Number of 100-meter-plus high rise apartment buildings to double by 2025
With the housing shortage and ever increasing land prices in the Netherlands, Dutch municipalities and developers are increasingly building skyward. The Netherlands currently counts 26 residential towers of more than 100 meters high. That number will more than double to 55, if all construction work currently on the books goes according to plan, AD reports based on its own research.
Rotterdam is the absolute leader when it comes to skyscrapers. The city already has 12 residential towers of over 100 meters high, and has concrete plans to build at least nine more in the coming years. A few months ago, construction began on the Zalmhaven - a residential tower of 125 meters high, the highest apartment building in the Benelux. Another 18 skyscrapers are being investigated.
The Hague and Eindhoven are also investing heavily in housing skyscrapers. In the coming years, 3 thousand new homes will be built around the train stations in The Hague. And due to the limited space, developers will have to build upwards. The Hague already has five apartment buildings of over 100 meters high, and will build at least another 14 in the coming years.
Amsterdam's 100 meters and over skyscrapers are limited to the Y Towers and and Valleytower, and any new towers are mainly focused on the north side of the IJ. "Amsterdam's resistance has to do with the historic city center" Klaas de Boer, of the high-risers foundation and former director of Zuidas, said to the newspaper. "Cities do well to wonder if high-rise fits in with the environment. It must be a beautiful ensemble and fit in with the city."
A number of cities do take their skyline into account. In Breda, for example, buildings are not allowed to be higher than the Grote Kerk's 97 meters.
According to De Boer, the increase in skyscrapers in the Netherlands absolutely has to do with population growth forecasts and pressure on the housing market. "We want to add a lot of houses, but not build over our green areas. That is why every square meter is used as efficiently as possible in cities."
