Urban planning
Amsterdam is a relatively small city with 780,000 inhabitants (and 390,000 dwellings) with a long tradition in
planning due to the fight against the water. The population is divers with 177 nationalities and very dynamic. In
the recent three years we have seen a rise of more than 30,000 citizens, half through national and international
immigration and half through a high birth rate.
Amsterdam is a compact city, which you can cross within an hour even by bike, it has got a compact settlement
pattern, no sprawl and a restrictive policy towards building in green areas. Therefore, Amsterdam is a green
city. The green wedges penetrate far into the inner city and connect to the surrounding metropolitan
landscape. Visits to the city parks and to the metropolitan landscape have increased strongly in recent years.
They contribute to the quality of life and enhance the real estate value.
We have reinvented our long tradition of planning: inspiring, connecting and activating were motivations to
our current Structural Vision 2040, which has won the ISOCARP award for excellence November 2011.
Amsterdam has a planning tradition since the golden age (example of the Canal district). And now for the first
time our structural vision changed the scope: from Amsterdam as a city to Amsterdam as core of the
Metropolitan region.This Structural vision is an integrated vision: it was co-produced by various municipal
departments and by society. In this vision, which is called “Economically strong and sustainable”, we are tying
together economic performance and sustainability challenges.