Quality of life under pressure in 193 Dutch neighborhoods: Housing Min.

In 193 neighborhoods in 50 municipalities, the quality of life is under structural pressure. Residents in those neighborhoods are not satisfied with their own living environment. The government must prevent the quality of life in vulnerable neighborhoods from deteriorating further.

These figures from the latest Quality of Life Barometer underline the need to develop a National Liveability and Safety Program, wrote Minister Hugo de Jonge of Housing and Spatial Planning to parliament.

About 537,000 households live in those 193 neighborhoods. Many of the neighborhoods are located in and around the four large cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht. The quality of life is also under pressure in neighborhoods in the Dordrecht region, the IJmond region Parkstad Limburg, and the larger cities in Gelderland and Noord-Brabant.

This involves looking at the degree of nuisance, insecurity, facilities, social cohesion, housing stock, and the physical environment. 

The quality of life in the vast majority of Dutch neighborhoods is sufficient to good, according to the barometer. In the nearly 200 vulnerable neighborhoods, the quality of life and safety must be improved. The Minister will present plans to do so with his National Liveability and Safety Program in June.