1

PART IV: ALMERE NEW CITY. AN ANALYSIS OF URBAN MORPHOLOGY

Introduction

Part IV of this dissertation focuses on a case study of Almere New City, a

comprehensively planned and built conglomeration of five new nuclei/ towns, located on

the newly reclaimed land of the Ijsselmeer polders, about 25 kilometers from the heart of

Amsterdam. It analyzes Almere‘s physical and spatial form in the context of an approach

to planning that is discussed here as Dutch Green Urbanism, and examines the extent to

which it was possible for Almere‘s planners to implement a ―green planning‖ ideal in the

face of regional growth and development pressure. It also discusses how this new city

has performed both as a community and as a physical structure. Chapter 8 is devoted to

understanding the planned genesis and evolution of Almere based on a town plan analysis

including the analysis of city location (site and situation), processes and agents involved

in shaping the town plan, and the polynuclear planning concepts that were used during its

construction. Chapter 9 goes beyond the plan and the planning processes and focuses on

an analysis of the spatial form and temporal evolution in the 27-year old city in the

context of the Dutch Green Urbanism. It examines the nuclear morphology at different

scales of resolution in each of the towns shaped in different stages of spatial

development, as well as the internuclear morphology. This chapter aims to further this

study‘s hypothesis by presenting morphological evidence from Almere to illustrate the

efforts of shaping a livable, greener way of urban life, under the proposed Dutch Green

Urbanism paradigm. Chapter 10 is devoted to understanding how this new city has

performed both as a built structure and as an economic and cultural community within the

spatial and morphological matrix examined in the previous chapters. It discusses and

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analyzes Almere‘s built and human infrastructure, by examining the morphological

characteristics of the built form, and the evolution of its human infrastructure and

activities. The first part of this chapter is devoted to an analysis of Almere‘s types of

land uses and their functions, transportation pattern, and housing (types and density of

housing, housing stock and ownership structure, design and architecture). The second

part centers on the analysis of Almere‘s population (population growth, distribution and

structure), as well as on its economic activities and cultural development.

It is argued in this study that Dutch Green Urbanism had a fundamental influence

on the new development at the northern edge of the metropolitan area, and that it is

epitomized in the development of Almere New City. Thus, while the centuries-old,

largely unplanned Dutch cities have always developed along some spatial and

environmental premises, the most recently shaped Almere New City has followed a

different spatial and morphological pattern of development, marking a shift from the old

urban structures.

While Part III of this dissertation developed the theoretical foundations of Dutch

Green Urbanism by examining the manner and context in which it emerged, Part IV aims

to underpin the role played by the Dutch Green Urbanism planning paradigm and

processes in shaping Almere New City, and more specifically its influence on the new

city‘s spatial and physical form. Hence, this section of the dissertation sets out to further

determine the validity of hypothesis on the existence of a Dutch Green Urbanism

paradigm by examination of the morphological evidence from Almere, and by using a

more detailed case study.

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CHAPTER 1

ALMERE NEW CITY: TOWN PLAN ANALYSIS

Introduction

This chapter is devoted to understanding the planned genesis and evolution of

Almere, and is based on the town plan analysis, including the analyzes city location (site

and situation), town plan and processes, agents involved in shaping the town plan, and

the polynuclear planning concepts.

Size and Location

Like many other urban morphological working in the fashion of Michael Conzen

(1960), James Vance (1990), Jeremy Whitehand (1981, 1987, 1999, 2001), and Anne

Moudon (1994, 1997), this research grounds its research in Almere New City in the belief

that the city can be ‗read‘ and analyzed via the medium of its physical form at different

levels of spatial and temporal resolution, and that the analyzed urban form can provide

the link between the city‘s genesis and evolution, on one hand, and the Dutch Green

Urbanism planning paradigm, on the other hand. It also agrees with Michael P. Conzen‘s

view that ―geographical analysis is particularly sensitive to variations of phenomena at

both local and regional scales that is the variable distribution of form types and form

complexes across the space of the city‖ (Conzen, 2001: 3). Almere‘s urban form was

studied for both descriptive and explanatory purposes for how it was built, where it was

and why it was, with the aim of contributing to the further development of theories on the

built structures of cities.

One entry point into urban morphological analysis is to answer the geographical

question of ―why‖ the city was located where it was. The notion of ―location‖ plays an

4

important role in understanding the city‘s genesis and evolution, and can be conceived as

―a dichotomy of site and situation‖ (Ullman, 1954:13-14, 1962:193, and Vance, 1990:

17). Site, as one of the essential components of the classic dichotomy of city location,

refers to ―the physical nature of the ground on which the city was built‖ (Vance,

1990:17), and why that location was better than any other possible site. In the case of

Almere New City, site does, indeed, constitute an intrinsic and essential part of its

morphology and development. Situation refers to the horizontal relationships and wider

connections of the city with its hinterland and the world.1. The analysis of Almere New

City will begin with an essential investigation of both its site and situation.

The Site of Almere

Before analyzing Almere‘s town plan and its site, it is important to understand

Almere New City‘s total land size, since size seems to be perceived differently form one

country to another. Almere‘s total area amounts to 58 square miles (37,000 acres), which

represents slightly more than double the size of for instance Amherst, Massachusetts

(with a total area of 27.75 square miles), or Pelham (total area 26.50 square miles), and

only slightly bigger than Belchertown, Massachusetts (with a total land area of 52.74

square miles). The comparison between Almere‘s total area and the land area of small

New England towns from Massachusetts is one very good indicator of how land size,

land control, and land planning are perceived differently in the United States and the

Netherlands. What is a large-size city (spatially speaking) in the tiny Netherlands, is

small or very small in the much larger country of the United States. By the same token,

the Netherlands‘s total land area makes it less than the double the size of the state of

1 These terms were developed and discussed by Edward Ullman in the 1950s and 1960s

(Ullman, 1954: 13-14, 1962: 193).

5

Massachusetts. These land size comparisons can provide at least an entry point to

understanding the different perceptions and management of land (including urban land)

in the Netherlands and the United States. With land perceived as a very scarce, and

highly valued commodity, it is easier to understand why for at least two centuries the

Dutch population has entrusted the national government to take land development

decisions, and to strictly regulate and manage it through planning in the past century.

By Dutch spatial scale standards, Almere is a relatively large city, while by

American standards Almere would probably be qualified as a ―small‖ New England

town. Throughout the next three chapters it is important to keep in mind this difference.

One of Almere‘s most striking geographical and morphological features is its site,

which is located three meters below sea level, on the young soils of clay and sand that

have been exposed to the surface only since 1968, when the most recently acquired piece

of Dutch land was drained and dried. Almere was sited on the youngest Ijsselmeer

polder, respectively on the Southern Flevoland polder that was reclaimed between 1959-

1968. The creation of this polder constitutes the culmination of centuries-old Dutch

tradition of reclaiming land from the threatening sea surrounding or penetrating into the

Netherlands. The choice for Almere‘s location was a function of a series of previous

physical, spatial and urban planning decisions that emanated from both the specific 1960s

metropolitan Green Heart and green urbanism policies, and from older, inherited Dutch

traditions of defense against the sea through land reclamation and new town building.

Physical Metamorphosis of Almere‘s Site

Almere did not have an old, pre-existent physical spatial foundation on which to

be built. Rather, it took advantage of the newly shaped polder land, reclaimed from the

6

waters of the Ijsselmeer Lake. As a result, Almere‘s site carries along the characteristics

of the young polder land, a site literally created in the aquatic landscape of the Ijsselmeer

Lake, on the northern fringe of the Dutch metropolis. Consequently, before planning and

building Almere New City, the Dutch government and planners had to create the site for

Almere from scratch, to literally shape its physical foundation.

The past one hundred years of human-induced physical transformations of the

Ijsselmeer Lake are, indeed, stunning by any measure. This aquatic landscape has

undergone an interesting planned physical-spatial metamorphosis that developed through

three stages:

1. From a marine aquatic stage of the Zuider Zee, prior to the 1920s;

2. To the lacustrian aquatic stage of the Ijsselmeer Lake from the 1930s on; and

3. To the terrestrial landscape of the Ijsselmeer polders—stage which culminated with

the reclamation of the last and most recent land of the Southern Flevoland polder.

Southern Flevoland Polder (1959-1967)

The Southern Flevoland Polder was reclaimed between 1959 and 1967 and it is

the fourth2 and most recently reclaimed Ijsselmeer Polder, and hence the youngest piece

of land in the Netherlands. It amounts to a total surface area of 43,000 hectares (Shetter,

1987: 34). Interestingly, this 1960s polder represents the culmination of centuries-old

land reclamation processes, on one hand, and marks the shift from defense and

agricultural uses, to urban and recreational uses, on the other hand.

The reclamation of the Southern Flevoland polder was spurred by at least two

main factors, including the 1958 national report on the development of the western part

2 As discussed and illustrated in chapter five, in the twentieth century four main polders

have been reclaimed from the Ijsselmeer Lake, in a clockwise fashion, with Southern

Flevoland Polder as the most recent one (while a fifth one still awaits approval).

7

of the Netherlands, and the decision regarding the chronological order of land

reclamation. The former suggested the necessity of building more new towns in the

polders in order to alleviate the great housing shortage in the Randstad, while the latter

was based on the Zuiderzee Project Department‘ reevaluation regarding the order of

reclamation of land—with Southern Flevoland given priority over the Markewaard

(which has yet to be reclaimed).

The governmental decision to reclaim the Southern Flevoland polder rather than

Markerwaard was made in the 1960 First National Report and stemmed from a number of

financial, spatial, regional and infra-structural considerations, including:

1. the opportunity of smaller investments due to its smaller size;

2. its geographical proximity to the highly agglomerated northern wing of Randstad

Holland, which would help with the outwardly planned urban expansion of the

metropolitan region towards north-east;

3. the desire to connect Randstad and the Eastern Flevoland polder3 (already reclaimed

between 1950 and 1957), where the polder town of Lelystad had already been

planned and built; and the fact that the infrastructural benefits from Randstad to the

north and east.

As discussed in Chapter 7, the 1960 First National Report ‗s proposal to plan

around the Randstad concept constituted an extremely important step for urban planning

in the Netherlands. Ever since, it has had a tremendous impact on urban planning and

development, including the new urbanization taking place in the Ijsselmeer polders, and

the reclamation of the Southern Flevoland Polder4.

3 See the order of the Ijsselmeer polder reclamation in chapter five of this study.

4 In 1919, the newly created Zuiderzee Project Department (ZPD) started making plans

for reclamation of land, having as its main task the creation of a first polder in the

northwest corner of Zuiderzee as well as the closing of the Zuiderzee and its conversion

into a freshwater lake: the Ijsselmeer with a surface of 120.000 hectares. The plan has

continued until nowadays and, because of continuous reclamation of land, four polders

8

The national government and provincial authorities played a strong role in

shaping both the Southern Flevoland polder, and Almere New City. While the 1960s

First National Structure Report determined the site for Almere, by choosing the

reclamation of the Southern Flevoland polder versus the Markerwaard, the 1966 Second

National Structure Plan further influenced the planning and building of Almere by

launching the national policy of ―concentrated deconcentration‖ (gebundeld

deconcentratie) that promoted both metropolitan decentralization. In addition, the

decision to pursue the reclamation of this land for regional urban expansion and

recreational purposes rather than for agricultural and rural purposes that were pursued on

the previous polders, reflects the high level of coordination and integration between the

national urban priorities and authorities, and the regional Ijsselmeer land reclamation

project and authorities. In other words, the 1960s national planning priorities for

alleviating the pressures exerted in the metropolitan region impacted the course of both

future land reclamation processes and urban development in the Ijsselmeer polders. As

Coen Van der Waal observes, ―at that point the Ijsselmeer Polders were tied to Randstad

and become part of the national urban problem‖ (Van der Waal, 1997: 194). It is in this

context that Almere‘s site was shaped in the 1960s (1959-1967), and was later planned

(early 1970s) and built (1975 to present).

Once the reclamation of the Southern Flevoland polder was completed, and the

land became dry, the polder authorities designed a simple plan based on an orthogonal

pattern that divided the area into two main areas of urban land and non-urban land:

have been created, with a fifth one in project. All of the Ijsselmeer polders have been

reclaimed in the twentieth century, since 1927, as it follows Wieringermeer (1927-1930),

Northeast Polder (1937-1942), Eastern Flevoland (1950-1957), Southern Flevoland

(1959-1968), Markerwaard (project).

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The first area was designated for urban land, a non-parceled area marked as ―urban

area‖ (stedelijk gebied) of about 7,500 hectares in the west—which later became the

site for Almere, and about 450 hectares in the east—which later became the site for

Zeewolde, a much smaller town,;

The second area of non-urban land was divided into three parts including land for

industrial development in the north, agricultural land in the middle section, and

recreational, nature and wood land in the south (Van der Waal, 1997: 193).

In discussing Almere‘s site, it is important to mention the essential features and

changes brought by the reclamation of Southern Flevoland. The 1960s marked a shift

from the traditional reclamation of land for rural, agricultural and animal husbandry uses,

to the necessity to reclaim land for spatial, urban and recreational purposes ―for the

huddled masses on the old land‖ (Van der Waal, 1997: 194). This shift was triggered by

the conflict between the so-called agrarian interests5, on one hand, and the increasing

urban, recreational and natural preservations demands, on the other—as the urban,

ecological, and environmental preferences changed in the postwar era (as discussed in

Chapter 5).

Situation: Regional Context

The term situation refers to the horizontal relationship of the location of the city,

which in this case is Almere, with the region, the nation and beyond. It provides a

regional context as well as its interconnections with the surrounding regions. Almere is

geographically located within the close range of the Dutch polycentric metropolis, at the

northern edge of the metropolitan region that goes by the name of ―Randstad Holland‖ or

―Green Heart Metropolis‖ and only 25 kilometers from Amsterdam. In addition, Almere

5 The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries was afraid of losing land for agriculture,

hence insisted on the allotment for agriculture (Van der Waal, 1997: 193).

10

is located on the most recently reclaimed land of the Ijsselmeer polders, in the

southwestern corner of the Southern Flevoland polder.

The location for Almere in the western corner of the Southern Flevoland polder,

was initially proposed by the Zuider Zee Project Department (ZPD), the authority in

charge of the reclamation of polders and the development of infrastructure. The task of

the adjustment of the polder plans regarding new towns locations and polder landscape

was carried on later by the Ijsselmeer Development Authority (IJDA) 6

, which was a

department of the Ministry of Transportation and Water Management that was founded in

1963. The proposal for Almere‘s location was officially approved in 1968 by the

Minister of Transportation and Water Management, and endorsed by the Second

Chamber (House of Representatives). Since then the IJDA then had the ministerial

mandate to develop Almere. The relatively speedy decision to develop Almere in the

immediate proximity of the old land north-east of the congested metropolitan region

illustrates at least two things: (1) that from the very beginning Almere had the attention

of both ―the national and surrounding regional authorities, as well as the planning and

building trade press‖ (Van der Waal, 1997: 194), and (2) that Almere had the necessary

governmental and institutional legal, administrative, and financial support for its

development.

Almere‘s situation has been one of the driving factors behind the city‘s planning

and physical development. Planned and built in the past 30 years, Almere is the last of

the twenty-one new towns recently built on the Ijsselmeer polders and represents a

6 Otto and Van Duin were the directors that led the Ijsselmeer Development Authority

‖with strong vision and confidence in the future‖ ever since their organization received

the ministerial mandate to develop Almere (Van der Waal, 1997:194). They were both

strong proponents of the polynuclear planning concept for Almere.

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quintessential expression of Dutch planning for both the newly created living

environments and for the new dwellers. Furthermore, it holds an important place and

function in Flevoland, the newest Dutch province7 of, as well as in the regional and

national context.

Its location was a function of both precise planning decisions and random

circumstances. Planned and built rather as ―a friendly neighbor who could not only help

solve some inner-city crowding problems‖ of Amsterdam, but also regionally strengthen

Amsterdam‘s hub function for social and economic mutual benefit, Almere has

developed extremely rapidly and gained its distinct position in the Amsterdam region‖

(Van der Waal, 1997). This new city has lived up to its role in the regional context since

it represents the fastest-growing municipality in the Netherlands, with 7,000 new

residents coming each year.

History of the Polynuclear Planning Concept for Almere

Almere New City has developed on the basis of the polynuclear hierarchical

concept designed in the early 1970s, which shaped the entire comprehensive (structure)

plan and the later developments. In addition, Almere‘s plan also took advantage of its

location along the water, and its envisioned relationship with national, regional, and local

public transport lines (Van der Waal, 1997: 205).

The most striking spatial feature for Almere is its polynuclear character, based on

an agglomeration or hierarchical pattern of six distinct urban nuclei/towns of different

sizes built in different temporal stages, separated by internuclear areas represented by

green or aquatic elements. Because Almere New City has developed and expanded on

7 Flevoland has officially become the twelfth Dutch province in 1986.

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the spatial consequences of the polynuclear concept, it is important to allocate the

following section to a discussion of its origin, evolution and role for Almere.

The goals for Almere, combined with ―the fact that time was pressing‖ led to the

conclusion that a ―polynuclear concept was the best for Almere, and that the first

township should be located at the Gooimeer (Van der Waal, 1997: 197).

Other City Form Concepts Proposed for Almere

Prior to the final decision to adopt and implement the polynuclear city concept

proposed by Van Duin and his collaborators, the 1971 Verkenningen first exploratory

report considered five different planning proposals for the future form for Almere. These

proposals ranged from complete low-density spread via one compact urban form, to a

number of separate townships that included polynuclear ideas (Van der Waal, 1997: 197).

The five different city form concepts included (1) complete diffusion; (2) one

nucleus; (3) one nucleus and some diffusion; (4) several nuclei; and (5) several nuclei and

some diffusion (combining 1 and 4).

These five different city form concepts were evaluated based on ten parameters

including (1) types of living environment; (2) accessibility for daily shopping, outdoor

recreation, and community-indoor recreation; (3) proximity to shops and services; (4)

flexibility; (5) relation to open areas; (6) identity of urban parts; (7) ―forum‖ qualities

(meeting others); (8) business climate; (9) possibilities regarding existing environment;

and (10) cost-benefit ratio.

Although the method of evaluation was criticized, the idea of the polynuclear

concept was hardly criticized (Ter Haar quoted in Van der Waal, 1997: 197).

Furthermore, the meetings with regional and national planning authorities on the

13

polynuclear concept produced reactions that were ―quite favorable‖ to it. While most

planners concluded that the polynuclear concept was ―the best one for Almere,‖ the

debate was centered on site and nuclear size issues (Van der Waal, 1997: 197).

Planning Goals for Almere New City

The plan for Almere was influenced by a number of reports that envisioned

Almere‘s function in both the regional and national context. According to Coen Van der

Waal, the 1973 comprehensive planning report entitled ―Almere 1985‖ (published in

1974) in Rijksdienst, Almere, stated six basic goals for the new city of Almere (Van der

Waal, 1997:201):

1. Almere must contribute to solving the regional problems in the context of

Amsterdam‘s urban renewal, the Gooi region‘s overpopulation, the rapidly increasing

suburbanization and increasing traffic congestion – particularly in the existing urban

concentrations;

2. Almere must have a long-term, flexible plan that would allow the incorporation of

future social and technological changes, new transport modes, new forms of energy

and urban spatial use;

3. Almere must provide a balanced place for everyone, regardless of their age, income,

life style, and profession, where minorities have their rightful place;

4. Almere must stimulate a good urban life for its dwellers, foster differentiation within

residential, recreational, work and educational areas, and provide optimal public

transport lines;

5. Almere must contribute to the creation and preservation of a healthy natural

environment, and foster ecological diversity and consistency regarding the

development of natural elements; and

6. Almere must contribute to the preservation and further development of an urban

culture - creating an environment for a diverse population, interactions between

people, functions, work and other activities.

An analysis of these ambitious goals (set for the then soon to be planned and built

Almere), pointed to the necessity for the planners to find a long-term, integrative

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planning approach and a major planning concept that incorporate all social, cultural,

spatial, environmental, ecological, technological and economic dimensions into the fabric

of Almere. These goals also echoed many of the post 1960s concerns and changing

attitudes regarding the quality of urban life, and the necessity to create a new type of

urban environment that would both alleviate the western metropolitan pressures and

create a better urban place, and a better urban life on the recently made available polder

land.

Almere‘s planners were confronted with a challenging question, of how to plan

for a spatially, socially and environmentally balanced new city that would have to

accommodate all their goals, and more. While the challenge to create a new city was a

difficult one, the opportunity to plan for a new town on a new land—not subjected to all

the constricting zoning rules and regulations instituted on the old land was an exciting

prospect. Hence, from the very onset, the planning for Almere was perceived as both a

challenge and an opportunity. The most important element was to find an appropriate

planning concept with which guide the plans and development.

The search for a planning concept that would have to cater to the physical, social

and environmental goals was not an easy process and many employees from various

disciplines were involved during the early 1970s with the design of Almere.

The first institution to become involved in the search for a plan was the Ijsselmeer

Development Authority (IJDA), which had both the governmental and ministerial

mandate to plan and develop Almere, and the necessary urban planning expertise. Thus,

by 1971, led by the two directors Otto and Van Duin, a first team of four people started to

research ―the parameters of an urban settlement in the southern part of Southern

15

Flevoland,‖ including (1) the minimum and maximum population and employment

expected by 2000; (2) a plan form that could provide maximum flexibility to the various

external influences and changes, and allow the creation of a well-functioning city; (3) the

site for the first development, considering that overspill population would arrive mainly

from the Amsterdam agglomeration and the Gooi area; and (4) a concept that would

allow the creation of a functional, attractive and competitive city in the region (Van der

Waal, 1997: 195).

The initial planning schemes were finished in the spring of 1970 and published in

1971 as a report entitled ―Explorations about developing the new town of Almere in

Flevoland‖ (Verkenningen omtrent de ontwikkelingen van de nieuwe stad Almere in

Flevoland). The results of this exploratory report, combined with the already favored (by

Otto and Van Duin) polynuclear concept and the idea of building a first nucleus located

at the Gooimeer, created the premises for adopting the polynuclear concept for Almere‘s

plan—which has had an extremely important role in its development ever since.

The Comprehensive Town Plan for Almere

As discussed in Part III of this dissertation, the postwar growth of the Dutch

polycentric metropolitan region as a whole has had a considerable impact on the course

and efficiency of planning in the Netherlands, and has influenced the planned

urbanization on the new land located its northern fringe. In many ways, the town plan for

Almere remains consistent with the post-1960s visions and national and metropolitan

efforts to plan for creating better, greener, more livable urban places by preserving and

creating open space, green areas and waterways, while accommodating the changing

16

needs of the population. The city of Almere may well be the most consistently planned

city in the Netherlands.

Almere New City was comprehensively planned and built as a conglomeration of

six new nuclei/ towns, separated by green and aquatic internuclear areas. The analysis of

the current town plan demonstrates a high degree of both vision and pragmatism, along

with planning innovation, extreme attention to details and an integrative thinking and

planning. The town plan (as shown in Figure 1-1) reveals several interesting aspects

including:

1. Almere has a unique hierarchical polynuclear spatial structure, with six compact

urban nuclei/towns of different sizes. Each of these six towns has different functions

suggested by their names. All were built in different stages with the four main

nuclei/towns currently built: Almere Haven (Almere Port), Almere Stad (Almere

City), Almere Buiten (Almere Country), and Almere Hout (Almere Wood). Two

more nuclei Almere Pampus (Almere Out) and Almere Poort (Almere Port) will be

built in the near future by 2025.

2. Almere has an unusual green pattern of urban development for the whole city, with at

least two main types of ―green infrastructure‖ incorporated into its spatial fabric.

These are:

a. an extensive green infrastructure represented by green belts made of parks,

gardens, woods, nature preserves, and an extensive network of bike paths and

bikeways, all interspersed both between the main urban nuclei/towns and

within each of them; and

17

b. an aquatic infrastructure represented by blue belts consisting of water canals

that drain the polder, and lakes artificially created maintained for recreational

and aesthetic purposes.

3. The entire city has an unusual degree of integration of land uses and functions

including residential, commercial, transport, industrial, agricultural, ecological and

recreational.

4. There is an extensive integrated public transit system, along with one major highway

(A6) and one railway that traverse the city and the main nuclei from southwest

(coming from the main land) to northeast (toward Lelystad). The entire area has an

interesting road system with roads collecting traffic while at the same time not

disturbing most of the residential districts and neighborhoods;

5. The spatial pattern of the area is polynuclear and contained within spatial limits, with

no signs of sprawl.

6. Each urban nucleus/town has a well-defined, spatially contained downtown center.

18

Figure 1-1: The Polynuclear Planning Concept for Almere

(source: Municipality of Almere, 1994)

19

Clearly, the town plan has taken advantage of the land made available through land

reclamation, and it has integrated a large number of spatial, physical, environmental,

ecological, social, cultural and economic considerations. These are reflected not only in

the actual plan, but also are reflected in the current urban landscape and morphology of

Almere (which is analyzed in detail in Chapters 9 and 10).

As discussed in Chapter 6, municipalities in the Netherlands are charged with

making the local plans, which must conform to the national and provincial plans. In the

case of Almere, the municipality did not exist when the comprehensive plan was laid out

in the early 1970s. Thus, the comprehensive plan, which the Dutch call the ―structure

plan‖ (struktuurplan), was laid out by the planners from the Ijsselmeer Development

Authority (IJDA). It had a strategic character and it expressed the planners‘ general

intentions for Almere, as well as the location of large structural elements. At a later date

Almere also had a zoning ordinance and map, which the Dutch call the ―detailed plan‖

(bestemmingsplan).8 This was the most important planning instrument and needed

approval from the provincial authorities. Both the comprehensive plan and the detailed

plan were designed to conform to the guidelines provided by the national plan and the

―Green Heart‖ national planning policies.

From an urban planning standpoint, Almere‘s structure or comprehensive plan9 is

striking both in terms of its spatial and physical design. It has a uniquely planned

polynuclear concept for the entire city. It promotes and incorporates a new type of urban

space and living that includes a very generous (75 percent) amount of green buffered

8 Both types of municipal plans were explained in detail in Chapter 6 of this dissertation.

9 The US counterpart for the local ―structure plan‖ (struktuur plan) is the ―comprehensive

plan‖ (Levy, 2002: 310).

20

spaces (parks, bikeways, open space, agricultural land) and aquatic developments (canals,

lakes) tightly woven into its spatial fabric (Figure 8-1). These spatial features are visible

on the landscape today, as Almere continues to implement parts of the plan that was

designed in the early 1970s.

Dutch planners and architects consider Almere New City‘s plan unique.

Designed by Van Duin and Otto at the beginning of the 1970s, the comprehensive plan

emphasized an improved and ―greener‖ character for its six distinct urban nuclei/towns.

Housing was a key element in their plan which included a low-density housing of 38

houses per hectare (Municipality of Almere, 2000) within walking or cycling distance of

business, educational, transport nodes and recreational facilities, and with predominantly

(80 percent) low-rise row housing, single and multiple-family detached houses, twin

attached houses (duplexes), as well as apartment buildings of various heights (Van der

Waal, 1997).

An unusual degree of attention was given to provide a generous amount of open

landscape in the plan, in conjunction with green wedges penetrating into and between

residential areas, the incorporation of green ecological elements into and outside the

neighborhoods, and the separation of the urban residential neighborhoods, districts, as

well as of the main urban nuclei, by planned buffered zones with clear recreational and

transportation functions that are represented by green belts and blue belts.

Also, another interesting feature of the town plan lies in its growth limitations on

spatial and population development. The Verkenningen II (Explorations II) planning

report published at the end of 1972, stipulated that Almere would develop with limits to

both its spatial and population growth, with spatial development taking place on an

21

assigned area of 37,000 acres and with a population that should not exceed 250,000

inhabitants. The report already accepted the idea of a hierarchical polynuclear pattern of

population sizes (Van der Waal, 1997: 200). Following in the footsteps of Lelystad—the

new polder town located on the Eastern Flevoland polder and built just before Almere—

the planners had to take into account ―uncertainty as to [population] growth rate,‖ and

therefore attempted to achieve ―balanced growth of the several nuclei‖(Van der Waal,

1997: 207). From the early planning stages it was envisioned that Almere would have to

reach an upper limit total population of 250,000 inhabitants by 2025.

This specific population number echoes Ebenezer Howard‘s garden city or new

town polynuclear plan, which included both the idea of a limit to growth to about

250,000 inhabitants and the idea of locating towns in a par-like setting (as discussed in

Chapter 3). Also similar to Howard‘s garden cities that were envisioned to help

decentralize the congested London metropolitan region, Almere New City was seen as

one of the solutions to metropolitan congestion and overcrowding in the Netherlands.

Actual planning for Almere was largely influenced by the 1972 planning report

for Almere, which itself was impacted by the 1972 book The Limits to Growth10

, as well

as by the increasing environmental awareness brought about by the 1973 global oil crisis

(Van der Waal, 1997: 2000). Both the general awareness that there must be a limit to

population and spatial growth and that the sources of energy are limited, were

incorporated into many of the decisions made for the Netherlands at that time. Van der

Waal mentions some of the impacts of this rising environmental awareness on the actual

10

In 1972, The Limits to Growth book has sold more copies in the Netherlands than in

any other country, including the USA. According to the Het Spectrum BV publisher,

between 250,000 and 300,000 copies were sold over the years in the Netherlands (Van

der Waal, 1997: 215).

22

Dutch physical environment, including ―the (temporary) scrapping of planned

motorways, to the banning of automobiles in neighborhood streets‖ (Van der Waal, 1997:

215). The same environmental concerns were incorporated in Almere‘s plan. This is

illustrated in the transportation system adopted for Almere, when the planners aimed to

minimize the effects of car traffic, by maximizing traffic safety‖ and made a ―clear

choice for public transport, by proposing to install an extensive public transport system

ahead of the actual demand, to create a favorable competition in relation to the private

automobile‖ (Van der Waal, 1997: 200).

The town planners for Almere addressed a number of the pressing issues

previously discussed in Chapter 5 emulating from national, regional and metropolitan

levels. Clearly they desired to create an attractive, functional and economically

competitive new city, mainly with low-rise row houses, with a high differentiation of

land use and urban functions. They wanted to foster a balanced society in age, income,

profession and lifestyle.

Agents Involved in Shaping the Town Plan

In order to understand the processes of city making that shape urban form, it is

important to examine the planning agents that designed the town plan for Almere. There

were two main institutions—the Ijsselmeer Development Authority (IJDA) and the

Almere Project Bureau (APB), along with secondary agencies.

Almere‘s town plan was designed by an interdisciplinary team, which worked

under the umbrella of the Ijsselmeer Project Development authority. It was led by its two

directors Otto and Van Duin (Coen van der Waal, 1997: 194). The team was made up of

a wide range of professionals, including physical, social and urban planners, architects,

23

sociologists, as well as civil, traffic and agricultural engineers. Many of the ideas for

Almere‘s plan drew on the work previously done by several significant authorities

responsible for the reclamation of the Ijsselmeer Polders. These authorities were under

the umbrella of three major governmental agencies: the Ministry of Transport and Water

Management, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Interior.

The urban development for Almere has been driven from the very beginning by

plan-led urban processes approved by national governmental bodies. With the approval

of the Ministry of Transport and Water Management and endorsement of the House of

Representatives, the planning preparations started in 1968 immediately after the polder

was dry enough to proceed and following a number of published reports on the potential

plan for Almere. Based on the Verkenningen report for Almere (Explorations about

Developing the New Town of Almere in Flevoland), the Ministry of Transport and Water

Management, and the Minister of Housing and Planning approved the planning for

Almere. This was followed by the approval from the surrounding provinces, and finally

by approval by Council of Ministers on April 28, 1971. The building stage started in

1975 and continues to this day.

Immediately after receiving ministerial approval to plan for Almere, the

Ijsselmeer Development Authority (IJDA) started the actual planning processes by setting

up the Almere Project Bureau (Projektburo Almere), directly coordinated by IJDA (Van

der Waal, 1997:199). The Almere Project Bureau (APB), founded in 1972 and headed by

D. Frieling11

(Van der Waal, 1997:199), consisted of a multi-disciplinary team, which

11

D. Frieling, a physical planner and planologist, was a 1965 graduate of the Department

of Architecture (Urban Planning) of the Delft Technical University, who prior to arriving

to the IJDA was the adjunct director of the Department of Housing (Dienst

24

included urban planners, architects, general planners, sociologists, civil engineers,

agricultural engineers, landscape architects, traffic engineers and economists. According

to Coen Van der Waal, physical planners such as Van Willigen and T. Koolhas designed

the actual plan12

(Van de Waal, 1997:199). In 1973, the Almere Project Bureau drew

clear demarcation lines between the tasks to be achieved and divided into two distinct

project groups: The Almere Haven Project Group, and the Central Project Group (as

shown in Figure 8-2). Later, two other groups were formed: the Almere Stad Project

Group and the Almere Buiten Project Group.

As the planning project approached the construction stage of the first urban

nucleus of Almere Haven, other IJDA departments, aside from the APB, were involved in

the planning processes, ―based on their expertise and availability‖ (Van der Waal,

1997:200). These included the Department of Town Planning and Public Works

(Directie Stedebouwen Openbare Werken or DSOW), which in 1979 incorporated the

Almere Haven Project Group, and in 1980 incorporated the Almere Stad Project Group.

By 1981 the former Almere Project Bureau (APB) was dissolved, while work continued

under different departments (Van der Waal, 1997: 200).

Van der Waal (1997) provides a concise history of the planning institutions for

Almere, which is shown in Figure 1-2. According to him, most planners for Almere

moved to the subdepartment of Town Planning (Stadsontwikkeling) under the Department

of Town Planning and Public Works (DSOW), where they were joined by many of the

Volkhuisvesting) in Amsterdam. Since 1990, Frieling became professor of physical

planning in Delft (Van der Waal, 1997:199).

12

For more details regarding the history of Almere Project Bureau‘s planning activities,

consult Coen Van der Waal‘s book ―In Praise of Common Sense‖ (1997), and Nawijn‘s

book ―Almere, hoe het begon‖ (1987).

25

planners that previously worked for Lelystad – the new polder town located on the

Eastern Flevoland polder for which work was already finished. The landscape planners

became part of the Department of Land Development (Directie Landinrichting) or DLI,

while the planologists were transferred from the Department of Town Planning to the

Research Section (Afdeling Onderzoek)—a subdepartment of the Social Economic

Department (Directie Sociaal-Economische Ontwikkeking) or DSEO. On January 1984,

the Public Authority for Almere was founded, as large numbers of former PBA

employees transferred to Almere to form the core of the new planning and design

department (Van der Waal, 1997: 200).

Van Duin‘s 1971 Proposal of a Polynuclear Concept

The polynuclear concept was proposed by Van Duin in 1971, and supported by

both Otto and Van Duin prior to the 1971 report. Van Duin proposed the idea of urban

nuclei of 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants, which would make possible to arrange low-

density housing within walking and/or cycling distance around businesses, educational,

and recreational facilities (Van der Waal, 1997: 195). This ―common-sense‖ solution, as

Van der Waal (1997) calls it, influenced the shape and function of Almere, the spatial

pattern of structures, the distribution and design of neighborhoods, the social life

revolving around these proposed nuclei, the general lifestyle and the specificity of

Almere.

26

ZUIDER ZEE DEPARTMENT

IJSSELMEER DEVELOPMENT

AUTHORITY

(since 1969)

ALMERE PROJECT BUREAU

(1972-1981)

DEPARTMENT OF TOWN

PLANNING AND PUBLIC

WORKS

Almere Haven

Project Group

(1973-1979)

Almere Stad

Project Group

DEPARTMENT

OF LAND

DEVELOPMENT

SOCIAL

ECONOMIC

DEPARTMENT

Central Project

Group

(1973-..)

Almere Buiten

Project Group

Almere Haven

Project Group

(1979-)

Almere Stad

Project Group

(1980-)

PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR ALMERE

(since 1984)

Figure 1-2: Authorities and Planning Departments that Shaped Almere‘s Town Plan

27

Nuclear Size, Location and Hierarchy Parameters for Almere

The planning reports following Van Duin‘s proposal, included his polynuclear

concept idea and based on it as well as other considerations, concluded that the total area

should encompass 11,400 hectares, or more than 25 percent of Southern Flevoland (Van

der Waal, 1997: 199). Van der Waal explains how the planners calculated the minimum

nuclear size, on the basis of the availability of various demographic, educational,

commercial, transport, cultural, and economic amenities, including the (1) necessity to

have between 30,000 and 40,000 inhabitants, in order to have a complete secondary

education system; (2) necessity to have 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants for a modest

shopping/business center; (3) 18,000 to 27,000 inhabitants for a community center with a

theater; (4) 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants for maximum walking distances between 500

and 800 meters (depending on the density) (Van der Waal, 1997: 199).

While Van Duin originally thought of nuclei of more or less equal size (Nawijn,

1989: 18), the planners following him pushed in the direction of nuclei of different sizes,

and thus voted for a clear nuclear hierarchy (Van der Waal, 1997: 199).

On deciding the size of the different sized nuclei, the planners also considered

other parameters regarding the type of residential dwellings, potential employment and

commuting patterns, transportation demands, and future social and cultural infrastructure

needs. Van der Waal points that the initial calculations for the size of the nuclei

incorporated the proposal to plan for 90 percent of all dwellings to be single-family

homes (rows of houses). Fortunately, they also calculated the capacity for roads and

public transport at the time it appeared that a four-lane highway and a railway was

sufficient for Almere (Van der Waal, 1997: 199).

28

According to Van der Waal (1997: 197), the initial polynuclear concept and later

the polynuclear plan for Almere ―fitted well with the renewed interest in Howard‘s

garden city idea in the 1970s,‖ particularly in the latter stages of development. K. Nawijn

(Nawijn, 1989 quoted in Van der Waal, 1997: 197) noted the parallel between the

Garden-City Diagram and Almere, particularly in the number of nuclei around a larger

central nucleus, their interrelationships, and even the total population. Van der Waal

observes that although the parallel might be to some extent true, Nawijn‘s comparison

―had a high degree of superficiality, since it was largely based on form and size‖, while

Howard‘s social organizational content was absent (Van der Waal, 1997: 197).

The 1971 Verkenningen report (Explorations about developing the new town of

Almere in Flevoland) played a significant role not only in the decision for the polynuclear

concept proposed by Van Duin, but it also influenced the decision for the size of the

nuclei. This report paid maximum attention to the polynuclear concept, specifically to

the form and location of the nuclei. Almere‘s planners indicated that in order to create an

attractive, diverse living environment, catering to every possible taste, with a range of

residential densities Almere needed a hierarchical pattern of nuclei (Van der Waal, 1997:

203).

This was ―a reflection of the hierarchy established in the Second Report of

available urban and suburban living environments in the form of A, B, C, and D towns‖.

The Second Report recognized four distinct so-called ―spatial units‖ or nuclei, within an

urban region, including (A) units of about 5,000 inhabitants; (B) units of 15,000

inhabitants; (C) units of 60,000 inhabitants; and (D) units of 250,000 inhabitants (Van der

Waal, 1997: 203). Based on this typology, the Verkenningen exploratory report

29

suggested that ―Almere‘s character could be described as a coherent complex of A, B,

and C nuclei at not too great of distance from the D nuclei of Amsterdam and Utrecht‖

(Rijksdienst voor de Ijsselmeerpolders, Verkenningen I, 1970: 170). The report made

size specifications for the nuclei, by indicating a number of about 20,000 inhabitants for

the small nuclei, and eventually about 30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants for the larger-sized

nuclei. Also, it indicated the possibility of future population growth to 125,000, 200,000

and 250, 000 inhabitants (Van der Waal, 1997: 203).

Other important specifications regarding the location and distribution of the

nuclei/towns were made by the 1974 comprehensive report entitled Almere 1985, which

expanded on the 1971 Verkenningen report and made additional suggestions for the new

town development until 1985. The report emphasized that the plan should take advantage

of the location along the water, as well as of the national and regional attention paid to

Almere. Several key decisions were made regarding the location and the size of the

nuclei including (1) the main nucleus [Almere Stad] was to be located centrally in the

area, with its central position underlined by its railway station between Amsterdam and

Gronningen— the railway station would serve as the local public transport hub; (2) the

nucleus along the Gooimeer [Almere Haven] would always be secondary in size; (3) the

other nuclei should be oriented toward the main nucleus [Almere Stad], rather than

become separate appendices; and (4) the east-west highway A6 would form a

considerable barrier (Van der Waal, 1997: 205).

Polynuclear Concept as an ―Anti-Urban‖ Approach

Van der Waal (1997) argues that Van Duin‘s polynuclear concept was in fact ―a

continuation of the anti-urban approach that had marked town planning throughout the

30

Zuider Zee polders,‖ a device through which the polder towns ―would somehow

counteract the bad effects of the city.‖ Interestingly, with the ―farmer‘s sense‖ or

―common sense‖ acquired during their education at the Agricultural University of

Wageningen, both Otto and Van Duin influenced the greening of the planning processes

for Almere. They proposed low-rise and low density housing in the main urban nuclei,

which included ―low density neighborhoods with lots of greenery‖, and opposed the high

rise apartments and ―the hard edge appearance of an urban ambiance‖ (Van der Waal,

1997: 195). Apparently, the polynuclear concept was considered a necessary and

significant planning device for shaping a large city (for Dutch urban standards) that

would reflect the invoked ―anti-urban‖ and ―anti-high-rise buildings‖ sentiments, and

provide a combined ―country and town‖ urban landscape.

Hence, while Almere was planned as a city, the synthesis of ―town‖ and

―country‖ proposed at the beginning of the twentieth century by Ebenezer Howard, or

between the built areas and the green open spaces present in each of its nuclei/towns

makes it hard to believe that Almere is a city in the sense conceptualized by most

urbanists. This situation shows that for instance, Le Corbusier‘s ideas of a vertical city

dominated by high-rise buildings were never too popular in the Netherlands, where the

majority of the population preferred the low-rise buildings to the high-rise ones. This is

clearly illustrated by the results of a 1963 national survey done by the Netherlands

Institute for Public Opinion (NIPO), who indicated that Dutch people, if given the choice,

expressed an overwhelming 80 to 90 percent preference for low-rise, single family

houses (rows of houses) (Van der Cammen, quoted in Van der Waal, 1997: 197).

31

While most Western European countries embraced and implemented the idea of

high-rise buildings and vertical landscapes, especially since the postwar era, and even

more so from the 1960s and 1970s on, the Netherlands did not do so. Overall, the general

Dutch urban landscape includes the four large cities, which with a few exceptions are

dominated by low and mid-rise buildings, with a few exceptions. The biggest exception

from this general rule seems to be the case of Rotterdam, a city destroyed during World

War II, which had to be totally rebuilt, and where the Dutch did break the pattern by

building high-rise office spaces and apartment buildings. Through discussions with

different segments of urban residents in Rotterdam and elsewhere in the Netherlands, it

became clear that the idea of high-rise buildings is neither fully welcomed, nor entirely

accepted by the majority of the Dutch. The recently designed and otherwise very

aesthetic high-rise office towers in the heart Den Hague, have stimulated a lot of mixed

discussions and reactions around the role of high-rise buildings in Dutch cities.

Whether the Dutch predilection for low-rise buildings is anchored in old social

and cultural features of a Dutch society that has had to live on a rather flat and fragile

landscape for centuries (as discussed in Chapter 5), or in the postwar changing individual

and collective preferences, as suggested by Van der Waal (1997), the fact is that for a

combination of reasons Almere‘s planners also rejected the idea of high-rise buildings.

At present, Almere New City displays a dominant low-rise urban landscape, with only a

few recently built high-rise apartment buildings and office spaces (still in construction),

primarily located in Almere Stad. An interesting addition to this discussion is provided

by Van der Waal‘s remarks, who stated

―from the early 1960s onwards, society had been going through a change from the

collective era to the individual, from an era of collective rebuilding of a war-

32

damaged environment to a period of self-assertive enjoyment‖ and the

Netherlands has undergone a transition from a vertical era to a more horizontal

one with ―the vertical image of happy masses working in cheerfully smoking

factories and living in airy, sunny apartments‖ dissipating into the ―horizontality

of individual row-housing‖ (Van der Waal, 1997: 195).

Advantages Offered by the Polynuclear Planning Concept

The spatial development for Almere and the need to accommodate 250,000

people in approximately five decades, has been accomplished through the polynuclear

planning concept, which offered a number of compelling advantages13

highlighted by

Teun Koolhaas and Jan de Hartog and summarized as follows:

1) Successive and juxtaposed implementation of different aspects of the plan

simultaneously, which allowed for distinct stages of urban development to take place,

with construction starting initially for one nucleus, and then a new stage for a

different nucleus would start, while construction in the previous stage would continue

at the same time;

2) Flexibility in the stages of urban development for each nucleus, in the sense that

while following the initial plan in terms of what, when and how much should be built,

it also allowed the incorporation of specific planning, architectural and design ideas

that arose at the time;

13

Advantages of the polynuclear planning concept have been presented in an internal

paper entitled Almere, the Netherlands: Twenty Years of Experience with the

Polynuclear New Town Concept, written by Teun Koolhaas (a private consultant), and

Jan de Hartog (head city planner for Almere). Jan de Hartog gave an interview in

Almere, at the City Hall in November, 2000. I want to express gratitude to him for his

time and insights.

33

3) Provision of a spatial pattern that would accommodate the maximum planned

population number of 250,000 people over the estimated 50 years of urban

development, within different types of settlements to meet different types of

requirements;

4) Possibility of keeping the rate of growth for each urban nucleus and its districts and

neighborhoods within the limits of what was technically, financially and socially

desirable at the time when construction started;

5) Spatial proximity to the surrounding open green and blue spaces, bus stops, as well as

center of mixed-use centers in each urban nucleus;

6) Maintaining a balanced structure between the built and natural areas;

7) Having a variety of design and architectural styles for the main housing types;

8) Possibility to start and finish building new housing units in a short time, thus allowing

the new dwellers to move rapidly into the finished neighborhoods;

9) Urbanization taking place in a mosaic of different types of residential neighborhoods

that were designed and built and at various stages of urban development;

34

10) Provide the inhabitants with a wider range of residential choices and to start moving

within and between their initial neighborhoods and districts, catering to their new

demands, financial status and social preference; and

11) Shaping a new urban settlement at the northern edge of the polycentric Dutch

metropolis, which would on one hand gradually achieve a degree of self-sufficiency

within its own boundaries, and, on the other hand would support a balanced regional

and metropolitan development. (Koolhaas and Hartog, 2001)

In addition to these advantages, the polynuclear concept offered other advantages,

including the fact that the division into more and smaller townships versus one large city

offers several administrative, financial and technical advantages for management. As a

result of the implementation of the polynuclear hierarchical concept, Almere in 2002

consists today have four main urban nuclei/towns separated by green and blue belts

buffered zones (see Figure 1-3). The following Chapter 9 goes beyond the plan and

analyzes the implementation of the polynuclear concept for Almere. It examines the

temporal-spatial evolution and morphology of in each of Almere‘s towns, as well as in

the internuclear areas.

35

Figure 1-3: The Built Almere New City, the Netherlands.

This aerial photograph illustrates Almere‘s compact polynuclear spatial structure.

Notice the built urban fabric separated and surrounded by green and blue belts (with

different functions) (source: Municipality of Almere (1999)

36