Haarlem enters the top ten of major cities for garden tile removal

Haarlem has achieved a top-ten placement among large municipalities in the annual Dutch NK Tegelwippen competition, which encourages residents and organizations to replace pavement tiles with greenery. This year, the city removed 104,354 tiles, averaging 618 tiles per 1,000 residents, securing the ninth spot on the national ranking for large municipalities. This marks an improvement from last year when the city ranked 13th, and represents a significant increase in total tiles removed compared to the previous cycle. Within the province of Noord-Holland, Haarlem holds second place among 26 participating municipalities. The initiative resulted in approximately 9,500 square meters of new space for vegetation, which aids in water management by allowing nearly 7.6 million liters of rainwater to soak into the soil annually rather than flowing into the sewer system. Promoting urban greening helps combat heat, supports biodiversity, and improves public health by reducing the prevalence of heavily paved neighborhoods in Dutch cities.