Adjiedj Bakas: Countryside & Future

Visionary, Writer / Author

1 hour

NL, EN

Innovation,
Energy transition,
Sustainable Building

Inspire,
Inform

Is there still a future for the countryside? And what will it look like? As the Netherlands becomes more and more urbanised, we are driving the countryside further and further away. Do you want to know everything about the future of the countryside book than the speaker Adjiedj Bakas on Showbird!

Regions are increasingly profiling themselves on the basis of their own specific strengths. Regions tend to like to connect with other regions, but nations cherish their sovereignty and seclusion. But they only have a future if they handle the bottom-up dynamics of the new world well. Many urban regions are already heavyweights within national economies - think of brainport Eindhoven, port of Rotterdam or creative capital Amsterdam.

Cities are hubs of economic activity and because economics is leading in this world, city regions are increasingly determining our course, also from a national perspective. Cities are innovating and making progress, even though rural regions are catching up as their citizens are increasingly connected to the rest of the world via broadband connections. As a starting entrepreneur, you can now hire as much computer memory and computing capacity in the cloud as you like from a barn with a broadband connection, so to speak, and do what only large companies were able to do a few years ago. Think big data analysis. So you no longer have to live in a big city or work for a large company to get started.

Moreover, there is a lot of economic activity in rural areas. Think of agriculture and horticulture, a sector that accounts for about 10 percent of the Dutch economy, or energy generation or tourism. Local governments are gaining more and more power at the expense of national governments. Since 2015, important government tasks within the social domain have already been transferred to the municipalities. This decentralisation has taken place because municipalities are closer to the citizen and can carry out the tasks more effectively, with less bureaucracy and therefore cheaper. The municipality is therefore the first government.

In the future, more tasks of the central government will be decentralised. Certainly if government income decreases by 30 to 50 percent over the next ten years, as expected. The ideal is actually the Swiss democratic system, with much more direct influence from citizens and local communities who more or less govern themselves, of course within the frameworks of national legislation. This ideal fits in with the bottom-up character of our time, in which citizens are increasingly making their own decisions and doing business. No less than 86 percent of our country is not built on and belongs to the countryside. The cost of living is much lower than in the big city, which is an important fact in these times of saving money. The costs of business premises are also much lower in rural areas. In the big city they are often barely affordable for starting entrepreneurs, while in the countryside a lot of space is freed up - think of barns that become vacant.

Many rural regions are reinventing themselves. With food & agri as their driving force, because: poor in the barn, poor everywhere. In a country like Spain, with its high youth unemployment, the migration to the countryside is already a real trend, which is called rurbanisation. This kind of rurbanisation can now also be seen in our country, for example in the province of Zeeland. Small is the new big. And demography is crucial: peace and space become more valuable in an overpopulated world. In terms of online power, rural towns are apparently becoming very attractive business locations for entrepreneurs: E-towns. The countryside will also be increasingly divided into economic specialisms via zoning plans. Some areas will remain agriculture-oriented, but others will become tourist destinations or energy destinations. Municipalities will have to make clear choices. The administrative power must be increased. So we do not necessarily need larger municipalities, but more powerful regions. With the right investments and administrators with guts, the countryside will become a reality.

Duration and price:
- 1 hour
- €3995,- (excl. VAT)

Price & time are indicative! If you are interested, please feel free to apply via ShowBird!

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