​​Why The Netherlands Is Insanely Well Designed

this is a map of bike path density in europe all the purple lines are bike paths and if you divert your attention to the left part of this map you'll see a coastal country with a lot of purple lines this is the netherlands a densely populated country that knows a thing or two about designing brilliant infrastructure and the bike paths play a significant role in that see with a population of 17.4 million people and a landmass of approximately 41.5 000 square kilometers the netherlands is smaller in size yet more densely populated than most european countries so in order to navigate that they've come up with effective and interesting ways to handle population movement in and around the country the most notable of which is of course the cycling infrastructure and yes it is as serious as everybody says it is as it enables the 23 million bikes that are in the netherlands to roam the streets and by the way 23 million bikes means that there are 1.3 bikes per capita that's absolutely insane i mean what would the bike per capita be in the united states maybe 0.5 what it's 0.3 that would mean if you met an american there is a greater chance they're obese than them owning a bicycle mat anyway when you combine the northern spike infrastructure with its amazing public transport you get a ridiculously smooth and efficient system here's how it works in amsterdam commuters will use their bikes to get to and enter transit stations where they simply park their bikes in these enormous bike parking garages then they'll travel on either a bus tram or train to their final destination but most of the time the fastest and most convenient option is simply taking the bike to the final destination but why is cycling the most convenient option what has the netherlands done for this to be the case well the country has made cycling incredibly easy with 32 000 kilometers of bike lanes that aren't just a small strip along a heavily traffic road now the dutch do things differently they have marked out red asphalt pavements like this strictly for cyclists the only time cars and bikes end up on the same road is when the speed limit is less than 30 kilometers an hour and car volume is low any higher than that and there is a clear separation like this one even on highways and roundabouts but the northerns is a whole lot more than just biking and their capital city amsterdam and to be honest the most impressive infrastructure in the netherlands is not even in amsterdam to see that we have to go to utrecht a city that lies right here south of amsterdam it hosts the largest bike parking facility in the world room to park over 12 and a half thousand bicycles and it has 24 7 camera surveillance now i know what you're probably thinking there's no way this can be replicated in other countries this is alien-like but that's a myth and there is a very simple reason for that just take a look at rotterdam during world war ii the city was practically demolished and looked well like this the dutch had to rebuild everything and they chose to go for an automobile center design which is exactly how north american cities were built too and considering where the netherlands is today it's crazy to think that many dutch cities were heading in this direction too but by the 70s rotterdam residents were tired of major road fatalities and plummeting cycling and walking culture so they demanded reform and the regulators listened public transportation was then heavily invested in and roads were rebuilt to facilitate bike lanes after which cycling regained its popularity this just goes to show that even north american cities can do this if they choose to do so but the determinism and people-centered planning of the netherlands extends out of the cities and into dutch suburbs as well to bring this point home let's compare typical dutch suburbs to those in a state that's just as bustling and growing in the united states florida now sure florida is 3.4 times larger than the netherlands but the argument should still stand so here is a typical miami suburb what do you notice there's a lot of greenery but mostly there's a lot of roads and they're specifically made for cars sure there are sidewalks but they are thin and can barely accommodate a cycler and pedestrian at the same time now let's look at a dutch suburb the homes here are much smaller and that's an important detail as it leaves more space for communal centers like parks and proper biking and walking lanes separated from the road by greenery i can definitely understand that it seems like a sacrifice to have smaller homes but what you get in return is efficiency and if time is the most valuable thing we have then this system is superior and while dutch efficiency has become somewhat of a trademark for the country things weren't always so blissful and enviable you see technically speaking a large part of the netherlands should not exist and this is what amazes me the most seeing the netherlands was notorious for constant flooding thanks to its low elevation and closeness to the north sea but the dutch have found a way to beat the ocean multiple times this is the reason why nearly 20 of the land in the netherlands is reclaimed land from the many marshes swamps lakes and of course the sea but how well two words delta works after a deadly storm in 1953 that covered over a hundred and fifty thousand hectares of land and took the lives of an estimated two thousand people the dutch decided something had to be done delta works was the answer delta works is a vast network of 13 dams and barriers featuring sluices locks dikes and levees these also have these four inlets namely harrington proves them worcester shell decaring and i'm sorry dutch people i tried my best anyway they used these to reduce the coastline by 700 kilometers and remove the need for smaller and weaker levees and dams that would require constant maintenance pretty ingenious i gotta say but the dutch haven't just prevented floodings they've also created new land and they achieved this without using modern technology how well first they would section off the areas they wanted to reclaim where after they would drain the water out by harvesting the energy of the wind using of course windmills this created flat plains comprised of a very unique soil that happens to be perfect for growing tulips and this is why the netherlands account for 80 percent of the world's tulip exports which is kind of strange to think about but today these waters and innovations have earned the netherlands some pretty envious titles including the largest storm search barrier in the world that laid the ground for the largest and most efficient seaport in europe the port of rotterdam located here in the delta of the rhine and moose rivers rotterdam is in a perfect strategic location for ships coming from or going into the north sea to understand the sheer size of this port here is a map of manhattan laid on top as you can see the port of rotterdam is about one and a half times the size of manhattan it's huge and with 82 and a half percent of the netherlands gdp coming from exports it's fair to say that the port of rotterdam is really important i could go on and on about this port's efficiency but all you need to know is that it wins best port infrastructure year after year the dutch are incredibly talented at designing great infrastructure i mean just look at the amsterdam airport shipping the third busiest airport in europe it looks pretty average until you consider the number of people moving through this structure ship will facilitate 68 to 80 million passengers annually to 332 direct destinations utilizing its six runways facing multiple directions schiphol coordinates an average of 1500 to 1600 departures and landings per day giving them an hourly average of 110 to 120 aircrafts and chippewa accomplishes this despite being smaller than other major airports like adolfo suarez madrid in spain or the leonardo da vinci international airport in italy the best thing about this airport though is that once passengers arrive they have a number of transportation options as the high-speed tellers and columbus trains can be accessed just beneath the terminal building from here you can take a 15 minute ride to the amsterdam's central station or use the dutch rail network to travel across the country honestly you could go anywhere from here if trains aren't your style then the airport of his affordable express bosses as well the funny thing about this outboard though is that it's four meters below sea level sitting on what used to be harlem lake but all in all though the netherlands is an overload of intelligent design and while some people might think it's nearly impossible to implement these methods into other countries the reality is these methods can be replicated any place in the world if the people and leadership are willing to collaborate and listen to one another and invest in infrastructure that is people environment and future centered thank you for watching and i'll see in the next one

Channel: OBF

Views: 4,893,901

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Id: lP-G-inkkDg

Length: 9min 12sec (552 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 29 2022