Densification in Dutch villages: how does that appear like? – Hans on the Bike

We talked rather a lot about denser cities when the City of Ottawa’s new Official Plan was mentioned: extra properties on an acre to accommodate a rising inhabitants, but additionally to realize higher returns on public transit and make the 15 minute neighbourhoods possible. However how does that truly appear like if it's not Hongkong, Manhattan or a type of megacities in China? Or Madrid, Paris or Rome?

Tons of house

As Canadians, we prefer to assume, “we have tons of space because we live in a big country“, but size doesn’t really matter. Once in a while I get comments on Twitter, when I throw in another cool Dutch infrastructure thing: “Haha, in Canada we commute 100 km, in Holland you will have crossed the country!” Properly really, it's not distance, it's time. It's an financial actuality: you'll be able to’t actually commute 8 hours a day.

Few excessive rises in Dutch villages

I'm at the moment within the Netherlands. What strikes me is that the Netherlands, regardless of being the scale of Nova Scotia with 17 million inhabitants, there may be little or no high-rise. You’d count on the entire nation to appear like Hong Kong with these numbers. However what you do see is lots of 3-4 storey buildings and townhouses in several worth ranges in Dutch villages (it's all costly although). Some haven't any entrance yard in any respect anymore, however a strip of park house in entrance of their door, typically together with a bicycle path. Vehicles are sometimes parked in central areas or on ‘free’ parking spots alongside the street, so that you typically should stroll 50 meters or so. The Dutch love their backyards although.

Foot bridges and Dutch villages

The streets are rather a lot narrower (sure I do know we'd like snow storage in Canada, no have to ship tweets), with pavers fairly than asphalt, apparently as a result of asphalt invitations increased speeds, as everyone knows in our North American neighbourhoods. I don’t see many cul-du-sacs. The truth is I do, however it is just a cul-du-sac for automobiles. As an alternative, very often there are pedestrian and biking bridges or pathways on the finish of a cul-du-sac to permit for shortcuts: that is to encourage lively transportation. The newer suburbs are good examples the place lively transportation is baked into the housing developments.

Alter for the bottom denominator

You undoubtedly can’t velocity a lot in these streets, it feels very flawed to go sooner than 30 kph. That’s proper: ‘feels‘, because that is the whole principle behind street design in the Netherlands. The Dutch planners want streets where all traffic travels roughly the same speed, and because a cyclist can’t go 50 kph, they’ll design residential streets for speeds of 30 kph.

You will have seen pictures of these facet roads the place drivers cross a raised sidewalk and a motorcycle lane earlier than they enter a facet road. It really works like a velocity bump, or what we name in Dutch a ‘drempel‘ (a threshold). It alerts the driving force that they're getting into a special house, probably a 30 kph zone.

Driver is visitor, and generally the bike owner too

What you will note within the following pictures is that despite the fact that the homes are on very small properties, there may be widespread greenspace and the streets belong to everybody, not simply to drivers. That's the reason we now have these ‘driver is guest’ indicators. I even noticed a ‘cyclist is guest’ in our village sq. yesterday.

4 lane roads are very uncommon in Lansingerland

I took the next pictures in Lansingerland (pop. 64,000), an amalgamation of three small rural villages which are overflow communities for the massive cities of Rotterdam and The Hague. Reasonably than limitless sprawl, with 4 and 6 lane arterials (I used to be in Scarborough, ON final week), the Dutch have chosen to develop villages into larger locations round an present core with their very own retail at strolling and biking distance. The draw back of that philosophy could be that there's extra automobile commuting to greater work locations occurring if the village isn't on a practice observe. Regardless of that, you'll very not often see 4 lane roads, even between the previous separate villages.

Make brief distances protected

I ought to word that what you see within the pictures isn't infill, however giant new developments round present villages. Biking infrastructure is tightly built-in with faculties and buying areas, medical facilities and church buildings and sports activities services to make it a logical option to take the bike. As a result of that's the place the true win is: make the 2-5 km distance to widespread locations protected for biking. Denser communities mixed with good biking infrastructure is a recipe for densification success.

Larger isn't at all times higher

I'm guessing that the majority homes are lower than 1400 – 1800 ft sq., and the entrance yard hardly exists anymore. What typically surprises me is the creativity in constructing design, fairly than the cookie cutter stuff in Canada. I feel it's extra playful to keep away from the monotony of the suburbs. No fake Roman columns and French chateau turrets right here!

A lot water in these Dutch villages

The explanation why you see a lot water is that every one this land is 3-4 meters under sea stage. You’d by no means know, however that's the reason these our bodies of water are there. They drain the land and an intricate, complete pumping system makes positive that water is at all times on the similar stage. Water is pumped into increased ring canals. That water in flip is pumped into rivers.

Enfin, check out some pictures of newly constructed properties (as within the final 10-15 years or so) in Lansingerland. It isn't all windmills and cute seventeenth century canal homes within the Netherlands. (Images from March 21, 2022)

There isn't any purpose why we will’t construct bike paths like this one in new developments in Canada

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