From Maartensdijk to Meerkerk and from Abcoude to Zoeterwoude: the Green Heart is a vast rural area surrounded by the largest Dutch cities. The Green Heart is home to seven hundred thousand people, surrounded by seven million more. The contrast in lifestyles is sometimes stark – city and countryside overlap, and it is this overlap that has brought prosperity to the Dutch Delta for four centuries. For city dwellers, the landscape of the Green Heart is a weekend destination; for residents, it...

The new Schiphol opened its doors in 1967. Everything had been thought out, from the runway system to the details of its interior and its now world-famous signage and lettering. The designers had carefully studied the latest developments in aviation and combined them uncompromisingly. They turned Schiphol into a textbook example of a modern airport. Schiphol is a well-oiled machine that flawlessly channels immense flows of people, planes and packages. Every effort is made to put travellers at...