Land use; main categories; regional, 1900 onwards
| Regions | Periods | Built-up area Built-up area total (km2) | Built-up area Residential (km2) | Built-up area Industry, business, public institutions (km2) | Built-up area Socio-cultural facilities (km2) | Semi built-up area Semi built-up area total (km2) | Semi built-up area Mining area (km2) | Semi built-up area Building site (km2) | Semi built-up area Other semi built-up area (km2) | Woodland and nature Natural open area (km2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Netherlands | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Groningen (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Fryslân (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Drenthe (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Overijssel (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Flevoland (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Gelderland (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Utrecht (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Noord-Holland (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Zuid-Holland (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Zeeland (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Noord-Brabant (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Limburg (PV) | 2022 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Source: CBS. | ||||||||||
Dataset is not available.
This table provides information about the land use of the area of the Netherlands and the changes in land use.
This table is based on the Bestand Bodemgebruik (BBG), which literally translates as the ‘land use file’. For intervening base years without a BBG, this table just presents total area statistics for the presented regions.
Previously published base years in this table are never revised for corrections established when a newer BBG-edition is produced. Such corrections consist of corrections of earlier misinterpretations and of improved interpretations based on new sources. The corrections are recorded in the so-called Mutatiebestand (the mutations file) which is part of each BBG publication. See Bestand Bodemgebruik for further information on correction of the land use statistics and for available publications.
Due to the longstanding tradition of these statistics (since the year 1900) this table contains some composite categories. These composite categories consist of two or more of the land use categories as they are in use in the contemporary Bestand Bodemgebruik. These composite categories are the subtotals ‘Industry, business, public institutions’, ‘Other semi built-up area’, ‘Other recreation usage’, ‘Natural open area’ and ‘Water total’. See the ‘Topics/Classifications’ section of this table for further specifications of these composite categories.
Data available since: 1900.
Status of the figures:
The figures in this table are final.
Changes as of November 2022:
Addition of land use statistics of 2017.
Addition of total area statistics of 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
When will new figures be published?
For the base years 2000 to 2017 this table is based on the Bestand Bodemgebruik (BBG). The production methods and the specifications of the Bestand Bodemgebruik are currently subject of process redesign. The first publications of the thus re-newed land use statistics are expected in the year 2024. Whether or not this table will be supplemented with these new statistics has not yet been decided upon. See Bestand Bodemgebruik for further information on the redesign of these land use statistics.
Description topics
- Built-up area
- Area in use for residents, work, shopping, cultural facilities and public amenities.
- Built-up area total
- Total area of the main group ‘Built-on area’.
- Residential
- Area mainly used for residents, including primary amenities.
Including
- housing areas;
- primary amenities e.g. (local) shops, primary schools;
- local offices of e.g. banks;
- green areas smaller than 1 hectare;
- streets and local parking areas;
- courtyards, gardens;
- playing grounds;
- trailer camp (excluding wreckage areas larger than 0,1 hectare).
If residential areas are inside woodland, the total area is assignated as residential if a street pattern can be recognized.
- Industry, business, public institutions
- Area in use for industry, retail and business services, for concentrated retail trade and catering activities and for general use, like community homes, police offices and utility services.
- Socio-cultural facilities
- Area in use by social and cultural facilities as hospitals, universities and musea.
Including
- secondary schools and schools of applied science;
- boarding school;
- conference centre;
- hospital, sanatorium, nursing home, psychiatrist hospital etc.;
- church, cloister, museum (including castles that are open to the public), excluding open air museum;
- theatre, cinema, concert- and congress hall;
- cultural centre;
- community centre, club house, youth association;
- sheltered workshop;
- associated parking areas and forest- or shrublines.
Social and cultural facilities are mainly limited on the map by a fence. As the limit of the object, the location of the fence is used.
- Semi built-up area
- Area with a certain amount of paving, not in use as traffic area or built-up area.
- Semi built-up area total
- Total area of the main group ‘Semi built-up area’.
- Mining area
- Area for winning materials from the bottom or soil.
Including
- area for deep- and shallow extraction of raw materials;
- associated buildings, parking areas, storage areas of extracted materials and waste.
Raw materials include
- natural gas;
- petroleum;
- stone;
- gravel;
- clay;
- loam;
- marl;
- peat;
- sand;
- salt.
Mining areas of natural gas and petroleum are mainly limited on the map by a fence. As the limit of the object, the location of the fence is used.
Minimum size of 0,5 hectare.
- Building site
- Area in use for construction.
including
- area of construction or with preparing traces;
- fallow land on industrial- and office areas.
- Other semi built-up area
- Area of other use with a certain amount of pavement.
including
- a dyke that is not overgrown with grass;
- pier above sea;
- fallow land that can not be recognized as building site;
- railway out of use.
For longitudinal piers and embankments that are connected to the land, the minimum size is 0,1 hectare.
- Woodland and nature
- Area with forest or natural open area.
- Natural open area
- Open area with a wet or dry surface, mainly nature.