Battling Urban Deprivation: ICT Strategies in The Netherlands and Europe

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Battling Urban Deprivation: Ict

Strategies in the Netherlands and
Europe
Paul Drewe , Anna Maria Fernandez-Maldonado & Edward
Hulsbergen
Published online: 04 Aug 2010.
To cite this article: Paul Drewe , Anna Maria Fernandez-Maldonado & Edward Hulsbergen (2003)
Battling Urban Deprivation: Ict Strategies in the Netherlands and Europe, Journal of Urban
Technology, 10:1, 23-37, DOI: 10.1080/1063073032000086317
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Battling Urban Deprivation: ICT Strategies in the Netherlands and Europe 23
Battling Urban Deprivation:

ICT Strategies in the Netherlands
and Europe
Downloaded by [Bibliotheek TU Delft] at 09:07 10 February 2015
Paul Drewe, Ana Maria Fernandez-Maldonado,

and Edward Hulsbergen
A S with most technologies, information and communica-

tions technologies (ICT) have made their way first to
economically advantaged people who live in the cities of
the most economically advantaged regions and nations. Despite the
rapid diffusion of these technologies, especially the Internet, the
promise of their “trickling-down” to all corners of society remains
mostly unfulfilled. No nation can claim that all of its citizens have full
connectivity. That is why most countries, including the most con-
nected, have launched nationwide strategies to tackle the differences
in connectivity.
Indeed, universal access to ICT, meaning that ICT is accessible
to all people in all places, is considered one of the myths about these
Graham new technologies. A similar myth prevails with regard to the Internet
in particular. The World Wide Web is supposed to be a global and open
technology which allows all nations and societies equal access to the
continuously expanding realm of cyberspace and provides them with
information, commercial opportunities, and business relationships to
Gorman finally “usher in a new age of democracy, a socio-political utopia.”
Whether all people in all places have equal access to ICT,
however, remains an empirical question. Solid empirical research still
can help debunk myths. However, learning the extent of exclusion is
not a mere academic exercise because if research details an exclusion,
Journal of Urban Technology, Volume 10, Number 1, pages 23-37.
Copyright © 2003 by The Society of Urban Technology.
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
ISSN: 1063-0732 paper/ISSN: 1466-1853 online
DOI: 10.1080/1063073032000086317
24 Journal of Urban Technology/April 2003
that can lead to and support calls for action. Universal access or
universal service, instead of being a myth, can be a meaningful goal
for action even if the only thing one can strive for is to make the least
well-off as well-off as possible.
Consequently, this article deals with both the empirical diagno-
sis of the problem and ways of tackling it. In doing so, it focuses on
the Netherlands in particular and Europe (i.e., the European Union)
in general. First we deal with ICT and urban deprivation in the
Netherlands, where an official report denied the existence of a digital
divide. However, a critical evaluation of the report shows major flaws Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek
that point to the need of a better problem definition. The digital divide
and ways of tackling it, on the other hand, are clearly present on the
European agenda. In fact, there are various EU initiatives that are
relevant to our topic, in particular the URBAN II initiative. Our

conclusion provides an evaluation of both the Dutch and European
experiences. There are lessons to be learned.
ICT and Urban Deprivation in the Netherlands
There is a generally optimistic view about the diffusion of information

and communications technologies (ICT) in the Netherlands. In this
small, affluent, and densely populated country without important
geographical barriers, network availability is hardly an issue. The
rapid growth of new technologies such as mobile telephony and the
Internet is evident in everyday life. But taking a closer look at this topic
is not an easy task, as reliable statistics of Internet penetration in the
Netherlands are not easy to find. Unlike other countries, there is no
public or private institution that keeps track of the access to the
Internet and developments in different groups of society.
According to NIPO, a well-known market research institute, the
Netherlands, along with the Scandinavian countries, Canada, and the
United States, is among the world’s leaders in Internet use. NIPO
states that 61 percent of the Dutch population of 16 years or more use
the Internet at least once a month, which means an increase of 9
percent in comparison with the use of the Internet in 2001. (See Figure
1.) By far, most of the population uses the Internet at home. (See
Figure 2.)
The Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS), the institution in
charge of the statistics of the country, recently published a report, The
Digital Economy 2002. The general findings of this report point out
that the use of ICT in the Netherlands in businesses and households
is high in comparison to surrounding countries. According to the
FIGURE 1
Increase in Internet Penetration in the Netherlands 2000-2002
100%
80%
60%
Non-Internet User
Internet User
40%
61
46 52
20%
0%
2000 2001 2002
Source: NIPO
report, 74 percent of the population had a computer at home, and 57

percent had an Internet connection at home in 2001. Figure 3 shows
the trends concerning PC possession growing slowly, Internet con-
nection growing much faster, and e-commerce use rising quickly
from January 1998 to January 2001.
FIGURE 2
Internet Use by Place of Use in 2002
M obile
E lsewhere
S chool/university
A t work
A t hom e
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Source: NIPO
These figures and trends could give rise to the belief that the
whole society is benefiting from the passage to the digital era. But the
report also gives us reasons to pay closer attention to the topic: the use
of the Internet in education in the Netherlands is much lower than in
FIGURE 3
Trends in PC Possession, Internet Connections, and E-Commerce
PC Possession
Internet Connections
E-Commerce Use
Source: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek
surrounding countries. Besides, the cost of Internet use is relatively

high, and the price of connecting is decreasing slower than in other
countries. The CBS executed a multivariate analysis to explain the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek
main factors of Internet connection. The results were not surprising:

the level of education of the head of the household and the level of
income of the household were the main factors that explain
Internet connection.
A Digital Divide in the Netherlands?

A report on ICT and social inequality, “The Digitalization of Daily
Life,” was promulgated by the Social and Cultural Planning Office Van Dijk et al.
(SCP), a public institution that “provides information relating to long-

term and medium-term developments,” and the Department of
Sociology of the University of Utrecht. Its results confirm the rosy
view on ICT diffusion. It asserts that access to ICT is neither an
important problem now, nor will it be in the future. The digitalization
of daily life will continue as a normal social process. A new vision on
the relationship between social processes and technological trends is
not necessary. Existing policies and approaches are sufficient. Van Dijk et al.
These are remarkable assertions as they oppose a great number

of experiences and expectations. After examining and evaluating the
problem statement, framework, data sources, and conclusions of the
research, we concluded the following:
The Problem Statement Is Inadequate

The report states that it deals with the diffusion of ICT in households
with respect to “social inequality,” by offering a description and
explanation of differences in possession and use of ICT between
different population groups. It defines (and operationalizes) “techno-
logical changes” in terms of:
• the availability in the house or by the person of a diversity of

technological means, as television and video-recorder, PC,
Internet connection, electronic means of payments, etc.
• variables in terms of possibilities of equipment, speed of diffu-
sion, price and costs, accessibility, etc.
“Households” and “social inequality” are defined (and operationalized)

in terms of:
• demographic characteristics like age, sex, number of household

members, income, material resources, employed or unem-
ployed, formal education
• use of ICT applications, skills, social environment, etc.
The operationalization of the main variables—“technological

changes,” “households,” and “social inequality”—was based on a
number of available data in existing databases that relied on random
samples of the Dutch population. As such, a secondary analysis of the
existing data could prove useful. But our analyses suggest that these
data have not been thoroughly evaluated with respect to the kind of
problem at hand. For example, regarding the identification of groups
of households that are at a disadvantaged position in the use of ICT,
the report states, “It has become clear that certain groups [which] crop
up time and again when it comes to non-possession and non-use of the
Van Dijk et al. facilities described…[are] falling behind in the information society”
(215). However, what is the validity of this “cropping up?” It refers
to the tables with mainly straight counts, where certain characteristics
“time and again” have poor marks. A critical evaluation of the “time
and again” in the form of a systematic data-reduction process is
lacking. The typology of the “falling behind” households seems to be
the result of a selection, on face value, from the characteristics in store.
We concluded that the problem statement is more an "unproblematic"
mix than a systematic and well-reasoned choice, and as such, it
becomes inadequate to deal with the issue.
The Framework Is Obscure

A basic requirement for a framework in complex research subjects is
to have a variety of components. This is essential to get insight into the
way the complexity needs to be described, or to be able to reduce the
complexity into a simpler framework. The framework could include
social, economic, cultural (including “minority”), physical, spatial,
ecological, managerial, or administrative components as main vari-
ables. Or it could make combinations such as physical-spatial,
socioeconomic-cultural, or managerial-administrative components
into the main variables. Or the components could be described in
terms of deprivation (living environment), vulnerability (dependen-
cies), socioeconomic position, phase in the life cycle, origin, etc. All
the chosen main variables must be used to process the data and to
guide the data-reduction process. Only then is a simplified relation-

ship warranted. In the SCP report, the framework that links problem
statement, assumptions, and data is not clear, making it impossible to
reconstruct a consequent network of assumptions and components.
The Data Are Too Limited

The SCP used data from the “Time-Budget Survey,” conducted every
five years since 1975 (from 1,309 to 3,415 respondents), and the “Use
of New Communications Resources Survey” (2,538 respondents),
carried out specifically for this study in the autumn of 1998. But the
range of generalization from these data is very limited, as:
• The number of respondents in all surveys is the product of the

actual response of larger samples, most of them with a response
below 50 percent.
• The number of responses is low, compared to the relevant

population groups that have to be distinguished concerning the
problem. The researchers acknowledge this fact: “…there were
insufficient data of persons from minority groups to study
differences in ICT possession and use….it is also plausible that
people of foreign origin belong to groups with deprivation” (129). Van Dijk et al.
Apparently, the ICT deprivation of people of foreign origin has

not been considered a problem that needs specific attention. “Minor-
ity” is absent as a variable, as well as the “physical-spatial” aspect, as
it is observed in the lack of differentiation on various “spatial scale”
levels. The data used are too limited for the generalizations the
researchers claim.
The Conclusions Are Ideological

The main conclusions of the report are:
• ICT-developments are irrelevant to the societal inequalities in

the Netherlands.
• Extra investments in ICT education might be “a form of millen-
nium fever” and are debatable.
• It is likely that “trickling-down” processes and market forces
will be sufficient and efficient for the digitalization of society.
These are strong statements, which may be attractive because

they are reassuring. But there are several reasons for doubting that
these comfortable (for policy) statements are based on the re-
search findings:
• The validity of the identification of the groups that are not

benefiting equally from the spread of ICT innovations raises
serious concerns, as the sources used are limited to the identi-
fication of problem groups in general.
• The point of departure for the analysis should have included at least
social, spatial, cultural, and economic aspects for identification.
• The report lacks the opportunity for a critical debate.
• The bibliography is very limited with respect to the interna-
tional literature.
De Haan and Huysmans The SCP recently published an ICT follow-up report. Its main
purpose seems to be to soften the ICT debate: “On the basis of a
number of indicators, this survey reveals that human thinking and
behavior are changing only very gradually as a result of ICT.…This
is not a process that can be described as a revolution. At best, we may
De Haan and Huysmans speak of a cultural e-volution” (155).
As in the previous report, this one pays no attention to the
missing indicators discussed earlier. The “trickle-down” expecta-
tions are also expressed in the new report, along with the use of
simplistic categories: “the higher status groups” versus “the lower
status groups;” “the low participation in the dissemination of ICT” by
“mainly (single) women, 65-plussers, people with low (secondary)
De Haan and Huysmans education and the unemployed ” (44).
Inequality as such is not a problem if it refers to societal diversity.
However, social inequality that prolongs deprivation and vulnerabil-
ity must be considered a problem. The relationship between inequal-
ity, deprivation, and vulnerability needs critical research with appro-
priate scientific foundation. The SCP studies avoid the actual

identification of problem groups and seem to be ideologically biased
by the “ideology of information technology.” However, a more Birdsall
careful and detailed look to identify vulnerable groups in combina-
tion with deprived areas, as is done in other countries with high ICT
diffusion like Great Britain, Germany, Canada, and the United
States may provide a different picture.
The Current Dutch ICT Approach Against Urban Deprivation

The Dutch cabinet published a report in July 1999 entitled, “The
Digital Delta.” The purpose of that report was to outline the actions
necessary to position the country as one of the top in the ICT field. The
actions concerned five areas: telecommunications policy, knowl-
edge and innovation, access and skills, regulation, and ICT in the
public sector. Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken
Inside the access and skills area, there were no explicit actions
or overall programs for universal access, but only small-scale projects
addressed to different sectors. From the whole ICT policy package,
the only project that deals with urban deprivation is the Digitale
Trapvelden (Digital Playgrounds) project, an initiative of Roger van
Boxtel, the former minister of Large Cities Policy and Integration.
Coincidentally, he was, at the time, responsible for e-government
issues and urban deprivation issues.
This project is an addition to the Large-Cities Policy
(Grotestedenbeleid, GSB), a large multi-year development program
of the Dutch government. This is an integrated approach to urban
deprivation in a larger sense, focusing on the urban economy, employ-
ment, and the physical and the social infrastructure. In the recent past,
Centraal Bureau voor de
720 million euros were spent on the 25 GSB cities. Statistiek
Van Boxtel launched the digital initiative against urban depriva-
tion in April 2000. The metaphor used to denote the policy intention
is the digitaal trapveld (digital playground). The trapveld is a low-
threshold computer club that targets not only local youth but all
residents. They consist of Internet and computer centers implemented
in neighborhoods. Their main objectives are:
• to foster general ICT skills in order to fight the digital divide

• to improve the position of residents in the labor market, as a
result of improved ICT skills
• to strengthen social cohesion and build a sense of community in
problem neighborhoods.
There were 234 trapvelden in November 2002 in the 25 cities

that comprise GSB, plus five “partial” GSB cities. One hundred
eleven of these trapvelden are co-financed by the Ministry of Internal

Digitale Trapvelden Affairs. The cities carry out the projects, giving their own approaches
Groeneveld et al. to the local digitale trapvelden. A first evaluation of the trapvelden
shows that two main approaches have been implemented: (a) the
satellite model, which has a central larger trapveld and many other
different ones around it, trying to serve different target groups, and (b)
the prototype model that tries to establish trapvelden in nice locations,
Groeneveld et al. with the goal of serving as examples for other new trapvelden.
The target groups for the trapvelden vary from city to city. Some
cities have opted for access for all residents of a neighborhood. Other
cities choose, based on an analysis of the neighborhood, a specific
target group. Most trapvelden are linked with existing organizations
such as libraries, schools, or neighborhood centers. Most cities have
found external partners, with different levels of success. These are

companies that sponsor them (Microsoft, Ordina, and Schiphol),
welfare associations, or expert organizations such as Senior Web.
The main users are obviously the youth. Almost all trapvelden
have a large demand, and some work with waiting lists. Many local
initiatives have emerged from the digitale trapvelden: a local online
newspaper (www.digidak.nl), e-mail addresses for homeless people,
follow-up education for former trapveld students, etc. There is also
a network of Digitale Trapvelden that organizes meetings and study
visits, makes dossiers about important topics, and gathers best
practice examples. It maintains a Web site (www.trapveld.nl) with
publications about the experience.
Two partners finance the projects: the involved cities and the
Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs. The global budget of the trapvelden
in 2002 amounted to 60 million euros. In 2001, the most motivated
cities, Rotterdam, Emmen, and Maastricht, received an extra finan-
cial contribution from the Ministry. However, the “stimulation”
subsidy of the Ministry was for three years and stops in 2003,
threatening the continuation of the project.
The European Agenda

European Commission,
Employment and Social Affairs The European Commission has many ICT-related initiatives in a
program it calls the Knowledge Society Initiative. One of the elements
of the initiative was the eEurope Initiative, launched in December
1999, with the goal of including everyone in the “Information Soci-
European Commission, eEurope
Action Plan 2002 ety.” For this, ten domains were identified. The eEurope Action Plan
2002 re-examined and re-elaborated the domains concentrating the
action lines to ensure efficiency. The three key objectives became:
• to create cheaper, faster, and more secure Internet access

• to invest in helping people acquire ICT skills
• to stimulate Internet use for public, private, and commercial purposes.
One of the priorities of the second objective was to secure the full
participation of all in the knowledge-based economy, to remove the
“digital divide.” According to the Commission, “The ‘digital divide’
relates to the specificities of technologies as much as to skills and the
affordability of access to networks. Current usage rates for networked
personal computers show the largest differences—with major differ-
ences between the north and south of Europe, between sexes, be-
tween age groups, and income groups” (2). Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken
For each priority, the 2002 eEurope Action Plan set a series of
concrete actions and appointed the actors to carry them out. One of the
methods used to achieve the objectives was the coordination and
comparative evaluation of the performances of the different member
countries. Table 1 presents an overview of steps EU countries took to
achieve the goal of universal access. One can note that the Nether-
lands has not initiated any programs.
Because the eEurope Action Plan 2002 proved to be a success-
ful initiative, the Commission decided to provide a follow-up, eEurope
2005, designed to run from 2003 to 2005. The objective of this new
action plan is to stimulate secure services, applications, and content
based on a widely available broadband infrastructure. European Commission eEurope
Action Plan 2005
A comprehensive analysis of the Action Plan is outside the scope
of this article, but there are several relevant assumptions and initia-
tives that should be highlighted:
• the Commission’s assumption that EU policies must have an

urban perspective
• the principle of universal service (already embraced by the French) DATAR
• using the potential of ICT to promote job growth European Commission 1998
• embracing the “Stockholm Challenge,” formerly the Global
Bangemann Challenge, a European competition that has turned
global. This competition awards prizes to urban projects in
areas such as e-government, culture, health, education, e-
business, and the environment.
By far the most important EU initiative is the URBAN Commu-

nity Initiative. In this initiative, the European Union advocates an European Commission Urban
integrated approach to tackling the high concentration of social, Community...
environmental, and economic problems increasingly present in urban

agglomerations. The approach includes a package of projects that
TABLE 1
Actions To Be Taken to Comply With the
“Knowledge Society Initiative’s” Action Plan
B elg iu m In clu d e d in the e -g o v co n ce p t
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p ro g ram o f th e F e d e ra l C ha n c ello r fo r th e in te gratio n into th e In fo rm atio n S o ciety sin c e S ep te m b er 2 0 0 0 ;
T he In fo rm a tion S o cie ty F o ru m o f th e F ed e ral g o ve rn m e n t fo r th e in teg ra tio n o f u n d errep re se n te d g ro u p s
in to th e In te rn et (e.g ., w o m en an d th e e ld e rly)
D en m ark T h ere is stro n g p o litica l s up p o rt fo r th e id ea th a t a v aila b ility sh o u ld b e a llo w e d fo r all in n e w IT p o lic y
in itia tiv es, a n d th a t th is sh o u ld b e fo llo w e d u p o n a c u rre nt b as is v ia in itia tiv e s to cre ate a w a ren e ss a s w ell
a s c o n cre te in itia tive s. S e e h ttp ://w w w .d eto ffen tlig e .d k a n d h ttp ://w w w .serv ic e-o g-v e lfa erd .d k
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p ra ctice m e th o d s, assistin g th e e xc h a n g e o f e x p e rie n ce s, p ro v id ing trainin g to o ls, c o m m a nd in g a n d
su p e rv isin g b e n ch m a rkin g stu d ie s, a n d fo re ca sting skill n e ed s a n d sk ill g ap s fo r in fo rm a tio n so ciety
a p p lic atio n s.
Sp ain C o nd u cte d u nd er E S D IS w o rk s
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th e resu lts b y e sta b lish ing a h u n d red p la ce s o f p u b lic ac ce ss, th e E sp a c es C u ltu re M u ltim é d ia (E C M ),
w h o se n u m b er w ill b e in c rea se d to 2 2 0 . T h e p ro je c t is n o w un d er ev a lu atio n a n d w ill p ro m o te lin ks w ith
o th er n etw o rk s o f p u b lic ac c ess to n ew tec h n o lo g ie s.
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c la ssro o m to tra v el a ro u n d Irela nd to p ro vid e b a sic e -m a il a n d In tern et tra in ing to lo c a l g ro u p s.
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c o sts o f In te rn et tra ffic a n d o ffe rin g sy ste m s fo r c ap p in g suc h c o sts.
O th er pro g ra m s to p ro m o te a m inim u m fre e -a cc ess to th e In tern e t inc lud e: T h e S ch o o l In te rnet P ro gram ,
p ro g ram s fo r th e crea tio n o f p u b lic In tern e t a c ce ss p o ints (N e tp o st, A v eiro - C id a d e D ig ita l) an d the D ig ita l
P o rtu g a l p ro g ram .
F inla n d A ctio n s a re u nd e r p re p ara tio n .
S w ed en M e as ure s in c lu d e th e in v estm en t in in fra stru c ture p ro p o sed in the IT B ill a nd th e ch an g e in the la w
re ga rd in g ta x a tio n of p riv ate p e rso n s´ u se o f h o m e c o m p u te rs p ro v id e d b y th e em p lo ye r. A stu d y h a s b e en
c o m m issio n e d to p ro p o se ho w ex p erim en ta l w o rk re g ard in g the a c ce ss o f p e o p le w ith d isa b ilitie s to
p ro d u c ts an d serv ic e s req u irin g a h igh tra n sm issio n ca p a c ity c an b e d e sig n e d . T h e re is also a fiv e-ye ar
p ro g ram d irec te d at d isab le d a n d eld e rly p eo p le . G o v ern m e n t a u th orities w ill en sure th a t th e ir a ctiv itie s an d
d ata a re a cc essib le to p e o p le w ith d isab ilitie s, in clu d in g W e b sites a n d o th er u se s o f IT .
U n ited P ro vid in g lo w -c o s t re c ycle d c o m p ute rs fo r 1 0 0,0 0 0 lo w -in c o m e fam ilie s b y settin g u p sch e m e s to im p ro ve
K in g d om a cc ess in clu d ing C o m p u te rs W ith in R e a c h a n d W ir ed U p C o m m u n itie s
combines the rehabilitation of obsolete infrastructure with eco-

nomic and labor market actions. These are complemented by mea-
sures to combat the social exclusion inherent in rundown neighbor-
hoods and measures to improve the quality of the environment.
The rationale of the URBAN approach is spelled out as follows:
“Poor living conditions aggravate individual problems and distress. In
turn, social malaise and the lack of economic opportunity make the
individual hostile to his/her environment. This vicious circle is today
the cause of growing conflicts and imbalances, particularly evident in
the areas where the problems are most acute.” European Commission Urban
The novelty of the approach proposed by the URBAN Commu- Community...
nity Initiative is that it tries to break this vicious circle by “re-valorizing

the individual through his/her habitat and not in spite of it.” Further,
“the clear targeting of a well-defined area is the most efficient means

of tackling urban deprivation. This spatially focused approach maxi-
mizes the impact of the interventions and reinforces the mutual
benefits of the projects. The overall effects of each program thus
become more visible.” European Commission Urban
Community...
Other important ingredients of the URBAN initiative are:
• the integrated approach that takes account of all dimensions of
urban life
• the participation of those citizens affected by the interventions in
the development and implementation of programs
• the integration of each target neighborhood into the rest of the
city instead of treating each as an isolated unit.
Unlike the first edition, the list of eligible measures in URBAN
II includes the development of ICT potential to improve the provision
of services of public interest for small enterprises and citizens. (See
Figure 4.) It is hoped that this will contribute to social inclusion, European Commission, Guidelines...
FIGURE 4
List of Urban II Measures
• mixed use and environmentally friendly Brownfield redevelopment
• entrepreneurship and employment pacts
• integration of excluded persons and affordable access to
basic services
• integrated public transport and communications
• waste minimizing and treatment; efficient water management
and noise reduction; reduction in consumption of hydrocar-
bon energies
• development of the potential of information society technologies
• improvements in government
economic innovation and regeneration, integrated environmental

policies and management, management of human resources and
employability, and efficient management of services such as health
care, education, and training.
Evaluation
The European Commission’s evaluation of its URBAN initiatives has

shown that in addressing the problems of the urban disadvantaged, the
best approach is one that uses an “integrated approach, whereby
social, environmental, and economic measures are combined in a
limited area to form a coherent response to multifaceted problems”
European Commission 2002 (5). Information and communications technologies are not seen as
being central to these efforts. Indeed, overall, only 4 percent of the
funds available from this initiative have been allocated for ICT. Some
cities, however, planned to spend considerably more—26 percent for
Brussels and 30 percent for Milan. Dutch cities such as Rotterdam,
Amsterdam, and Heerlin have all planned to spend more than double
the average percentage of their URBAN initiative allocations on ICT.
So in the case of the Netherlands, a striking contradiction is
Van Dijk et al. apparent: on one hand, an official report suggests that not having
access to ICT is not a problem and no steps need to be taken to comply
with the EU’s Action Plan. (See Table 1.) Yet, on the other hand, three
Dutch cities find it necessary to address the problem of the “digital
divide” in their cities in a way that is consistent with the European
Initiative. It is obvious, then—given our analysis of its reports and the
actions of its cities—that the Netherlands should embrace the Euro-
pean approach to the “digital divide.”
Finally while it is true that the “digital divide” can be seen as
“both a threat to social cohesion in Europe and a threat to
underperformance in economic growth, job creation, and the full
Johnston realization of everyone’s creative potential” (2)—this can be said
about other kinds of urban deprivation as well. Therefore, the best
approach to addressing the problems of the disadvantaged of Europe’s
cities is one featuring an integration of services and assistance that
includes, but is not limited to, the provision of ICT, for there is no way
that all inequalities will be eliminated through a technological fix.
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Battling Urban Deprivation: ICT Strategies in The Netherlands and Europe

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On: 10 February 2015, At: 09:07

Journal of Urban Technology

Battling Urban Deprivation: Ict

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1063073032000086317

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Battling Urban Deprivation:

Paul Drewe, Ana Maria Fernandez-Maldonado,

A S with most technologies, information and communica-

relevant to our topic, in particular the URBAN II initiative. Our

ICT and Urban Deprivation in the Netherlands

There is a generally optimistic view about the diffusion of information

report, 74 percent of the population had a computer at home, and 57

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Source: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek

surrounding countries. Besides, the cost of Internet use is relatively

main factors of Internet connection. The results were not surprising:

A Digital Divide in the Netherlands?

(SCP), a public institution that “provides information relating to long-

These are remarkable assertions as they oppose a great number

The Problem Statement Is Inadequate

• the availability in the house or by the person of a diversity of

“Households” and “social inequality” are defined (and operationalized)

• demographic characteristics like age, sex, number of household

The operationalization of the main variables—“technological

The Framework Is Obscure

guide the data-reduction process. Only then is a simplified relation-

The Data Are Too Limited

• The number of respondents in all surveys is the product of the

• The number of responses is low, compared to the relevant

Apparently, the ICT deprivation of people of foreign origin has

The Conclusions Are Ideological

• ICT-developments are irrelevant to the societal inequalities in

These are strong statements, which may be attractive because

• The validity of the identification of the groups that are not

priate scientific foundation. The SCP studies avoid the actual

The Current Dutch ICT Approach Against Urban Deprivation

• to foster general ICT skills in order to fight the digital divide

There were 234 trapvelden in November 2002 in the 25 cities

eleven of these trapvelden are co-financed by the Ministry of Internal

found external partners, with different levels of success. These are

The European Agenda

• to create cheaper, faster, and more secure Internet access

• the Commission’s assumption that EU policies must have an

By far the most important EU initiative is the URBAN Commu-

environmental, and economic problems increasingly present in urban

combines the rehabilitation of obsolete infrastructure with eco-

nity Initiative is that it tries to break this vicious circle by “re-valorizing

“the clear targeting of a well-defined area is the most efficient means

economic innovation and regeneration, integrated environmental

The European Commission’s evaluation of its URBAN initiatives has

Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) De Digitale Economie (2002) <http://

Centraal Planbureau (CPB) “Op Weg Naar Een Effectiever Grotestedenbeleid,”

DATAR, “L’Aménagement Numérique des Territoires,” La Lettre 174, supplément

J. De Haan and F. Huysmans, E-Cultuur: Een Empirische Verkenning (Den Haag:

Digitale Trapvelden <http://www.trapveld.nl> (Accessed October 2002).

European Commission, eEurope Action Plan 2002 (June 2000) <http://europa.eu.int/

European Commission, eEurope Action Plan 2005 (June 2002) <http://europa.eu.int/

European Commission, “Job Opportunities in the Information Society: Exploiting

European Commission, The Programming of the Structural Funds 2000-2006 : An

European Commission, Urban Community Initiative 1994-1998 (November 1999)

European Commission, Employment and Social Affairs, Knowledge Society Homepage

S. Graham, “Telecommunications and the Future of Cities: Debunking the Myths,”