Apeldoorn named healthiest city in the Netherlands; Groningen drops from 1st to 3rd
Apeldoorn is the healthiest city in the Netherlands, dethroning Groningen in the Healthy City Index 2024 by Arcadis. Groningen was the top city in the two previous editions but dropped to third place this year. Maastricht came in second place.
Arcadis compares 25 Dutch cities - the largest of each province plus the 13 largest of the other cities in the Netherlands - with each other every two years, looking at things like crime, traffic safety, and community health. This is the third edition.
According to Arcadis, Apeldoorn has been steadily climbing in the ranking, from 5th place in 2020 to third in 2022, and now in the top position. The city scored stable on most components, and this time scored extra points in the “healthy community” category.
“The number of crimes is low and social cohesion is high,” said Arcadis researcher Eke Schins about Apeldoorn. According to him, Apeldoorn is managing to largely avoid the nationwide increase of anxiety and stress, an effect of the coronavirus pandemic. “What probably helps is the green character.”
“In the coming period, Apeldoorn wants to build around 7,000 new homes in the city center. In order to continue to compete at the top, it is important to combine densification and greening. The healthy city requires continued attention.”
Groningen’s fall in the ranking is largely due to a relatively high number of traffic accidents resulting in injury or death, Arcadis researcher John Boon said. “That is a double whammy because now they get people on bicycles and we see more accidents. The city also lost points on the component Healthy Community. This can partly be explained by the fact that the number of registered crimes increased and fewer people comply with the exercise guideline.”
The Netherlands’ three largest cities scored worst in the ranking. Rotterdam is at the bottom of the list, with The Hague and Amsterdam just above it. Rotterdam mainly lost points in healthy mobility. “The sad thing is that there is more walking and cycling in the city than two years ago, but other cities are simply doing better,” Boon said. The Hague is mainly struggling with high accident figures.
“I want to stress that these cities, seen from an international perspective, are still doing well. Fortunately, the bar is set high in our country,” Boon said. “What cities should pay more attention to is greening in addition to densification. This can be done by building slightly higher or by converting excess paving into greenery. This appears to be one of the most effective means of reducing stress. That is clearly reflected in green cities like Apeldoorn.
Healthy City Index 2024
- Apeldoorn
- Maastricht
- Groningen
- Nijmegen
- Arnhem
- Amersfoort
- Almere
- Emmen
- Leeuwarden
- Zwolle
- Den Bosch
- Leiden
- Haarlem
- Enschede
- Zoetermeer
- Terneuzen
- Breda
- Utrecht
- Haarlemmermeer
- Eindhoven
- Zaanstad
- Tilburg
- Amsterdam
- Den Haag
- Rotterdam
