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The Netherlands is known for paving over its gardens, and this reputation isn’t without reason. Over a third of Dutch gardens are at least half covered in paving, so it’s easy to mistake a typical backyard for a small car park. However, a national competition has been working to change this for several years, and this year it celebrated a new record-breaking winner.
The Hague takes the Golden Tile
The contest, called NK Tegelwippen or the Dutch National Tile-Flipping Championship, has municipalities competing to remove the most paving tiles and replace them with plants. This year, The Hague won the Gouden Tegel (Golden Tile) for removing a record 507,436 tiles. That’s about the same as turning 6.5 football pitches from pavement to green space, beating the previous record of 461,850 set by Arnhem in 2023. The Hague had also won this title in 2021 and 2022, making this year a comeback.
Both local people and the city government took part in the effort. In The Hague, residents, schools, sports clubs, and businesses together removed about 150,000 tiles on their own. The city handled the other 350,000 tiles in public spaces, as part of projects like making Plein 1813 greener and updating quays and sewers.
Smaller towns were also recognised. The Gouden Schep (Golden Spade) is a separate prize for the most tiles removed per thousand residents. This year, Venlo won it for the third year in a row in the large-municipality category, along with Terneuzen and Halderberge.
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Why flipping tiles matters
There’s a serious reason behind the fun competition: cities need to adapt to climate change. Heavy rain is happening more often, and sewers can’t always keep up, which leads to flooded streets and basements. When paving is replaced with soil and plants, rainwater can soak into the ground, whether in a garden or a small planted strip by the pavement, which helps take pressure off the drains.
Plants also help cool cities. A garden with greenery can be 5 to 10 degrees cooler than one with tiles. Research from Wageningen University & Research shows that one tree in a garden can cool as much as ten air conditioners. There are health benefits too: research by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam found that people living in green neighbourhoods visit their doctor 20 to 25 percent less often for issues like depression, anxiety, and migraines compared to those in less green areas. Plus, plants attract birds, butterflies, and bees.
A competition built on play
One reason the championship works so well is its relaxed approach. Besides the municipal rankings, there’s a “Flipper of the Month” (Wipper van de Maand) award. In May, it went to Hugo Stap from Zeist, who was filmed happily admiring the new lavender and catnip in his front garden. Stap removed about 200 tiles and plans to work on his backyard next year. “There’s still some flipping to be done. So next year there will be plenty of flipping again,” he said with a smile.
25 million tiles, and counting
The results are impressive. Just this season, 4,827,062 tiles were flipped. Since the championship started in 2020, the total has passed 25 million, with 25,305,598 tiles now removed and replaced with plants.
The competition was supposed to end this year. But because it’s been so popular and successful, the organisers have decided to bring it back for at least two more years, in 2027 and 2028. This gives Dutch towns more time to lift up their pavements and, quite literally, let their cities breathe.