Photos

There are over 10.000 houseboats in Holland. Around 2500 lies flat in the canals
or outskirts of Amsterdam. There are real barges, turned into real homes and
modern houseboats, made on floating material like concrete.

The policy of the Amsterdam city council is to stimulate the boat owners to keep
historical ships (barges) in the canals of the city centre and not replace them for
new houseboats built on concrete. That leads sometimes to discussions,
because the boats are privately owned and it is very expensive to keep the boats
in capital condition.
The first barges who find landing stages into the canals, were privately owned by
retired shippers. Holland has a long history of transportation of goods over the
water. Lots of artists and young people were attract by this way of living, it was
a perfect alternative for the citizens, who didn't want to confirm themselves to
basic homes, all the same, in the outskirts of Amsterdam. Houseboats have one
thing in common: they are never the same! Besides that, Amsterdam is very full
and there are not enough houses for everyone, especial not in the city centre
which is much smaller then London, Paris or Rome.