Urban green spaces, 2000-2006

Urban green: preferably close to home

It is important that public green spaces (parks, woods, nature areas and recreational areas) are available within a distance of 500 metres from homes for daily use (play, rest and sport). Semi-public green spaces such as playing fields, allotments and cemeteries may also be used, if they are open to the public and if they provide the right facilities. It is expected that these will be used more often in the future.
There is no standard for the amount of green space per house, although a target of 75 m² green space per house is given in the Spatial Policy Document (VROM, 2006).

Urban green in G31 municipalities

In the G31 municipalities - the 31 municipalities included in the Large Cities Policy - the amount of public green space per house was less than the target value of 75 m² in 61% (19) of the municipalities in 2003. Municipalities such as Lelystad (with 224 m²), Emmen and Helmond had the most green space per house, and Leiden (with 26 m²), Utrecht and Amsterdam the least. In the 4 large municipalities, the amount of public green space per house was less than 75 m². In Utrecht, Rotterdam and The Hague it remained constant at 36, 53 and 56 m² respectively. The amount of public green space per house increased slightly in Amsterdam, from 36 to 38 m².

Urban green: national level

In 2006, there was particularly little public green space per house in the Randstad and Noord-Holland and in the larger cities in Noord-Brabant, Limburg, the Achterhoek and Twente. This was due to a combination of a relatively high number of houses and little public green space in the direct vicinity. What is striking is the low score in a large part of Friesland and part of Groningen. Here, this is caused by the small amount of public green space near homes. This does not however mean that people also experience a low level of green space here as it is possible that agricultural green areas, of which there are plenty in rural areas, and the local landscape offer sufficient compensation. Areas with a lot of green space are the provinces of Flevoland and Drenthe and the Veluwe, primarily through a combination of more public green space and fewer houses.