Young adults are essential in the future of rural municipalities. They can revive places in decline and create new opportunities. But what future dreams, plans and opportunities do they have? Embark on a journey through the Dutch countryside to uncover the future dreams of young adults. Delve into the dreams, plans, and obstacles shaping the future of rural municipalities. Through the vibrant tapestry of cultural festivals, witness the revitalization of once-declining communities. Additionally, examine the innovative re-use of vacant farm buildings, offering promising opportunities for regeneration, economic growth and entrepreneurship. However, amidst these prospects lies a challenge: the political landscape, where urban interests often overshadow rural needs. Shedding light on these dynamics and navigating its complexities, this research aims to empower rural communities. It suggests how to pave the way towards better policies for rural municipalities in the Netherlands. Where young adults can build their rural futures.@en

The Oldambt area, in the northeast of the Netherlands, has recently suffered from depopulation and a negative image. However, four high-quality cultural festivals have been developed in or moved towards the area during the last decade. The festivals have different organisational models. This paper assesses how they contribute to rural regeneration through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders around the festivals and local youth. It adds to the existing literature by introducing the concept of rural regeneration, stemming from neo-endogenous rural development, into festival research and by conducting multiple case studies in one area. The paper investigates the festivals’ local legitimacy, rootedness, and ability to create interconnectedness. The findings suggest that the festivals are locally supported, use local resources, and benefit the area, notwithstanding their organisational model. The festivals also help to establish networks within and outside of Oldambt, and there is thus a positive effect on regeneration. The recent more positive developments in Oldambt may be related to the organisation of the festivals.@en

This paper examines the dreams for the future of young adults in Midden-Noord-Brabant and Zeeland, the Netherlands. Through 274 qualitative surveys and focus groups with 12 participants, it explores their dreams for the future, the obstacles they foresee in realising these dreams, and the influence of these obstacles on their stated life plans. The findings reveal a preference for areas outside settlements in residential dreams. Limited housing and career opportunities are identified as foreseen obstacles. These obstacles shape participants' stated life plans, which become more urban-oriented. Removing these obstacles can facilitate the realisation of rural residential dreams and promote rural areas as attractive areas to settle for new generations.@en

Advantageous positions for politically overrepresented groups and rural political discontent are widely debated in academia. However, the role urban political overrepresentation may have in benefiting urban citizens and as an explanation for rural political discontent has hitherto received little attention. This paper addresses urban overrepresentation within national politics and suggests how this, in turn, engenders favorable policies for extremely urbanized municipalities. The paper refers to the Dutch context to illustrate how urban political overrepresentation operates, the access that municipalities with different degrees of urbanization have to public funding, and how they profit from the region deals between 2017 and 2020. The most urbanized municipalities in the Netherlands are found to be politically overrepresented at the national level and have relatively good access to public funding. This is likely to produce benefits for these municipalities and their inhabitants. This paper discusses how these benefits may be an explanation for political discontent in other municipalities.@en

Across the European Union, farm modernisation results in vacant farm buildings in agricultural areas. This is an issue at the crossroads of rural development and spatial planning. The debate often revolves around the options of either demolishing these buildings or re-using them for residential purposes. There is less emphasis, however, on re-using vacant farm buildings to create new employment opportunities in rural areas. This article analyses two cases in the Netherlands to explore the commercial re-use of vacant farm buildings in relation to rural development. The analysis specifically focuses on governance issues, the contribution of different types of commercial re-use to rural communities, and how re-use helps in retaining or attracting young people. The findings suggest that commercial re-use of vacant farm buildings can attract new entrepreneurs, jobs, and liveliness to rural areas. This is likelier if local government efforts and local entrepreneurship align. The cases also show limitations of commercial re-use in relation to the potential for wider uptake and the risk of enhancing rural gentrification. This raises the question of whether the current planning systems can deal with the upcoming complex processes of rural transformation.@en