The Amsterdam Extension Plan

Abstract

The widely known General Extension Plan of Amsterdam (Algemeen Uitbreidingsplan van Amsterdam (AUP)) from 1935, with Cornelis van Eesteren as its head architect, is one of the most famous schemes of this kind even today. It is known for its unique and sophisticated system of the urban greenery which can be reached within a 10 minutes radius from any point in the city. How was it achieved in such a large and dense urban area? Why was such an intricate greenery system introduced in the first place? What was it inspired by? How was it devised? These are merely a few questions that come up when one sees the original plan for the first time. The answer to these questions are as fascinating as the history of the expansion plan itself which is directly related to them, as the AUP is a sophisticated, clearly layered, harmonised and hierarchal system of urban elements. What elements contributed to such a success of this plan? What adjustments the pre-war plan had to undergo in order to answer the needs of the society in the post-war world? In order to answer all these questions, a wide research has been done in an attempt to uncover the long and complicated history of AUP, and all the events, societal factors, brilliant individuals that have shaped the city of Amsterdam into what it is today.
The first section of this paper takes on the historical background relevant to the AUP. It explains the ideas of the pioneers of urban planning and greenery planning, which inspired the planners of the Amsterdam extension plan. In the second part, we will look closely at the AUP itself and at its history. It will be shown what factors contributed to its creation, and what was the system on the big scale. The third part will focus on the smaller scale, looking closely at the details and particular strategies applied, and at how the new neighbourhoods were planned out. This will be shown with the example of the Slotermeer district, as out of all the neighbourhoods planned in AUP, that one was the most successful as the designers were more free in their processes. Finally, in the last section, the greenery system of AUP will be analysed in detail. It will be shown how the ideas behind it were developed and how they have influenced the city.