Amsterdam waterfront development - An social-geographical overview

Development of the city of Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, has always been related to waterfront activities. The port of Amsterdam is still the 4th transshipment port of Europe and the city authorities see both the port and the waterfront as important components of economic base for the city development. Amsterdam has experienced similar development trends as many other European cities of this size. Among them were suburbanization and urban sprawl. These problems were addressed by national spatial policy, which led to identifying regional 'growth cities ' and suburban new towos that were supposed to accommodate those who wanted to move to suburbs. This policy called 'concentrated de-concentration ' further stimulated the suburbanization and Amsterdam's central districts became dominated by empty houses. The remaining population of the city mainly consisted of poor and often unemployed elderly Amsterdam born people and low-skilled immigrants. Other parts of the city also experienced degradation. Because of the deindustrialization of the city 's economy the Eastern Docklands, central waterfront and north bank former industrial areas became deserted wastelands in the 80's, occupied by squatters, boat dwellers and city nomads. Some of them looked like 'no-go' areas. Development paths of the Amsterdam waterfront have been shaped by industrial development of the city and changing role of the port. The open waterfront of the historical city center of Amsterdam was closed by the construction of the railway and Central Station in the 19th century. A discussion about a location of the central railway station at the south or north part of the historical city center was ended by the decision of the national govemment for a construction at the north part in the waterfront. lndustrialized harbor activities shifted to the east part of the city, where man-made islands were built. In the 20th century, the harbor moved to the western edge of the city. The regeneration of the waterfront has been related to evolution of the city's economy and transition from mercantile center to metropolitan city - center of services offered at the global scale and characterized by well-developed knowledge-based economy. The transition experienced by the Amsterdam is closely connected with the shift from the concept of a city government, which provides services and provisions for the benefit of its inhabitants, towards a city govemment, which competes with other cities to attract businesses and well qualified and creative people. Amsterdam sees its waterfront as a component that might help to build its attractiveness. City authorities use the transformation of abandoned former industrial sites to attract creative and knowledge based firms. In recent Amsterdam urban development the waterfront is being developed as a mixed area of housing, cultural and business functions. The planning approach is also an important factor that has impact on transformation of the waterfront. Since the 90's the national planning approach became more market oriented. Densification of housing and economy in urban cores became an objective of national spatial policy. The city's planners were forced to cooperate with private parties under Private Public Partnership framework. The master-plan for the Eastern Docklands had to be revised and phased, because parts of the area were not yet ready to be redeveloped. There are some other obstacles in transformation of the waterfront. In the west part of the waterfront heavy industries are located. The City Authorities are discussing with the Port authority about the gradual relocations of heavy industries towards the more western parts of the harbor area. Also plans are discussed with the national government for investments in a metro connection to the east polders, crossing the water towards the new town of Almere. Thus the future strategies for waterfront developments are becoming more and more regional. Development of the Amsterdam waterfront has brought some important lessons. The process of development (which is still going on) has been a process of trial and error. The planning process started 30 years ago. For the most complex south bank development, a series of plans were made. The municipality had a steering role all the time, but the planning approach shifted from a big master-plan and PPP-constructions towards a more modest but strategic approach with targeted municipal investments in separate areas, bounded by an overall vision of seducement of private investments, 'anchoring' cultural functions and an overall high-quality public-space plan. Future transformation plans are more gradually implemented, in an ongoing communicative approach towards different stakeholders. Experience from Amsterdam also proved efficiency and attractiveness of an integrated landscape design. Not only for residential functions, which are situated at the waterfront, but also smaller and bigger business and creative industry functions. The open space of the water made it possible to mix high density attractive housing with working areas. The now ongoing transformation process of the north bank has a less massive approach in comparison with the south bank waterfront development. Cultural functions that originated from spontaneous occupations of deserted harbor sites, now turn out to be an attractive element for creative business firms. Amsterdam waterfront developments were successful in giving the city an economic boost and gave residents the possibility for housing careers in attractive living environments within their own city. Housing prices in the waterfront residential areas are among the highest in the city, but still a relatively mixed neighborhoods were possible through a substantial amount of public housing. Amsterdam political tradition is not in favor of socially segregated areas and the concept of the 'undivided' city stili holds strong. Amsterdam waterfront developments turned out to be successful after a long period of looking for the right planning approach. The transformations and debates are stili going on. Finding a way, which fits the path dependency of a city's development, is one of the key issues in successful urban revital ization