This document focuses on the history and organization of physical planning in the Netherlands. It is part of a series of bulletins on the human and physical geography of the Netherlands. Information, presented in expository, tabular, photographic, and cartographic form, is arranged in four major sections. Section I, which contains the bulk of the document, discusses the history of physical planning in the Netherlands, rules of physical planning, planning agencies and instruments, disadvantages of planned over natural development, and physical planning policy in practice. Emphasis is placed on the scarcity of space in the Netherlands, impoverishment of the environment due to rapid development, and national and regional attempts to control urbanization. Section II presents statistics on area and land use, population, agriculture, national income, foreign trade, and manufacturing. Section III, entitled "Brief Notes," surveys problems of traffic, water control plants, and physical planning. Section IV describes the aims and activities of the Information and Documentation Centre for the Geography of the Netherlands. (DB)