The Triangle

Living, working and welfare in the western garden cities of Amsterdam

Birth of the garden cities

In the course of the fifties and sixties a new expansion was created on the west side of Amsterdam, based on the 1934 General Expansion Plan (AUP) designed by C. van Eesteren. The AUP was then, and still is, an exceptional plan for urban expansion as, for the first time, an effort was made to create urban districts on the basis of scientific research and a prognosis of future developments. According to this ideas, Van Eesteren designed a city that would still be fnctional in the 21^st century. During the time of postwar reconstruction, 33,000 houses arose on the western border of the city. Rents had to be reasonable as the recovery of the economy was the government's priority. Planing was adapted accordingly: fewer low buildings, fewer costly social amenities, houses with less capacity and cheaper construction methods. Of these houses 80% were built by housing corporations.

Organisation

The garden cities were built resembling a scottish tartan pattern: red parts represented the residential areas, black threads the road system, blue threads the water constructions.

In the centre is the Lake of Sloten, once a polder from which 12 million cubic metres of earth and sand were removed by excavating down to 30 metres in order to level peat bogs otherwise unsuitable for construction.

In the districts of Slotermeer, Geuzenveld, Slotervaart, Overtoomse Veld and Osdorp over 100,000 people settled. They consisted of working-class families who had moved from 19^th century parts of the city but also people from rural areas who were moving into the city in search of work. These formed communities that adhered to unwritten suburban rules (washing to be hung out to dry on M ondays only) but with a strong sense of solidarity, though the demarcation line between the various philosophies of life was clearly recognisable. The demarcation was emphasised by each group of buildings as the housing corporations were likewise organised according to their various denominations.

Change

Houses considered attractive in the fifties are now thought to be outdated. Due to the room taken up by domestic equipment, new ideas about furniture and a greater need for space for individuals the 50 m², five-room houses are now considered to be very cramped.

Moreover, the social structure of the districts has become looser in the course of the years. The first-generation inhabitants have gone. Those who are better-off financially migrate to the new suburbs which were built in peripheral areas, in the mid-eighties.

Originally the houses were considered to be decidedly expensive but nowadays they are among the cheapest available accommodation in Amsterdam. The result of this is, for one, that in a relatively short time a rapid circulation of houses has come about.

Houses that are vacated are often occupied by migrants from Mediterranean areas. The status of the garden cities on the regional housing market has therefore deteriorated and so has the socio-economic position of its inhabitants. On account of these changes the first settlers hardly recognise their districts anymore. The new-comers have different criteria concerning the use of public space and do not bring up their children according to the expectations of the original inhabitants. Friction is caused by ethnic differences, by generation conflicts and feelings of deprivation.

The Approach

The city council and four individual district councils plan toi show down the process of downgrading. A policy has been developed to explore the possibilities of breaking-up the uniformity of the available houses by adding new constructions and by adapting the existing houses. It is even possible that the existing building complexes may be pulled down altogether though this is a matter of contention among inhabitants. In the meantime supervision and surveillance have improved a lot. As part of the 'Big-cities-policy' the government has provided extra means for executing a number of model projects.

The Driehoek (Triangle) Foundation