Tulip Island in the North Sea?

One day this week, the front page of a Dutch newspaper featured a satellite photograph on the Netherlands, with one addition: a large island in the North Sea, just off the coast, in the shape of a tulip. The tulip was perhaps a bit playful, but the idea of building an island in the North Sea has been floated for the past decade or so.

It came up again this week during a budget debate in parliament. But while politicians debate grandiose projects like putting islands in the sea, Dutch water experts have been adding hundreds of new hectares to the Dutch coast. Not by building islands, but by extending the coast itself. The emphasis is no longer on large, expensive projects creating thousands of hectares of land at one shot - rather, experts are now focusing on creating new land along the Dutch coast.

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For some, though, the obstacles do not outweigh the benefits. The spokesperson for agriculture for the Christian Democrats, Joop Atsma, wants the government to look into building an island in the North Sea.

Atsma admits the project would be expensive, but he puts that in perceptive. Atsma estimates that 10 billion euros will be needed if the government were to purchase existing land to meet all of its current needs in housing and other areas.

"For that amount, you could do a lot. So the question, is building an island worth it, I say, absolutely."

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