Water Hectare Stad is a vision of 'Building with Water' in the outlying areas around Gouda. The ambition of Water Hectare Stad lies in making a sustainable balance between new exclusive forms of living with agricultural gardens in the middle of a special, water-rich landscape.

The basis for the development is the introduction of small-scale hydroponic plots of approximately one hectare on which large homes are situated. The agricultural landscape will change under the influence of climate changes, soil settlement and salinisation. Dynamically managing the natural variation in the subsoil and the water level that has been produced offers the opportunity to grow an enormous diversity of crops. Pond plots where watercress and water mint can be grown, but also freshwater fish can be grown. Cascade plots with rice and local 'wetland' plots on saline seepage water with sea lavender and samphire.

The term Waterstad, for example, is taking on a new meaning in the form of a 21st-century variant of the ring of water-bound country estates around Gouda, and it can once again rightly call itself the gateway to the Green Heart.