Uploaded on 2014-12-05 by RoserIgual

In Netherlands water and lands are two elements that come always together, transforming between them into stocks and flows. The water is retained by the dams (photo 1, Maeslantkering, Rotterdam, The Netherlands ), which are already part of the architectural landscape. Few times a year, the water flows through the channels changing the standing water for a cleaner one. Sometimes for creating all the water systems, they need to remove part of the land (photo 2, lands in Rotterdam, The Netherlands ), then the sand becomes a flow, loaded in big barges and transported along the rivers. On the other hand, when new parts of land are needed in order to urbanize new areas of the city, the sand is taken from one part of the country and placed in a wet area creating a suitable plot for construction. After that, tihs sand will be compacted and will become a new stock in the country. The last one is the port goods. Rotterdam is known because it has the biggest ports in the world (photo 3, Rotterdam port, The Netherlands ), and therefore it´s also called the Gateway to Europe. Constantly, there are flows of materials, food, people…. Sometimes, this goods only pass by the port and go to another country. This case will rarely be considerated as a stock, only when the goods have to been kept during a long time for inspections. I personally think that the Netherlands is a really good example of how a country can use natural and local sources, trasnforming and moving them depending on their needs. Maybe it would be something to think about it the fact that they could intensify the use of the existing lands, in order to make new dry areas, saving a lot of effort and money. The port will continue as the main machine that keeps the stocks and flows moving. It will be, therefore, important to use it in a good and sustainable way. ![water, sand and port goods][1] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14177798679421838.jpg