Presentation of the OECD Metropolitan Review of Rotterdam-the Hague launch in the Netherlands on 1 February 2016. www.oecd.org/regional/regional-policy/

1. OECD Metropolitan Review of
Rotterdam-The Hague (MRDH)
Key findings
Mr. Rolf Alter
Director, Public Governance and Territorial Development
Review Launch - The Hague, 1 February 2016

2. The Netherlands could be getting
more out of its largest cities
Labour productivity of select European FUAs
Sorted by population size (2010)
Labourproductivity
GDPperworker(USDPPP2005)

3. The MRDH faces pressing challenges
Unemployment rate (2014)
Unemploymentrate(2014)

4. • Past policies (housing, spatial planning)
targeted growth centres outside major
cities
• Polycentric spatial structure: a drag on
productivity in small countries?
Why aren’t Dutch cities doing better?

5. 2011
The MRDH is a metropolitan area
in the making: 1) Commuting flows
Commuting trends in the MRDH: 2001, 2011, 2020
2001
The Hague
Rotterdam
2020
?

6. • Limited business interactions between
different parts of the MRDH
– Links between firms: only 9% of the core
of Rotterdam’s business interactions are with
firms in The Hague
The MRDH is a metropolitan area
in the making: 2) Economic interactions

7. • Reduce administrative fragmentation:
– Council of MRDH
– 23 municipalities
• Facilitate decision-making and service
provision at the right scale
– Transport, economic development; spatial planning, housing
• “Look big”
– From twice ~600,000 to 2.2 million
The MRDH is a metropolitan area
in the making: 3) Better governance pays

8. Governance of the MRDH in comparison
Financing
Policy fields of
competency
Staffing &
budget
Organisational
model
Hybrid: top-down &
bottom-up
Unique
Transport & economic
development
Common (70% and 80%), but:
plus spatial planning (>60%)
95 staff (80/15)
~ EUR 475M/5.5M
Larger budgets, but this
reflects broader functions
Non-elected
metropolitan authority
Barcelona, Montreal,
Vancouver (unlike London, Portland)
Geographic
coverage & size
23 municipalities,
2.2 million inhabitants
Amsterdam, Portland,
Vancouver
MRDH Other OECD metro bodies

9. • Build on (underestimated?) regional assets
• Focus inward, while looking outward
• Mobilise citizens and private sector
• Align policies for transport and economic
development with housing, spatial planning
• Be bold, but be patient
Making the most of the MRDH

10. Challenge:
• Constrained labour mobility. One reason is
the allocation of social housing and a limited
private rental sector.
Recommendations:
• Merge the waiting lists for social housing in
the MRDH
• Facilitate development of private rental
market
Making the most of the MRDH:
Policy focus - housing

11. The MRDH: Part of the Dutch National
Urban Agenda
• Strengthening the entire
urban network
• Fostering adaptability and
resilience
• Enabling customisation and
experimentation
• Facilitating multi-level
collaboration on shared
ambitions
Four strategic principles of the NUA
• Korea’s Fourth
Comprehensive
National Land Plan
toward more
balanced regional
development
• Japan’s National
Spatial Strategy aims
to help cities and
regions adapt to
demographic decline
• Australia’s aim to
increase resilience to
climate change &
natural disasters in its
National Urban
Policy
• The UK’s City Deals
• France’s
differentiated
approaches to
governing metro areas
• Mexico’s focus on
improving
institutional
relationships in its
National Housing
Programme

12. Thank you