The ‘Right to Plant’ : roadside tree planting in the Netherlands

The Netherlands has been celebrated for its roadside tree planting since they were incorporated in sixteenth-century landscape paintings; it is noted by seventeenth-century visitors and has continued to inspire visitors to adopt the practice elsewhere. Yet why it occurred, who was responsible for this and who were thought to benefit has rarely been discussed. The origins can be traced to an ancient feudal right, pootrecht, or Right to Plant. It also was applied differently in the various regions and was sometimes an obligation rather than a right. This chapter explores some of the policies and politics that have led to tree planting practices in the Netherlands being termed unprecedented and provides some of the most compelling examples of urban tree planting.