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AmsterdamPLAN01|2011

Economically strong andsustainable Structural Vision:Amsterdam 2040

20 2604

he New Structural Vision A Spatialesponse to Social Issues

Debating the Future of AmsterdamThe Making of the Structural Vision

The Implementation Agenda andInstruments Handles for realizingAmbitions


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This editions authors:

Conny Lauwers

Barbara Ponteyn

Koos van Zanen

inographic Schematicrendering o the our majorthrusts described in theStructural Vision.

map The ideal public transportnetwork post 2030.Map: DRO

existing rail networkexisting HQPTconnections

new HQPT connectionstranser station

1 RER rapid-transit optionusing existing track

2 East/West metro lineoption

Rolling out the city centre Waterront developments The southern fank Metropolitan landscape


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Credits

PLAN Amsterdam is published by

the Department o Physical Planning

(Dienst Ruimtelijke Ordening, or DRO)

and provides inormation about spatial

developments in the city and across the

region in eight thematic issues per year.

The DRO is one o the City o Amster-

dams centralized services and ensures

the cohesive spatial development o

city and region.The DRO is a member o the City o

Amsterdams Development Alliance,

a platorm in which it collaborates

intensively with the departments o

Inrastructure, Trac and Transport and

o Economic Aairs, the Amsterdam

Development Corporation, the Project

Management Bureau and the Enginee-

ring Bureau.

Editing and coordination

Karin Borst

Design

Beukers Scholma, Haarlem

Main cover image/maps

DRO, Wouter van der Veur, Joris Vos,

Bart de Vries, unless stated otherwise

otherwise

Translation

Andrew May

Lithography and printingZwaan Printmedia, Wormerveer

This publication has been prepared with

the greatest possible care. The DRO

cannot, however, accept any liability or

the correctness and completeness o the

inormation it contains. In the event o

credits or visual materials being incor-

rect or i you have any other questions,

please contact the editors: plan-

[email protected] or

tel. +31 (0)20 552 7765. You can request

a ree subscription by sending an e-mail

to [email protected].

Volume 17, no. 1, March 2011

The magazine can also be down-

loaded rom

www.dro.amsterdam.nl

This edition o Plan Amsterdam isavailable in Dutch as well.

The Structural Vision is a ramework o analysis or

spatial plans and provides the basis or setting the

citys investment agendas, but rst and oremost the

Structural Vision is a visionary scenario or the uture.

In the Structural Vision, Amsterdam City Council sets

out its ambitions or the period 2010 to 2040.

Amsterdam has deliberately opted or densicationo the city centre. The city has not chosen or growth

by increasing its surace area but or intensication

o the existing urban territory and or transormation

o business zones. By building 70,000 new dwellings

with accompanying amenities within the citys existing

boundaries we can expand the city centre milieu that

makes the city so attractive. That is only easible i we

simultaneously invest in the public space, public trans-

port and greenery. People want to live in Amsterdam

because o its combination o metropolitan bustle and

large expanses o greenery within a short distance o

each other. That is our strength, with which we draw in

residents and business enterprises.

In the Structural Vision, Amsterdam emphatically

looks beyond its borders. Problems, challenges and

opportunities present themselves on the scale o the

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, so the Vision Map

covers the whole territory between Zandvoort, Purme-

rend, Almere and Haarlemmermeer. This is the region

that must operate as an economically robust entity on

the European and international stage, in order to be

able to compete with, or example, the Ruhr Area.

Amsterdam is the core city within this region and its

showpiece.

During the Structural Visions ormulation, as many

people and organizations as possible were encour-

aged to share their thoughts, using such means as

the internet campaign and the extended series o

challenging public discussions. All the municipal

departments concerned with spatial development

contributed to the denitive version o the document,

making this vision a product that can truly be said

to belong to the whole city.

The Structural Vision outlines the ambition or the long

term, which is why the vision must be continuously

readjusted in the light o current events, such as the

economic crisis. Or, indeed, quite the contrary: inturbulent times, the vision or the uture must provide

a ramework o analysis to determine the plans that

ought to be executed and those that are o secondary

importance. The vision or the uture should not be

swayed by the issues o the day; it must map out how

we respond to them. Only then can Amsterdam

become both economically strong and sustainable.

Maarten van Poelgeest

Alderman or Spatial Planning

01 |2011

A visionary scenario orthe uture, a ramework oanalysis or today

03


4/32PLANAmsterdam

The New

Structural VisionA spatial response tosocial issues

The complexity o urban development means itis no longer possible to make do with blueprint

planning; certainties that stem rom them have

long been lacking in credibility. The Amsterdam

Structural Vision must seduce and convince with

a coherent narrative, a story in which the social

benet o spatial interventions is explained and

justied in terms that are as clear as crystal.

04

by Koos van Zanen [email protected]

The Structural Vision: Amsterdam 2040 carries

orward the citys long tradition o spatial structuralplanning, yet on important points the new Structural

Vision diverges rom previous structural plans, both

in substance and in orm. The emphasis has shited

to the vision or the city, while the spatial elaboration,

in policy and regulations, primarily plays a comple-

mentary role.

Spatial plans usually excel in their indication owhat

must happen and where, but spatial ambitions are not

an end in themselves; they emanate rom social needs

and concerns. In the Structural Vision the interventions

are constantly subjected to questions, such as Butwhy ...? and Then how ...?Breadth o support makes

or breaks a structural vision; i it were a paper tiger it

would soon disappear into a bottom drawer, and that

is hardly the intention.

The city-dweller and the everyday environ-ment are keyIn the lead-up to the Structural Vision, the arguments

or the spatial ambitions were laid down in two


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1 A bridge leading to De Kasrestaurant in Park Frankendael,with the high-rise cluster nearthe Amstel Station in the back-ground.Photo: Edwin van Eis

>

0501 |2011

documents: a Memorandum o Starting Points

(Vertrekpuntennotitie) and The Pillars (De Pijlers).

The Structural Visions subtitle and motto Amster-

dam: Economically strong and sustainable is the

brieest possible encapsulation o these documents.

By ocusing on the economy and sustainability,

Amsterdam can continue developing into an attractive

metropolis where people will also be able to reside,

work and spend leisure time comortably in 2040.The city-dwellers and their everyday environment

thereore take centre stage in the Structural Vision.

Decline and growthAter a long period o suburbanization which began

in the late 1980s, cities around the world have once

again become popular and have been growing again.

The countryside, by contrast, is aced with shrinking

populations. By and large, the urther away rom the

city, the more marked the decline. The countryside

o the ormer East Germany is emptying rapidly, while

Berlin is growing. In the Netherlands there is already

a considerable decline in the countrys periphery,

or example in Zeeland, South Limburg and East

Groningen, while Amsterdam is growing.

It is hardly, or that matter, as i every city can boast

that it is growing. Besides the dividing line between

city and countryside there is another division runningbetween cities that count and those that have allen

out o avour. Amsterdam can count itsel among

the ormer category. The spatial development o the

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area is to a large extent

determined by this phenomenon o growth and

contraction and by the increasingly knowledge-driven

economy that underpins this. Amsterdam is expecting

an additional 100,000 to 150,000 inhabitants between

now and 2040.

Breadth o support makes or breaks a

structural vision; i it were a paper tiger

it would soon disappear into a bottom

drawer, and that is hardly the intention.


6/32PLANAmsterdam06

Economically strong and sustainableThere is a broadly shared view that Amsterdam must

position itsel robustly in the changing economic world

order. Maintaining the welare and prosperity oAmsterdams residents is paramount. The starting

points or Amsterdam are avourable. Major cities are

in any case aring well in an economy that is becoming

increasingly reliant on knowledge, but by no means

are all large cities capitalizing on the knowledge

economy: people are drawn to cities where lie is

good. Amsterdam attracts people with its ree-

thinking image, its historical city centre, the abun-

dance o amenities, the many economic opportunities,

the water and the greenery. Amsterdam boasts a

diverse and relatively young population, which

increases its magnetic pull even urther. Scores o

enterprises are establishing operations in Amsterdambecause they are heavily dependent on the supply

o highly educated proessionals the human capital.

The quality o lie in the city has thus become an

important economic actor. All in all, Amsterdam holds

the trump cards to remain economically robust.

In order to actually bring these trump cards into play,

Amsterdam must nevertheless continue to work hard

on the quality o the living environment in the city.

This primarily revolves around sustainability, in all its

acets. The term sustainable is usually associated with

climatological and environmental actors and that is

certainly the case in the Structural Vision, but sustain-

ability is also relevant to other matters. A public space

which has a high-quality design and use o materials

will provide you with more pleasure and will be moredurable. Many neighbourhoods and buildings that are

technically speaking out o date prove to be o great

signicance or the city. Because o their specic

character, experiential value and adaptability they are

extraordinarily popular with the modern urbanite.

Properties and neighbourhoods rom a distant past

can in that sense be termed sustainable.

Yet the essence o sustainability still involves the

environment: in order to be a sustainable city we must

be prepared or climate change: the air, soil and water

must become cleaner; the city will be rendered quieter

and more energy-ecient. Amsterdam is thereore

switching to sustainable energy sources and land willbe used more intensively.

Economic development and sustainability have or

many years no longer been regarded as each others

counterpoles, but quite the contrary: they are increas-

ingly becoming extensions o one another. Clean air,

properties ull o character and an attractive, green

public space are all aspects with which the city can

secure the loyalty o people and businesses. Investing

in sustainability is thereore tantamount to investing

in the economy.

The core city o the metropolitan areaTo quote the axiomatic ambition o the Structural

Vision, Amsterdam continues to develop urther as

the core city o an internationally competitive and

sustainable European metropolis.This has its roots in

the Development Scenario or the Amsterdam Metro-

politan Area in 2040 (Ontwikkelingsbeeld 2040 voor

de Metropoolregio Amsterdam), in which the regions

municipalities jointly stated the ambition to oster the

growth o Amsterdam and environs into a metropolis.

2 Buildings at the Kastanjepleinin Amsterdam-East, that arepopular with the modern city-resident because o their specic-character and experientialvalue.Photo: Koos van Zanen

2

Clean air, properties ull o character and an

attractive, green public space are all aspects

with which the city can secure the loyalty o

people and businesses.


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3 Amsterdam MetropolitanArea Development Scenario or2040.Map: Johan Karst (DRO)

urban transormationuitbreiding stedelijkgebiedrural living environmentocesbusiness parks/industrialzones

horticulture under glasscreative businessesknowledge hub

@ Science Park/AmsterdamInternet Exchangemotorwaypark & rideregional railwayregional bus routehigh-speed trainerry - pedestrians/cyclists

waterwayexpansion o waterstoragecompartmentalization dike

0701 |2011

>

The area in question, with 2.2 million inhabitants at

present and a projected 2.5 million in 2040, boaststhe scale and diversity that are necessary to remain

competitive internationally. The North Sea beaches

o Zandvoort, the amily houses in Purmerend to

the north, Schiphol Airport and the open water o

the IJmeer lake all these are aspects that make

Amsterdam a ully fedged metropolis and mean that

our city has become greater than the space within its

own boundaries: Amsterdam is the central city, the

core city, in the metropolitan area, and the Structural

Vision: Amsterdam 2040 has been written rom this

perspective.

Seven spatial tasksWhat does Amsterdam have to do in order to become

economically strong and sustainable and ully able to

pull its weight in the metropolitan context? In short,

to live up to the motto and ambition? The Structural

Vision places the emphasis on seven spatial tasks that

are decisive or the Dutch capitals developmental

direction thrust:

3


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4 Structural Vision:Amsterdam 2040

Waterrontlive/work mixwork/live mixworkprojects in planning stageor recently completed

Roll-out o centrelive/work mix

work/live mixlimited qualitative impulseor major streets andsquaresqualitative impulse ormajor streetsqualitative impulse orsquaresFormer naval basequalitative impulse or acity park

Southern fankZuidaslive/work mixwork/live mixworkprojects in planning stageor recently completed

Metropolitan landscapeAmstel WedgeAmsterdamse Bos WedgeGardens o West

Bretten ZoneZaan WedgeWaterlandDiemen WedgeIJmeer Wedge

Generalaboveground expansion omotorway capacityunderground expansion omotorway capacityhigh-speed railway lineaboveground HQPT (bus/tram/metro)underground HQPT (bus/tram/metro)international publictransport hub


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main public transport hubsecondary public transporthub

1 Schiphol/Almere Regiorailoption

2 East/West metro lineoptionnew erry linkunderground connection**P+R acilitysea lock2nd ocean liner terminal

temporary berths orinland shippingintensication o RAIprecinctshigh-class retail areaintensication o porturban support enterprisesqualitative impulse orborough centremarinapossible zone or portexpansion

water- or groundwater-related project2nd Schiphol Airportterminal

A/B option or OlympicGames sitestudy area*regional cycle routeDeence Line oAmsterdambeachmetropolitan place

recreational programmeproposed naturedevelopmentwaterside developmentqualitative impulse or acity/wedge transitionSports AxisCompass Island andcycle bridge

* For the Port-City study areathis map presents Scenario 3,

with the exception of Buiksloter-ham. Future studies could resultin adaptations anywhere in thePort-City study area.Potential developments on thesouthern shores of the Gaasper-plas lake were investigated in theGaasperdam Reconnaissance.** If the Port-City plans revealthat a connection is necessary,then this will be realized as atunnel.

03 |2010 9


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1 Densiy

More intensive use o the space in the city will make

it possible to accommodate many more people and

businesses. This increases the customer base or

amenities, which makes it possible to manage energy

and transportation more eciently and removes

the need to inringe upon the landscape. In concrete

terms it means that an additional 70,000 dwellings

will be realized between now and 2040, with the

corresponding amenities such as schools, shops andsports acilities. These amenities include services

and maintenance, enterprises such as plumbers or

garages, though this kind o business activity is

increasingly being elbowed out rom the area within

the A10 orbital motorway. The Structural Vision

includes measures to retain such enterprises within

the ringroad.

The business parks within the city and the port

area will also be used more intensively: more produc-

tive foor space and jobs per hectare. In addition,

more high-rise development will be employed in

Amsterdam, or example along the A10 ringroad and

near public transport hubs. There will also be eortsto nd space below ground.

2 Transorm

As a component o densication, various mono-

unctional business parks will be transormed into

areas with an urban mix o residential and business

unctions, in which the promising knowledge-intensive

sectors will play an ever greater role. The prime

candidates or this are the industrial sites alongside

the IJ waterway. The greatest transormation task is

the Port-City project the section o the port complex

that lies within the A10 ringroad. Ater 2030 it will

be possible to realize between 13,000 and 19,000dwellings there, mixed with businesses and amenities.

3 Public transport on the regional scale

A region that wants to unction as a metropolis cannot

do this without ast, requent and comortable public

transport on the regional scale; people must be able

to travel switly and without problems rom Zaandam

to Amstelveen or rom Schiphol Airport to Almere,

by means o regional trains, metro or rapid bus

connections. At the moment a number o important

links in this regional public transport system are

lacking. In the period through to 2040 the necessary

network-wide leap must be achieved, including the

extension o the metros orbital line into Amsterdam-

North, the linking o the Westpoort harbour complex

with Schiphol Airport via a dedicated bus lane and

the upgrading o the Amstelveen Line into a ully

fedged metro service. In addition, a seamless transer

between car and public transport will become possibleat a greater number o points than is currently the

case, by means o the creation o additional P+R

acilities around the A10 ringroad and in the region,

as well as other measures.

4 High-quality layout o public space

The quality o lie in the city is becoming increasingly

important, and along with this the layout and the use

o the public domain. Within the A10 ringroad in

particular, the pressure on public space is great.

Amsterdams streets, squares and waterside embank-

ments must thereore meet high design standards in

their layout. More space will be set aside or cyclistsand pedestrians, which sometimes means less space

or motorized trac, though this does not herald the

disappearance o cars rom the city. The major streets,

those thoroughares that unction as high streets,

where the majority o amenities are concentrated

and where there is usually plenty o passing trac,

such as the Bilderdijkstraat, the Middenweg and the

Beethovenstraat, deserve special attention. The social

atmosphere in the major streets will be urther

improved by increasing the quality and diversity o the

shops and ood services and by reurbishing edices

and street-level rontages.

5 Invest in the recreational use o green space

and water

The use o the green spaces and water in and around

the city is increasing and ulls an increasingly

important role in the welare o Amsterdams

inhabitants and as a precondition or businesses to

establish themselves here. It has thereore become an

important economic actor. Besides being attractive,

the greenery and water must also be accessible and

PLANAmsterdam10

A region that wants to unction as a metropolis

cannot do this without ast, requent and

comortable public transport on the regional

scale.


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usable or recreational purposes, which are aspects in

which they sometimes alls short. The improvement is

oten a question o airly minimal spatial interventions,

such as the laying o missing links in the recreational

cycle network, as on the route between Amsterdam

and Muiden, or opening a teahouse in a park.

This could, or example, augment the quality o the

Rembrandtpark, the Vliegenbos woodland area, the

Flevopark and the environs o the Sloterplas lake.

Extra marinas are planned on the IJ waterway or

recreational cruising and the sailing possibilities or

sloops in and around the city will be expanded.

6 Converting to sustainable energy

At some point ossil uels will be exhausted. The city

must be ready or the post-ossil uel era. Amsterdam

must thereore become more energy-efcient. A big

step can be made by rendering the existing housing

a b c

>

1101 |2011

On the cover o the Structural Vision there is amap o the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area in

the year 2040. This map stands out in the series

o maps rom the structural plans o previous

decades. It is colourul and lively, and by

comparison with its predecessors looks slightly

less clinical. What are the key dierences?

The most striking dierence is undoubtedly the

raming. While the maps in previous structural

plans were exclusively ocused on Amsterdams

municipal territory, the new Structural Vision map

is about the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.

This new outlook on Amsterdam as the core city o

the much larger metropolitan region results in aslight tilting o the Structural Visions maps, so that

all the municipalities are properly in the picture.

This broadening o the outlook is not the only

thing that has changed. The most important map

in previous structural plans was always the Plan

Map, in which Amsterdam was depicted in large

coloured panels that indicated the unctions o the

various areas. The zoning plans o city boroughs

were appraised against that plan map. The mostimportant map in the new Structural Vision is

the vision map. Instead o large panels it uses

subtle shadings that indicate the most important

developmental thrusts in the metropolitan area.

The map dovetails with the new philosophy o

the Structural Vision and tells a story. The map is

the composite representation o the our thrusts:

the rolling out o the city centre, the renewed

interest in the waterront, the economic dynamism

o the southern fank and the increasingly

interwoven urban and metropolitan landscapes.

The vision map tells at a single glance where the

dynamism is likely be highest over the comingdecades. Where possible, the narrative o the

Structural Vision is illustrated with many details,

such as the development o major streets or

qualitative impulses in public spaces.

Another change in course compared to previous

structural plans concerns the role o maps in the

Structural Visions development. Urban planners

and designers worked on the visions maps rom

day one, never approaching the task rom a singlesectoral perspective or an isolated issue but

consistently based on an integral vision or the city

and the metropolis. The maps were honed and

polished rom the very start. This means that the

maps do not illustrate just the nal conclusion

o the discussions about the citys uture, but

have chiefy served as guidance throughout the

process. Discussions were ocused more sharply

by showing where strengths lie in maps, which

also revealed where there are bottlenecks or

where conficts arise.

The City Council ratied the Structural Vision

in February 2011, so the vision map can now beregarded as an inspiring beacon or the uture.

The earlier structural plans were primarily instru-

ments o verication and the accompanying plan

maps served as a benchmark or assessment, but

the vision map serves a totally dierent purpose:

to kindle enthusiasm and stimulate by outlining an

attractive vision o the uture.

The maps tell

the story

by Wouter van der Veur

[email protected]

a Plan Map o the StructuralPlan 1985.

b Plan Map o the StructuralPlan 1996.

c Vision Map o the StructuralVision 2011.


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5 Densication: pedestrians onthe Han Lammers Bridge leadingto the recently developedWestern Dock Island (primarilyresidential).Photo: Edwin van Eis

6 Transormation: the cranewayat the ormer NDSM dry dockwas transormed into a multi-tenant oce building in 2007.

Photo: Edwin van Eis

7 Public transport on the regio-nal scale: the bus station at theBijlmer ArenA station, a transernode or various modes o trans-port.Photo: Doriann Kransberg

8 High-quality design o publicspace: the Rembrandtplein,

which was reproled in 2010.Photo: Edwin van Eis

9 Recreational use o greenspace and water: a watersportsassociations sailing dinghies onthe Sloterplas lake.Photo: Edwin van Eis

10 The switch to sustainableenergy: wind turbines,

oil depots and the typical cloud-lled skies o Holland in the Porto AmsterdamPhoto: Edwin van Eis

11 Entrance to the OlympicStadium at the Stadionplein.Photo: Edwin van Eis

1276

PLANAmsterdam


13/3203 |2010 13

9

11


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>

stock more energy-ecient, and Amsterdam has also

chosen to generate a large proportion o its energy

needs itsel, which includes the collection o solar

energy on rootops, the construction o a closed

heat-transer system in order to be able to transport

residual heat, and the installation o wind turbines.Amsterdam will also be investing in sustainable energy

generation throughout the region.

7 Olympic Games, Amsterdam 2028

The Netherlands has the ambition to host the Olympic

Games in 2028. The games are a national aair in

which Amsterdam can serve as the logo and can

provide space or the nerve centre o the games, in

the orm o the Olympic Stadium, the Olympic Village

and swimming accommodation. There are two

candidate locations or this: the Waterront (the banks

o the IJ) and Zuidas.

The our major thrustsThe seven spatial tasks are not autonomous, but

are drawn along in the wake o what the Structural

Vision terms the our major thrusts. These are robust

developmental trends which can be observed in

large sections o the city and even outside it. These

developmental trends can be decisive or the success

or ailure o an actual plan or project.

The crux is metropolitan logic: the right things in the

right place. The right plans hitch a ride with one or

more thrusts, while illogical plans battle against the

current. Conversely, the major thrusts are actualized

and reinorced by concrete plans and projects.

The our major thrusts are:1 the roll-out o the city centre;

2 the interweaving o the metropolitan landscape

and the city;

3 the rediscovery o the waterront;

4 the internationalization o the citys southern fank.

1 Rolling out the city centre

One o the spatial trends is that Amsterdams metro-

politan centre is being used more and more intensively

and is expanding ever urther. Almost all the neigh-

bourhoods within the A10 orbital motorway now

display city-centre traits. Living within the ringroad is

highly desirable, the parks in this area are attractingmore and more visitors, and or creative and knowl-

edge-based enterprises this area is the ideal business

location. The abundance and variety o amenities in

the northern part o the Pijp and Old-West neighbour-

hoods can pretty much hold their own against those in

the historical inner city. Several neighbourhoods that

were out o avour not so long ago are now being

swept onwards and upwards in this roll-out o the city

centre. For example, the Bos en Lommer and Indische

12/13 Port-City: Two scenariosor the transormation o theport area within the A10 ring-road.

workwork/live mixlive/work mixqualitative impulse or acity park

---- underground connectionindicative route or HQPT

12 13


15/321501 |2011

14 Vision or the roll-out o thecity centre in 2040

Roll-out o centrelive/work mixwork/live mixlimited qualitative impulseor major streets/squaresqualitative impulse ormajor streetsqualitative impulse orsquares

Former naval basemetropolitan parkqualitative impulse or acity park

Generalaboveground expansion omotorway capacityunderground expansion omotorway capacityaboveground HQPT (bus/tram/metro)

underground HQPT (bus/tram/metro)international publictransport hubmain public transport hubsecondary public transporthub


2 East/West metro lineoptionnew erry link

underground connection**P+R acility2nd ocean liner terminaltemporary berths orinland shippingintensication o RAIprecinctshigh-class retail areaurban support enterprises

A/B option or OlympicGames sitestudy area*

metropolitan placerecreational programmequalitative impulse or acity/wedge transitionSports AxisCompass Island

* / ** See notes on page 09.


16/3216 PLANAmsterdam

15 Vision or the metropolitanlandscape in 2040

Metropolitan landscapeAmstel WedgeAmsterdamse Bos WedgeGardens o WestBretten ZoneZaan WedgeWaterlandDiemen WedgeIJmeer Wedge

Generalregional cycle routewater- or groundwater-related projectDeence Line oAmsterdambeachmetropolitan placerecreational programmeproposed naturedevelopmentwaterside development

qualitative impulse or acity/wedge transition


17/321701 |2011

16 Vision or the southern fankin 2040

Southern fankZuidaslive/work mixwork/live mixworkprojects in planning stageor recently completedmetropolitan parkqualitative impulse or acity park

Generalaboveground expansion omotorway capacityunderground expansion omotorway capacityhigh-speed railway lineaboveground HQPT (bus/tram/metro)underground HQPT (bus/tram/metro)international publictransport hub

main public transport hubsecondary public transporthub


2 East/West metro lineoptionP+R acilityintensication o RAIprecinctshigh-class retail areaurban support enterprises

qualitative impulse orborough centre2nd Schiphol Airportterminal

A/B option or OlympicGames sitestudy area*regional cycle routeDeence Line oAmsterdammetropolitan placerecreational programme

qualitative impulse or acity/wedge transitionSports Axis

* Potential developments onthe southern shores of the Gaas-perplas lake are being studiedas part of the GaasperdamReconnaissance.



17 Vision or the waterrontin 2040

Waterrontlive/work mixwork/live mixworkprojects in planning stageor recently completedqualitative impulse or acity parkFormer naval base

Generalindicative route oraboveground HQPTindicative route or under-ground HQPTinternational publictransport hubmain public transport hubsecondary public transporthubnew erry linkunderground connection**

P+R acilitysea lock2nd ocean liner terminaltemporary berths orinland shippingintensication o porturban support enterprisesqualitative impulse orborough centremarinapossible zone or portexpansion

A/B option or OlympicGames sitestudy area*regional cycle routebeachmetropolitan placerecreational programmeproposed naturedevelopmentwaterside developmentCompass Island andcycle bridge

* / ** See notes on page 09.

Buurt neighbourhoods are now home to new trendy

cas and restaurants that attract a clientele rom

across the city.

This major thrust emanates rom the enormous

magnetism o the heart o Amsterdam or countless

people, enterprises and institutions. However, the

scarcity o space means that people are always orced

to search a little urther out: rst in the 19th-century

districts adjacent to the city centre, then in the sur-

rounding belt o development realized in the 1920s to

1940s, and now the city-centre milieu is spreadingout across the IJ waterway and towards Zuidas.

2 Interweaving the metropolitan landscape

and the city

Amsterdam is surrounded by a highly diverse land-

scape, the so-called metropolitan landscape. This

penetrates ar into the city in the orm o wedges

o greenery, which increase the citys appeal and

presents Amsterdam with the possibility o densiying

within the existing urban ootprint while remaining

liveable. This means that the city is heavily dependent

on its immediate surroundings. Well-heeled Amster-

dam residents already sought their recreation in the

circumjacent environs during the Dutch Golden Age

Country estates sprung up in all directions: to the w

(along the IJ waterway), south (alongside the River

Amstel), east (along the River Vecht) and north (in t

Beemster Polder). That landscape was incorporated

into Cornelis van Eesterens 1935 General Extensio

Plan (Algemeen Uitbreidingsplan, or AUP) as green

wedges penetrating into the expanding city. The la

scape was partly a given (the River Amstel and the I

inlet) and partly constructed (the manmade Amster

damse Bos woodland park and the Sloterplas lake).The ambition o the Structural Vision is to keep the

green wedges green, improve their accessibility and

make them more attractive or recreational use.

3 The rediscovery o the waterront

The water in and around the city is o one o the

qualities that distinguishes Amsterdam rom most

other metropolises. The awareness that this is a

huge asset or the city will only grow stronger. The I

waterway and the IJmeer expanse o water have a

particularly high experiential value and oer many

possibilities or recreation. The waterronts and

shorelines oer countless opportunities or urban


19/32

development, especially in the obsolete port precincts

and industrial zones.

Amsterdam and the Zaan region can be physically

interconnected via the IJ waterront and the banks o

the River Zaan. With the development o the second

phase o IJburg and the Zeeburger Island, Amsterdam

will nally gain a new city lobe, comparable with

Amsterdam-Southeast (the Bijlmer) and Buitenveldert/

Amstelveen. Due to all these developments, the IJ

waterway is becoming increasingly central within the

metropolitan ootprint, while it continues to rankamong the busiest inland shipping routes in the

Netherlands. A delicate task is the upgrading o the

natural qualities o the IJmeer, in combination with

watersports and coastal recreation.

4 Internationalization o the southern fank

Amsterdams southern fank is a succession o massive

projects: the expansion o Schiphol Airport, the

development o Zuidas and the intensication o the

residential and business areas in Amsterdam-South-

east. Station-Zuid, at the heart o Zuidas, will become

one o the most important public transport hubs in the

Netherlands. The main driver o these developments

is the large bundle o inrastructure that links Amster-

dam with the other municipalities in the Randstad

conurbation, with the rest o the Netherlands, with

Europe and, via Schiphol Airport, with the world.

New initiatives such as the development o the

corridor between Schiphol Airport and Zuidas and

the urther urbanization o Buitenveldert are being

implemented at a swit pace.

Amsterdam is never complete

Do we now have a structural vision that seduces andconvinces? Does it provide solid backing or concrete

actual plans and projects? Does this vision allow su-

cient developmental leeway and does it simultane-

ously give direction and a rm ooting? A city is never

complete, Amsterdam is never complete. The text

o the Structural Vision has been nalized, but its

strength should primarily be judged by its spirit rather

than by the letter. The concrete spatial developments

that will characterize our city over the coming decades

should be regarded as the ultimate proo.

1901 |2011


20/32

The process o jointly devising a vision by consultation

was at least as important as the end product. The

making o the structural vision took three years and

consisted o three phases: reconnaissance, integration

and ratication. Citizens and organizations were

involved in these phases in various ways. By contrast

with the previous structure plans, the ormulation o

the structural vision was managed as an integrated

whole both bureaucratically and politically with

the municipal departments involved in spatial matters

working as a team and co-authoring the structural

vision. This brought the tasks acing the various

disciplines into the equation.The great political engagement was terribly

important or the process. The coordinating alderman,

Maarten van Poelgeest, was in attendance at a great

many meetings and also entered into smaller-scale

discussions, with organizations such as the Amsterdam

Centre or the Environment (Milieucentrum Amster-

dam, or MCA), with students, allotment holders and

the citizens who participated in the public campaign.

Reconnaissance: gathering expertiseand ideasDuring the rst phase o the process (2008-2009) the

emphasis was on the organization o the process and

determining the important themes or the uture othe city. To do this it was necessary to gather the

expertise and ideas that are alive in the city, not only in

order to be working with the right inormation but also

to arrive at a broadly shared outlook or the uture.

Citizens, the private sector, interest groups and

planning proessionals were consulted in discussions,

conerences and workshops. A Memorandum o

Starting Points (Vertrekpuntennotitie) was drawn

up prior to the dialogue, incorporating the basic

PLANAmsterdam20

The Making othe StructuralVision

Debating

the Future oAmsterdam

More than ever beore in Amsterdams

long tradition o structural planning,

the City Council wanted this Structural

Vision to take shape in an open process.

Citizens, businesses, organizations and

other government bodies had to be given

the opportunity to share their thoughts

and provide input throughout the

process. The City Council had no desireto devise this vision on its own, seeing

as it cannot realize the eventual outcome

in isolation.

by Barbara Ponteyn [email protected]


21/3201 |2011 21

principles, trends and developments that are decisive

or making choices in spatial development. One

important guiding ramework was the DevelopmentScenario or the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

(Ontwikkelingsbeeld Metropoolregio Amsterdam),

with Amsterdam as the core city o an economically

robust metropolitan region.

The metropolitan idea was already supported

by the administration and the body politic, but the

outside world was still insuciently involved. It is

city residents, social organizations, businesspeople,

project developers and government bodies who

together make the metropolis; they shape the identity

and appearance o their city. What are their ambitions

and wishes or Amsterdam in the context o theMetropolitan Area? During this phase the City Council

wanted to raise awareness and inspire people to

action. In the wards discussions the parties and

stakeholders organized according to the points o

the compass including the relevant neighbouring

municipalities sat down at the conerence table to

talk about the citys uture. The participants valued

this regional orientation and were conscious that

interdependence on a regional scale is increasing.

>

Notitie op weg naar de structuurvisie

De Pijlers

voor de ruimtelijkeontwikkelingvan Amsterdam

Vertrekpuntennotitie

Gesprek overde toekomstvan Amsterdamnaar de structuurvisie 2010 - 2020voor de kernstad van de metropoolregio

4

2/3

An environmental impact report (planMER) isa mandatory component o the process o ormu-

lating a structural vision. This report assesses

the environmental eects o the choices made

in the Structural Vision.

The planMER has had plenty o infuence on the

Structural Vision in various phases o the process.

An expert meeting led to the our major thrusts in

the vision, or example. The planMER also made

a signicant contribution to one o the Structural

Visions objectives, namely its highlighting osustainability. According to the committee

responsible or the environmental impact report,

the MER ulls an exemplary unction in the

climatological eld.The planMER translates

sustainability themes into indicators against

which the desired developmental directions are

tested, such as the amount o space that will

be reserved or the generation o sustainable

energy.

One outcome o the planMER was the heraldingo a Wind Vision in the Structural Vision. Another

product that stems rom the environmental report

is a mobility test, which provides insight into which

combinations o inrastructure and spatial devel-

opments score best. This is useul in complying

with diverse viewpoints and provides input or the

ne-tuning o the phasing o projects.

PlanMER

by Barbara Ponteyn

[email protected]

1 Alderman Maarten vanPoelgeest discusses theMemorandum o Starting Pointswith planning experts.Photo: DRO

2 The Memorandum o StartingPoints was approved by theCity Executive on 17 June 2008and was discussed by theCouncil Committee or Urban

Planning, Land Use, WaterManagement and ICT on27 August 2008.

3 The Pillars were approvedby the City Executive on 14April 2009 and were discussedby the Council Committeeor Urban Planning, Land Use,Water Management and ICTon 6 May 2009.

4 Getting down to work at asouthwest-wards meeting heldon 29 October 2009.Photo: DRO


22/32

Integration into a well-balanced narrativeIn the second phase (2009-2010) the emphasis shited

to the raming o a well-balanced narrative in which the

ambitions and the long-term outlook or the spatial

development o Amsterdam within the Metropolitan

Area was pivotal. The initial impetus was The Pillars or

Amsterdams Spatial Development (De Pijlers voor de

ruimtelijke ontwikkeling van Amsterdam), a document

outlining the 10 pillars which provided the ounda-tions or the denitive structural vision. The document

describes the most important spatial tasks and issues.

During the development o this document into a Drat

Structural Vision, the stakeholders, adjacent municipali-

ties and borough councils were once again invited to

provide input. Amsterdams citizens were consulted via

www.binnen30minuten.nl (within 30 minutes), a public

campaign using the web and social media. The Free

State o Amsterdam (Vrijstaat Amsterdam) exhibition

was staged, with a public programme o narratives and

discussions about the uture o the city. This presenta-

tion employed unorthodox methods to coax city-dwell-

ers and visitors into thinking about urban development

and speaking their minds. Phase two drew to a conclu-

sion in January 2010 with the City Executives adoption

o the Drat Structural Vision or Amsterdam in 2040:

Economically strong and sustainable (Ontwerp

Structuurvisie Amsterdam 2040, Economisch sterk enduurzaam) along with the accompanying planMER

environmental impact report.

Ratication: Responding and moving theprocedure orwardDuring the third phase (2010), everyone was given

12 weeks to voice opinions about the Drat Structural

Vision and the planMER in a letter to the City Council,

whether they were a city resident or an organization

22 PLANAmsterdam

During the drating o the Structural Vision,Amsterdams inhabitants were presented with the

opportunity to share their opinions about the

uture o their city by means o a large-scale public

campaign. The campaign prompted people to

think about the uture. Reactions were received

rom across the metropolitan area and sometimes

even rom ar beyond. The title o the campaign

was inspired by the act that the city is bigger than

you might think: it used to take hal an hour to

travel rom the Central Station to the Muiderpoort

gateway on the citys eastern perimeter, but

nowadays you can reach Zandvoort on the North

Sea coast or the city o Almere in Flevoland bytrain in those same 30 minutes. The website

www.binnen30minuten.nl (within 30 minutes)

played a pivotal role. The online campaign was

closely aligned with the phasing o the Structural

Vision and encouraged the people o Amsterdam

to continue sharing their thoughts. The reactions

could be read on the site immediately and by

everyone.

It was clear that Amsterdams residents and

visitors are keen that the green space in the city

will be improved in the uture. More possibilities

or recreation, more cycle paths, ewer rules and

measures to improve the citys cleanliness and

saety were other themes in the campaign.

The citys continued growth and the attendant

densication was oten appreciated, though high-rise must be inserted with due caution. A greater

diversity o neighbourhood amenities ranked

particularly high on the wish-list o Amsterdams

citizens. A marginal note is that Amsterdam must

retain its human scale. Opinion is divided about

the prospect o hosting the Olympic Games.

When ormulating the Structural Vision, the

comments and heartelt cries o the campaign

participants were integrated wherever possible.

The vision thereore assigns an important place to

investment in the city parks and improving cycle

routes into the countryside surrounding the city.

The decision to give all the spatial tasks a place

within the existing urban ootprint, at least where

that was possible, means that the majority o

amenities are within cycling distance.The act that everything can be ound in the

proximity o peoples homes contributes to the

eeling that the city retains a human scale: it is not

a sprawling city where you are orced to take the

car, but a city where amenities are still be ound

around the corner. A special policy was ormulated

or the integration o high-rise development, so

that there will be no unbridled growth in which the

human scale is lost. These are just a ew examples

o the citizens wishes that have been given their

rightul place in the vision. The public campaign

proved to be an important gauge during the

Structural Visions elaboration.

The within 30 minutes

public campaign

by Barbara Ponteyn

[email protected]

a The rst round o consultati-on via www.binnen30minuten.nl within 30 minutes thepublic campaign that invited thepeople o Amsterdam to sharetheir ideas or the city o theuture.

b The launch o the campaignwas highly visible in the city(March-April 2009).Photo: Koos van Zanen

5 Scale model o the NieuweMeer, Global Awareness projectby Gller Gller architectureurbanism, which the bureaupresented during the Free Stateo Amsterdam exhibition.Photo: Marjolein van Vossen

a b


23/322301 |2011

rom within or outside the city. This served as the

ormal public consultation. The great public interest

and engagement was demonstrated by the 420 views

that were submitted. The Structural Visions project

managers also remained in ull and rank discussion

with bodies such as the citys borough councils during

this phase. These discussions were intended as prepa-

ration or the submission o opinions, which resultedin more sharply ormulated viewpoints and thereore

acilitated their swit processing. The opinions were

answered in a Memorandum o Responses (Nota van

Beantwoording). This contributed to certain shits in

emphasis and the modication o dozens o points in

the Drat Structural Vision. One notable modication,

in response to a large number o submitted opinions,

was the re-routing o a planned road, which had until

then been destined to cut through a complex o allot-

ment gardens in the Bretten Zone. This is subject to the

conditions that this section o road will not be laid until

ater 2030 and will be realized in the orm o a tunnel.

The views were especially helpul in the renement andcloser examination o several aspects, such as the more

detailed study o the Waterront as a potential Olympics

site. This led to a variant that no longer presents any

problems or the port-based businesses concerned.

In October 2010, with the eedback rom the

public consultations in hand, the newly installed City

Executive pointed the way orward to the denitive

proposal or the Structural Vision. During the ensuing

discussions in the Council Committee or Develop-

ment, Housing and the Climate, interested parties

could explain their standpoints in person once again.

The Structural Vision was denitively ratied by the City

Council on 17 February 2011.

A connecting roleThe interconnection o various parties and themes

was central to the production o the Structural Vision.The themes that were perceived as important by

planning experts, private parties, social groups and city

residents have, as ar as possible, been tracked down,

analysed and orged into a logical whole. The stimula-

tion o debate about the citys uture was integral to

this process. Everyone was involved at every stage in

the open planning process, which was ascinating and

labour-intensive but resulted in a broadly supported

vision.

With the City Councils ratication o the Structural

Vision we are entering a new phase. Discussions with

the city and with stakeholders within and beyondAmsterdam will continue. An important milestone in

this regard is About Tomorrow: Is 020 ready or 2040?

(Over Morgen, is 020 klaar voor 2040?), a conerence set

to take place on 21 April 2011. The topic o discussion

will be how we are going to join orces to implement the

Structural Vision together. Thanks to the open process

employed, which includes the orthcoming conerence,

the likelihood o the ambitions in the Structural Vision

being realized is increased considerably.

Over MorgenIs 020 klaar voor 2040?

21 april 2011 | Felix Meritis

6 About Tomorrow: Is 020ready or 2040?, a visual or theStructural Vision conerence on21 April 2011.

7 Public inormation meeting inthe Zuiderkerk on 25 February2010 at the start o public consul-tations.Foto: DRO

6 7

The interconnection o various

parties and themes was central

to the production o the Structural

Vision.



StructuurAmsterda

Economien duurz

An integral narrative?

Ronald Wiggers Department o Social Development (DMO)

In ront o me there is a hall ull o inquisitive aces. As best

I can, I endeavour to explain the substance and principles o

the Structural Vision to my colleagues rom the Department

o Social Development (Dienst Maatschappelijke Ontwikkel-

ing, or DMO). My narrative prompts a throng o reactions:

But how does combating poverty come into it? What aboutthe neighbourhood approach? How do you know what the

world will be like in 2040?And where is the body o thought

rom the Social Structure Plan?None o these are questions

that the Structural Vision answers directly.

At the dawn o the 21st century, when we were in discussion

with the whole city about metropolitan dynamism, human

capital and a liveable environment, which resulted in a

wonderul document: the Social Structural Plan 2004-2015,

with the subtitle What drives Amsterdam? And the idea

back then was that we would never produce separate spatial

and social structural visions again. The orthcoming Structural

Vision would be a wholly integrated document.

Is this Structural Vision that integral document? No, but it is

perhaps an initial step. The maxim that People make the city

is most prominent in the section about the vision and the

social aspect o sustainability with room or greater fexibility,

diversity and stakeholder responsibility is also distinctly

present. It is just a shame that the human scale and socio-

spatial tasks, such as those or sports and education, have

oten been obscured again in the elaboration. Wouldnt it be

wonderul i we could also simply sketch in a new small-scale

sports park, combined with education and childcare acilities

as well as amenities or youngsters, on the Northern Banks

o the IJ?

The social vision or the citys development calls or a spatial

elaboration as well, and in my view that might have been

embodied more emphatically, but we will do that next time.

A eld o tension in

several respects

Fokko Kuik Department o Inrastructure, Transport

and Trac and Transport (Dienst Inrastructuur Verkeer en

Vervoer, or dIVV)

It was an honour to be allowed to work together with col-

leagues rom other disciplines on the uture o my own city.You gain a greater understanding, o each others stand-

points and o the choices that simply have to be made i

there are many interests struggling or precedence.

At the same time I did not always eel that such a collabora-

tive process, in which everyone sits down around a table

together or each topic o discussion, necessarily leads to a

balanced appraisal. Sometimes the alderman or spatial

planning opted or his own line, which diverged rom the

advice o trac experts. In and o itsel it is, o course,

perectly legitimate that an alderman should set out his

own course.

Something I am pleased with is that in the implementation

section it was decided to couple the pace o spatial develop-

ments to the associated transport inrastructure. Something

that pleased me less was that it upholds the long-term plan

to develop the Gooiseweg into an urban avenue, despite the

objections (in my opinion justied) to the transormation.

One drawback is that it undermines two o the key principles

described in the vision: rst develop where there is already

a good public transport access, and retain the important

corridor unction or motor trac. The Gooiseweg is

indispensable as a major arterial road that allows the city

centre to unction as an economically strong entity.

In general I perceive a eld o tension between the towering

longer-term ambitions o the Structural Vision and the

increasingly pessimistic short-term prospects, because o the

economic crisis. For a vision peering into the distant uture

one should, o course, never allow onesel to be guided by

the issues o the moment, but the chasm between ideal and

reality has as a consequence grown pretty large.

Four personal

impressions


25/3201 |2011 25

isie2040

ch sterkam

Quality, time and money

Keimpe Reitsma Amsterdam Development Corporation

(Ontwikkelingsbedrij Amsterdam, or OBA)

The Structural Vision is rst o all about ambitions and

opening up broad panoramas. It goes without saying that

quality is o paramount importance, but at a given moment

the execution comes up or discussion, the matter o making

choices. That is also a necessity, because the new Spatial

Planning Act (Wet ruimtelijke ordening, Wro) prescribes thatin the Structural Vision the municipalities must also indicate

how they expect to eect the policys implementation. That is

a ne passage, which you could dwell upon or a long time,

certainly the phrase to eect implementation. The question

is how you can bring about that materialization on the basis

o your spatial ambitions. And or that we have ound a

simple but actually quite brilliant ormula: it was decided to set

out the realization o the Structural Vision along a timeline. By

opting or a phased realization in three consecutive decades,

time has become the fexible actor and the ambitions and

the nal outcome have been preserved intact. The motto is

that i it doesnt materialize today, then it will tomorrow.

When the nancial crisis raised its head, it happened upon

a Structural Vision in the throes o development. What does

this crisis mean or the Structural Vision? Relatively little in

the light o the above, but it did become obvious that the

ambitions or developing new housing over the rst decade

were too high. Shiting the construction o 10,000 dwellings

urther along the timeline resulted in the painting a more bal-

anced picture o the uture without it aecting Amsterdams

ambition to realize 70,000 new dwellings. This was made

possible by the chosen arrangement by decade.

But what about that other actor, the money, and doesnt

that throw a spanner in the works? Something that becameincreasingly apparent during the drating o the Structural

Vision was that less money would be available or urban

projects than in ormer times. Important sources o revenue,

such as the sale o land or oce developments and state

support or housing construction, have dried up. Sometimes

it seems as i there are no longer any unds whatsoever or

new projects, but this ignores the most important nancial

mainstay o urban developments: the big-money demand

or more city. And or the time being that demand shall not

be drying up.

There will be a demand or more Amsterdam and more than

beore this will have to generate the means to continuebuilding on Amsterdam. Capitalizing on that demand will

thereore be an important objective o new site-specic

developments. A passage such as to implement then alls

into place. You can then also deduce that the Structural

Vision incorporates the necessary leeway, or which the lling

in will only become obvious in the long run. Those who are

not reassured by all o this might derive comort rom the

words o the Nobel laureate Ivo Andric: The most terrible

and most tragic o all human weaknesses is undoubtedly his

complete inability to see into the uture, which stands in sharp

contrast with his many talents, his knowledge and his art.

Haarlem to Amsterdam

and back

Marc Hanou Project Manager, Structural Vision or

North Holland

From a legal perspective the earlier structural plans or

Amsterdam were regional plans, or which Amsterdam had

received the mandate known as reedom in policy rom the

Province o North Holland. But that was in the days o theold Spatial Planning Act. In 2000, the City o Amsterdam

and the Province o North Holland took the initiative to

establish a platorm or the North Wing o the Randstad

(Noordvleugel), with the aim o devising a shared vision or

the uture in cooperation with the 30 or so municipalities

across the region. For the region it was an unprecedented

model o governance, though I wonder whether we knew

what such a collaboration was called back then.

In 2007, even beore the introduction o the new Spatial

Planning Act, a decision was taken to ormulate the

Development Scenario or the North Wing o the Randstad

in 2040 (Ontwikkelingsbeeld Noordvleugel 2040), which wasmeant to serve as the point o departure or the ormulation

o all the structural visions in the Amsterdam Metropolitan

Area. This Development Scenario was a vision or the uture

which had been orged by means o an open, participative

and intensive collaboration among the government bodies

concerned. Immediately ater the ratication o this vision,

the Province o North Holland began work on its Structural

Vision. The preceding col laboration was well received,

and had whet the appetite or more, so all North Hollands

municipalities were invited the City o Amsterdam and the

Amsterdam City Region platorm in particular to participate

in the Structural Vision or North Holland project as ull

members o the team.

The involvement o Amsterdams Department o Physical

Planning and the City Region platorm in the project team or

the Province o North Hollands structural vision established

a collaboration that ostered mutual trust and involved the

sharing o content as well as weekly or even daily inter-

changes: dierent dishes were prepared using the same

ingredients in everyones respective kitchens. This was a

unique situation that produced two structural visions, each

o which does justice to the ormulated point o departure in

its own way, elaborating the essential points rom the North

Wing Development Scenario or 2040 the growth and

prosperity o the metropolis, the city centre densication,measures or dealing with the changing climate, tackling

extra- and intra-regional accessibility and the use o the

metropolitan landscapes in dierent ways. Locally where

possible and centrally where necessary, but always ounded

on mutual trust and reciprocal eort.


26/32

Handles or realizingambitions

PLANAmsterdam

The Implementa-

tion Agenda andInstruments

26

It is necessary to phase, to organize and where

necessary to adjust or rein in. These components

o the Structural Vision are included in the implemen-tation agenda or the coming decade and in the set

o instruments.

The implementation agendaThe implementation agenda sets out the urban

cohesion o projects and the easibility o ambitions.

It is used as a basis to strike agreements with regard

to the phasing and scale o projects. It makes a

distinction between plans that can be realized over

the coming decade and those plans that only come

into play thereater. In the latter case it also concerns

plans with a relatively long preparation time, as is

oten the case with major inrastructure projects or the

relocation o industrial activity. For the realization o all

these ambitions, the city and city boroughs are highly

interdependent, given that or many projects it is the

city boroughs which turn the ideas into concrete plans.

The reason or one development ollowing on the

tails o another is usually rooted in the nature o those

developments. For example, it is preerable to lay out

the inrastructure rst, ollowed by actual construction.

The pace o restructuring and transormation is also

dependent on many actors, not least the prevailing

economic circumstances. From a metropolitan per-

spective it is thereore sometimes necessary to prioritize

the transormation o one site beore another, but

actors such as accessibility and availability o sites or

relocating industrial activity also play a part. The mixing

o business activity with residential use is in certain

cases only possible ater the repositioning o environ-mental contours or taking noise-limiting measures.

The Northern Banks o the IJ as a modelThe process o transormation along the Northern

Banks o the IJ is in ull swing, with extensively

employed business premises slowly but surely making

way or a mix o housing and smaller-scale enterprises

that have ties with the city centre. The prospect o a

markedly improved connection to the main public

The Structural Vision is not a book o pipe

dreams, but articulates the ambitions

o Amsterdam City Council, which sees

opportunities or the city to grow and

become stronger even in less prosperoustimes. Ambitions can, however, only be

ullled i they result in concrete plans, in

the awareness that it is impossible to do

everything everywhere all at once.

by Conny Lauwers [email protected]

>


27/32

1 Phases o Development,2010-2020

Developmentslive/work mixwork/live mixZuidasqualitative impulse or aborough centreurban regenerationlive/work mix underdevelopment

work/live mix underdevelopmentwork zone underdevelopmentZuidas under develop-mentongoing urbanregenerationqualitative impulse or ametropolitan parkqualitative impulse or acity park

qualitative impulse orpublic spacepostcode area 1012 projectincrease in rail capacityindicative route or HQPT(bus/tram/metro)increase in capacity ormotor vehiclesreduction in capacity ormotor vehiclesnew erry connectionmetro sidings

General options

water- or groundwater-related projectplanned P+R sitererouting o a cycle pathincrease in station capacitytemporary berths orinland shipping2nd ocean liner terminalintensication o port area

study area*sea lock

* See note on page 09.

01 |2011 27



transport network, rst to the west and in about a

decades time to the east o the Sixhaven, is a huge

help in this process, into which the implementation

agenda provides insight.

The set o instrumentsActual plans must obviously satisy the rules o law and

the relevant policy rameworks o national, provincial

and municipal tiers o government. In addition they

must t in with the mutual agreements between the

municipalities within the Amsterdam Metropolitan

Area. With the Structural Vision, Amsterdam is

committing itsel, the city boroughs included, to rules

that spatial plans must meet. This also allows the City

Executive to retain control over the execution o plans.

One o the tasks that Amsterdam has set itsel is to

intensiy land use within the city while at the same

time keeping the surrounding landscape open.This leads to some important basic principles: the

green spaces in and around the city require robust

protection, while other parts o the city are optimally

exploited. Densication also leads to transormation

(oten gradual) and a greater mix o unctions. That

places great demands on the existing inrastructure

and public space. Respecting Amsterdams wealth

o cultural-historical treasures is an important

precondition in this equation.

Keeping it openThe green space in and around the city contributes

signicantly to the quality o Amsterdams living and

working environment. It is one o the reasons why our

city is popular as a place o residence and as a business

location. The minimum amount o green space thatAmsterdam wants to saeguard is prescribed in the

Main Green Structure (Hoodgroenstructuur, or HGS).

The zones to be included within the HGS and how

these are characterized was re-evaluated in consulta-

tion with the city boroughs.

Green spaces that are part o the HGS acquire

a certain status. The ambition is to make additional

investments in these areas over the coming years.

Over against this, the construction or suracing over

(e.g. or roads) within the HGS is subject to strict rules.

The green space around the Noorder IJplas lake

was previously set aside or industrial activity with arelatively high environmental impact. This idea has now

been abandoned and this green zone will be given

the status and protection o being part o the HGS.

The lake and the surrounding scrubland will assume an

important recreational unction or the inhabitants o

the Borough o Amsterdam-North and the Zaanstad

region. In the longer term it will also make a positive

contribution to the broadly outlined ambitions or

transormations along the Waterront ater 2030.

>

The basis or the municipal Structural Vision isArt. 2.1 o the new Spatial Planning Act (Wet

ruimtelijke ordening, or Wro), which came into

orce on 1 July 2008 and replaced the old Spatial

Planning Act (Wet op de Ruimtelijke Ordening,

or WRO) dating rom 1965.

Art. 2.1 is ormulated coercively: The municipal

council is obliged to enact one or more structural

visions or the purpose o a well-organized spatial

planning or the municipalitys entire territory.

The Wro does not provide or any direct sanction

in the instance o a municipality ailing to ull this

obligation.

National and provincial tiers o government arealso obliged to draw up one or more structural

visions. There is no hierarchy between the struc-

tural visions o national, provincial and municipalgovernments. Leaving aside the question o

whether this is desirable, the structural visions o

the government bodies concerned can actually

confict with one another.

The municipal structural vision sets out the main

eatures o the intended spatial development

within the municipal territory and the main

points o the spatial policy to be pursued by the

municipal council. The Structural Vision must also

address how the council envisages implementing

that proposed development.

Just like the structural plan, its predecessor

under the old WRO, the municipal structural visionis a purely indicative policy document. This means

that it is impossible to lodge an objection or an

appeal against a structural vision. The SpatialPlanning Decrees only provision is that a structural

vision must explain how citizens and social

organisations were involved in its preparation.

The City o Amsterdam has nevertheless oered

the citys inhabitants the opportunity to make their

views known to the council in response to the

public presentation o the Drat Structural Vision

2010 (Ontwerp Structuurvisie 2010).

A structural vision eectively represents a

commitment only or the body that institutes it.

This does not, however, alter the act that, when

the occasion arises and providing it is properly

justied, the municipal council may diverge romthe contents o an enacted structural vision.

The Structural Visions

statutory basis

by Rein de Meijere

[email protected]

2 The Main Green Structure(Hoodgroenstructuur, or HGS),showing dierent types o greenspace.

Types o green spacecuriositiescorridorscrubland/naturediscovery areapolder on the urbanperiphery

city parkcemeteryallotment complex/schoolgardensports park

3 The Noorder IJplas lake.Photo: Wim Molenaar


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4

5

6


31/3201 |2011 31

This issues authors

Conny Lauwers (b. 1950)

Has been working as an urban planner or the DRO since 1980

Between 1980 and 1987 she was involved in the urban regeneration process

or Amsterdams Dapper, Oosterpark and Transvaal neighbourhoods

From 1987 to 1994 she designed urban developments and drew up zoning

plans or various port precincts

Since 1992 she has ocused on the ormulation o planning-related policy

rameworks, as well as serving as a policy advisor and assessing policy

eectiveness

Barbara Ponteyn (b. 1972)

Has been working as a planning expert or the DRO since 1991

She is active across various elds, including the hotel and ood services

industry and advertising policy, as well as in the programming o metro-

politan projects such as the Northern and Southern Banks o the IJ, Zuidas

and Overamstel

Within the Core Team and the Structural Vision Project Group she was res-

ponsible or the organization and passage o the Structural Vision through to

its governmental enactment

Coordination and editing o the Memorandum o Responses and jointly

responsible or the nal editing o the Structural Vision

Koos van Zanen (b. 1963) Has been working as a planning expert or the DRO since 1992

He has ocused on aspects that include residential issues and the housing

market in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

Devises spatial policy or the knowledge economy in the city

Served as the Structural Visions general editor

DensicationHigh-rise construction is hardly a new phenomenon or

Amsterdam. The city now boasts a number o highly

distinctive high-rise clusters, which people use or

orientation when approaching the city rom the

surrounding landscape. Besides being a means to

intensiy land use, high-rise is also a powerul urban

development instrument. For example, it has been

employed along the Waterront, where towers on

either side o the IJ waterway enhance the spatial

relationship between the two parts o the city.

From the high-rise map in the set o instruments one

can see where high-rise is being encouraged rom

the viewpoint o optimum land use or because there

is reason or a hety landscape-related or urban

development accent. This arises in particular in the

easily accessible and highly visible zones alongside

national trunk roads, except in specic cases where

there are solid grounds or raising objections or

landscape-related reasons. This largely applies when

there is the danger o a negative impact on the

areas o exceptional value, such as the city centres

protected cityscape and the section o the historicalring o canals that was inscribed on UNESCOs World

Heritage List since 2010. The high-rise policy is stricter

than in the past, especially in these zones.

The Structural Vision is not just the source o inspiration

but incorporates the joint agreements about its

realization as well, in terms o a timeline as well as in

terms o legislation and joint agreements. As noted, it

is impossible to do everything everywhere all at once.

Sometimes it is necessary to curb activities at one

location in order to oer them a good chance o

attaining their ull development elsewhere, thus

encouraging the right unction in the right place at theright time.

4 The high-rise vision

UNESCO area in theAmsterdam city centre2 km zone around theUNESCO areazone alongside aninrastructure bundlezone alongside aninrastructure bundle,outside Amsterdamsmunicipal boundariesboundaries

high-rise accents alongthe IJ waterway

OV

Central Station publictransport hub

OV

public transport hub

OV

public transport hubSchiphol Airport

portAmsterdams wedgeso greenery

5 Artists impression o thehigh-rise cluster at the ormerShell precincts.Artists impression: Cees van derGiessen

6 Panorama rom the RiverAmstel looking towards theOmval high-rise quarter.Photo: Edwin van Eis

During the Structural Visionspreparation, the DRO collaboratedclosely with other municipal departmentsinvolved in spatial development. The DROwas responsible for the project managementand provided most of the core team. Theproject group consisted of the following

people:Leonie van den Beuken (Port o

Amsterdam)Ton Bossink (DRO, project manager

rom January 2008 to March 2010)Ellen Croes (DRO)Remco Daalder (DRO, project manager

rom April 2010)Kees Dignum (Housing and Social Support

Department)Pito Dingemanse (Port o Amsterdam)C.J. Dippel (Economic Aairs Department),Marthe van der Horst (Waternet)Suzanne Jeurissen (DRO)Eef Keijzer (DRO)

Fokko Kuik (Department o Inrastructure,Trac and Transport)

Marlies Lambregts (Environmental andBuilding Department)

Conny Lauwers (DRO)Margreet Leclercq (DRO)Bas van Leeuwen (DRO/Amsterdam

Development Corporation)Marloes Michels (City Administration)Barbara Ponteyn (DRO)Esther Reith (DRO)Keimpe Reitsma (Amsterdam Development

Corporation)Walewijn de Vaal (Amsterdam Engineering

Bureau)Wouter van der Veur (DRO)Ronald Wiggers (Social Development

Department)Gerard Willemsen (DRO, coordinator o

the planMER)Paul Wolfs (Project Management Bureau)

and Koos van Zanen (DRO)


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15,000

10,000

5,000

0

-5,000

-10,000

1995 2000 2005 2010

-

+ +

- -

high density

average density

low density

sharpdecrease

almostunchanged

sharpincrease

Development of the total number of

inhabitants, 2000-2010

Growth of Amsterdams population,

1995-2010

natural increase in population

net domestic migration

net international migration

population growth

Groningen

Nijmegen

Leiden

Den Haag

Delt

Rotterdam

Utrecht

Tilburg Eindhoven

The thickness of the lines indicates the

relative rate of migration to Amsterdam

from the rest of the Netherlands in 2009

City View01/11Urgency in the light o demographicdevelopments

In 2010 Amsterdams population grew spectacularly. Talented people

rom the Netherlands and abroad, many o them young, are moving

to the Dutch capital. This infux is important or the economy, but we

have to ensure that Amsterdam remains accessible or this newcomers.

There is no longer any time or uncertainty or delay: Amsterdam and

City View 01/11: Julian Jansen, a DRO demographer, on the

consequences of Amsterdams spectacular population growth

[email protected]

Amsterdam Climate Proof

Documents

Transcript of Amsterdam Climate Proof