A beloved national proverb in the Netherlands notes, "God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands"—a reference to the industrious North Sea land reclamation begun as early as the ninth century to form what now constitutes about 20 percent of that country's total territory. The country, located on a swampy delta where three of Europe's biggest rivers converge, spends heavily to maintain hundreds of miles of dikes and sand dunes to prevent land erosion.

All those years of experience may have finally paid off. Today, the Dutch affinity for taming the sea not only provides domestic wealth, it may also serve in protecting other countries' future economic survival.

The Netherlands' knowledge of marine dredging and land formation has reached its glitziest apotheosis in the formation of Dubai's coastal havens for the superrich—the series of man-made, themed archipelagos known as The World (completed this February), The Palm Jumeirah (completed in 2003), and the Palm Deira (completion expected in 2013). And these massive projects have helped to increase the fortunes of one Dutch family-run company in particular—Van Oord, which announced last month an annual net profit increase of 85 percent to 164 million euros ($260 million) in 2007.

"In the Netherlands, we have one of the world’s longest histories in fighting the sea," says Bert Groothuizen, manager of marketing and communications for Rotterdam-based Van Oord and a hydraulic engineer. Groothuizen points out that the low-lying areas east of Rotterdam contain one of the largest concentrations of marine-related businesses in the world. "The firsthand experience of those businesses, as well as the very strong educational and research institutions clustered in that area, give the Netherlands an innovation advantage," he adds.

Van Oord is one of over 11,000 Dutch companies in what is known as the Dutch "marine cluster network," which consists of equipment suppliers, vessel builders, researchers, dredgers, and marine contractors. In the $11 billion dredging market alone, approximately two thirds of which is considered open to foreign competition, 40 percent of the industry's market share is retained by just four companies from the Benelux region: Royal Boskalis Westminster, DEME Group, Jan De Nul Group, and Van Oord. And Van Oord's combined presence in both dredging and marine contracting—which generally refers to oil and gas extraction—make it one of the world’s most visible players in maritime development.

It’s an advantageous position for Van Oord: While one area of the business develops equipment and techniques to draw out Earth's remaining fossil fuels, which is said to cause global warming and therefore land erosion, the other part of the business is proffering services in coastal reclamation. So is it a hedge for or against global warming? Groothuizen acknowledges the dynamic, but he says it was not a deliberate strategy.

In places like Dubai, the potential for tourism dollars is driving the growth of reclamation projects, as the emirate ponders a future where oil revenues may not be quite so free flowing.

"The success of the projects in Dubai and the way they were put together opened the eyes of a lot of other countries in that region," says Groothuizen, while noting that port and harbor expansion, especially in burgeoning economic areas like China and India, is the biggest short-term growth driver in marine development.

Van Oord’s 2008 slate of projects includes a mix of old and new contracts, including the expansion of the Rotterdam harbor and ports, known as the Maasvlakte 2 project, on which they are collaborating with their competitor Royal Boskalis Westminster.  

Projecting further ahead, coastal development and defense, necessitated by population growth, increasing scarcity of resources, and global warming, will likely compete with port expansion as a leading revenue source for companies like Van Oord.

With most of the world's population living in coastal cities, land shortages 40 years from now may make the current Manhattan moans about lack of housing sound comparatively feeble. Add rising seas to the mix, and you've got a scenario that should set Wall Street moguls, ensconced in their glass-front river-view condos, wondering whether New York (and London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mumbai, and a host of other cities) has had conversations with companies located in its former colonizer.

Perhaps now is the time to reconsider that Frank Gehry triplex on the Hudson in favor of a quiet canal house in Amsterdam.