Land for sustainable choices in rural areas

Background and request for advice

The Netherlands faces major challenges in the areas of housing, agriculture, nature, biodiversity, water quality, sustainable energy, national security, mobility, circular economy and climate adaptation. Many of these challenges differ in the required type of land use and lead to an additional demand for land, something that will largely have to be found in rural areas. This includes the land needed for agricultural extensification and to complete the National Ecological Network. Furthermore, land is also needed for large-scale housing developments, military sites, sustainable energy production, recreation and tourism, circular storage and use of materials, water storage, and new infrastructure.

All things cannot be realised in any type of location, some functions will get in each other's way, while there are also those that actually reinforce each other. This requires making spatial choices, such as: Where could agriculture and nature share the same location and where is this not possible? In which location is farmland valuable and therefore needs to be protected and where is agricultural extensification a good idea? Where do nature areas need to be expanded and can this be combined with military objectives? Where can agriculture be combined with green and blue infrastructure, small-scale new housing construction, social facilities, the visitor economy or the production of sustainable energy? The choices made regarding all these tasks, functions and land claims are very significant for the future of rural areas — physically, economically and socially.

Land is an important factor in all these choices. Every piece of land in the Netherlands already has a function and an owner. Changes in land use therefore require something from current owners. Moreover, land prices have risen sharply in recent years, including in rural areas. The increasing demand for scarce space is an important explanation for these increases, although other factors also play a role: examples include the structurally low interest rate, and the ‘discovery’ of land as an investment or speculation object. The government also impacts price developments on the land market, in numerous ways, and current high land prices also affect the spatial choices that need to be made.

In this advisory process, Rli looks at how developments on the land market and sustainable choices about the future of rural areas influence each other. Are the choices partly dictated by high land prices — and, if so, does that produce desirable or undesirable outcomes in terms of public goals and interests? What is the impact of the government itself on the land market, in its various roles as landowner, market supervisor and policymaker?

The central question addressed in the advisory report is:

What roles do the land market and the government play in finding coherent solutions for environmental challenges in rural areas?   

The central question includes the following sub-questions: How can the various functions and tasks be more facilitated in rural areas? How can multiple agricultural land uses contribute to environmental goals (nature, water, soil, climate) as well as to the preservation of sufficient agricultural land? And, lastly, what could be the contribution of new perspectives on land-use planning instruments, land ownership, land use and site management and the functioning of the land market?

Schedule

Publication of the advisory report is expected in the autumn of 2025.

Composition of the Council committee 

Krijn Poppe, Chair of the committee and Rli council member
Joks Janssen, Rli council member 
Tim van Dijke, Rli junior council member 
Martha Bakker, external committee member, Professor of Land-use planning, Wageningen University