Over 800,000 Dutch living in increasingly warm areas without enough trees, greenery
Over 800,000 people in the Netherlands live in heavily paved neighborhoods with too few trees and little to no greenery. This makes them extra vulnerable to the increasingly hot summers, a broad coalition of civil society organizations said on Tuesday. In a manifesto titled Green Space, Cool Cities, they urge the government to take national measures to protect these neighborhoods and their residents against the heat, NOS reports.
The urgency is growing, the coalition said. The Netherlands is experiencing longer heatwaves more frequently, and it is a well-established fact that temperatures rise higher in densely built neighborhoods. Figures from the Atlas of the Living Environment show that it can be up to 8 degrees hotter in inner cities than in rural areas. On the street, the ambient temperature can rise to 45 degrees Celsius on hot days.
That has consequences for people’s health and the livability of neighborhoods, the coalition said. According to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), heat stress currently causes around 250 additional deaths per year. That could rise to approximately 3,800 additional deaths per year by 2050 with no additional measures. Too few trees also makes public spaces less attractive, causing residents to stay indoors more.
The organizations advocate for national minimum standards for public green spaces and the tree canopy cover in neighborhoods. They also want financial support for municipalities to increase the number of trees and greenery.
“Greenery is not a luxury, but a basic prerequisite for healthy and liveable neighborhoods,” said Rob van Burg of Natuur & Milieu. The manifesto is also signed by the association for housing corporations Aedes, tenants’ association Woonbond, homeowners association VEH, road users’ association ANWB, trade union FNV, and the IVN Natuureducatie, among others.
