A recent study by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau) challenges the widely held belief in a significant divide between urban and rural areas in the Netherlands. The research suggests that inequalities are less pronounced than previously thought.

The author reflects on personal experiences and observations that seem to contradict the study’s findings. These include a recent trip to Drenthe where the author encountered difficulty finding spaghetti in a small village supermarket. This led to a contemplation about the perceived differences between the countryside and urban areas.

The study indicates that poverty can be found in urban areas and prosperity exists in rural regions, blurring the lines of a distinct divide. Researchers point to a “capital strip from Castricum to Zuidoost-Noord-Brabant” as an area of concentrated opportunity and prosperity, while acknowledging inequality within regions themselves is greater than between regions and cities.

The author questions the methodology of the study, suggesting that boundaries defining the divide may have been drawn too narrowly. The author uses the analogy of a painting to emphasize that boundaries are not always strict, and things tend to merge into each other.

The author concludes with an anecdote from a party, where an Amsterdammer asked if the author (from Groningen) and someone from Doetinchem knew each other. This illustrates the author’s feeling that the idea of a strict urban-rural divide is an oversimplification.