Buildings and infrastructure are fragmenting the landscape. The open countryside is coming under increasing pressure from new housing developments, business parks, greenhouse complexes, roads and railway lines.

The open countryside is being fragmented by expanding urban networks of housing, commercial and industrial estates and infrastructure. Between 1989 and 2004 the built-up area in the Netherlands grew by more than 61,000 hectares. These developments consist largely of concentrated urban extensions for residential, commercial and industrial uses, including schools, retail and other facilities. The percentage of built-up area varies considerably from province to province. Zuid-Holland has the highest percentage; Friesland, in the north, has the lowest. The built-up area has grown most rapidly in Flevoland, the youngest province in the Netherlands, reclaimed from the IJssel lake north-east of Amsterdam.

Photo: Roel Hoeve

On average about a quarter of the countryside is moderately to severely affected by visual intrusion from urban elements such as housing areas, business parks, greenhouse complexes, roads and railway lines. Moreover, the remaining green areas are largely broken up into smaller open pockets within an extensive urban network. The most fragmented countryside is in the province of Zuid-Holland. The province least affected by intrusive urban development is Drenthe, in the north-east of the country.

The average size of the remaining green areas is smallest in the province of Zuid-Holland. Here the landscape is highly fragmented, further degrading its core quality of ‘openness’.

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