The Brainport region has been growing rapidly in recent years. The economy is said to have doubled in 25 years. According to a new Rabobank report, this growth also leads to problems, such as socio-economic inequality.
Because of this strong economic growth in the region, the city of Eindhoven is also growing fast. According to the Rabobank report, this has the effect of increasing inequality in the city in terms of broad prosperity*.
This is also due to the classification of the Brainport region itself. With Eindhoven, there is a large city in the area where living space is under pressure. Matters such as mobility, air quality and infrastructure are also becoming more and more burdensome. Due to growing employment, the housing market has also become extremely tight, which puts housing satisfaction at risk.
City – countryside
These are problems that affect the metropolitan area but are much less prevalent in the suburbs. People who live in Eindhoven are generally less happy with their place of residence than people in the outskirts. But city versus countryside is only one of the axes that cause the great inequality in the region.
Education and employment are also parameters. Young adults, people who are unemployed or who have not had the opportunity to follow further education, for example, are largely dissatisfied with their place of residence. Also in the areas of personal development, health, job security and work-life balance, people without further education are less well off than people with further education.
Sustainable enterprise
There is also better news to come out of the report. For example, Eindhoven is a leader in sustainable business. Companies in Eindhoven are generally better prepared for the new economy. Especially in the areas of ‘real prices’, ‘transparent chains’, ‘green energy’, and ‘biodiversity’, companies in Eindhoven score reasonably well, namely 6.1 on a scale of 10. The rest of the Netherlands scores an average of 5.6.
This is mainly due to a small number of companies scoring very high on the points mentioned. Other companies are still lagging behind, but according to Rabobank, they need help from the frontrunners to prepare for the new economy.
Homework
Finally, there is other homework for the region. Especially in the field of human capital, the region can make progress. There are relatively few people who work on their personal development, as Rabobank sees it. It is also the only element of economic growth in which the region does not stand out from the Dutch average.
* What is broad prosperity?
At first, prosperity was measured mainly by the degree of economic growth in relation to the population. This measure is problematic because growth does not always say something about the extent to which people enjoy life. Moreover, the fruits of economic growth are not always well distributed. That is why broad prosperity is often taken as a new criterion. In this way, issues such as health, housing enjoyment, safety, social contacts and happiness are also included in measuring prosperity.
Find here the report in Dutch
Source: Studio040
