NEW ZUIDERZEE LANDS: PLANNED SETTLEMENT IN THE NETHERLANDS.

For some time now, planned settlement and development of areas has been advocated as a desirable substitute for the undirected and unregulated working out of social forces. Social planning assumes that people possess sufficient knowledge regarding social development to manipulate and control it, that it can be directed to the achievement of a preconceived social order, and that such an order will be better suited to man's needs than any society produced by uncontrolled growth. This article is an analysis of the controlled settlement of one planned area, the recently acquired Zuiderzee lands of the Netherlands. This experience of the Dutch planners suggests three conclusions of importance. First, there would seem to be patterns of relationship among individuals and institutions which are the normal fulfillment of any complex of circumstances present in a given area. Second, these normal patterns, after they become established in an area, are important factors in further social development. Third, the development of any community is directly related to the changing balance between economic activities and the size and composition of the population.