Netherlands Moves Closer to Building Homes at Lowest Point, 6.76 Metres Below Sea Level
Plans for a new 8,000-home village in the Zuidplaspolder near Gouda, home to the Netherlands' lowest point at 6.76 metres below sea level, are moving closer, but experts question whether it is wise.
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Plans to build an entire new village near the lowest point of the Netherlands are moving closer, after a long and bitter dispute over water safety appears finally to be ending. But the project raises a bigger question that experts are still weighing: not whether it can be done, but whether it is wise.
A dispute nears its end
The village, called Cortelande, is planned in the Zuidplaspolder near Gouda, a low-lying stretch of former lakebed that was drained in 1840. Some 8,000 homes are due to be built there. The plans caused a serious falling-out between the municipality of Zuidplas and the regional water authority (in Dutch, the hoogheemraadschap) Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard, which manages water safety in the area.
The two sides clashed over water safety, water management and how well the new village would cope with climate change. The disagreement went all the way to the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, and the relationship soured so badly that the responsible minister at the time brought in a mediator. This week, the water authority looks set to withdraw the appeal it lodged in 2024, with its board due to vote on Wednesday. Because that decision is not yet final, both the water authority and the municipality declined to comment publicly, so as not to put it at risk.
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The lowest point of the country
The Zuidplaspolder is home to the lowest point in the Netherlands, which lies 6.76 metres below NAP, the Dutch reference level that corresponds roughly to sea level. Cortelande itself would be built on a slightly higher part of the polder, though according to current reporting still more than 6 metres below sea level.
Building that far below sea level is unusual even by Dutch standards. The ground in the polder is soft peat that continues to sink, a process known as subsidence, and the area carries a real risk of flooding, something a changing climate is unlikely to make any easier.
‘Is it smart?’
Water and climate experts told NOS that it is possible to build there, but only if the plans take full account of the changing climate and are designed for the conditions expected after the year 2100, something they say is still not done nearly enough in the Netherlands.
“We are very good at building, and it is fantastic that we could do it here. Technically, everything is possible. But the point is: is it smart? Is it strategic?” said Floris Boogaard, a researcher at the water institute Deltares. His own answer was no, at least not if conventional homes are built. “The water wants to rise here, there is pressure on it,” he warned. “We have never built this deep, on this large a scale. It is fantastic that it can be done, but I would not go looking for those limits myself.”
Over the longer term, the experts expect the ground to keep sinking, possibly by as much as 10 metres in places, while climate change brings heavier downpours and longer dry spells. That can make the peat dikes that hold back water less stable, raising the risk of flooding. Keeping the area dry, Boogaard said, will take ever greater effort.
Building for a wetter future
Those experts do not rule out building altogether, but they point to designs suited to a wet environment. The area could be used more as water storage, with floating homes built on it, or with amphibious homes that rise and fall with the water level. Houses could also be raised on poles, or built on terps, the artificial mounds the Dutch have used for centuries. All of these techniques are already in use elsewhere in the country.
The municipality’s view
In Zuidplas, local politicians are keen to see the 8,000 homes built, at a time of severe housing shortage. “Of course it is a challenging place, so the bar has to be higher,” said council member Annika van Gerwen-Westerling. “But I also think we can show that, with innovative techniques, we can build and live here well.” Her colleague Martin Damen said he believed the village could stand for more than a century, arguing that the real danger was not a dike bursting but heavy rainfall, which he was confident could be managed.
“I am sure that if it were really irresponsible to build here, everyone would give a red light,” Van Gerwen-Westerling added. “Apparently it is safe enough. We have confidence in the process, and we will keep following it in a positively critical way.”