Netherlands Builds Floating Homes to Beat Rising Seas

When the water keeps rising, some countries build higher walls. The Netherlands decided to build homes that float.

After centuries of fighting against floods with dikes and dams, Dutch cities are trying something different. They're creating permanent floating neighborhoods where homes rise and fall with changing water levels, turning rivers and canals into living space.

The timing couldn't be better. The country needs one million new homes over the next decade, but suitable land is running out. Meanwhile, climate change is bringing more flooding, heavier rainfall, and rising seas to a nation where much of the land already sits below sea level.

These aren't houseboats or temporary shelters. Floating homes are full-sized houses built on concrete platforms attached to steel poles anchored to the waterbed. They connect to regular electricity, sewage, and internet just like any other home.

Schoonschip in Amsterdam shows what's possible. This floating community of 30 homes started from one television director's vision in 2009. Today, residents share solar panels that cover a third of their roofs, operate joint heat pumps, and collect rainwater together.

Siti Boelen, who lives in a floating home, told the BBC she actually feels safer during storms. Her house moves with the water instead of fighting against it.

City officials are paying attention. Amsterdam is changing its planning laws to make more floating projects possible. Rotterdam, where much of the city lies below sea level, has included floating buildings in its climate strategy since 2010.

The Ripple Effect

The Dutch approach is spreading beyond Europe. Coastal cities facing similar threats are studying these floating neighborhoods as a model. Island nations vulnerable to rising seas see potential solutions in designs that work with water instead of against it.

What makes this approach special is how it solves two problems at once. Cities gain new housing without sacrificing farmland or green space. At the same time, they become more resilient to climate threats that aren't going away.

The shift represents something bigger than construction techniques. It's a change in mindset from viewing water as purely dangerous to seeing it as space where people can safely live.

A country that spent centuries pushing water away is now learning to float alongside it.