The problems of intensive development and the interactions of this development are vividly exemplified by the experience of the Netherlands.  For this reason, persons interested in problems of sustainability generally, and of the "sustainable" future India can hope for as it modernizes, should consider the meaning of this example.¹  

Situated on the North Sea at the mouth of the Rhine River, The Netherlands is today a small, highly developed country, famed for its tolerance, democracy, and high standard of living.  However, during Roman and medieval times, the area was a poorly developed appendage to more developed lands to the south.  Although it had periods of political unity and "glory", notably the time of its colonial and commercial expansion and leadership in the arts in the seventeenth century, during most of the last thousand years the country was ruled by a succession of outside powers that allowed its citizens only limited and fragmented self-rule.  Its present democratic constitution was adopted in 1848, and it was on this basis that the country developed its reputation as a stable, liberal, peaceful society that guaranteed human rights and comfortable living to all citizens.  The Netherlands "golden age" had also bequeathed it a considerable empire, most notably the Dutch East Indies, or Indonesia.  Yet it was only after the loss of Indonesia following World War II that the country, in the framework of a united Western Europe, developed its present high standard of living.

With a density of nearly 450/km it is considerably more densely populated than India is expected to be when it reaches its maximum projected size in the middle of the next century or shortly thereafter.  Since the average size of family is very small and the population is ageing, the density of households (often the best measure of environmental crowding) is even higher.  The Netherlands continues to increase in population, although the increase now is due to its continuing attractiveness to immigrants.

The Netherlands has long had a reputation for high quality agricultural produce; even with today's crowded conditions, agriculture remains a significant part of its economy.  However, the number of arable hectares at about 0.03/person is considerably lower than projections suggest for India when it reaches its population maximum.  To achieve its high level of agricultural production in a climate offering a shorter growing season than India's and with extensive areas periodically under water, much of The Netherlands' modern agriculture is under glass.  The usage of all inputs is intense.  Compared to India today, pesticide use in the Netherlands is thirty times as high per hectare and fertilizer use more than ten times India's per hectare.

In spite of its "super-development", Holland's standard of living and  quality of life when measured by many indicators has continued to rise and is expected to continue to rise.  Its life expectancy at birth is one of the highest in the world.  It has excellent health facilities and is a thorough-going "welfare state" that provides a safety net for all.  Its excellent public transportation system is paralleled by the extensive use of private cars -- its 368 cars/1000 population in 1990 is expected to increase to 600 before topping out.

The first question to ask of this case is the extent of pollution and other environmental problems.  The answer is that the Netherlands has these in abundance.  The Dutch have overused their soil and water resources.  Parts of the country are drying out in spite of the heavy rainfall and the heavy inflow of water through the Rhine and other river systems.  In common with many agricultural countries, particularly those emphasizing animal products, the Netherlands has had to contend with a continuing problem of manure disposal.  Heavy use of fertilizer accentuates problems of soil and water whether the fertilizer is natural or chemical.  Only 10% of the country still has any kind of forest cover.  Air and water pollution above desirable levels are a common occurrence.  Many of its native plants and animals have become extinct centuries ago; others are in danger of extinction in the near future.  Because of its situation at the end of a major drainage system, one that drains the most highly industrialized area of Europe, and because it has relatively little heavy industry of its own, it is regionally more on the receiving end of cross-national pollutants than their "exporter".

Three points should be made in regard to the degradation of the environment that has occurred.  First, it has not reached and is not expected to reach a point at which the health of the population (one of the best in the world) is seriously affected either in terms of mortality or morbidity.  In other words, the Dutch continue to live and will continue to live more years and more quality years than nearly any other people.  Secondly, the government and people are taking urgent steps to correct many of the problems that have arisen.  In almost every economic and pollution measure, while production continues to increase, the "pollution load" on the environment has been stabilized or is decreasing.  This requires education, money, and technology; fortunately the Dutch have all three.  Thirdly, the Dutch are well aware of the negative effects that their country's high development (in terms of both production and consumption) have on the region as a whole and on the world.  The most persistent of these problems is the increasing carbon content of the atmosphere.  The country is taking steps to reduce its contribution, yet it does not have a policy in place that is expected to bring its contribution to an end in the near future.  The worldwide climatic changes that this will lead to appear, however, to be sustainable if present projections and their expected warming effects occur in the next century.  This is true for the Netherlands even though much of the country is below sea level and rising oceans will put an added strain on its ocean defenses.  

A large percentage of the present land area of The Netherlands has been reclaimed from tidal wetlands, coastal sand dunes and peat bogs, and river deltas.  Let us consider two of the more important aspects of this development.

In modern times the large ocean inlet known as the Zuiderzee has been the most important feature of the country's Northwest.  In the Middle Ages the central area of what was later to be called the Zuiderzee increased in size through erosion and the rise of ocean levels after the melting of Arctic and Antarctic ice caps.  Floods during this period opened up the region to the North Sea.  The area of dry land declined even though the people of the area had already developed ways to convert the salty marsh and peat bogs at the edge of the ocean into dry land through the building of dikes and drainage canals.

It was not till the nineteenth century that the Dutch had developed the technology of pumping and dike construction that would allow them to reverse decisively the growth of the Zuiderzee.  After many years of planning, the draining of large parts of the sea was undertaken behind a barrier dam that began to be constructed in 1927.  The reclamation of this area proceeded steadily, although there was a major setback when the main dike was destroyed in World War II.

The process was accomplished in stages: it takes many years to move from ocean inlet to usable dry land.  About half of the planned area has now been reclaimed, and the process continues.  At first the areas reclaimed are farmed by the state; later they are leased to selected farmers.  The reclamation has improved farming and transportation.  In most areas, however, it has meant the end of the fishing industry.  The environmentalist would no doubt add that it has meant the elimination of a large area of coastal marshland, with an inevitable reduction in the life forms dependent on this environment.  On the other hand, it has made possible the creation of many small towns, cities, farms, parks and forests where formerly there were none.

The second area that should be considered is the urban heart of the country, a group of cities arranged in a three-quarters circle known as the "Randstad".  It runs from Utrecht in the east to Amsterdam in the north (connected to the Zuiderzee by water) to Harleem, to Den Haag on the open coastline and back to Rotterdam in the south.  In the early 1980s its population was six million; this amounted to 42% of the country's population living in 17% of the its land area.  Although the Randstad is a maze of cities, large and small, it still encompasses in its center an agricultural area about the size of the built-up area of London.  Both along its arc and across its heart, there is necessarily a bewildering network of roads, railroads and canals.  

Without the use of dikes and continual pumping, most of this area would be submerged.  Only an area near Utrecht and behind the dunes that have been progressively built on the western fringe is safely above sea level.  From an environmental viewpoint much of this area is situated within the delta of the Rhine River.  In 1000 A.D., the area was largely under water or in peat bogs that had formed when ocean levels rose.  Later, as people began to move into the area, they protected themselves against periodic flooding by dikes, gradually expanding the area under cultivation by the use of pumps (at first the famous windmills).  The process was paralleled by another resulting from the continual mining of peat for fuel and salt.  In the first instance, this created new lakes.  But as pumping proceeded it was found that these former lakes (themselves "artificial") made excellent farmland once the peat was removed.  Thus, the best farmland in the area developed on land as much as seven meters below sea level.

The reader must remember that this heart of Holland is nearly all an artificial creation.  In the Middle Ages, population was confined largely to the eastern fringe of the modern Randstad.  Reclamation began about 1100 A.D. and proceeded quite gradually, as canals and dikes were added within the several small political units that controlled the area.  Later, as international shipping developed, the area became one of the wealthiest in the world.  By the seventeenth century, the Randstad was also the center of perhaps the most democratic, liberal, educated, and wealthy area in the world.  It is significant that the "seven provinces" that made up this small region were largely self-governing and only loosely united into one political unit - in spite of what would seem to be the unifying requirements of living under the common danger of destructive flooding.  A long history of local autonomy is one reason why the area has continued in spite of high population densities to preserve independently governed municipalities with strong separate identities.  Today, the municipalities are so close that with few exceptions all are within the commuting zone of all the others.

As an aside, it is interesting to note that Dutch planning for this area has gone through a reversal in recent years that may be useful for Indian planners to consider in regard to similar conurbations as they develop in India.  After World War II, it was felt that the growing concentrations in the major cities of the area required a determined effort to spread development over much of the rest of the country.  However, as time has passed, and commuting has become more a part of life, the larger cities have declined in population, a result leading to a declining quality of life for their citizens (slum development, abandoned buildings etc.).  Therefore, the government began in the 1980s to emphasize repopulating the cities by rebuilding the worst housing areas and developing new housing in vacant areas or derelict industrial areas.  

As another aside, it should be mentioned that southwest of Rotterdam, in the outer fringe of the Delta of the Rhine, as well as that of the Meuse and Scheldt rivers coming from further south, the story has been that of a more even struggle between the sea and the people.  Here the building of dikes and the development of "polders" behind them proceeded much more slowly at the edge of, and within, the small islands that form the region.  In part, progress was slow because of the greater movement of water from both the ocean and land sides.  Tides are also higher here.  As a result, floods have continued to set back the works of man.  However, the answer to the floods, such as that in 1953, has been to further encompass lands with new and stronger dikes.  Recent floods in the nineties again suggest that there are narrow limits as to what can be accomplished by reclamation in this environment, given current technology and fiscal restraints.

The example is meant to illustrate two points.  First, it is possible  to develop a high density society with a high quality of living and justice in spite of the damage to the environment that this entails.  This is made possible through the possession of sufficient funds, obtained through prior development, and an informed will to reverse the environmental damage that has occurred.  Recent environmental restoration has made it possible to surpass, in some respects, the level of air, water, and soil quality that has been experienced by recent generations.  Secondly, it is possible to create such conditions within a largely man-made or artificial environment.  The society has taken a difficult environmental situation and transformed it into one that has afforded the people a good place to live.  This has strained the environment and transformed ecological relationships, but it has not proved disastrous for the people; one would judge rather the reverse.