New Land in the Water: Economically and Socially, Land Reclamation Pays 3 RENÉ KOLMAN NEW LAND IN THE WATER: ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY, LAND RECLAMATION PAYS ABSTRACT areas must fulfil specific technical and are available throughout the interiors of many maritime requirements. When they do, land countries, the same rule that applied in the Port cities and other coastal areas are centres of reclamation can be prepared in a way that ancient times when people settled near seas, economic activity and act as motors for national preserves the maritime environment while oceans and rivers, applies now: Coastal areas prosperity. They are magnets for people from providing new living and working spaces. attract people. Today about half the world’s surrounding, often rural, areas who seek jobs The article will demonstrate through a case population lives within 100 km of water. and want to share in the prosperity. This is study that reclamation is a viable solution And this trend continues to grow. Eight of true both in the developed world and in for seawards expansion. Early contractor the largest ten cities are along a coast and economically emerging nations. The United involvement, stakeholder involvement, urbanisation is evident around the world. Nations foresee a population growth up to environmental monitoring and the business The demand for additional land for housing, 9 billion people in 2050 of which the majority case itself will be addressed. industry and recreation along the coasts is will live in coastal zones. Adding population becoming steadily more acute. If cities can’t growth to the trend of migration from rural This article was originally published as an grow outward, they grow upwards resulting to urban areas means port cities face an Internet contribution for the AIVP “13th World in more congestion in terms of industry, roads enormous challenge to accommodate Conference Cities and Ports” and can be and demand for services. everyone in terms of housing, employment, found at http://www.citiesandports2012.com education, recreation and transport. or http://www.aivp.org. It is published here While this trend might have at one time with permission in a slightly adapted version. seemed insurmountable, from the 1970s More people create more economic activity, onwards the dredging industry has developed which attracts more people, which creates more new technologies for creating new land in the economic activity. For governing authorities INTRODUCTION water. As a result, “buying” new land by this self-perpetuating process is an enormous “making” it through reclamation is turning challenge. Often natural geographic limitations In 2005 the global population was 6 billion. out to be less expensive than developing old – such as mountains, rivers or deserts – prevent The United Nations predicts that by 2050 it land. The old adage, “Buy land – they’re not expansion into the hinterland. How do we will grow to 9 billion. While vast areas of land making it any more” is no longer true. meet this challenge? How do we create space to accommodate growing populations? Above: The IJburg land reclamation in Amsterdam, PIONEERS IN LAND RECLAMATION The Netherlands will result in almost 20,000 new The first major land reclamations were done in Land reclamation – making new land in the residences built in IJmeer (a lake). Urban areas and port the 1970s, when the Port of Rotterdam in the sea – can be the answer. To expand in the cities have always been a magnet for populations as they Netherlands was extended with sand suppletion direction of the sea, port cities and coastal provide work opportunities as well as water for recreation. from the sea with the first Maasvlakte reclama- 4 Terra et Aqua | Number 128 | September 2012 Figure 1. The first Maasvlakte expansion in the 1970s (left) was followed by the 2nd Maasvlakte expansion programme which is presently being executed. tion (Figure 1). This extension allowed the port 24 hours a day. Reclamation is the highly NEW TECHNOLOGY MAKES LAND to continue to develop and to accommodate populated island state has continued through RECLAMATION POSSIBLE more ships and it helped Europoort to add the 1980s, 1990s to the present. Hong Kong’s Expansion into the sea is not just for airports. container terminals and become the largest in Chek Lap Kok airport is now legendary for the In the 1970s and ‘80s, land reclamation projects Europe at the time, providing jobs and skill and speed with which it was built – continued to increase. In Japan, near Kawasaki stimulating the economy without infringing replacing the old airport that had passengers in Tokyo Bay land was developed for industrial upon an already congested city. holding their breaths as they cruised in to land estates where for the first time sand was between skyscrapers (Figure 2). extracted from the seabed from depths that This was the start of the modern era of land exceeded 80 metres. This was made possible by reclamation which rapidly spread around the But elsewhere airports were also being built a deep-suction dredging technique that opened world. In 1975 the government of Singapore on reclaimed land – in Brisbane and Sydney, up possibilities for large-scale reclamation. decided to build a new airport on the eastern Australia (Figure 3), and Kansai airport near Jurong and Tuas along the coast of Singapore, tip of Singapore. The now famous Changi Osaka, Japan (Figure 2). This trend has Keelung and Yun Lin in Taiwan, and big parts airport was built with over 40 million cubic continued in the 21st century with projects of Hong Kong like Penny’s Bay have benefitted metres of sand reclaimed from the seabed, such as the New Doha International Airport in from the large-scale applications of the using 7 cutter suction dredgers working Qatar (Figure 3). centrifugal pump and the ever-increasing size Figure 2. Far eastern airports in the sea include from left to right: Singapore’s Changi (where vertical drains were used to expedite subsoil consolidation), Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok (where a natural habitat was preserved and integrated into the land reclamation) and Japan’s Kansai airport (the 2nd phase expansion is shown here). New Land in the Water: Economically and Socially, Land Reclamation Pays 5 RENÉ KOLMAN is Secretary General of the International Association of Dredging Companies, the umbrella organisation for the world-wide private dredging industry. He studied at the Nautical School in Rotterdam and holds a degree in Economics from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Before coming to IADC, He was Deputy Credit: Jim Wilson Managing Director of the Dutch Landscaping Contractors Association. As Secretary General, he takes a leading role in promoting the industry’s longstanding commitment to innovation and sustainability. Figure 3. Left, Sydney, Australia’s third runway being built on reclaimed land in the 1990s and right, the New Doha International Airport, Qatar in 2004. of dredging ships, which takes advantage of Beach nourishment has long been seen as a replenished each year and the coastlines of economies of scale. necessity for coastal protection, but nowadays India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia have been it is also a form of extending living and restored after the tsunami. The coasts of the In the waters near Amsterdam, the Netherlands recreational possibilities. These improve the Netherlands and Belgium are also replenished new land was created called IJburg, which quality of life for millions of people. Australia’s annually and new projects such as the combined land reclamation and new techniques coastline and fine beaches are an essential Flanders Bays and EcoShape / Building with to build land for residential areas that are part of the allure of Australia – for its own Nature programmes initiated in those now thriving (see opening photo). Even in population as well as millions of tourists each countries are researching more sustainable the Maldives, new land has been claimed year. systems of maintaining these beaches such as from the sea to build a new island called the ‘sand motor’ (figure 6). These land Hulhumale next to Male, the country’s capital Currumbin-Tugin Beach on the Gold Coast of reclamation projects are as much for coastal (Figure 4). What motivated these reclama- Australia was in dire straits before reclamation protection as for providing more land for tions so far from each other was the same took place (Figure 5). The same can be said of overcrowded cities. challenge: crowded, overpopulated urban Spain’s Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts and areas and the availability of modern dredging many other coastal areas. The east and west Perhaps the most famous recent coastline technology. coasts of the United States are also and waterfront improvement projects for Figure 4. In the Maldives, new land has been reclaimed Figure 6. Aerial photo (June 2011) of the sand motor, from the sea to build a new island called Hulhumale a pilot project along the Dutch coast which seeks to next to Male. This has relieved some of the Figure 5. The Gold Coast of Australia before and after find more sustainable means to combine beach overcrowding on Male itself. beach restoration. replenishment and coastal protection. 6 Terra et Aqua | Number 128 | September 2012 Figure 7. Doha, Qatar (right) and Bahrein (left) have all benefited from new dredging technologies that have made land reclamation more feasible and economical. expansion purposes have taken place in the • Available construction Even when taking into account additional 21st century, centred in the Middle East, with • Availability of modern, hi-tech dredging costs for elements like shore protection, soil massive development projects. Amongst equipment (Figure 8) improvement and site preparation, the all- them, the Palm Islands near Dubai, UAE which • Production capacity of dredging equipment inclusive costs of most reclamation projects through land reclamation and construction, • Quality of the contractor have remained below € 500 per square has increased Dubai’s coastline with some • Early contractor involvement and partnering metre.