On the internet and in libraries, a plethora of information on polders can be found. Here's a small selection made by the exhibition's curator Linda Vlassenrood.

Polder Web Links

• Polder Tours (Dutch only)
• Polder Survival (Dutch only)
• Another Polder Quiz (Dutch only)
• Friends of the Earth Netherlands / Milieudefensie
• Official Watermanagement in the Netherlands (Dutch only)

Polder Publications

This list is a selection of publications dealing with the history and development of Dutch polder areas, and all factors that influenced those areas. The publications can all be examined in the NAI's reading room.

Nederland als kunstwerk : vijf eeuwen bouwen door ingenieurs
Toon Lauwen ; met bijdr. van Rob Dettingmeijer ... [et al.] ; red. Tjeerd Boersma. - Rotterdam : NAi Uitgevers, 1995. - 280 p. : foto's, ill., krt. ; 31 cm

The work of art to which the title ("the Netherlands as a work of art") refers is the sum of the modifications that have artificially affected the Netherlands over the past five hundred years, such as engineering works, defense works, defensive floodings, polders and harbors. Rather than presenting a list of technical innovations, the book focuses primarily on the economic, cultural and social support through which those innovations are made possible.
Besides discussing the subjects thematically and chronologically, this catalogue of the exhibition "The Netherlands as art of construction. Five centuries of engineering", which was on show at the NAI from May 27 until September 25, 1995, also devotes space to a number of separate contributions in which researchers examine the designing and planning aspects of some of the modifications in more detail. In this connection, the Beemster polder, "an arena of nature, art and technology", is analyzed as a typically Dutch example of the transformation of a natural landscape into a cultural landscape.

Het lege land : de ruimtelijke orde van Nederland 1798-1848
Auke van der Woud. - 4e dr. - Amsterdam [etc.] : Contact, 1998. - 686 p. ; 22 cm

This classic volume describes the Netherlands of the early 19th century: a country in which large areas were still wild and uninhabitable. Besides addressing developments in water management, architecture and urban planning, the book also discusses many other aspects such as medical, social, demographic and economic history. The reasoning is that the history of the landscape is inextricably interwoven with that of the people who formed it. This book was allegedly an important source of inspiration for Geert Mak's bestseller Hoe God verdween uit Jorwerd.

Het landschap van de IJsselmeerpolders : planning, inrichting en vormgeving
Zef Hemel ; inl. Manfred Bock. - Rotterdam : NAi Uitgevers ; Den Haag : EFL Stichting, 1994. - 322 p. : ill., krt., foto's ; 30 cm. - (Cornelis van Eesteren architect urbanist ; dl. IV)

The planning, layout and design of the IJsselmeer polders is one of the highlights of the history of Dutch spatial planning. What began as a purely civil engineering project grew into a complex enterprise in which guidelines were laid down for living, working, recreation and traffic. This book describes the history of the polders from the point of view of urban design. Rather than focusing on the authorities responsible, the author analyses the role of Cornelis van Eesteren as the designer in the dialogue between the civil service machine and urban designers, landscape architects, and monument and environmental conservationists.

Het ontworpen landschap der Zuiderzeepolders : analyse van de betekenis van boerenerven en wegbeplantingen'
Yttje Feddes. In: OASE 2004, nr. 63, p. 62-77.

This installment of OASE focuses on the transformation of the rural countryside of the Low Countries. The culture and the appearance will change drastically in the coming years, owing principally to the developments in agriculture. Feddes's article refers back to the past and deals with the Zuiderzee projects, which are part of the long tradition of dike building and land reclamation. Between 1930 and 1970, the draining en laying out of four polders yielded around 160,000 hectares of new land. With its scale and with the central direction by the national government, this project is unique in the history of land development.

In praise of common sense : planning the ordinary : a physical planning history of the new towns in the IJsselmeerpolders
Coen van der Wal. - Rotterdam : Uitgeverij 010, 1997. - 288 p. : ill., plgr. ; 30 cm

In praise of common sense describes the history of the design of the new areas in what is now the IJsselmeer - the Wieringermeer, the Noordoost polder, Eastern and Southern Flevoland - from 1920 onward. A substantial part of the book is devoted to the planning of more than twenty towns in those polders, from Slootdorp to Zeewolde, with particular attention for the histories of Lelystad and Almere.

Geschiedenis van de kartografie van Nederland : zes eeuwen land- en zeekaarten en stadsplattegronden
C. Koeman. - Alphen a/d Rijn : Canaletto, 1983. - 274, [8] p. : ill., krt. ; 33 cm

Dutch ports on a Catalan world map from 1375, two large lakes in Holland on a manuscript of a map by Ptolemy from before 1480 and printed coastal profiles from the early 16th century; this book does not contain the history of Dutch cartography, but the cartography of the Netherlands: measuring and mapping Dutch territory. One of the chapters in the book is devoted to polder and water board maps; the 17th-century polders and reclaimed land featured prominently in the development of the geographic mapping of the Netherlands, since polder maps were the first functional maps that had to be drawn on a large scale.

In 't land van belofte : in de nieuwe stadt : in de nieue stadt : ideaal en werkelijkheid van de stadsuitleg in de Republiek 1580-1680
Ed Taverne. - Maarssen : Schwartz, 1978. - 582 p. : ill., krt. ; 21 cm

"In the promised land: in the new town: in the new town": these words show the high expectations that residents of Holland's overcrowded towns cherished toward expansion of their towns. This book is a first attempt to describe the reality of towns in the Republic using sources; documents concerning the planning, layout and design of new town districts. The history of the urban extension is described using detailed studies of Amsterdam, Leiden, Utrecht and Haarlem. These show that expansions were realized piecemeal, mostly at the urging of property developers, without the town governments making any decisions about long-term plans.

Leefbaar laagland : geschiedenis van de waterbeheersing en landaanwinning in Nederland
onder red. van G.P. van de Ven. - Utrecht : Matrijs, 1993. - 304 p. : ill., krt. ; 30 cm

Beautifully illustrated and easy-to-read history of the Dutch water control and land reclamation, focusing on the Middle Ages, the 17th-century reclamation works, the increase in scale after 1800, the draining of the IJsselmeer polders, the Delta project, floods and the large-scale projects for improving the river embankments.

Het landschap van de IJsselmeerpolders / Koos Bosma en Gerrie Andela. In: Het Nieuwe Bouwen : Amsterdam 1920-1960
[red. Koos Bosma ... et al. ; teksten Gerrie Andela ... et al.]. - Delft : DUP ; Amsterdam : Stedelijk Museum, 1983. - 176 p. : ill., foto's, krt., plgr., tek. ; 28 cm. p. 142-175

The focal point of this contribution about the IJsselmeer polders in a book about Amsterdam's Nieuwe Bouwen movement is an in-depth study of Amsterdam's role in the creation of the polders. There have been a number of occasions on which Amsterdam was involved in the planning process of the polders, either asked or unasked, but mostly it is a tale of missed opportunities in which Amsterdam played a secondary and mostly indecisive part. Until far into the 1950s, people believed firmly in Amsterdam's General Expansion Plan, convinced that it was sufficient to handle all increases in the city's population.