ABSTRACT
Before authors consider the problems surrounding urbanisation in the Netherlands, some remarks should be made concerning the data used. The main categories distinguished are A-municipalities (rural municipalities), B-municipalities (urbanised rural municipalities, including suburban municipalities) and C-municipalities (urban municipalities, ranging from those with a few thousand inhabitants to the cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam). For the purposes of this study authors have measured urban growth according to the differences in the size of the population on 31 December of the years at the beginning and at the end of 10 year periods from 1849 to 1909 and from 1920 to 1970. The term urbanisation has several meanings. It may, for instance, refer to the growth of the number of towns, the rise in the proportion of the national population living in towns, the expansion of individual towns over the surrounding areas, or it may refer to the adoption of urban characteristics by non-urban population groups.
