Adriaan Mout column
For the moment no rushing and running, no video meetings. Just get away for a while, but in your own country. Schiermonnikoog has 947 inhabitants and 587 homes. All low and nicely spread. And that on about 4000 hectares. While walking and musing, it is not easy to get the theme of the moment, the housing shortage and faltering housing production, into focus. We will pass the 8 million homes in the Netherlands this year and we will need another million within the next ten years.
A week in a small holiday home is doable, even nice and cozy. As I continue to ruminate, I wonder what you actually need. But after a week in company on a small surface, the romance is over and I realize that we now take a private domain of a substantial number of square meters for granted. In 1900 we had an average of 8 m² per person in living space in the Netherlands, 120 years later that has increased to 65 m². This upward trend is one of the explanations for the never-ending housing shortage.
The lighthouse burns forever here. That gives a safe and restful feeling. That lighthouse requires energy, but otherwise you can imagine a life with candles and thick sweaters. And that is how it feels a bit here, too. And it is car-free, way ahead of the times. That other big challenge, the CO2 reduction, feels a long way from now. Just for a moment, because the sustainability challenge for the construction sector is enormous. The Paris goals are on our heels, there is no way around it. If only to keep the lighthouse burning.
Life here seems peaceful and balanced. No contradictions, harmony between humans and nature. But that is also an illusion. Pamphlets behind the windows represent a growing resistance to the expansion of an industrial estate and the construction of a ring road. Nothing is alien to humans, not even on Schier.
What remains of these musings created in a romantic holiday feeling? We cannot imitate the Frisian Islands and quality is not for sale. But it adds to our responsibility for the great challenges of our time.
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