The Hague and other cities
The Hague is one of the greenest cities in the Netherlands. Old forests and parks cross the urban structure. On the west-side the beach and dune area border the city. The reason is simple. Although The Hague is the seat of the government it was never allowed city rights and therefore was never allowed to build city walls. Where other cities had to squeez in the narrow space within the walls, The Hague could build spaciously. So a tradition arose of wealthy people creating their own gardens of eden. In the 20th century all of these gardens became public and an attentive policy prevented the parks from being redeveloped for housing.