How Green is the Netherlands? A New Map Reveals the Details
The Netherlands is striving to become greener, but where do you start if you don't know exactly how much greenery is already in place? A newly updated Base Map of Green and Paved Surfaces in the Climate Impact Atlas (KlimaatEffectAtlas) now provides the answer. With a resolution of just 25 centimeters, the map shows in remarkable detail how green our neighbourhoods really are.
This blog post is based on this news item at Kennisportaal Klimaatadaptatie published on 9 December 2025.
Why This Matters
Streets that flood during heavy rain and paved districts that barely cool down in summer are strong incentives for municipalities to invest in more greenery. Residents, too, increasingly ask for a healthier, greener living environment. To know where measures are most needed, you must first understand how a neighbourhood is built: Is it dominated by pavement? Where are the trees, shrubs, or permeable surfaces?
Down to the Level of a Paving Stone
The new Base Map of Green and Paved Surfaces provides insight at an exceptionally fine level of detail. It was co-developed by the Friedenau Society, named after the Berlin district where its founders connected through a shared mission: to create freely available knowledge for urban greening.
For the entire Netherlands, the map shows the type of ground cover, ranging from tree canopies and shrubs to parking lots and building footprints, at a resolution of 25 centimeters. This means that every surface, whether vegetation or pavement, is represented with near-pixel precision.
As scientific advisor Hans van der Kwast puts it: "It captures conditions down to the level of a single paving stone."
This level of granularity allows municipalities, researchers, and citizens to see not just broad patterns of green and grey, but the very building blocks of urban space.
Nine Types of Ground Cover
The Base Map distinguishes nine categories of ground cover, capturing the full spectrum of surfaces that shape our living environment. These range from built structures and paved areas to tree canopies, shrubs, permeable paving, and other vegetated surfaces.
It is precisely this combination of classes that makes the map so versatile. Municipalities can use it to identify opportunities for urban greening, hydrologists can model runoff and water retention, and planners can assess heat stress in densely built neighborhoods.
"This map is built on principles that other maps don't offer," explains Van der Kwast. "It is open data, accessible to everyone. And because the datasets can be generated for multiple years, you can track developments over time and monitor how landscapes evolve."
By combining consistency, openness, and temporal comparability, the map becomes not just a snapshot, but a dynamic tool for long-term spatial analysis.
Tracking the Journey of a Water Drop
A drop landing on a tree canopy behaves very differently from one striking asphalt. The canopy may intercept the water, slow it down, or redirect it toward vegetation below. A tree might stand above shrubs, over a sidewalk, or even partly above a water surface, and the map captures all these variations.
"The map essentially shows what a raindrop encounters first," explains Van der Kwast. "That initial contact is crucial, because it determines the path the water will follow."
By combining ground-level topography with LiDAR data, the map reveals how vertical layers interact: tree crowns, understory vegetation, paved surfaces, and open water. This layered perspective makes it possible to model whether water infiltrates, evaporates, or runs off into drainage systems. In short, the map doesn't just show where surfaces are, it shows how they shape the journey of every raindrop.
Public vs. Private Space
Beyond the detailed classification of ground cover, the map also indicates whether a surface is public or private, and whether it lies inside or outside the built-up area. This additional layer of information makes it possible to work much more strategically.
Municipalities, for example, can distinguish between locations where they themselves can implement measures, such as redesigning streets or adding trees, and areas that fall under private ownership, where citizen engagement or incentives are needed. The map also highlights neighbourhoods with relatively little public green space, helping planners prioritize interventions where they will have the greatest social impact.
The map doesn't just show what is there, it reveals who has the ability to act on it.
This perspective transforms the dataset from a static inventory into a decision-support tool, guiding municipalities, communities, and policymakers toward targeted, effective greening strategies.
For Municipalities, Modelers, and Citizens
The Base Map serves different purposes for different users:
Municipalities can use it as a monitoring tool, tracking how much green or paved surface exists in each neighborhood and identifying where interventions are most urgent.
Modelers gain a reliable spatial foundation for simulations. With the map's fine resolution, they can model how rainwater flows across streets, infiltrates into permeable surfaces, or collects in features such as wadi's (vegetated infiltration basins).
Citizens can explore the map through an interactive dashboard. It allows them to zoom into their own neighborhood—or even their backyard—and see how their environment is classified.
This accessibility makes the map not only a professional instrument but also a tool for curiosity and civic engagement.
By combining technical rigor with openness, the Base Map invites everyone, from planners to residents, to better understand their surroundings and to act on that knowledge.
Developed in Dialogue with Users
The creation of the Base Map was not a one-way process, it was shaped continuously through dialogue with municipalities and other stakeholders.
"We truly listen to end users," explains Van der Kwast. "We present the current state of the work, they provide feedback, and we adjust accordingly. That iterative exchange is a very rewarding way of working."
This co-design approach ensures that the map reflects real-world needs: from municipal planners seeking to identify heat-stressed neighborhoods, to hydrologists modeling runoff, to citizens curious about their own street. By embedding user feedback at every stage, the map has become both technically robust and practically relevant.
Meanwhile, the Friedenau Society is already exploring follow-up applications. Depending on user demand, extensions could range from more detailed vegetation classifications to integration with climate adaptation dashboards.
"We are eager to see how people will apply this new map in practice," Van der Kwast adds. "Ideas and feedback are always welcome. It's the users who inspire the next steps."