Urban renewal minister Eberhard van der Laan has released the names of the 83 problem neighbourhoods which are due for special attention in the government’s urban renewal programme.

His predecessor, Ella Vogelaar, had kept the list secret because she did not want to stigmatise people living in these areas. Van der Laan however has bowed to pressure from parliament to publish the list.
Top of the list is the Kolenkit neighbourhood in Amsterdam-West. The top ten also includes five areas in Rotterdam and one each in Utrecht, Deventer, Leeuwarden and Maastricht.