In times of GPS and routes calculated in seconds, a neighborhood of the coastal city of Zandvoort, the Netherlands, found an unusual way to contain mass tourism, manipulating Google Maps.
At Parkbuurt, a residential region near the beach, residents organized themselves to “close” their streets virtually, diverting the flow of visitors to other parts of the city.
The strategy explores a basic application of the application: the function of reporting traffic incidents. Alone, a warning would have no effect. But dozens of simultaneous blocking notifications convinced the system that access to the neighborhood was compromised, automatically changing the suggested routes.
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The result was immediate: fewer cars, more vacancies and a little relief for residents – at least on weekends, when the tactic is applied.
The declared objective is to press the city to adopt structural measures against excess visitors and the scarcity of parking. During the week, the neighborhood is digitally “reopened”.
Criticism and side effect
The action, however, generated negative reactions. Councilman Gert-Jan Buluijs said he was “very angry” with what he calls the “transfer of the problem” to neighboring neighborhoods, which began to receive diverted traffic.
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The city has already installed plates asking tourists to turn off Google Maps and only follow the physical signaling, as well as opening dialogue with Google to remove fake blocks.
A global phenomenon
The Dutch case adds to other episodes where navigation data manipulation had real effects. In Barcelona, a bus route was taken from Google Maps to contain tourist overcrowding, improving one line but overloading others.
In Germany, fake highway block alerts have created real traffic jams. And in the Netherlands herself, near the Keukenhof tulip gardens, residents had already used similar tactic to reduce the circulation of visitors.
