The Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning ( or ''VRO'') is a Dutch

government ministry Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level Executive (government), executive bodies in the Machinery of government, machinery of governments that manage a specific se ...

. It was re-established in 2024 after having been disbanded in 2010. The current minister is

Mona Keijzer Maria Cornelia Gezina "Mona" Keijzer (born 9 October 1968) is a Dutch politician and former civil servant who is the minister of housing and spatial planning in the Schoof cabinet since 2024. A member of the Farmer–Citizen Movement (''BoerBu ...

History

The Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning 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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 Spatial planning mediates between the respective claims on space of the state, market, and community. In so doing, three different mechanisms of involving stakeholders, integrating sectoral policies and promoting development projects mark the th ...

and

land management Land management is the process of managing the land use, use and development of land resources. Those resources are used for a variety of purposes for example agriculture, forestry, water resource management, Human settlement, human settlements an ...

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. The World population, global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to aroun ...

in the

densely populated Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

Netherlands made centralized coordination of

land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...

necessary. The ministry began to publish coordinate the land use policies of

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

and

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

also became an important issue for the ministry. In 1982 the ministry was renamed Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. The environment was previously part of the portfolio of the

Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (; VWS) is the Ministries of the Netherlands, Dutch Ministry responsible for public health, health care, quality of life, social work and sport. The Ministry was created in 1951 as the "Ministry of Socia ...

. With rising environmental consciousness the environment became the most important issue for the ministry. The ministry also bore responsibility for international environmental policy. The

Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency ( - abbr. PBL) is a Dutch research institute that advises the Dutch government on environmental policy and regional planning issues. Operating as an autonomous entity within the Dutch Government organ ...

was part of the ministry starting in 2006. The ministry was merged with the

Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management The Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management ( Dutch: ''Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat''; V&W) was a Dutch ministry responsible for water management, public and private transport and infrastructure. It is now part of the ...

into the new

Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (; I&W) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for transport, aviation, public works, land management and water resource management. The Ministry was created in 2010 as the Ministry of Infrastructur ...

on 14 October 2010. The Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning was re-established on 2 July 2024, when the Schoof cabinet was sworn in. It was spun off from the

Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (; BZK) is the Ministries of the Netherlands, Netherlands' ministry responsible for domestic policy, civil service, public administration, elections, relations with local governments, intelligen ...

. The

coalition agreement A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an e ...

included budget cuts to the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, and it was decided that the new ministry would remain located in an office building shared with the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The ministry's responsibilities mostly coincide with those previously overseen by the Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning, a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

References

{{Authority control Ministries established in 1947 Ministries disestablished in 2010 Defunct environmental agencies 1947 establishments in the Netherlands Ministries established in 2024

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Urban planning in the Netherlands 2024 establishments in the Netherlands

History

See also

References