Abstract

Many urban residential areas in the Netherlands experience environmental problems. Particularly within the major cities, extensive environmental damage is caused by noise and air pollution from roadway traffic. This was concluded from an inventory carried out by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). This report presents an overview of urban problem areas.
By order of the Ministry of Housing and Spatiol Planning, the RIVM made an inventory of environmental problems in urban regions in the Netherlands due to air pollution, noise, potential soil pollution and external safety risks. Environmental problems (exposure or exposure risks) were related to the presence of dwellings in each postal area where critical limit values are exceeded.
From the inventory, it appears that the critical exposure values are exceeded at many dwellings. Exceedences are often caused by air pollution (particulate matter and nitrogen oxide) and noise from road- and railway traffic. Many of these dwellings can be found in major cities with ringways (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht ) and also in the Province of Noord-Brabant.
Inventories are presented in a set of color coded maps, showing the type of environmental damage occurring and indicating the number of dwellings critically exposed in each postal area. The maps give policy makers and urban planners an overall picture of the residential areas demanding attention from an environmental point of view.