Assessing quality of rural areas in the Netherlands: finding the most important indicators for recreation

Quality is a major topic in most Western societies, not only for products, but also for land. This is especially true in the Netherlands, a country with 15.6 million people living on 33 900 km2 of land, with a huge demand for land for agriculture, urban development, nature, infrastructure, recreation, etc. The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Fishery has asked the Winand Staring Centre to find out if it is possible to measure the quality of rural areas for recreational purposes. In a survey about quality, it is important to interview the recreationists themselves. So, in-home interviews were made with cyclists, walkers, swimmers, sailors and fishermen. The survey tried to assess the relative importance of some quality indicators of rural areas for recreational purposes. Dutch researchers usually divide quality into utilisation quality and perception quality. Utilisation quality is defined as fitness for use, while perception quality is that quality of the environment which people notice or experience (such as the beauty of the landscape or tranquillity) when they engage in recreational activities. Tranquillity, accessibility, water quality and nuisance value were the most important quality indicators. On the basis of the importance of some quality indicators, maps were prepared showing the attractiveness of various areas in the Netherlands for swimming and cycling, as an example what can be done with the results. It was found that 75% of the swimming locations were quite attractive or even extremely attractive. About 12% of the rural areas were good for cycling, and 56% were reasonable.