F E A T U R E D S T O R Y
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In The Netherlands, it’s legal to turn a footpath into a garden
May 13, 2025
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Unadorned houses and grey pavement slabs line a street in the Katendrechtse Lagendijk neighbourhood in the Charlois district the Dutch port city of Rotterdam. The very dreariness is interrupted only by a few puny trees. In summer, the street heats up quickly, and in heavy rain it’s often flooded. “It will look very different here tonight,” says Boris Stein. It’s Saturday morning and on the footpath are wheelbarrows with shovels and spades, a trailer with plants and construction sacks full of topsoil. By evening, with the help of numerous neighbours, Stein and fellow coordinator Raymond Landegent will have completely transformed this stretch of footpath. Their task: to unseal paving slabs and replace them with flower beds across a 100-metre stretch.
L A T E S T S T O R I E S
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Launched July 28, 2019
Last updated May 27, 2025
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