A survey conducted by NH among the NH Panel shows that solutions to other social themes, such as housing shortage and sustainable energy supply, should not be at the expense of land for food production. But in Amsterdam the most money is made with data. Wouldn’t it be obvious to expand this even further?
Agricultural land versus other assignments
There is not enough space in North Holland to give full scope to all the ambitions we have. The number of social challenges is so large that in many locations a choice has to be made as to what gets priority.
Because that choice affects other important matters, it leads to dilemmas. One of these is whether North Holland remains a province that focuses on agriculture or whether land can be zoned for housing, energy supply, water storage or other types of businesses.
The 1,800 respondents to the survey are divided on this. More than 36% of them opt for full or high protection of agricultural land, even if this limits ambitions in other areas. More than 26% want to use that agricultural land differently.
When we include respondents who express a slight preference for one of the options, the percentages creep towards each other. The panel then appears to be divided, with a very slight tendency towards the protection of agricultural land (just over 43% versus over 41%).
Digital services or seed breeding
Now the economy is not guided by a government. Other forces play a role there. But it is important to think about what those future developments could be and to facilitate them where possible.
Two conceivable directions are: focusing on a sector in which we are a global leader, such as the seed breeding sector in West Friesland, or further facilitating the field in which North Holland currently earns the most money: the financial sector and digital services around Amsterdam.
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