Commissioned by the mobility programme SmartwayZ and the province of Noord-Brabant, we developed a methodology that scores accessibility of daily amenities in an objective and comparable way. For 14,515 CBS neighbourhoods across all 343 Dutch municipalities, it is now transparent how far the supermarket, GP and school actually are, and how that distance varies by mode of transport. Until now, a nationwide, uniform measure to analyse these differences was missing. These scores fill that gap and are publicly available for provinces, transport regions, municipalities and other authorities.
Key findings
The scores reveal that 84 per cent of Dutch residents have a supermarket, GP and primary school all within five minutes of their front door. For 2.8 million people, roughly one in six, at least one of these amenities is considerably further away. The pattern stretches from Zeeland and northern Limburg to parts of Drenthe, the Achterhoek and even fringes of the Randstad.
What stands out is the effect of the e-bike on the score landscape. In the neighbourhoods with the lowest scores, switching to an e-bike significantly increases the reachable range. For 211,000 Dutch residents who face a cycling trip of more than fifteen minutes to a supermarket on a regular bike, the e-bike brings that distance back within fifteen minutes.
Accessibility scores per CBS neighbourhood for supermarket, GP and primary school.
“For hundreds of thousands of Dutch residents, the e-bike is not a comfort but a lifeline. And the pattern is under pressure: with every supermarket or GP that closes, the boundary shifts a little further inward.”
Mobiliteitsonderzoeker SmartwayZ, gepromoveerd op e-bike-transitie aan de Universiteit Utrecht
What you can use this for
These scores come into play at the moment governments face major spatial decisions. For the nearly one million homes to be built by 2030, but also in shrinkage discussions, in the distribution of healthcare and retail, and in policies aimed at enabling elderly people to live independently at home for longer. The same question keeps coming back: can the people who will live there actually reach the basic things of their daily lives?
Until now, that question was answered on instinct. Because every neighbourhood is now scored using the same methodology, municipalities can compare their situation objectively and set priorities based on evidence.
Example of an accessibility score at neighbourhood level, showing distances per amenity and mode of transport.
“Accessibility is not a map with lines; it is a question about people. Every spatial decision in the years ahead should be accompanied by the question: can our residents live there without a car? For the first time, we have a shared measure for that.”
Netwerkmanager SmartwayZ
A telling example: in Bergen aan de Maas in northern Limburg, the average cycling time to a supermarket is nearly fourteen minutes. For a 75-year-old on a regular bike, that is no longer a quick trip you fit in between errands. On an e-bike, the same journey comes back down to around eleven minutes. For a municipality that increasingly relies on its residents living independently at home for longer, that is the difference between connection to a basic need or not.
Patterns like these repeat themselves in dozens of places across the country. Because the scores are mutually comparable, a province can see at a glance which villages are most vulnerable and where investment yields the greatest return. Comparable to how our Digitwin approach works: translating complex data into a shared, objective working view.
For elderly people in remote villages, the e-bike makes the difference between independent access to amenities or not.
Available for other authorities
The methodology and scores have been set up as a nationwide resource. Other provinces, transport regions and municipalities can start using them right away. The data is fine-grained (per CBS neighbourhood), covers the entire country and is mutually comparable. Because the theme weights are adjustable, each authority can set its own emphasis on healthcare, education, mobility or employment, without losing comparability.
Want to know what the map means for the decisions in your area?
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