Problem districts

The Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment recently designated forty districts in the Netherlands as problem districts. These districts are to be the focus of extra policy efforts to improve living conditions there. The problem districts were selected on the basis of postcode areas (four digits).

There is no direct link between the division into districts and neighbourhoods on the one hand and postcodes on the other. The division into districts and neighbourhoods is drawn up by the municipality on the basis of addresses (postcodes with house numbers). The postcode classification is carried out by the postal services. The municipality concerned has exact information about neighbourhood and district border delineations. Identical postcodes may be located in more than one neighbourhood. But one neighbourhood may equally include different postcodes.
In the present article the best possible match has been sought for the problem districts and the division into districts and neighbourhoods. This is possible for many districts/neighbourhoods, but for a small number the borders of the neighbourhood or district do not coincide completely with the delineation of the problem district or neighbourhood.