Theory Course EMU

September 2010 – January 2011

Opportunities for Slotervaart

Arda van den Brink

W: www.marsweg3.nl
M: 06-54913297
E: a.vandenbrink@marsweg3.nl;

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Introduction
Slotervaart is a suburb of Amsterdam, build in the sixties of last century. Build as a garden town
it was at first inhabited by citizens moving from the city in search for more space. Slotervaart
could answer that demand, both in private (house and sometimes garden) and public space. But,
over the years, the image of the suburb changed. The once popular houses got worn out, there
were too much of the same houses and the once admired openness of public space was felt as
unsafe. Slotervaart and other suburbs west of the city became more and more seen as dull and
people began to move to new towns in the surroundings of Amsterdam.

The new inhabitants of Slotervaart were mostly immigrants. In the sixties and seventies of the
twentieth century men were brought to Holland, often from Mediterranean countries, as foreign
workers. After several years these men were allowed to bring their wives in children to Holland
as well. It were these reunited families that settled in Slotervaart, mostly Turkish and Moroccan
people. Nowadays no more than half of the population of Slotervaart is original Dutch. Thanks to
the inflow of so much immigrants the image of Slotervaart as a place to live deteriorated further.
Some severe riots a few years ago made the situation really urgent.

At that moment a huge urban renewal program for Slotervaart had already started by the local
government and the housing corporations together. Thousands of houses were to be demolished
and replaced by modern, mostly apartment buildings in a more closed setting. For some
apartment blocs the plans were limited to a major renovation. Building activities are
accompanied by a extensive program for social and economic development of Slotervaart. Due
to the riots the urban renewal activities were accelerated. But, as a consequence of the economic
crises, the urban renewal program can’t be executed as planned. It is now about half way. It will
go on but at a slower pace. It is for sure that several plans never will be executed. It is
questionable if change now and in the future will be sufficient to become and maintain a
sustainable society in this suburb.

In this paper it will be argued that there are several opportunities for Slotervaart to make change
sustainable.
First of all it will be described, using the concepts of functional urban routines and social-spatial
practice, how different social groups of inhabitants, already have attained some history in living
together in this suburb. Or, in words of Sharon Zukin, ‘both origins and new beginners are paid
respect’. It will also be described how this respect can be maintained and improved.
Secondly, being part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area is a big asset for economic and other
development in Slotervaart. In the last decade more and more is written about global cities, their
definition and ranking and their importance for economic development and prosperity. In this
context the word ‘city’ concerns a whole region around a centre city. The Amsterdam
metropolitan region appears on most ranking lists in a second ring of ‘sub-global’ cities.
Slotervaart is not the only suburb of Amsterdam that can benefit of the Amsterdam metropolitan
region as a global city. Special for Slotervaart however, and that is the third opportunity, is the
accessibility of Slotervaart by all means of transport. A train station, that connects the suburb by
a 7 minute ride and 6 times per hour with the airport of Schiphol, a metro that connects the
suburb even faster with the central business district of Zuidas, 3 tramlines into the city of
Amsterdam and last but not least the location alongside the highway with several exits turn
Slotervaart into an attractive location to live and to work.

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Everyday life of a multicultural polulation
Urban planners are the designers of the build urban environment. Creating the urban
environment they fix to some extent the way in which people, living in their ‘design’, can live
their every day life. They fix the position of housing blocks, streets, parks, shops, etc. It is
common practice that, as part of the creative process of designing, they try to step in the shoes of
the future users of the urban fabric they are creating. Sometimes their design is guided by an
specific ideal for living every day life within the build environment.
But in the end the actual users determine how they live their lives within the build environment
as it is presented to them. They develop routines for shopping, going to work or school and for
recreating. Where will they execute the different activities of every day life, at what time and
how often? Some routines are repeated daily, some every week and others every month or even
year. In describing these functional urban routines arises a picture of how urban space in a city is
actually used.
Different social groups have different and specific ways of using urban space. The shops they
visit may be different, the way they recreate may be different, their amenities may be different,
their functional routines are different. The description of the functional routines of different
social groups in a city, the social-spatial practice, gives an even better picture of urban life. It
maps the social and cultural dynamics in the city.
Functional routines are important to get accustomed to the city and functional routines are also
important to get accustomed to other social groups using the same urban space. They can help to
become familiar with a neighbourhood and their inhabitants. Because of that they can contribute
to a ‘sense of place’, or, in other words, to feel at home.
But times are changing. The city is always changing. How is it possible to keep that sense of
feeling at home when your neighbourhood is dramatically changing by moving people out and
entering of very different, new inhabitants? Sharin Zukin describes these changes in some
neighbourhoods in New York. She introduces the notion of ‘a right to the city, a human right,
that is cultivated by long time residence, use, and habit’. To maintain or restore a city’s soul in a
rapidly changing world it is in her opinion necessary to look for a ‘balance between a city’s
origins and its new beginnings’. Such a city she calls authentic.

What can we learn out of this for Slotervaart?

Ivan Nio, Arnold Reijndorp en Wouter Veldhuis gave in their ‘Atlas van de Westelijke
tuinsteden’ a beautiful picture of every day life in three suburbs, very much alike, in the western
part of Amsterdam. Slotervaart is one of them, closest to the city of Amsterdam. The atlas
distinguishes four different social groups in these suburbs: original inhabitants, immigrants, the
new urban dweller and the hybrid urban dweller. The new urban dweller is someone, young and
well educated, choosing for these suburbs because of the affordable houses, the green and ample
space, close to the city and to Schiphol airport as well. They prefer locations near to the city,
found in Slotervaart. The hybrid urban dwellers are the children of both original inhabitants and
immigrants, youngsters grown up in these neighbourhoods, choosing to stay despite their social
increase and despite their urban orientation. Both categories, the new and urban dwellers, are still
small in number in the western suburbs.
The book contains brief descriptions of the way each social group lives their life in Slotervaart It
also contains some very nice maps, mental maps and maps visualizing the spatial distribution of
different kinds of amenities for and the different kinds of use of public space by the different
social groups. .
The somewhat surprising conclusion in this book is, that each social group is more or less
satisfied living in these suburbs. The original inhabitants prefer to become old in their

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neighborhoods, despite the changes they have seen happening. The immigrants have found a way
of living, although the Moroccans, a lot of them living in Slotervaart, are still concerned about
the image of the suburb and lack of amenities for children and youngsters. The new urban
dweller lives in Slotervaart by own choice. He sometimes longs for more urban facilities in the
suburb. The same is true for the hybrid urban dweller. This group is historically attached to the
neighborhood, will stay there under the condition that shops, restaurants and bars are of
appropriate quality. In terms of Zukin, it seems that each social group has found its own right to
live in Slotervaart and that they have achieved a balance in sharing public space.
The image of the suburb doesn’t match the opinions of its inhabitants themselves as a place to
live. The achieved balance between the different social groups create an opportunity for further
development of the suburb. A careful branding of the suburb, exhibiting the experienced
qualities of the suburb, will be of great help to this development. On the other hand, new riots
have to be prevented at al costs.

Part of a global city

Slotervaart isn’t a suburb in a random city somewhere in the Netherlands, it is a suburb of
Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.
Amsterdam has a long, mostly prosperous history. It had its finest hour in the 17th century, ‘the
golden age’. Located on the borders of the IJ and thanks to a sound commercial mercantilism it
was a centre of shipping, trade, finance and, very special, cartography. In that age the city had to
expend their walls immensely to accommodate the fast growing (international) population. The
world famous ‘grachtengordel’ that was realized in that period is one of top attractions of the
city and is listed on the World Heritage list. In the first part of the 20th century the city was
enlarged again, to the south, according to an urban plan by Berlage. After World War II the city
was expanded to the west. The urban plan for this expansion was made by Van Eesteren. It was
his ambition to create an attractive suburb by applying the principles of ‘light, air and space’.
Both plans, the plan of Berlage and the plan of Van Eesteren, are fine examples of urban
planning of their period and are very well known because of that.
Slotervaart is a suburb in the expansion of Van Eesteren. It has a clear grid with long lines:
continuous roads and shopping streets, vast green surroundings and watercourses.

Amsterdam has developed over the years from an important mercantile town to a so called global
city nowadays. The global city is a concept that its extensively described by Saskia Sassen. The
concept is used for cities that are node points in the operation of the global financial and
economic system. It is common sense now, that cities have to be studied in a global perspective
and that the relations between global cities across national borders are the focus of study. One
way of studying is the development of rankings of global cities.
There are different ways of ranking global cities, each of which are stressing different features of
the cities concerned. Besides economic features cultural, political and social criteria are taken
into account. Amsterdam appears in these rankings in the sub top of global cities, strong in
different economic sectors. This position is favorable in attracting new firms and institutions to
the city.

Amsterdam as a global city isn’t limited to city centre or the municipal boundaries of
Amsterdam. In this context the whole Amsterdam metropolitan area is taken into account. It is
this region as a whole, with Schiphol airport as a major economic driving force, and all the
activities that take place in this whole region that secures the sub top position of Amsterdam as a
global city.

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Some key figures of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, the city of Amsterdam and the suburb
Slotervaart are shown below.

Area Amsterdam Slotervaart

(2007) (2005)

dimensions 40 x 60 km

surface area 1.815 km2 219 km2 11 km2

population 2,2 million 750.000 45.000

(33% foreign) (50% foreign) (56%)

jobs 1.0 million 460.000 34.000

A map of the Amsterdam Metropolitan area is shown below. Slotervaart can be found on the
location of the yellow star, west of the city centre and east of Schiphol.

Economic development will be concentrated in global cities all over the world. Being part of
such an global city is an advantage for a neighbourhood. Slotervaart can benefit of this position.

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Location and accessibility

The map on the left shows the suburb of

Slotervaart, its boundaries, the central position of
station Lelylaan – a station for train and metro - ,
the highway A 10 alongside the eastside of the
neighbourhood and the tramlines going into the
city centre.

On the map on the right of the municipal

transport company this picture is drawn
even clearer and the bus connections are
added to it.

The two pictures below show how metro(left) and tram (right) in Slotervaart are connected to the
route network of Amsterdam as a whole.

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The map below shows how Slotervaart is connected to the ring road/ high way system.

Slotervaart is an extremely strategic location in terms of mobility.

The journey between the train station Lelylaan and Schiphol airport takes only 7 minutes with a
frequency of 6 trains per hour. The journey to Amsterdam Central Station is a trip of 10 minutes.
The metro has 4 stops in Slotervaart and connects the suburb with three important business
districts of Amsterdam: Sloterdijk, Zuidas and Zuid-oost.
Four tramlines are crossing through Slotervaart, connecting the city with the western suburbs of
Amsterdam.
The clear grid of the urban plan of Van Eesteren creates long, wide streets, from north to south
(the long lines) and from west to east. The west/ east connections (there are 6 of them, 3 with a
tram line) go into the city. Most of these structuring streets have separate bicycle paths and wide
side walks, which make them attractive for walking and cycling, cycling being an important
means of transport in the city of Amsterdam.
All these modes of transport in Slotervaart, especially in the eastern part of the suburb, make this
suburb special in relation to other suburbs in Amsterdam. They can contribute to establish an
attractive living environment , especially for much mobile dwellers. Mobile on the scale of the
neighborhood, city, region and even – because of the proximity of Schiphol - of the world.
They can also contribute to the so called ‘uitrol’ of the city, the extension of the city from the
east side of the A-10 to the west side. This extension can refer to both living and working.
Housing prices west of the A-10 are on this moment substantial lower than prices for houses
situated on the city side of this ring road. The ring road forms a psychological barrier in
choosing a place to live. The same is true, but probable in a lesser extent, for choosing a place to
work. A lot of, usually smaller firms, have found a location in the neighborhoods in the city of
Amsterdam. The number of small firms, especially sole proprietors, is growing in Amsterdam.

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There is no reason why these businesses can’t find a appropriate location in Slotervaart as well.
Maybe the locations are even better in term of available parking space.
Slotervaart, so close to the city and to Schiphol and so well connected to both these destinations,
has got plenty of opportunities by that.

Slow development in a changing world

Nearly twenty years ago the talks about improvement of the westelijke tuinsteden started. About
ten years later an ambitious development program was presented. Thousands of houses were to
be demolished and to be replaced by even more new houses. The number of houses in
Slotervaart was to be increased from about 19.000 in 2000 to about 23.000 in 2015. The areas to
be renewed and the ambition regarding the new housing environment are shown on the maps
below.

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In Slotervaart the renewal is nearly halfway. The new houses are realized in quite a lot of
impressive, compact apartment blocks with a modernist architecture. Most parking is resolved
within the apartment blocks and in the plinths alongside the main streets small business can find
a working place.
The financial and economical crisis have disturbed the ambitious planning of the urban renewal
in Slotervaart. Building activities will be finished, but it is very hard to sell the new apartments.
For that reason, and also because money supplies of both the housing corporations and the
municipality has dropped down new building activities will scarcely be started. A lot of
developments will be postponed or will be limited to renovation of the existing houses.
Not everybody is sorry for this. The pace of renewal was immense in the last few years and there
were doubts about the spatial impact of the renewal. Slowing down may be a blessing in
disguise. It creates the possibility of a more organic renewal, adjusted to the needs of the
population, for instance the new urban dweller and the hybrid urban dweller longing for more
urban facilities like shops and restaurants and with a closer look to the functional urban systems
of the different social groups in Slotervaart, the lack of some amenities and the use of public
space. Sufficient attention for maintaining public space is essential in such a period of organic
development. This must prevent a fall back of the neighbourhoods. Continuous and focused
attention for branding of Slotervaart as a place to live and work will help developments to keep
on going. This is important for locations where urban renewal will go on, but probably even
more important for several privately owned locations in Slotervaart where commercial buildings
will be vacated and redevelopment will become urgent.

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This organic way of development is new for all participants in the process of maintaining and
development of neighbourhoods. It demands, especially from the municipality, a strategic view
on a neighbourhood in terms of social-spatial practice, functions and programme.

Conclusion
The question to be answered in this paper, as formulated in the introduction, is: is the urban
renewal, that already is realized in Slotervaart or is due to be realized in the next few years
sufficient to create and maintain a sustainable society in this suburb? A sustainable society in this
context is very much the same as the authentic city, introduced by Sharin Zukin and sees to a
city, suburb or neighbourhood, where different social groups, origins and beginnings, can live
peacefully together, prosper and feel ‘in place’. A society with no reasons for riots.

Nobody can answer this question now. But it is for sure, that there are opportunities in
Slotervaart that can diminish the chance on new social problems.
Like all suburbs in Amsterdam Slotervaart is fortunate to be part of a global city, a location
favourable for growth both in living and in business. On top of that Slotervaart is very well
connected to the city of Amsterdam, to the business districts of Amsterdam and to Schiphol
airport as well. Besides Slotervaart has a very diverse population living more or less happy
together. These are opportunities that can be exploited in developing locations still under urban
renewal and locations, that will emerge by abandoned office buildings. Slotervaart has the
resilience to adapt to new dwellers and new workers. It is the task of the local government
together with people living in Slotervaart and interested organisations like housing corporations
and property owners to carefully maintain and develop society, real estate and public space,
exploiting the three opportunities, to guarantee a prosperous future for Slotervaart.

Literature
Sharon Zukin; The naked city (2010)

Ivan Nio/ Arnold Reijndorp/ Wouter Veldhuis; Atlas westelijke tuinsteden Amsterdam (2009)

Gemeente Amsterdam DRO; Amsterdam Pocket atlas

Gemeente Amsterdam; Vernieuwing Nieuw West, voortgangsrapportage 2007-2008 (2009)

Gemeente Amsterdam Bureau Parkstad; Herziening Richting Parkstad 2015 (2007)

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