Day One
Trip Start
Nov 02, 2009
1
3
Trip End
Nov 05, 2009
Where I stayed
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Monday, November 2, 2009
At Schipol a lady boarded the train with her bike, laden with suitcases. On reaching Amsterdam Centraal, I watched whilst she unfolded her bike and began to secure her suitcase and other bags to the panniers. As we waited to get off I commented on the amount of luggage she had managed to attached to her bicycle and found that she had just flown back from the USA, having taken her bike with her. I thought that only in Holland could you find someone who had not only cycled from home to the train station, then took the train with bike to the airport, but had also taken their bike on the plane with them, used it whilst away and then did the same journey home again from the airport. I asked how easy it had been to cycle in the USA, which she said had been difficult as there were no cycle paths in the city.
Having dropped off the luggage at the hotel, we boarded a boat at Canal Singel 9 for a trip around the regenerated Eastern Docklands area lead by a Dutch architectural expert Paul Derksen. Over the past ten years this area has become one of Amsterdam's architectural showpieces.
The Eastern Docklands are made up of four artificial peninsulas, laid out from 1874 to 1927. At this time, large passenger and cargo ships set out to the former Dutch East and West Indies, the Americas and Africa. However, after the Second World War the docklands went into decline, as passengers began to travel by air; general mixed cargo was replaced by container and bulk transport, and new docks in the west of Amsterdam were established. In 1975, the Eastern Docklands were earmarked for residential development by the city council, with plans for high density housing for around 18,000 people. In 1986, with a new city council recently elected, the focus moved away from predominantly social housing towards market-led development; the council wanted to stimulate private housing and luxury rented houses to attract higher income groups to the area, and the new policy became mixed tenure housing. High architectural standards and an attractive urban realm were also important, as well as the re-use, and regeneration of existing harbour buildings to preserve the area's heritage.
In 1989 the plan for the Eastern Harbour area was finalised , laying out the conceptual framework for 8,000 new dwellings. Significant government grants were made available provided the development met certain requirements in terms of density and housing mix. By the time Borneo and Sporenburg was being planned in 1992, the requirement was for a density of 100 units per ha, 70% owner occupied housing, and an aspiration to provide family units with ground level entrances to counterbalance the earlier phases. In order to maintain high densities but adhere to these low-rise objectives, the usual gardens were replaced with roof terraces and mini-patios. After an overall master plan for the streets and densities was agreed, individual plots were made available to the public. Owners commissioned their own architects to design individual houses, resulting in sixty unique dwellings wiht different ceiling heights, canal frontages and interior layouts. The buildings had to be both durable and sustainable, with high architectural standards being achieved. In design terms the approach appears to have been successful, with a variety of designs, styles and materials having been used in the buildings that now front the canals, providing homes and work space for the many residents. Parking for cars has been cleverly included where required, and the original warehouse buildings have been converted and incorporated into modern additions, that provide an interesting panorama from the water.
A large area of land formerly occupied by Shell Oil Company is now being developed to provide a further residential quarter on the north side of the city, with a new canalside walk, and new offices for the former owners. Interestingly part of the area had been 'squatted' but this was seen as an important part of the regeneration of the area. Artists have been invited into the area to provide public art displays, as ameans of encouraging interest in the area.
On the return journey the boat went into an older part of the orignal city at its western edge, where residential development and conversions of the former industrial buildings has taken place, providing a mixed use neighbourhood, with some interesting neighbours, such as a school with residential apartments above. Houseboats line the canal sides, with barges converted into childrens play areas, and more traditional canal side buildings.
Following a brief interlude to check into the hotel, we set off for the Amsterdam Library, incorporated into a new office complex fronting the open water, for a presentation by Han Lorzing on the history of housing and planning in the Netherlands. As he took us through the developments from the turn of the 19th century to the modern day, it became evident that the housing growth agenda in England was following a similar process began in Holland in the late 1980's/early 1990's, the 'vinex' report on spatial planning published in 1991. This sought to grow cities, by ensuring that new suburbs were compact in order to keep the surrounding landscape open; be built as close to existing cities as possible to keep transportation distances to a minimum; and to encourage the use of public transport and bicycles.
The extremely interesting presentation was followed by an excellent meal at one of the city's historical restaurants d'Vijff Vlieghen in Spuistraat.
