POSTCARD FROM AMSTERDAM: It’s a country where they literally hold back the tide, and it seems like they have a practical and functional solution for everything. Trains run on time, and ships move large quantities of materials in canals above the highways. Cars give way to bikes (lots of them), and the people are known for calling a spade a spade.
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The Netherlands is a can-do country, and they do things neatly, no, meticulously, with barely a blade of grass out of place in the entire landscape. This shows in their town planning, with well planned infrastructure, lack of sprawl and a housing density that feels just right.
It sounds like a perfect combination to manage housing availability for a slowly growing population, which has drifted up from 15 million in 1990 to 18 million today…nowhere near the rate of change Australia has experienced in the same period, rocketing along from 17 million in 1990 to 27 million today.
Yet somehow, the Netherlands finds itself in a similar predicament to Australia…not enough houses to go around.
In my study tour of the Netherlands, I expected to only find solutions. It certainly did provide a lot of useful insights for solutions. However, I also found a similar sense of anxiety and stress about housing to what we have in Australia. I left somewhat dumbfounded that a practical group of people like the Dutch weren’t all over this problem. Maybe my own experience wasn’t indicative of the reality…so I got my research assistant to look into it further.
Gemini’s response about housing availability in the Netherlands went like this:
“The Netherlands is experiencing a severe and persistent housing crisis characterised by a significant shortage of available and affordable homes, with demand far exceeding supply. This situation results in high prices, intense competition for housing, and long waiting lists, especially in major urban areas.”
So Australia is definitely not alone with a housing crisis. Nonetheless, there were a few key helpful takeaways I got from my time in the Netherlands, visiting places from large cities through to smaller regional centres and towns.
On the challenges front, one thing I noticed was that there seemed to be a number of solutions, particularly with modular and other modern methods of construction.
This innovation was no surprise from a population that largely lives below sea level. However, many of the solution providers were operating well below capacity. Whilst the rising cost of materials is part of the problem, the Netherlands doesn’t seem to suffer from a production capacity problem, unlike Australia, generally.
The problems seem to lie more with getting projects approved with the restrictions that come with a country grappling with resilience, in the face of climate change and exceeding the capacity of nature to buffer the impacts of human activities. Climate and nature related risks are very tangible to this progressive society.
There were plenty of takeaways on the solutions front. Firstly, densification that can provide for better lifestyles and not just be a detractor.
Large detached housing is in such a minority that in many population centres, it is hard to find. Semis, terraces and walk up apartments rule the market and as you move out from the centre of a city or town, you also see large apartment blocks coming into play.
Parking/garages are optional: these are buildings for people, not cars. Everything is linked with amazing foot and pedal transport options. As well as keeping everyone active and especially empowering young people to move about, this has the added effect of opening up the streets for people and keeping the cities quiet. It is amazing how peaceful the streets are in Amsterdam…it has the bustle of people without the rumble of vehicles.
Housing design
The Dutch are also very practical and functional in the housing design. Why waste large amounts of the limited space on big stairwells when a steep, galley-like stair will get you between floors of a building?
Dutch homes are considerably smaller than the average Australian home, at around 100 square metres versus 230 sq m. This difference reduces a bit when looking at the area per person of around 60 sq m for the Dutch and 100 sq m for Australians. So we have much bigger houses, but a few more people living in them on average.
Home comfort
The Netherlands are cold, but their houses are warm and cosy. Double glazing within a well-sealed house with multiple thermal envelopes seems to be the standard. There is much that Australian builders could learn there.
Finally, from my limited exposure, I also noticed that there is a greater level of recycling options for Dutch households.
The circular economy
Although anyone who knows me would understand that I am dubious about what happens to materials that are supposedly recycled, I was especially dubious about the mixing of soft and hard plastics and whether it was all being burnt for “energy recovery” – essentially shifting pollution from landfill to the atmosphere during a climate crisis. Like in Australia, there is a lot of talk about the circular economy in The Netherlands… but sadly, like Australia, much of it is still linear, pollutive and depletive.
Overall, the Dutch experience is a worthwhile study point on positive ways to densify, downsize and be a little more practical and less boastful with our housing. Architectural snobs in Australia might find the design there a bit “boxy”, but on the environmental front, there is a lot of good.
