Metropolitan Government in Amsterdam and Eindhoven: A Tale of Two Cities

This paper consists of historical case studies of Amsterdam and Eindhoven which provide insight into political decisionmaking over plans for metropolitan government, Amsterdam extended its territory by more than three times in 1921, and Eindhoven by 80 times in 1920. After the 1920s large-scale annexations did not occur around the largest Dutch cities. The annexation of the Bijlmermeer to the southeast of Amsterdam (1966) was an exception. While Amsterdam annexed the Bijlmermeer, intermunicipal cooperation developed in the Eindhoven metropolitan area. It is argued that the political inheritance and the pattern of urbanisation play a major role in explaining the differences between Amsterdam and Eindhoven. Both cities also show similarities. Since the Second World War several plans have been developed for metropolitan governments, but they have not been very successful. Up to 1997, the typical Dutch solution was not metropolitan government but redistribution on a national level. The Netherlands is a small country; both in population and in size it is comparable with metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles or South East England. In an international comparative perspective, one might as well consider the Dutch national state as the real metropolitan government. It remains to be seen whether after a hundred years of discussion the national government will finally decide to establish some form of metropolitan government.