Europe’s Original Climate-Resilient City Has a Lesson for Us All

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1. *On Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary, it continues to be a leader in climate adaptation — showing how a city can thrive in overcoming existential challenges.*

   *Feargus O’Sullivan and Charlotte Hughes-Morgan for Bloomberg News*

   On Amsterdam’s northern edge, a brand new island in the vast IJmeer lake is being readied for homebuilding. Called Strandeiland (“Beach Island”), this land will form part of a new archipelago of six islands that will ultimately house more than 60,000 residents, plus beaches and nature reserves.

   In most cities, a project like this would be considered spectacular, unprecedented. In Amsterdam, it’s just a more proactive version of business as usual.

   Such initiatives of formidable ambition have been part of Amsterdam life since the city’s founding in the 13th century. Celebrating its 750th birthday on Oct. 27 — the date it was first mentioned in writing — the Dutch capital has been laboriously cobbled together over centuries. Battling against unforgiving terrain and the ever-present threat of the sea — the city lies two meters (roughly 6.5 feet) below sea level — Amsterdam has from the outset had to invest huge resources, not just to keep itself safe and dry, but to reshape the landscape and make large-scale habitation feasible.

   Indeed, if Amsterdam had not been drastically affected by extreme weather connected to global warming, it might never have become a city at all. The region’s more than seven centuries of experience managing water carry urgent lessons for other cities battling climate change.

   Among places that still retain their historic importance as commercial hubs today, it might be called the first climate-adapted city. Throughout its history, Amsterdam has continually reshaped its geography to adapt to changing climate and economic circumstances, showing how a city can thrive in the course of overcoming existential challenges.

   [Read the full story here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-10-25/amsterdam-750th-anniversary-showcases-centuries-of-climate-adaptation?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2MTM3OTMxNiwiZXhwIjoxNzYxOTg0MTE2LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNE9FNVdHUTFZUFgwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.f0ttEPTL-H2lM-b7ZR_e2mOqCTH_kHergr18dPpXRHU)

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