Amsterdam
In late June 2024, PCUK travelled to Amsterdam for its first ever study visit abroad! After connecting with fellow placeshaping enthusiasts from the City of Amsterdam at Placemaking Week Europe 2023, PCUK was invited to tour two exciting and evolving neighbourhoods. Worlds away from the historic centre of Amsterdam lies the rapidly changing Amsterdam Noord.
Rather than heading south into the city, we exited from the north side of Amsterdam’s Centraal Station, where visitors are immediately presented with generous public spaces along the edge of the Ij River. A fleet of small, regular and free ferries depart from here to points along the north bank.
First, we quickly hopped straight across to Buiksloterweg and took a short walk through the district of Tolhuistuin. Here, we saw the repurposed old canteen and social club in Shell’s ex- headquarters, turned into a multi-functional arts and cultural space, gardens and eatery. The gardens used to be reserved for Shell’s employees until they were returned to the city in 2003.
Now the Tolhuistuin has become a cultural centre, where you can enjoy food and drinks, watch artistic performances or just relax in the gardens, surrounded by mature trees. There's a communal vegetable garden for the neighbourhood, and local artists have decorated the garden with sculptures. Further along the tree-lined canal, a more domestic scale of the architecture immediately gives a strikingly different experience of housing in Amsterdam, away from the touristic centre.
We gathered at BUNK hotel and restaurant, located in a converted church where we were treated to a delicious lunch courtesy of our hosts in this unique venue. We received an introduction about the approach that the city and the district have taken towards the regeneration of this huge area – at 49km2 it makes up almost a quarter of Amsterdam – before splitting into two groups to explore the districts of Van de Pekbuurt and Hamerkwartier.
Van der Pekbuurt
Bart Stuart is an artist and the Chair of the ANGSAW citizens’ association, and he kicked off our tour by the colourful plaque commemorating a WW2 ‘friendly fire’ tragedy. Van der Pekbuurt is an area of pioneering social housing designed in 1916 by Jan Ernst van Pek and built in the interwar period. Unfortunately it had been poorly maintained and the last major renovation took place in the 1980s. Plans to demolish and replace the homes with higher-density contemporary housing as part of the ongoing regeneration of Amsterdam Noord were seen off by the community.
The decision to restore and renovate rather than reduce to rubble is welcome and sensible, given the quality of the design, its human scale, accessible local shops, well-overlooked public space, leafy squares and play areas. The architect planted a tree for every house built and these have aged with the community. Alongside the ongoing refurbishment of the housing stock, there are further plans to re-use other interesting buildings including conversion of a large former post office into a community kindergarten.
Critically, of the 1,500 homes here, 1,100 are still social housing. The citizens’ association negotiated with the City Council and any future developments must commit to keeping 80% of the area as affordable social housing.
Running diagonally across the district is Van de Pekstraat, for half a kilometre it was once a thriving retail area and central gathering point for the community. Currently a number of shops and units sit empty and we heard about the attempt to move the area’s regular market there to encourage footfall, however this has proved unsuccessful so far. Although the move didn’t take off, it did show the active engagement of city planners and policy makers.
“The area is like a school for me, and there was somebody here before me and there will be someone like me again in the future.” – Bart Stuart
Our fascinating guide Bart inspired us as he described his role as just one in a line of people who look after this community: “The area is like a school for me, and there was somebody here before me and there will be someone like me again in the future.” giving off a sense of stewardship of the area as well as of the residents’ group.
We also discussed the anxieties experienced by communities when places change: Development “can be problematic, as it often seems only to be about the people who are coming and not those who are already here.” Many ‘VDP’ residents may feel this as they look west across the Grasweg Bridge, and sleek 6- to 8- storey buildings in dense new developments loom over this low-rise neighbourhood of two-storey houses and maisonettes.
Taking shelter from a short downpour, the group visited the locally run Pexpo space, designed to foster connections and a sense of belonging for those who live and work nearby. Established and ran by the ebullient Vincent Jobse up to 6 days a week, the venue serves as a welcoming meeting point, exhibition space and project hub.
Pexpo has become a sort of ‘living room’ for the neighbourhood, whilst also giving space for artists and the community to think about the whole street as a place for exhibitions and activities. Vincent talked about the need for “space for serendipity” where people meet one another, create, eat and share. He also said to make all events accessible, ‘people pay what they can miss’.
In a workshop at Pexpo, our City of Amsterdam, VDP and Pexpo hosts invited us to participate in a discussion about the role of entrepreneurs, creatives and activists in a community like this. We talked about a community with a higher proportion of immigrant backgrounds compared to other parts of the city, and addressed questions of inherent and entrenched disadvantages. Unsure of how much we helped without having more context, sometimes a fresh perspective can help!
Hamerkwartier
The other group made their way towards the Hamerkwartier area, the tour was led by Martijn Gouman and Ruby van den Munckhof from the Hamerkwartier Foundation. On the way, we passed a residential area called Vogelbuurt, where we learnt about the garden city built between 1910 and 1930. This neighbourhood is similar to Van der Pekbuurt, and tenants are facing similar issues.
Historically, the people who’ve been living here feel as a secluded community, and other Amsterdam residents would not have much of a reason to visit Vogelbuurt. This led to a deprived local community which today hosts a population of about 8,000. The housing agency managing the estate recently sold 30% of its housing stock to private homeowners to fund the costs of refurbishing and modernising parts of the remaining 70% social housing stock.
The neighbourhood lies west of Meeuwenlaan, a typical European tree-lined boulevard that connects central and north Amsterdam via a tunnel under the Noordzeekanaal. Once we crossed the 20-metre-wide Meeuwenlaan, we entered Hamerkwartier, a historic industrial estate that today hosts circa 400 vibrant meanwhile businesses that await the construction of a 6,500-home residential-led development. This new neighbourhood sits in a highly accessible location only a few cycling minutes from the free ferries running 24/7 between central and north Amsterdam.
Our Hamerkwartier Foundation guides explained their important role as trusted independent advisors for all stakeholders. This includes significant engagement between the City of Amsterdam, local residents, civil societies, housing corporations, businesses and project developers. The meanwhile businesses are contributing to a vibrant night-time economy, but Vogelbuurt residents feel disconnected, not being part of the conversations about the future of the area. The Foundation was set up to address this communication gap between communities and all stakeholders, and residents learned that 30% of the 6,500 new homes will be social housing, offering an opportunity for younger locals to stay in the area.
The tour finished with an engaging conversation about the role of the foundation as it navigates the challenging socio economic climate of the Hamerkwartier. The group agreed that the informal and objective approach to stakeholder engagement seems to work and should be used across similar developments in the Netherlands and the UK.
NDSM
Our two groups united in the creative district of NDSM – another vast area which will see huge changes in the decades to come. Currently, ex-shipbuilding sheds are home to an extraordinary mix of creative workspaces and galleries including the Straat Museum and Museum for Street Art and Graffiti housed in a 8000m2 former warehouse on the NDSM wharf. The area is also home to bars, restaurants and workspaces. Over drinks in IJver Amsterdam, the PCUK group reflected on the site visits and workshop topics. Conversations continued well into the evening and we joined in to watch the Netherlands play in the Euro Cup!
Final thoughts
As we often see on PCUK visits, strong leadership within communities and local authorities – and a strong partnership between the two – is a vital part of sound placeshaping. This was especially true in Amsterdam (Noord!). Gentrification, displacement and inequality alongside the need to house more people and sustain local economies are common themes in both countries. However, as we’ve seen today, good leadership, true human connections and community effort can go a long way in creating livable neighbourhoods.
Interestingly, the City of Amsterdam owns about 70% of all land in the city. This affords the potential to control or at least influence what is being built and increase benefits for existing communities. However, ownership doesn’t solve every problem, especially when development is on large scales and change is happening at a fast pace.
We were immensely inspired by our hosts’ willingness to learn and experiment for the benefit of Amsterdammers and we’ll watch their progress with great interest! A huge thank you to our hosts at the City of Amsterdam, particularly organiser Jeroen Jonkers, and to our wonderful tour guides for sharing insight into their communities and their work.
Here’s to more international trips for PCUK members – and to hosting Amsterdam in the UK!
