians noticed a growing number of visitors to vulnerable
natural areas far away from the cities, largely stimulated by the lack of
alternatives in or near the city. To accommodate the rising need for outdoor
recreation, governments set up specialized public bodies (recreatieschappen or
recreation authorities) with the sole task to create large parks that should cater
to the recreational needs of large cities and their urban areas. The term "green
star" itself originates from a map symbol in the Second report on spatial planning
(Ministry of Housing etc., 1966), indicating potential new parks areas as foreseen
on national level.
In most cases, these green star park areas were designed as close to the edge of
cities or suburbs. In some examples, however, lack of space or other difficulties
forced the recreation authorities to find space at substantial distances from the
nearest city. Still, distances from the cities are reasonable by any standard: the
Bernisse Recreation Area may be 7 km away from the edge of the nearest
residential district of Rotterdam, it lies only 4 km from the edge of the new town
of Spijkenisse, which in itself is adequately connected with Rotterdam. Another
example: the Reeuwijkse Hout, part of a recreational authority's area known as
Reeuwijkse Plassen (Reeuwijk Lakes) are rather remote from the nearest big
cities The Hague and Rotterdam, but they lie on the edge of the city of Gouda,
and are easily accessible from both big cities by motorway.
The situation of the green stars makes it plausible to compare them with the
green belts in other country, notably the Green Belts of cities like London and
Manchester in the UK. After all, they are:
•
located in the vicinity of large and mid-size cities;
•
many are shaped like long strips running parallel to urban areas, like some
kind of "green lining";
•
in some cases, they have actually been planned as buffer zones along
and/or between urban areas, which coincides with the mail purpose of British
green belts.
Because they have been designed for large-scale recreation, it is no wonder that
all these regional parks, with only one exception, have been created in the
densely populated western part (the Randstad Holland) of the country.
The green star areas form a remarkable category in the network of recreational
facilities in this country. They are large, completely artificial areas, created within
a short period of some 30 years. The oldest of them all, from the days before the
term "green star" was even coined, dates back to the early 1950s; it is the
Brielse Maas recreation area West of Rotterdam, designated to separate the
rapidly expanding seaport area from the open landscape of the Delta islands. In
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this project, province and city worked together with small towns, supported
financially by the national government. This would become the usual procedure
for most of the green stars to come. Relatively cheap land and labour costs
helped the rapid increase in number and size of the regional park areas. Some of
the largest occupy impressive surface areas: Rottemeren (N of Rotterdam) takes
up 900 hectares, while unfinished plans for Spaarnwoude (between Amsterdam
and Haarlem) foresaw a total of 2,400 hectares.
From the mid-1980s, growth of the green stars slowed down. Rising costs of land
acquisition and park layout were an important reason, but a widely felt
discomfort with the stereotypal lay-out of these areas certainly played a role,
too. In the late 20th century, the green stars concept as part of the planning
system was considered obsolete. In the administrative sense, the existing green
star areas were integrated in larger recreational bodies. In planning terms, some
of them became part of new concepts like the regional parks.
Lakes and lake districts
The Netherlands is a low-lying country, with half its surface area below sea level.
This would suggest that water takes up a sizeable part of the country; still, this is
hardly the case as it is only 4,9% of inner water in The Netherlands. The main
reason for this modest percentage lies in the abundance of polders, where the
water level is carefully regulated by man. Actually, over the past centuries, the
area of open water in the low-lying part of the country has decreased
substantially. Originally, lakes and wetlands covered a much larger area than
they do now. From the Late Middle Ages into the twentieth century, substantial
parts of the coastal provinces have been reclaimed (see reclamation landscapes).
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39
Figure 27. Water in the Netherlands
On figure 24, lakes are mapped as "open water". The mapping excludes the large
open waters of the North Sea, the Wadden Sea and some of the branches of the
Delta Estuary, being the ones that have an open connection to the sea. The lakes
on the map can be divides into the following groups:
•
natural inland lakes, either isolated or linked up by waterways (rivers,
creeks, canals);
•
man-made or man-influenced inland lakes, originated when during the
colonization process of the lower peat bogs in the West of the country land gave
way to wind and water;
•
estuary lakes, the dammed-up parts of the Delta and other river mouths;
technically spoken, these lakes are part of a river, but their large dimensions and
surrounding dikes give them the appearance of a reservoir;
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40
•
inland sea lakes, created when in the mid-twentieth century the
Zuyderzee was diked, land behind the Barrier Dam was reclaimed and more
dikes were built in the area.
In some cases, lakes and wetlands have been mapped as "natural water", giving
precedence to the ecological values of these waters. This does not necessarily
mean that these areas are fully closed to visitors.
In two areas, natural and man-made lakes together with connecting waterways
form an extensive network for pleasure boating and aquatic sports. These areas
form semi-artificial "lake districts" in the South-western part of the province of
Fryslân and in the Northern part of the Green Heart of Holland. They represent
the oldest and still best-known areas for water sport in the Netherlands. A third
lake district has been created (and is still being enlarged) in the Southeast of the
country along the Maas River in Limburg Province. These lakes owe their
existence mostly to the recent extraction of gravel.
Sandpits and other extraction lakes
As we have seen, not all lakes in the Netherlands are natural in origin. Apart
from the aforementioned peat bog lakes (where peat extraction went out of
control), other lakes were intentionally created throughout the country. They are
relatively small in size (many are not larger than 1 sq km) and seldom linked to
other bodies of water. They can be found on any map as small stars scattered
over the countryside, arranged in seemingly inexplicable patterns. Their raison
d'être was the need for sand or gravel, used for construction, road building, and
the preparation of new building sites. In the past, sand for urban development
and building was carted or shipped from nearby sandy hills; still existing
seventeen-century barge canals toward Amsterdam witness the need for sand
during the first large-scale expansion of the city. In the twentieth century, when
demand exceeded capacity of nearby sandy areas, and most of the sands were
designated nature reserves, new sources were needed. This is where the
sandpits came in.
Sandpit lakes have been excavated from the mid-twentieth century, when
modern technology allowed the creation of deep pits in all parts of the country.
The early ones can be found in the vicinity of the cities; during the 1950s and
1960s, new residential areas in the lower parts of the country were generally
prepared by bringing up a layer of sand before roads and houses could be built.
In later extensions, less preparation sand was used; by that time, however, the
need for sand coffers in road building became more and more important as the
national highway network expanded. This may explain why so many sandpits lie
in (relatively) sparsely-populated areas, but close to the nearest freeway.
Interestingly, sandpits are not restricted to the sandbelt; as a matter of fact,
they occur in all kinds of soils types. The reason behind this is, that the soil map
only deals with a top layer of 1.00-1.20 meters below ground level; practically
everywhere in the country, sandy layers can be found deep below this surface
layer, sometimes 15-20 meters deep.
Figure 25 shows the abundance of sandpits in the Netherlands, as well as their
relation with the highway network.
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41
Figure 28. Sandpits
Policy concepts
As it is mentioned large surface areas like national landscapes are policy
concepts that had to do in the past or have to do now with landscape
development but are often not concrete plans that are then realised and
constructed in the full extent. To make the confusion bigger, here we will
mention some other policy documents that are even less concrete than previous
ones. Those are: Unesco protected areas, The Belvedere strategy, EU Bird and
Habitat Directive, National Ecological Network (EHS), and Natura 2000 (figure
29). These documents are not binding but indirectly, through various policy
instruments can influence use of landscape for leisure activities. They are mainly
restrictive in the sense that they limit the possibility of building leisure amenities
and attainability of areas within a such policy regime.
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42
Unesco protected areas
Internationaal gezien heeft de Nederlandse cultuurhistorie een bijzondere
betekenis in het licht van de historische strijd tegen het water. Dit blijkt ook uit
de selectie van gebieden en objecten die sinds 1995 vanwege hun universele
waarde op de Werelderfgoedlijst van de UNESCO zijn geplaatst: de Stelling van
Amsterdam, het molencomplex te Kinderdijk-Elshout, het Wouda-gemaal en het
voormalige eiland Schokland. Unesco protected areas are later incorporated in
Belvedere strategy (Nota Blevedere, 1999).
The Belvedere strategy
The objective of the Belvedere strategy is to promote a respectful approach in
regard to cultural and historic values within spatial development. This is to be
accomplished neither by vetoing changes nor by burying the past, but by seeking
effective ways to create win-win situations: to use space in such a way that an
object of cultural and/or historic importance is given a place and will contribute
to the quality of its newly created surroundings. According to the Belvedere
approach, “cultural heritage has to be regarded as being of vital importance to
our society and to each individual citizen.
The preservation and use of our cultural heritage adds an extra cultural
dimension to the spatial structure. The heritage approach to be adopted in
dynamic situations is one that centres on inspiring development rather than
conservation or replacement. This approach should be promoted and
implemented by means of the overall spatial policy.” The Belvedere strategy
aims at achieving this goal by involving cultural historians early in planning
processes and by providing architects, urban and rural planners, and
administrators with effective, usable (and understandable!) information. This
strategy requires acknowledging the legitimate importance of others in the
planning process as well as the need for a give and take attitude. It also requires
an awareness of the fact that the cultural historian has something to offer:
making use of our cultural heritage, both physically and as a source of
inspiration, offers planners and designers an opportunity to develop a plan with
added value - a design with its own unique identity and often with unexpected
economic applications.
EU Bird and Habitat Directive
The European Union Bird and Habitats Directives are very important pieces of
legislation for protecting European bird species and their habitats. The Birds
Directive aspires to protect, manage and regulate all bird species naturally living
in the wild within the European territory of the Member States, including the
eggs of these birds, their nests and their habitats. The aim of the Habitats
Directive is to contribute towards ensuring bio-diversity by means of the
conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora in the European
territory of the Member States.
National Ecological Network (EHS)
De EHS betreft een netwerk van zowel grote als kleine gebieden in Nederland
waar de natuur (flora en fauna) in feite voorrang heeft. De EHS is bedoeld om
natuurgebieden te vergroten en met elkaar te verbinden. Door verbindingen
tussen natuurgebieden te maken, kunnen planten en dieren zich makkelijker
verspreiden over meergebieden. De EHS moet in 2018 gereed zijn en zal dan een
totale oppervlakte van 728.500 hectare omvatten. Dat is gelijk aan ongeveer
17,5% van de totale oppervlakte van Nederland.
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43
De EHS is feitelijk opgebouwd uit kerngebieden, natuurontwikkelingsgebieden en
verbindingszones.
• Kerngebieden zijn natuurterreinen, landgoederen, bossen, grote wateren
en waardevolle agrarische cultuurlandschappen die minimaal 250 hectare
groot zijn.
• Natuurontwikkelingsgebieden zijn gebieden met goede mogelijkheden voor
het ontwikkelen van natuurwaarden, van nationale en/of internationale
betekenis.
• Verbindingszones zijn gebieden die kern- en natuurontwikkelingsgebieden
als het ware aan elkaar knopen.
NATURA 2000
NATURA 2000 is a network of protected areas across the EU, which was
established in 1992.
The network is made up of:
1.Special Protection Areas (SPA’s); high level protected sites classified in
agreement with the Birds Directive. The species which are involved are listed in
in Annex I of the Birds Directive and additional regularly occurring migratory
species.
2. Special Areas of Conservation (SAC’s); protected sites assigned under the
Habitats Directive. The habitat types and species concerned are listed in the
Annexes I and II of the Habitats Directive. The list concerns habitat types and
species that are considered to be most in need of conservation at the European
level.
De Europese Unie heeft een zeer gevarieerde en rijke natuur, die van grote
biologische, esthetische en economische waarde is. Om deze natuur te behouden
heeft de Europese Unie het initiatief genomen voor Natura 2000. Dit is een
samenhangend netwerk van beschermde natuurgebieden. Voor Nederland gaat
het in totaal om 162 gebieden.
Deze Natura 2000-gebieden wijst Nederland op dit moment aan. Inmiddels zijn
er 119 gebieden voor definitieve aanwijzing in procedure gebracht. De
ontwerpbesluiten van deze aanwijzingen hebben in 2007 ter inzage gelegen.
Iedereen had gelegenheid om hierop te reageren. De minister heeft in antwoord
hierop een Nota van Antwoord naar het parlement gestuurd. In dit document
reageert de minister op de vragen en opmerkingen die zijn ingediend in het
inspraaktraject.
De minister heeft op 19 februari 2008 de eerste drie gebieden definitief
aangewezen: Voornes Duin, Duinen Goeree & Kwade Hoek en Voordelta.
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44
Figure 29. Various policy documents relevant for landscape and recreation
So to see from the definitions and from the figure 29 the policy concepts overlap.
For instance, UNESCO areas are the part of Belvedere and areas that are
protected under the Birds and Habitats Directives form a major part of the
European ecological network NATURA 2000. National and National parks are
often but not always a part of National Landscapes, and the all together part of
Nature 2000…etc.
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45
The figure 29 shows that the amount of landscape and nature protection
documents, plans and regulations in the Netherlands is remarkable and worth
respect. The fact is also that in the large extent this policy not only visible on
paper but applied in reality. Still this confusion in plans and policy instruments
rises the question of whether landscape and nature protection in the Netherlands
is organised on the most efficient way. In other words would some more
transparent policy forming and planning save the money which is now spent on
making those documents so that it can be used for real spatial improvements.
5.3
Typical recreational amenities
The previous section dealt with large-scale areas, covering at least some 1,000
hectares. Most of them, with the obvious exception of the "green stars", were
never selected for recreational activities in the first place. Rather, their origins lie
in the realm of nature conservation, landscape planning or spatial policy. The
kind of facilities that will be discussed in this section is different: here, most of
the described objects have been created from the very outset as recreational
amenities. Also, other than the areas of the previous section, their surface area
is relatively modest, seldom covering more than 100 hectares, often much less.
As a group, the recreational amenities are rather diverse. We will describe only
the kind of amenities that stand out as the most obviously important, here
loosely defined as:
•
attracting large numbers of visitors (for the category as a whole as well as
for the individual amenities;
•
attracting visitors from (much) more than local level, in the many cases
visitors from the country as a whole or even foreign tourists.
Admittedly, these criteria are open to a certain amount of arbitrariness. The
following list is therefore subject to later additions and alterations.
Theme parks
The origins of the theme park date back to late nineteenth century Britain and
the U.S. Originally developed as amusement parks in places where visitors
already flocked in large numbers for outdoor recreation, like beaches (see the
amusement piers in seaside cities like Blackpool and Brighton, or Coney Island
on the Atlantic shore near New York City), they grew into attractions in their own
right, cantered around a "theme" and set up to merit a full day's visit for the
family. In the Netherlands, arguably the oldest amenity worthy of the name
theme park is Efteling (in Noord-Brabant Province, North of Tilburg), which was
established in 1951, when a local mayor asked graphic artist Anton Pieck to
design the extension to a playground with fairy tales as the leading principle.
Even today, after regular further enlargements which made it one of the leading
theme parks in Europe, Efteling still boasts its "fairy tale theme" as a major part
of its identity. More theme parks have opened, the best patronized being Efteling
(more than 3 million visitors annually), Slagharen and Duinrell (both well over 1
million) and Six Flags Holland (around 1 million).
Figure 30 shows the most important theme parks in the country.
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Figure 30. Theme parks
Zoos
As first and still most famous zoo in the Netherlands, Artis (officially named Artis
Natura Magistra or Nature is the Tutor of the Arts) in Amsterdam opened in
1838. More than a dozen zoos followed, mostly in the 20th century. When small
and/or specialized zoos are left out, the present total (2008) stands at .... Some
are of great architectural interest, like the Rotterdam Blijdorp Zoo, which still has
a number of buildings that were designed by the architect Sybold van Ravesteyn,
in an interesting mix of modernism and expressionism. In the last decades, the
larger zoos in the Netherlands have been redeveloping their park areas, by
creating larger units (open or roofed) in which different species from the same
region (or continent) can be displayed together. The undisputed pioneer was
Noorderdierenpark Zoo in Emmen (Drenthe Prov.), but many zoos have since
followed the example. With annual admission figures between 1 and 1.5 million,
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Blijdorp (Rotterdam), Burger's (Arnhem), Noorderdierenpark (Emmen) and Artis
(Amsterdam) are the four most visited zoos.
Figure 31. 19 largest zoo parks in The Netherlands
Figure 31 shows the most important zoos in the country. Some of these are
located within cities, which means that, technically, they do not belong in this
landscape-based study. They have been added for completeness.
Holiday villages
Campgrounds, cottage parks and caravan sites have been part of the Dutch
landscape for most of the twentieth century. With few exceptions, these holiday
accommodations were modest in size until well after World War II. The decisive
turn towards an increase in scale happened in 1968, when Rotterdam
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businessman Piet Derksen opened his first holiday village, Lommerbergen, near
the Limburg town of Reuver. The village was based on an idea that proved to be
innovative in its time, offering well-designed and well-equipped bungalows in a
leafy and car-free park environment, built around a sports and shopping centre.
The original Sporthuis Centrum bungalows were designed by the then famous
Rotterdam architects office Van den Broek and Bakema. After the new formula
proved a success, Derksen's company, named Sporthuis Centrum after his chain
of sporting goods stores, opened many more holiday villages in the South and
East of the country. As the number of Sporthuis Centrum villages grew, so did
their amenities. In the present situation, a large domed-over "tropical swimming
paradise" has become a standard facility for this kind of accommodation. In
1986, the company internationalized its name into Center Parcs, and began
developing holiday villages in surrounding countries.
Although Center Parcs is undoubtedly the pioneer, the largest company on Dutch
holiday parks market is Landal GreenParks, a conglomerate of 44 parks (2008),
brought together by investors. The first of these, a campground with cottages in
Gelderland Province called Rabbit Hill, was bought as early as 1954 by an
insurance company. Mainly because the Landal villages were originally developed
under different formulas, they are much more diverse in size and design than
Center Parcs'. This variety can sometimes lead to spectacular one-off designs,
like the fake fortified town Esonstad on a recently reclaimed piece of land in the
North of the country.
Figure 32 shows the compilation of all kinds of accommodation facilities in the
country.
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Figure 32. Accommodation amenities
Other outdoor recreational facilities
All kinds of recreational facilities, from riding schools to marinas to artificial ski
slopes can be found in the Dutch landscape. Even trying to be complete in
mapping these and other facilities would be an impossible task. To give an
impression, some of the largest (in size, not necessarily in patronage) facilities
have been mapped.
Golf courses (figure 33) have a special place in landscape development and landuse planning, if only because of their large surface areas. In a densely populated
country like the Netherlands, every unit of 9 holes within a golf course, with an
average area of 30 hectares, is a substantial territory. At the moment, the
Netherlands has over 150 golf courses (158 in 2008) and the number is still
growing. The oldest of these is the "Haagsche Golf & Country Club" in Wassenaar
near The Hague, founded in 1893 and still a venerable institution of its kind.
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Another classic golf course in the country is De Noordwijkse, established in 1915,
in a fashionable seaside resort on the North Sea coast, which is rated by
WorldGolf as one of the ten best golf courses in Europe. The two largest golf
courses in the Netherlands can be found in the proximity of Amsterdam, near
Purmerend (N of Amsterdam) and in Spaarnwoude, the regional park W of the
city, both having 45 holes.
Marinas (see figure 34) are an important feature in a country which has many
natural and man-made lakes and waterways. Since the early twentieth century,
aquatic sports became popular in the Netherlands, especially in two areas which
both have a high density of lakes, canals and rivers. These are:
•
The northern part of the Green Heart of Holland, roughly between Leiden,
Amsterdam and Utrecht. This area has been busy with commercial and
pleasure boating since the Dutch Golden Age (in the late 16th and 17th C),
mainly because of its nearness to (also in those days) important cities and
the availability of waterways.
•
The southwest part of Fryslân province, a region which always was far less
densely populated compared with Holland, but where an abundance of
mostly natural lakes and connecting waterways (without the need for locks
because the erea is totally flat) made the area atractive for yachtsmen from
elsewhere.
As the map also shows, the main rivers in the central part of the country got
their share of marinas too, although they are hardly part of a network of aquatic
facilities like the aforementioned regions. More recently in the past century,
marinas also came up in the Delta region of the southwest (mainly Zeeland
province), a process which was speeded up when the sea branches in this part of
the country were dammed off after the distaster floosing of 1953. Finally, a new
concentration of marinas is developing in the southeast of the country, around
the Maas river near Roermond in Limburg province. The popularity of this area
for aquatic sports has to do with the development of large gravel pit lakes which
are directly connected with the river, thus creating a continuous, one-water-level
area for pleasure boating.
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Figure 33. Golf courses
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52
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53
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Figure 35. All amenities per landscape type
05/11/2009
54
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ie
rk
l
riv
Number of amenities (apsolut)
ha
ha
p
ap
ch
la
n
lö
ss
er
ije
n
du
in
la
nd
s
og
m
ak
ag
ve
dr
o
La
ee
n
oo
gv
H
ag
ve
og
m
ak
dr
o
La
og
v
Ho
er
ije
du
n
in
la
nd
sc
ha
lö
p
ss
la
nd
sc
riv
ha
ie
rk
p
le
ila
nd
sc
ha
za
p
nd
la
nd
sc
ze
ha
ek
p
le
ila
nd
sc
ha
p
0,00
en
0,20
0
ee
n
0,40
1000
en
0,60
2000
Number of amenities per km2 of landscape type
Table 8. Number of amenities and participation of amenities per landscape type
Table 8 (the right half, amenities per square kilometre) shows that the highest
densities of leisure amenities by far can be found in the coastal dunes and the
loess landscapes. This is not surprising as those areas have always been popular
with both Dutch and foreign tourists and day-trippers, while their landscape
conditions (relief, variety in density, solid soils) offers good opportunities for the
building of all kinds of facilities. The lowest density of amenities are in open,
generally large-scale landscape types with poor soil conditions for construction,
such as low peat and reclamation landscapes.
5.4
Recreational routes and networks
As part of their trip, visitors have to travel to reach their recreational destination.
The idea, to regard recreational travel as a goal in itself is relatively new.
Although the origins of this notion are shrouded in mist, the American concept of
"driving for pleasure", developed around World War II when similar views in
Europe were virtually non-existent, may have been a trendsetting example. In
the Dutch situation, the widespread ownership of bicycles has played a
pioneering role here. In the Interbellum, use of bicycles was already encouraged,
although it is not always easy to separate recreational from "functional" motives
(for the average Dutchman in those years, a bicycle was used to ride to work,
school or shops in the first place). An important institution for the promotion of
bicycle use for functional and recreational purposes was (and still is) the ANWB,
founded back in 1883 as the "General Dutch Cyclists Federation". The fact that
ANWB is currently regarded primarily as an advocate of motorists' interests
(which makes it the Dutch equivalent of associations like RAC, ADAC, AAA etc.)
does not alter the fact that promotion of bicycle use still is one of its core
activities.
Since the 1920s and 1930s, bicycle lanes, paths and trails have been built
parallel to roadways or completely separated. Most of these tracks, especially
those in and around towns and cities, were not specifically built for recreational
purposes. In more rural parts of the country however, and in the most popular
holiday regions in the East and South of the Netherlands, local, provincial and
05/11/2009
55
even private initiatives were taken to built cycle ways in the countryside,
catering mainly to holidaymakers from the cities. Campsites and holiday villages
were an important source of cyclists on a day-trip; well into the 1950s, Dutch
families and youth clubs used to ride on their heavily-loaded bicycles from the
cities to their holiday destination, sometimes 100 km away. Once they had
reached their accommodation, they would use their bikes to explore the area,
using these newly-built tracks. An early example of an association for the
promotion and construction of cycle ways (the Rijwielpadenvereniging Gooi en
Eemland) was established in 1914 with the purpose to built tracks in the heaths
and woods of the region around Hilversum. In the sand belt, where soil
conditions permitted construction of simple, semi-surfaced trails parallel to
unmetalled country roads. These trails, which can still be found in many parts of
the country (pic!), make up the base of the present-day bicycle route network
with a mainly recreational purpose.
By now, the bicycle paths and trails in the Netherlands have grown into a
network, albeit more a set of regional networks than a comprehensive national
network. Especially in the sand belt provinces, local networks of cycle tracks can
be extensive. Many provinces are proud of their cycling facilities, the most
obvious example being the Province of Drenthe, which boasts a website under
the name "fietsprovincie.nl" (bicycleprovince.nl), a generic title that is clearly
understood by the public as referring to something "typically Drenthe".
Network of bicycle trails
For this study, all tracks, trails and paths that have been built or designated for
use by bicycles have been mapped. Without further additions, our map would be
limited to independent pieces of bicycle trails in stead of showing a bicycle
network. To give a more logical image, the bicycle-only trails have been
combined with other (non-bicycle exclusive) roads, as long as these are metalled
and not wider than 4 meters. This enables us to map a network consisting of
bicycle-friendly country roads together with the dedicated trails.
When this network is combined with the landscape typology units (figure 33), the
differences within the Netherlands become clearly visible. Dense bicycle networks
can be found in the Eastern sand belt (which more or less justifies the Province
of Drenthe's claim to bicycle fame), in the Southwestern marine clay belt
(Zeeland Province) and some other areas. On the other hand, the low density in
the Green Heart is striking. This is due to the specific nature of the historical
parcellation and settlement types in the lowland peat bogs, where soil conditions
allowed for only a few roads connecting the strip-shaped villages. Although
Drenthe and Zeeland roughly have similar densities, their actual situation is
completely different. Where Drenthe has built a network of well-designed,
independent cycle paths (helped by the favourable conditions in the sand belt),
in Zeeland most of the bicycle facilities are just country roads which make up a
dense network in this farming region.
05/11/2009
56
Figure 36. Bicycle trails
05/11/2009
57
Figure 37. Long distance biking trails
Network of walking trails
Another map gives all roads, trails and paths that can be used by hikers and
walkers. To prevent double mapping, designated cycle ways have been left out
(it is important to mention this, because according to the Dutch traffic rules,
cycle ways may be used by pedestrians if there is no other facility for them).
More or less similar as with the cycleway mapping, the footpaths have been
combined with walker-friendly roads. In this case, to prevent another kind of
overlaps, the roads mapped must be unmetalled (or semi-metalled) and not
wider than 2 meters. This means that the foot network consist of largely
unmetalled paths and minor country roads, which is the environment that will be
05/11/2009
58
preferred by the serious walker (for comparison, look at the public footpath
system in the UK).
Figure 38. Network of walking paths
05/11/2009
59
Figure 39. Long distance walking trails
Overlaying this network on the landscape typology units (figure 35) shows the
differences within the Netherlands, which turn out to be even more extreme than
we saw for the bicycle network. By far the densest networks of footpaths lie in
the Veluwe and Utrechts Heuvelrug regions in the Central Netherlands. Densities
here are really enormous; on the scale used for this map, it is virtually
impossible to tell the paths and roads apart. The explanation for this
phenomenon is quite simple: both regions are mainly covered with forests,
05/11/2009
60
which, in line with the man-made nature of the Dutch landscape, have been
planted along many straight, parallel dirt roads. Dedicated footpaths are hardly
necessary (and do hardly exist) in these regions to obtain a high density. Other
regions with rather high densities can be found in sand belt, especially in the
Southern part. The question, why, in the sand belt, the footpath and dirt road
network in the South is denser than in the East, is interesting but difficult to
answer. A possible explanation might be found in the historically higher
population growth in the South which supposedly has led to greater pressure on
the land, resulting in more roads. But in all honesty, without further study this is
no more than speculation. As with the bicycle network, the Green Heart shows a
low density in footpaths. Here, the explanation is the same as for the bicycle
network, and has to do with the local soil conditions and the resulting
parcellation.
Type landschap
Km fietspaden/km2 Km wandelpaden/km2
landschap
landschap
zandlandschap
zeekleilandschap
Laagveen
rivierkleilandschap
droogmakerijen
Hoogveen
duinlandschap
losslandschap
totaal
1,78
1,65
1,54
1,71
1,54
1,41
1,66
1,61
1,67
Oppervlakte
(km2)
3,03
0,52
0,62
1,07
0,72
1,16
2,77
2,43
1,71
13689
7576
3789
3673
2745
1985
833
687
34976
losslandschap
losslandschap
duinlandschap
duinlandschap
Hoogveen
Hoogveen
droogmakerijen
droogmakerijen
rivierkleilandschap
rivierkleilandschap
Laagveen
Laagveen
zeekleilandschap
zeekleilandschap
zandlandschap
zandlandschap
0
5000
10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 45000
Fietspaden (km)
Fietspaden
(km)
0,00
0,50
1,00
24379
12527
5820
6277
4237
2797
1384
1108
58528
1,50
Km fietspaden/km2 landschap
Wandelpaden (km)
Wandelpaden
(km)
2,00
2,50
41464
3969
2355
3927
1971
2310
2309
1668
59972
3,00
3,50
Km w andelpaden/km2 landschap
Table 9. Density of cycling and walking paths per type landscape
Other linear elements and facilities
Many other recreational networks exist, from bridleways to tourist (car)
itineraries, pleasure boat routes etc. For this study, we have left these networks
out, mainly because they are less omnipresent than foot and bike routes. An
exception has been made for the long-distance hiking routes, which have been
signposted throughout the Netherlands, some stretches as part of the European
long-distance system. Three of these routes run through the Netherlands:
•
E8: Irish Sea-Rhodopes via Europoort Docks en Nijmegen;
•
E9 Atlantic–North Sea–Baltic Sea via Rotterdam and The Hague;
•
E11: North Sea-Masuria via Haarlem–Amersfoort–Oldenzaal.
The Dutch part of these routes is indicated on figure $$$$$$.
05/11/2009
61
6.
Conclusions: landscape types and their recreational use
In this study, a typology of Dutch landscapes has been crossed with leisure
facility data. Before we discuss results, it is necessary to dwell upon some
limitations regarding the study.
•
The landscape typology is, inevitably at this stage, not very detailed. This
means that conclusions can only be drawn on a rather general level.
Furthermore, boundaries between landscape units on the maps are often
arbitrary, as can be expected in a country without much distinct relief where
transitions between two mapping units can be gradual.
•
All data concerning leisure facilities are explicitly spatial in their nature.
Visitors figures are used for additional information only. The data
(expressed in linear or area measurements or just numbers) are precise in
themselves, but their coverage can be arbitrary nonetheless. For instance, it
is not easy to find a fitting definition of "bicycle-friendly roads and paths",
nor is it easy to check the available data at this point.
Given these limitations, the study shows some clear results regarding the
relationship and their recreational use. Three categories can be distinguished
here:
•
The highest density for all three types of recreational facilities - areas,
linear elements and amenities – are to be found in two landscape types: the
coastal dunes and the loess landscapes. These landscapes have been
popular since the beginning of recreation and tourism, mainly for their
diverse character and their typical landscape transitions. The diversity
comprises relief (hills, dunes), forests, groves and hedgerows. The
transitions are especially obvious in the coastal area with the sea shore and
the inland dune slopes, while the loess landscape has slopes and river
valleys as transitions. Both landscape types have a relatively dense network
of trails, paths and lesser roads. As can be expected in the light of their
long-standing tradition as holiday destinations, they have the largest
concentrations of recreational and tourist facilities and amenities.
•
The sand belt landscapes are in the middle of the scale, showing an
average density of amenities and networks. Like the loess and coastal
areas, the sand belt also has a tradition as a tourist destination. But,
because the sand belt is relatively large (it takes up almost half of the
country) and distances to the largest concentrations of population are quite
long, the density of amenities is clearly lower than in the loess and coastal
areas. The network of trails and paths is also average; the lie of the land
allows a dense network (solid and dry soils), but the relative lack of
recreational pressure from big cities has limited the growth of the networks.
Still, the network of footpaths (and roads suitable for walking) can be very
dense in some parts of the sand belt, in particular in the Veluwe and Utrecht
Hills regions with their abundance of unimproved forestry roads. Detailed
information on the trails and forest road network in the Veluwe region can
be found on map 40.
•
The lowest density of amenities and networks is to be found in the
remaining landscape types, particularly the lowland peat landscapes, the
(marine and river) clay landscapes and the reclamation landscapes. The
main reasons seem to be the unfavourable soil conditions (wet and soft
soils, which practically rules out the presence of unpaved roads as they
would be mud tracks most of the year) and the typical land pattern in these
open landscapes, with their large and often deep parcels that leave little
space for paths. Also, these landscapes show the lowest percentage of
05/11/2009
62
forests, which adds to the lack of a fine-meshed network like the ones we
find in parts of the sand belt. These findings are even more unfortunate
when we realise that most of the landscapes concerned lie in the vicinity of
the biggest cities of the Netherlands, the Randstad area. As presented in
chapter 3.3 those are exactly the areas with highest demands and lowest
supply of recreational facilities. Map 41 shows the road and trail network in
this centrally located area, where the highest recreational pressure goes
together with the lowest density of recreational facilities.
It is interesting to note here that landscape openness is one of the most
important objectives in Dutch landscape policy documents. This is undoubtedly
inspired by the fact that during the last century the Dutch landscape has suffered
from many threats such as urbanisation, intensive agriculture, large-scale
infrastructure, and many other developments that lead to landscape
fragmentation. In all probability, an open landscape may inadvertently been seen
as synonymous with a landscape which is not fragmented, and therefore as
something vulnerable that should be esteemed and protected. But as our
analyses show, the open landscapes are the ones with the lowest amounts of
facilities for recreation. The question here is: should the openness of these
landscapes be regarded as the leading feature in their future development, or
should these landscapes be (partly) converted into semi-enclosed park
landscapes that have much more potential for outdoor recreation? The question
is far from hypothetical, given the nearness of these landscapes to highly
urbanised areas such as the Randstad.
05/11/2009
63
Figure 40. Veluwe, area with the high density of recreational facilities
05/11/2009
64
Figure 41. Randstad with Green Hart, very low density of recreational facilities
05/11/2009
65
The findings regarding the lack of facilities around the Randstad, suggest that, to
increase the recreational attractiveness of the area, the following interventions
could be considered:
•
intensify the network of trails and paths for walkers and cyclists in the
existing landscape around the Randstad cities, in particular in (parts of) the
green Heart;
•
create new landscape experiences in the transition zones of city and
landscape, for instance by providing new forests, woodlands and wetland
areas, and by improving the recreational use of existing landscape features
and the agricultural land;
Together, these recommendations fit in with the recent government's plans for
the creation of "metropolitan parks" around the Randstad. On the other hand,
intensifying the bicycle and footpath network in the Green Heart could be a
simpler and cheaper solution if seen from the recreational point of view only. A
point of special interest, although not directly connecting with the findings of the
study, is the often poor accessibility of the Green Heart from the Randstad cities,
due to infrastructural barriers (like motorways, canals, railways) that are hard to
overcome. The extent to which these barriers keep people from visiting the
Green Heart by bicycle or on foot, even if the straight distance is minimal, should
be a subject of more research.
Finally, this study shows a rather unexpected kind of density: the number of plan
or policy units that refer to recreational activities, often with multiple overlaps.
Figure 29 gives a fine impression of the situation, which is not entirely unique for
the Netherlands but nevertheless considered by the Dutch as an inevitable (and
often undesired) by-product of a long-standing planning system. This "policy
bustle" can be seen as the result of careful and often updated planning policies,
but also as proof of planning insecurity, leading to changing terms and concepts
every five or ten years because the old ones obviously did not work the way they
were intended to.
05/11/2009
66
Literature
Atlas van Nederland http://avn.geog.uu.nl/index16.html
Deel 16: Landschap
Baart, T., Metz, T. en Ruimschotel, T. (2000): Atlas van de verandering. Rotterdam, NAi Uitgevers
en Stichting Ideas on Paper.
Bijhouwer, J.T.P., (1971): Het Nederlandse landschap, Amsterdam, Kosmos.
Boumans, A. en al. (2002): Atlas Nederland als pretpark. Ministerie van V&W – Adviesdienst voor
verkeer en vervoer. Rotterdam
Breedveld, K. & Van den Broek, A. (2001): Trends in de tijd; een schets van recente
ontwikkelingen in tijdsbesteding en tijdsordening. Den Haag, Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau.
Brinkhuijsen, M. (2007): A study of landscape design for leisure in Dutch cultural landscapes
(werktitel). Wageningen, Wageningen UR, CD-rom Vrijetijdsdag
Brijnkhuijsen, M. et all, Leisure and landscape: trends and impacts, facts and figures. Alterra
Helpdeskvraag 1094, 19 januari 2007
Cohen, E. (1979): A phenomenology of tourist experiences. The Journal of the British Sociological
Association 13
Elands, B. en J. Lengkeek (2000): Typical tourists : research into the theoretical and
methodological foundations of a typology of tourism and recreation experiences. Wageningen UR
Frerichs, R. M. en J. d. Wijs (2001): Opvattingen en meningen over het Nederlandse platteland.
Delft, Nipo,
Hajer, M., A. Reijndorp, et al. (2001): In search of new public domain : analysis and strategy.
Rotterdam, NAi Publishers.
Hannigan, J. Fantasy city (1998): pleasure and profit in the postmodern metropolis. London [etc.],
Routledge.
Hendriks, K. en D. J. Stobbelaar (2003): Landbouw in een leesbaar landschap. Hoe gangbare en
biologische landbouwbedrijven bijdragen aan landschapskwaliteit. Wageningen, Blauwdruk.
Herngreen, R. H. Harsema et al. (2002): De 8ste transformatie. Over planning en regionale
identiteit. Wageningen, Blauwe Kamer.
Lambert, A. (1971): The Making of the Dutch Landscape: An Historical Geography of the
Netherlands. Seminar Press Ltd.
Lengkeek, J, J.W. Te Kloeze en R. Brouwer (1997): The Multiple Realities of Rural Development :
the Signification of Tourist Images for the Countryside. In: De Haan, H. en N. Long. Images and
Realities of Rural Life. Assen, Van Gorcum.
Metz, T. (2002): Pret! Leisure en landschap. Rotterdam, NAi Uitgevers.
Mommaas, H., M. v. d. Heuvel, et al. (2000): De vrijetijdsindustrie in stad en land : een studie
naar de markt van belevenissen. Den Haag, Sdu Uitgevers.
NRLO, (1998): De groene ruimte op de kaart! Kennis- en Innovatieagenda - Ambities voor de 21e
eeuw. Den Haag
Rojek, C. (1993): Ways of escape. Modern transformations in leisure and travel. Basingstoke,
MacMillan
Sorkin, M. (1992): Variations on a theme park: the new American city and the end of public space.
New York, Noonday
05/11/2009
67
Tisma, A. and Jokövi, M. (2007): The new Dutch parks: relation between form and use. Journal of
Landscape Architecture (JoLa) no.4
VromRaad (2006): Groeten uit Holland, Qui è fantastico! Advies over vrije tijd, toerisme en
ruimtelijke kwaliteit. Den Haag.
Zonneveld, J.I.S. (1985): Levend land. De geografie van het Nederlandse landschap. Bohn,
Scheltema & Holkema, Utrecht.
Zukin, S. (1991): Landscapes of power : from Detroit to Disney World. Berkeley [etc.], University
of California Press
WRR (2000): De Vrijetijdsindustrie in stad en land: Een studie naar de markt van belevenissen. H.
Mommaas et al.
Vries, S. de, M. Hoogerwerf & W.J. de Regt; AVANAR: een ruimtelijk model voor het berekenen van
vraag-aanbodverhoudingen voor recreatieve activiteiten. Basisdocumentatie en
gevoeligheidsanalyses; gepubliceerd: 02 dec 2004; 89 pp..
Visscher, H.A. - De Nederlandse landschappen: Ontstaan, wetenschappelijke betekenis,
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Zonneveld, J.I.S. Levend land - De geografie van het Nederlandse landschap, Houten / Antwerpen,
Bohn Stafleu Van Loghum. 1991
For the Dutch readers, we list some related books by the (former) Ruimtelijk Planbureau
(Netherlands Institute for Spatial Research, merged in April 2008 into the new Planbureau voor de
Leefomgeving (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency).
Ruimte in cijfers (2004/2006): data algemeen
RuimteMonitor (vanaf 2004): data vrije tijd
Waar de landbouw verdwijnt (2005): landschapstypologie
Atlas van Europa (2006): data algemeen
Staat van de ruimte (2007): data vrije tijd
Ook kan gebruik gemaakt worden van data die zijn verzameld voor het in 2005 afgebroken project
Groen in en om de Stad
05/11/2009
68
Appendix 1. Calssifications of landscape types
Physical-geographic classifications
Geogr. Inst. RU
Groningen, 1964
Visscher, 1975
Zonneveld, Fysischgeografische
landschapstypen, 1993
Nota Landschap, 1992
Atlas van Nederland,
Fysisch-geografische
landschappen 2003
Atlas van Nederland,
Landschappen, 2003
Zuid-Limburgse
heuvelland
Chemiplanalandschap
Versneden plateau en
terrassen landschappen
Heuvelland
Landschappen onder
invloed van zee
Waterlandschappen
Dekzand landschappen
Overige landschappen van Grote zoete tot brakke
de zeekleipolders,
meren, ontstaan door
grootschalig
afdamming
Dekzandlandschap van
Noord-Brabant en
Terrassen- en
Limburg
geliplanalandschap
Stuwwalen landschap
van Midden-Nederland
Grondmorenelandscha
p van Drents plateau
en de Frisse wouden
Oerstroomdalen van
Vecht en Hunze
Oudere pleistocene
riviervlakten
Beekdal landschappen
Zeekleigebied
Landschappen van grote
rivieren
Stuwwallen en
duinlandschap
Grondmoreinengebied van
Winterswijk
Strand, duin, en stuifzand
landschappen
Kustzone
Polderlandschappen
Stuwwal landschappen
Rivierengebied
Hoogveenlandschappen
Fries-Hollands_utrechts
laagveengebied
Gebied van jonge
zeeklei
Grondmoreinengebied van
NRD Nederland
Wurmglaciele riviervlakten
en/of dekzandmantels
Rivierkleidelta
Oude en jonge
duinlandschap
Rivierduingordels
Hoogveengebieden
Hoogveenontginningsgebie Landschappen van
d
zandgronden
Sterk versneden
Veenkoloniale landschappen Laagveengebied
landschappen
Laagveen en klei-op-veen
landschappen
Droogmakerijen
Beekdallandschappen
Landschappen van de
Rivier l.
Grote wateren
grote stedelijke
Afgegraven
hoogveengebieden
Laagveengebieden
Zeeklei l.
Oude duin l.
Uitgeveende gebieden
Droogmakerijen en
veenpolders van het
laagveengebied
Holocene riviervlakten
Holocene kustvlakten
Hoogveen landschappen
Verstedelijkt landschap
Droogmakerijen
Open water (zoet)
Open water (zout in wadden
en schoren
Stedelijke en industriële
landschappen
Iselmeerpolders
Strandwallen en
duinlandschap langs de
kust
Afgezande strandwallen en
duinlandschap
Meren en plassen
05/11/2009
Waterrijke landschappen
Veenweidelandshappen
Veenkoloniale l.
Landschappen van de hoge
venen
Landschappen van de oude
droogmakerijen
Terpenlandschappen
Landschappen van de jonge
droogmakerijen
Overige landschappen van de
zeekleipolders, kleinschalig
Overige landschappen van de
zeekleipolders, grootschalig
Rivierlandschappen
Landschappen van de lage
zadndopduikingen
Landschappen van de lage
zandgronden
Beekdallandschappen
Landschappen van de
middelhoge zandgronden
Landschappen van de hoge
zandgronden
Duinlandschappen
Berg en dallandschappen
Stedelijke landschappen
69
Historic-geographic approach
Natuurbeschermingsr
aad (in Het
Nederlands
landschap, van
Barends et al.)
Lössontginningen
Het Nederlands
landschap, van
Barends et al
Krijt/losslandschap
Kampontginningen met Zandlandschap
plaatselijk essen
Heideontginningen en
bossen (sedert 1850)
Rivierenterrasontginnin
gen
Stroomrug en
Rivierkleilandschap
komontginningen
Duinen en
Duinlandschap
duinontginningen
Natuurbeschermingsraad
(in Zonneveld)
De Boer et al 1976
Bosatlas
Dictaat TU Delft Frans Leo Pols, Waar de
Maas
landbouw
verdwijnt, 2005
Terpenlandschap
terpenlandschap
Losslandschap
Op pleistocene
gronden
esdorpenlandschap van
het drents-veluwe type
esdorpenlandschap van
het Brabantse type
Oude zeekleipolders met dijk rivierenlandschap
plateaus en droge
en wegdorpen
dalen
Esdorpenlandschap met heide esdorpenlandschap Drents-brede beek- en
en broekontginningen
Veluwe type
rivierdalen met
terrassen
Landschap van de grote
esdorpenlandschap
Duinlandschap
rivieren
Brabants type
Kampen en hoevenlandschap hoevenlandschap
Jonge hoge duinen
Landschap van de wegdorpen
met opstekende parcelen op
zandgronden
Landschap van de
laagveenontginningen
Venontginningen
Agrarisch
veenlandschap
Droogmakerijen
Landschap ven de
hoogveenontginningen
(veenkoloniën)
Turfvinninsglandschap Landschap van de
aandijkingen en
droogmakerijen
Zuidwestelijke
Landschap van Zuid Limburg
zeekleilandschap
Veenkoloniën
Recente zeekleipolders
Oude zeekleipolders
Noordelijke
zeekleilandschap
Landschap van de
geestgronden
Duinlandschap
heuvelland van zuid
Limburg
Bewoonde,
afgegraven oude
duinen
Zandlandschap
wegdorpen op basis van
oorspronkelijk gemengd
bedrijf
dijk en wegdorpen van de Esdorpen/kampen
oude zeekleipolders
op lage
zandgronden
duinstreek van noord en
Esdorpen in
zuid holland
stuwwallenlandscha
p
duinstreek van wadden,
Zeekleilandschap
Zeeuwse en ZuidHollandse eilanden
droogmakerijen en
Kleinschalige
aandijkingen
zeekleipolders
hoogveenontginningen
Grootschalige
zeekleipolders
laagveenontginningen
Oude
droogmakerijen
hoven- of
kampenlandschap
keileemtuunwallenlandschap
slagenlandschap van de
zandgronden
Vooroorlogse
bebouwing
Naoorlogse
bebouwing
Cultuurlandschap
Duinlandschap
Oude duinen
hoogveenontginningsland Jonge duinen
schap
landschap van
Stuwwallenlandsch
zuidlimburgse heuvelland ap
Op holocene gronden
Stuwwallenlandschap
terpenlandschap
Spoelznadgronden
Landschap van de oude
zeekleipolders
Aandijkingenlandschap
Loslandschap
Droogmakerijenlandscha
p van de drooggemaakte
meren en
verveeningsplassen
Jonge
Droogmakerijenlandscha
droogmakerijen
p van de
Ijselmeerpolders
Terpenlandschap
Rivierenlandschap
Rivierkleilandsch Strandvallen en
ap
strandvlaktenlandschap
Veenlandschap
Duinlandschap
Laagveenontginning Slagenlandschap van de
en met wegdorpen laagveengronden
Hoogveenontginnin Slagenlandschap van de
kleigronden
gen met
kanaaldorpen
Terpen, wierden en
andere
woonheuvels
Stadslandschap
Plateaus
Dalen
Zandlandschap
Essen en kampen
Beken
Rivierlandschap
Terrassen en kommen
Stroomruggen
Zeekleilandschap
Getijdvlakten
Kwelderwallen
Veenlandschap
Hoogveen
Laagveen
Landscape character based classification
Atlas van Nederland 2003, Het Nederlands landschap in beeld
open en vlak, grasland en water
open en valk, bouwland
halfopen tot gesloten, zwak hellend, grasland en houtwallen, bos
halfopen tot gesloten, golvend, gras- en bouwland, bos, houtwallen
halfopen overwegend vlak, tuinbouw, gras- en bouwland
open tot gesloten, terrasvorming, gemengd agrarisch bos
open tot gesloten, grasland, moeras, heide en bos
open tot gesloten, uitzichten, heuvelachtig, gemengd grondgebruik
gesloten en heuvelachtig, bos, plaatselijk open door heide, stuifzand of uitzicht
gesloten en vlak, plaatselijk duinvorming, bebouwd
overig (visueel) verstedelijkt gebied
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