Dutch Cities Battle Heatwave With Curtains, Fake Trees
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- Eline Coolen, Amsterdam's heat coordinator at the city's public health institute, went viral urging residents to hang curtains or sheets outside their windows, inspired by balcony blinds she saw in Barcelona and sheets draped over windows in Amsterdam-Noord.
- Amsterdam records 110 heat-related deaths annually, a figure Coolen warns could rise to 600 without serious adaptation measures.
- Bert Blocken, a professor of mechanical engineering at Heriot-Watt University, argues exterior solar shading is the single most effective way to keep a building cool, noting that 'the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans did this tens of centuries ago.'
- The Dutch government activated a national heatwave plan with guidance on protecting elderly and vulnerable residents, coordinated by Werner Hagens of the RIVM national public health institute.
- A Vereniging Eigen Huis homeowner survey found 23% of respondents felt their homes were too hot during heatwaves, while four in five had taken steps to cool them down.
- Jeroen Kluck, a professor of climate resilient cities at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, advocates fake trees, greenery-covered pergolas, and mobile 'jungle blocks' to shade pedestrians and slightly moderate street temperatures.
- ABN Amro's Sandra Phlippen frames tree investment as economic necessity, noting one night of sleep loss costs close to €200 — meaning 100 residents sleeping badly for three nights wipes out the cost of street trees for an entire year.
Why it matters: With 110 annual heat deaths in Amsterdam alone and a realistic path to 600 without intervention, Dutch cities face a concrete mortality and productivity bill: ABN Amro's Phlippen pegs one bad night's sleep at ~€200 per person. The viral curtain hack and fake-tree trials signal a shift toward low-cost, behavior- and greenery-based adaptation that doesn't depend on the energy-hungry air conditioning Dutch homes were never built around.
