Dutch Plan to Redraw Map with a Floral Touch

Posted by Shabana on December 14, 2007
Filed under: News, The Netherlands

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Experts in The Netherlands are drafting plans to build an island shaped like the tulip flower off the coast of the country. This isn’t so much an exercise in vanity – think Dubai’s Palm Island – as it is an effort to protect the coastline, and make available more land for residents.

Real estate in the tiny Dutch country, a quarter of which lies below sea level, has always been at a premium, and the Dutch have been forced to perfect the art of land reclamation in order to avoid further flooding. More needs to be done, however, and the tulip island project is seen as a way to showcase the country’s renowned water management skills, and present more real estate opportunities that will provide some relief to choked conditions on the mainland.

The tulip island – which many joke should probably be shaped like a cannabis leaf – is proposed to be 31 miles long, and has already sparked a fierce debate over its effect on fragile marine ecosystems.

Comparisons with Dubai’s Palm Island - which juts out into the sea in the shape of a palm tree - are imminent, but the Arabian Gulf with its two meter high waves is a different kettle of fish from the North Sea whose winds can reach up to 10 feet. Many believe the Netherlands is better off protecting its existing land against ever rising sea levels - which cause the Dutch more fear than terror attacks – than building new islands.

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