University of Groningen

Faculty of Spacial Sciences

Spatial Problems and Spatial Policy: The Dutch Experience

Groningen: The Mini-Metropolis

Student: Gabriel Nobre de Souza

Student Number: S2808889
Professor: Paul van Steen

Introduction
Urban planning is essential for a comfortable, beautiful and safe environment that provides
people a place to be happy (Sitte, C. 1889). The challenge is to understand it taking in account all
the countless variables involved. Transportation, residences, commerce, government and politics,
economics, urban design, industry, to just name a few of the topics.
Thus, studying spatial planning requires a broad knowledge as well as life experiences.
Through the theory we can learn what is already know through the experience gathered along the
ages - but previous statements are not necessarily correct. With the matching of wisdom from
different sources and the perception of our daily life its possible to refine thoughts and discover
what makes more sense, and then another person can learn this point of view and go further in the
analyses.
To learn about spatial planning we should first look upon previous information regarding this
subject, and a country that is know for its evolved planning skills is The Netherlands. With its
limited amount of space, planning was compulsory, thats the reason for the development of
spacial planning skills along with the water management to take the most of the land available for a
safe and happy life for its citizens (Steen, P., 2014).
As important as the cities themselves is the relation between them and what it creates.
Each city can help the one next to it providing something that the other has lack of. This creates
places that gather more people due to what it has to offer.
With this small reflection starts the seeking for understanding of the relation of Groningen, a
city in The Netherlands, with the others in its surrounding and the argumentation to find out if this
place can be called a mini-metropolis. In order to answer that question, a good definition of what
a metropolis is and how Groningen fits on this concept is required, along with facts that can confirm
this theory.

Metropolis Definition
The word metropolis has its origins in the greek language, with metro" meaning mother
and polis, city (Collins Dictionary, 2011). This was used to designate the city that gave birth to
another one, or in other words, the mother of the colony. Thus, giving an hierarchy to the cities.
Also, we can use the metaphor of the mother" to explain that the metropolis would be a city that
would provide resources, at least until the colony achieved a state where it would not be needed
anymore. This was true for the greek society where cities were built to prevent the older cities to
surpass the amount of people considered efficient for the proper working of the system (Morris, I.
2005), but, for example, in the time of the Great Navigations, the metropolis would be the receiver
and colonies were created to provide resources, so the relation was the opposite (Eli, M. 2014).
This is the perfect example to show how hard is to define a metropolis, even though its
origins are straightforward, the concept changed with the evolution of society, and is gradually
becoming more and more complex (Derek, K. 2011). We can see how this idea of metropolis
changed completely through the time looking of what was showed to us in the movie Metropolis
from 1927 as being large scale futuristic city with tall buildings and impressive structures (fig.1).

Fig. 1 - Futuristic definition of metropolis as seen on the movie Metropolis" (Transpress NZ)

But even with all this distinct definitions we can se some similarities. A metropolis was
always defined as being a city more relevant in its region, showing itself as being in the top of an
hierarchy. Thus, in most cases being a city more evolved, and thats the origin of the movie
concept, but it was showed in an exaggerated way, a mega metropolis. Also, theres always a
certain exchange of resources between the metropolis and its satellite cities, and the resources
can be in the form of workers. And metropolis cities, like its concept, changes through the time,
changing its size, shape, form, functions, etc. (Roy, A. 2009).
Nowadays, geography studies understand that a metropolis consists in a city with jobs that
draw workers (Demographia, 2014) and the metropolitan area includes these satellite cities. A
summary would be that the metropolis is like a magnet for people, and can not only attract from its
surroundings, but can also welcome strangers (Keene, D. 2011). Functions that can attract people
to a certain city include services, industry, health, education, transportation, tourism, leisure, etc.,
and all of these are sources of jobs.
So, to justify that Groningen can be called a certain kind of metropolis, a mini-metropolis,
analyse the core functions of the city and how they attract people is essential. And now that we
already know about the general definition of metropolis, we should understand the minimetropolis concept.

The Mini-Metropolis Concept

Probably one of the first notable appearances of this concept was in the statements of Dr.
Peter Kurz, mayor of Mannheim, a city in Germany which he claims to be a mini-metropolis. He
mentions that the reasons for calling Mannheim in this way is that it offers all the courtesies of a
large city, like shopping facilities, a lot of activities, good transport, multiple cultures present, jobs,
well developed science research, among other things. But, its size is small enough to be properly
managed, a characteristic not usual of large cities (Kurz, P. 2010).
A mini-metropolis could be then defined as an city with all the general characteristics of an
metropolis, but in a smaller scale, enough to be well managed. Now we have all the concepts
required to start the analyses of Groningen to verify if this city fits on these definitions.

Groningen as a Mini-Metropolis
About the City
Groningen is the largest city in the Northern Netherlands with a population of around
196.000 people (Gemeente Groningen, 2014). Is also the heart of the Province of Groningen, with
constitutes of 23 municipalities and has around 579.000 inhabitants, and was so important on the
old times that was usually referred as just city, because it was by far the most important city on the
north area of The Netherlands. The official year of establishment is 1040 and the oldest name was
Cruoninga (Steen, P., 2014). Its mostly know for being a student city and due to that having one of
the youngest population in The Netherlands.

Education
The most powerful tool to attract people into Groningen is the education. With two large
universities, the Hanzehogeschool and the University of Groningen together have more than
54.000 students, and for a population of less than 200.000 people that means that 1/4 of the
population are university students, that doesnt include students of younger ages, so, this shows
how important the education is for this city (Gemeente Groningen, 2014). Higher education
facilities like universities are subject of studies that shows us that they can contribute for the region
economy (Drucker, J., Goldstein H. 2007). This shows that not only the education in Groningen
serves as educational provider but also strengths the region economy with the research and the
students from different parts of the Netherlands and also the world that bring money with them.
This contributes to the idea of Groningen being a provider".

Transportation
Groningen is the Worlds Cycling City. Half of the trips are made by bike. This was thanks to
three factors, the compactness of the city, the flat terrain of The Netherlands and the urban
planning interventions to provide the most bikeable city in the world (StreetFilms, 2013).
Compactness is a common rule in urban planning in The Netherlands, but in Groningen this
was accentuated by the fact that the city was near the borders of the country, and the walls that
were built to serve as fortification in the medieval times made the city centre a very compact area
(fig.2), and after the walls were destroyed, the planners managed to maintain it's compactness,
and thanks to this, nowadays all the city is inside a bikeable distance (Steen, P., 2014). This bike
infrastructure provides support for commuting through bicycles.

Fig. 2 - Groningen map in the medieval times (City of Groningen lecture from Paul van Steen)

The buses provide a easy way to go around the city and are the main public transport
(Groningen Life, 2014), specially in rainy days when riding the bike doesnt seem so attractive.
Theres also buses to go to other cities as well as international bus companies to travel, for
example, to Germany, since the city is close to the borders (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 2014).
The trains are another mode present in Groningen and are a easy way to travel large
distances. The Central Station is know for its large bike sheds that are very often full on weekends
due to people that go for a travel and leave their bikes at the station for a more easy departure and
arrival.
This well developed transport infrastructure not only makes Groningen a more pleasurable
place to live, but also opens the possibility to more people coming from outside the city, specially
commuters.

Commerce, Cultural & Leisure Activities

The city centre is rich of services and stores. The lively Grote Markt and Vismarkt squares
where you can find clothing, food, books, etc. The diverse range of restaurants. And, of course, the
bars that always have students and keep the city alive through the day and the night (Steen, P.,
2014).
The Museum of Groningen and the comic books museum called Stripmuseum (often
misunderstood due to its name) are two of the most notable cultural places to visit. Also, the
historical buildings in the city centre and the churches like Martini Tower are powerful attractors.
The whole city can be used for leisure activities since riding the bicycle is a pleasure, but theres
also many parks like Stadspark and Noorderplantsoen.

These activities work as powerful attractors of people (also from outside the city).
Museums, shopping centres and parks are considered places of primary use that attract people
directly to these places (fig. 3) and due to that we have the secondary uses that grow because of
the first ones to take advantage of these people coming by (Montgomery, J. 1998). These
attractors are another feeder" attribute from the city of Groningen.

Fig. 3 - Groningens Inner City as an powerful people attractor (Groningen Life, 2014)

Health
The University Medical Centrum of Groningen is a hospital complex that through its urban
design simulates a small neighbourhood and provides for its patients a way to keep them in touch
with society, instead of isolating them (Steen, P., 2014). Theres cafes, restaurants and even an
supermarket. This huge hospital is one of the largest in The Netherlands and not only provides
specialised health-care for the Northern Netherlands but also is the largest employer in the region
(UMCG, 2014). This is one of the best examples of the metropolis concept of provider" being
applied in Groningen.

Commuting
All the previous characteristics of the city of Groningen are related with one of the factors
that is the main reason to call Groningen a mini-metropolis and that is, commuting. The
compactness of the city along with the transportation and all the services and activities provided by
the municipality turn the city into a feeder" for the cities around it, the satellite cities, like Harem.
Even though a large part of the population are students and by that you can conclude that not all of
them work, the number of jobs per habitant in Groningen is one of the largest in The Netherlands,
thanks to commuting (fig. 6) (Steen, P., 2014).

Number of jobs per 1,000 residents

1. Haarlemmermeer
2. Utrecht
3. Groningen
4. Zwolle

880
730
730
725

9. Amsterdam
14. Rotterdam

675
545

Netherlands (average)

490

Fig. 4 - Number of Jobs per 1.000 residents in Groningen is justifiable due to commuting (City of Groningen lecture
from Paul van Steen)

Conclusion
After analysing the aspects mentioned as being relevant for a city to be considered a
metropolis and matching it with the mini-metropolis concept its clear that Groningen fits perfectly
in this label. The city is the heart of the Northern Netherlands and provides jobs, healthcare,
education, culture, in an wide range to another cities. Its the most important city on the region and
its size makes it possible to be properly managed, fitting very well on the definition of a minimetropolis achieved after a research on the subject.

Sources
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