You probably haven't noticed a housing shortage in the Netherlands. Yet, we do not increase the height. That would be the ideal solution, right?

The Netherlands is the most populous country in the EU (leaving aside the island of Malta). However, anyone who flies over the Netherlands does not see packed metropolises with gigantic residential towers, such as in Hong Kong or New York. On the contrary, except for Rotterdam, we hardly have any skyscrapers in our country. And yet, we have quite a housing problem to solve. How is that possible? And will that change in the future? We spoke to a senior lecturer in area development, Tom Daamen, from TU Delft. We travel with him to Manhattan on the Maas to answer this question.

0:00 Why does the Netherlands have no skyscrapers?
0:55 Rotterdam: Manhattan on the Maas
1:20 Do Dutch people want to live in skyscrapers?
1:30 The Salmon Harbor Tower
1:52 Cities once looked very different
2:30 The first high-rise building: the Empire State Building
2:48 The White House
3:00 Why don't we join in the high-rise hype?
3:30 For high-rise buildings, you have to go into depth
3:50 Cities of millions made possible by high-rise buildings
5:00 How tall does something have to be to be called a skyscraper?
6:00 Why are there no high-rise buildings in the Netherlands?
6:10 Reason 1: soft ground
6:46 Reason 2: high-rise buildings are expensive
6:55 We want daylight in the house
7:08 Stairs and elevators limit space
7:38 Reason 3: we don't like living in supercities
8:48 Our cities are world heritage
9:08 Reason 4: our infrastructure is not good enough
9:55 Will there never be a Tokyo on the IJssel?

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