This story is about people who seek the border between land and water. There they develop prosperity and quality of life, but also run extra risks. The water can be merciless. On 18 and 19 May this year, we were in Hamburg with the board of KIVI Land Use and Water Management. We were shown around there by fellow professionals. Impressive to see how they deal with water safety in this city.
Some 3.5 million people live in the Hamburg region, 350,000 of whom live in flood prone areas. That is a different ratio to us in the Netherlands, but many principles are the same. We can learn a lot from them, it turned out, especially when it comes to interweaving everyday values with countering undesirable effects from flooding. They learned a lot in Hamburg from the storm surge of 16-17 February 1962, when more than 250 people drowned. What is 1953 for us is 1962 for the people of Hamburg.
