Development Company Zeestad is investigating – through a unique collaboration between the municipality of Den Helder, Housing Foundation Den Helder/Helder Vastgoed, and the Hollands Noorderkwartier Water Board – whether the sea dike can already be reinforced, raised, and widened to build a new urban district in the dike area between Postbrug and the Weststraat intersection. This creates a connection between Den Helder and the sea and ensures water safety far into the future. It makes Den Helder a 'City by the Sea' once again.
This concerns a plan unique to the Netherlands, addressing both climate change and rising sea levels, as well as the great need for new homes in Den Helder. The Dijkkwartier project combines both. The existing dike is being widened to ensure its safety for the next two hundred years. This widening forms the foundation for a residential area comprising rental and owner-occupied homes. This includes both social housing and mid-range rental properties. The owner-occupied homes are also being built in various price categories.
With this plan, the city's historic connection to the sea is restored, and the Kanaalweg regains its pre-war grandeur. At the time, a large part of social life took place just behind the dike, with churches, cinemas, the synagogue, and the Marine Club. Due to the war and the dike reinforcement in the late 1970s, all of that disappeared, and since then, Den Helder has retreated behind a large green wall, which became the modern dike.
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