Over a period of 15 years the built environment has expanded by 61,000 hectares. Besides housing, much of this consists of industrial and commercial developments. These often break up the open character of the landscape.

Buildings disrupt open panoramas

In the last 15 years the green environment has steadily become more urban in character. Between 1989 and 2004, 61,000 hectares of land have been developed for housing and industrial and commercial uses. In 2004 the area of land approved for industrial and commercial development was one and a half times as much as in 1990.

Local cultural and historic landscape features are lost through commercial and industrial development, such as here near Wormerveer (photo right: Eurosense; photo left: AERODATA International Surveys)

Trading estates block views

The growth of industrial and commercial estates is responsible for 40% of the total increase in built-up area. This expansion of the built-up area has led to greater visual intrusion into open views of the landscape.
Plans for industrial and commercial estates by municipal councils are often uncoordinated, with each local authority wanting its own estate. The sum of all these municipal plans is ribbon development along major roads. Visually, this gives the impression of a built-up area, whereas behind the buildings the landscape is open. People often perceive industrial and commercial estates as a visual intrusion in the landscape.
Landschapsbeheer Nederland sees opportunities to lay out these developments in an ecologically interesting way, well integrated into the surrounding landscape and with access for recreational use. An example of such a green trading estate is Hessenpoort 1 near Zwolle, where old tracks and watercourses from the past were used as the basis for the road layout.

Planting has been used to blend the Hessenpoort 1 trading estate into the surrounding landscape (photo: Roel Hoeve).

Back to Nature Balance 2006         Changing character of the green environment