Words by Smiley Team
Having experienced flooding for more than 1,000 years, the Netherlands is more prepared than other places for life on water. Ijburg District in Amsterdam, for example, is an artificial island of brightly coloured floating neighbourhoods.
“Floating homes symbolise freedom. You work all day to come home, sit with a glass of wine and look out. That’s the image we wanted to design,” said its designer, Marlies Rohmer.
But besides the beautiful views, Ijburg District was also built with practicalities in mind. Using various kinds of technology its main purpose is to mitigate against flooding.
Now we’ve locked in a certain amount of global warming, communities must build resilience and prepare for the inevitable social collapse to come, renowned expert Jem Bendell has written. The adaptation we need includes dealing with sea level rises – a problem for which floating homes could offer an important source of hope.
The issue of sea level rises has become increasingly pressing in recent years. After previous estimates were proven optimistic, it is now expected to displace an estimated 300 million people by 2050. While the worst affected countries will be those in the Global South, wealthier nations such as the Netherlands will also be badly hit.
[Read more positive news stories from Smiley Movement, offering hope for people and the planet]
In Ijburg District, around 40 floating homes sit along the edge of the Maas River dyke, while other constructions are built on concrete foundations topped with iron piers to keep them above water.
Investing in flood-resilient housing has been a top priority for Dutch officials, such as Nienke van Renssen, an Amsterdam city councilor from the Green Left party, who said: “The municipality wants to expand the concept of floating because it is multifunctional use of space for housing, and because the sustainable way is the way forward.”
With sufficient investment, governments elsewhere could easily replicate the Dutch housing model in order to protect communities facing flood risks. Being relatively low-tech, floating homes can be built without too much trouble, the founder of Dutch architectural firm Waterstudio, Koen Olthuis has explained.
So this housing innovation could offer a vital means for other countries expecting to be hit by sea level rises.
In the UK, Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency said: “With the right approach we can be safer and more prosperous.
“So let’s prepare, act and survive,” she added.
