Ahead of Groningen’s municipal elections around 500 citizens have participated in an online survey in which they were asked to identify their 5 most important “election themes”, topics they would like to hear about from political parties.
Survey respondents didn’t have pre-written categories to choose from and had to come up with their own.
Sustainability came out at the top, both in the sense of clean energy transition and management of green areas in the city; housing was a very close second concern, which seems to reflect the overarching impact of the national housing crisis in The Netherlands. The third theme identified by the survey responders was quality of life, a broad concept encompassing road safety, general safety, and maintenance and management of public spaces.
In fourth place citizens chose fighting poverty and in fifth they put students. In this regard, respondents seemed to be especially concerned about the high number of students in the city, the nuisance they cause, and the lack of dedicated student housing far from residential areas.
Municipal elections will take place everywhere in The Netherlands on March 16th, and citizens will have the chance to choose members of their Municipal Council for the years 2022-2026.
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