The Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment ( nl, Ministerie van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke Ordening en Milieu or ''VROM'') was a Dutch

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

. It was responsible for policies on public housing, spatial planning, the environment and the housing of national government agencies. It was merged with the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management into the new Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment on 14 October 2010.

History

The Ministry of VROM was established as the ministry of Reconstruction and Public Housing (Dutch: ''Wederopbouw en Volkshuisvesting'') in 1947, to coordinate the reconstruction of the Netherlands after the Second World War. Its main goal in this period was to build enough housing. In 1958 the ministry was renamed Public Housing and Construction Industry (Dutch: ''Volkshuisvesting en Bouwnijverheid''). In the 1965 the ministry was renamed Public Housing and Spatial Planning (Dutch: ''Volkshuisvesting en Ruimtelijke Ordening''). Spatial planning and land management became more important. The high level of

population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

in the densely populated Netherlands made centralized coordination of land use necessary. The ministry began to publish coordinate the land use policies of provinces and municipalities.

Urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

also became an important issue for the ministry. In 1982 the ministry was renamed Public Housing and Spatial Planning and the Environment. The environment has previously been a part of the portfolio of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. With rising environmental consciousness the environment became the most important issue for the ministry. The ministry also bears responsibility for international environmental policy. Since 2006 the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency is an agency of this ministry.

Ministers

First Lubbers cabinet The First Lubbers cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 4 November 1982 until 14 July 1986. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the conservative-liberal People's Part ...

* Pieter Winsemius, 1982-1986 ( VVD) ** State secretary: Gerrit Brokx ( CDA) Second Lubbers cabinet * Ed Nijpels, 1986-1989 (VVD) **State secretary: Enneüs Heerma (CDA) Third Lubbers cabinet *

Hans Alders Johannes Gerardus Maria "Hans" Alders (born 17 December 1952) is a retired Dutch politician Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. He is the Chairman of the Supervisory board of rail transport company ProRail since 27 June 2014. He is also ch ...

, 1989-1994 ( PvdA) **State secretary: Enneüs Heerma (CDA) First Kok cabinet * Margreeth de Boer, 1994-1998 (PvdA) **State secretary: Dick Tommel ( D66) Second Kok cabinet * Jan Pronk, 1998-2002 (PvdA) **State secretary: Johan Remkes (VVD) First Balkenende cabinet * Henk Kamp, 2002-2003 (VVD) **State secretary:

Pieter van Geel Petrus Leonardus Bastiaan Antonius "Pieter" van Geel (born 8 April 1951) is a retired Dutch politician Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and urban planner. He was State Secretary of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment from 2002 ...

(CDA) Second Balkenende cabinet *

Sybilla Dekker Sybilla Maria Dekker (born 23 March 1942) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businesswoman. She was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 22 June 2018. A member of the People's Pa ...

, 2003-2006 (VVD) **State secretary: Pieter van Geel (CDA) Third Balkenende cabinet *Sybilla Dekker, 2006 (VVD), resigned *Pieter Winsemius, 2006–2007 **State secretary: Pieter van Geel (CDA) Fourth Balkenende cabinet *

Jacqueline Cramer Jacqueline Marian Cramer (born 10 April 1951) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and biologist. Cramer was Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in the Fourth Balkenende cabinet for the PvdA. Previou ...

, 2007-2010 (PvdA) *

Tineke Huizinga Johanna Catharina "Tineke" Huizinga-Heringa (born 16 February 1960) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Union (CU) party. Huizinga grew up in Amersfoort; both of her parents were teachers. After attending gymnasium, she began to study l ...

, 2010 (

ChristenUnie The Christian Union ( nl, ChristenUnie, CU) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more sociall ...

) * Ella Vogelaar, 2007-2008 (PvdA);

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Integration (resigned) * Eberhard van der Laan, 2008-2010 (PvdA);

for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Integration *

Eimert van Middelkoop Eimert van Middelkoop (; born 14 February 1949) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Union (CU) party and teacher. He is the chairman of the Institute for Multiparty Democracy since 20 January 2018. Early life After high school, van ...

, 2010 (ChristenUnie);

for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Integration

External links

Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment
{{Authority control Ministries disestablished in 2010 Netherlands, Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment Defunct environmental agencies 1947 establishments in the Netherlands Ministries disestablished in 2010 Defunct organisations based in the Netherlands