ABSTRACT
The Dutch geographical tradition differs considerably from that of its European neighbours in various respects. H. J. Keuning published the first modern regional geography of the Netherlands, and also produced the first central-functional classification of Dutch cities. At Utrecht, a distinctive 'de Vooys school' evolved. A group of young sociologists, led by J. A. A. van Doom, established a new sociological journal, Sociologische Gids. At Utrecht, leadership passed for the first time to the younger generation of geographers; M. de Smidt is a specialist on the geography of labour markets, and J. van Ginkel produced a two-volume PhD thesis on suburbanisation and residential environments. It remains remarkable that the new developments in the AngloSaxon and Scandinavian geographical professions had no impact on Dutch geographers at the time, despite the expansion of numbers and the establishment of new departments. These new developments were accompanied by critical reflections based on both Marxist-structuralist ideas and a phenomenologically-inspired anthropological approach.
