print dit artikel

Perhaps not everyone is aware of it, but over the next few years a new district of the city will rise from the earth between Amsterdam South and Buitenveldert. Now, the South Axis is still in incoherent area, famous for the headquarters of ABN-Amro, ING and the WTC, but the first apartments will be ready in 2006 and will inject a bit of ‘life’ into the district. Ultimately, a new urban centre is set to spring up in the South Axis with a million square metres of office space, an equally large amount of living space and another 500,000 square metres for amenities.
The South Axis is eulogized as ‘a unique junction on the south of Amsterdam. High-tech office blocks, comfortable housing and everyday, luxury and cultural amenities. All transport configurations are on the doorstep. In the near future, the new South/WTC station will connect the high speed train, railway, car, metro and speed tram with Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. And what’s more, the South Axis is a stone’s throw from the old centre’. It leaves little doubt: the South Axis is the 'place to be'. The words South Axis merely need to pass the lips, to be greeted by talk of the area's boundless potential. As a business centre, a way of attracting the highly desirable knowledge workers to the city and as a new centre for Amsterdam and Randstad Holland. The enormous project, which will take the next twenty years to complete, aims to grace Amsterdam with a more contemporary face, equipping it with the economic strength to cater for the century to come. Which applies all the more to the South Axis: it even seems as if the economy of the Netherlands is largely dependent on the development of the South Axis. However, the question is whether the various ambitions that need to be fulfilled are feasible. And this mainly concerns the question whether the combination of business centre is compatible with a function such as urban centre. Because where a high calibre business centre is primarily a calling card for companies, an urban centre performs a function for all of a city’s social groups. Although there is as yet little clarity on what the South Axis will actually look like, will the area really have something to offer the city’s numerous types of residents? The desire to be the economic ‘poster boy’ for the Netherlands and Amsterdam is too urgent for this. Due to the prestige associated with the South Axis and its status to which the established companies wish to lay claim with their offices, there will be little call for greater diversity. At the South Axis people look out, as it were, onto a new urban society of highly educated,  internationally-orientated knowledge workers which will drive the old Amsterdam with its working-class districts, immigrants and food banks into extinction. The South Axis will assume to blend of functions offered by the old centre, but preferably without the social diversity.

The South Axis is and remains a question of economics
The municipality of Amsterdam was in fact not interested in developing the South Axis. It felt that the south banks of the IJ offered greater promise as a new corporate hub for the city. After all, with harbour activity reduced, the district could use a new function. Moreover, there were concerns about competition from the heart of the city because a location outside the old centre could have negative economic impact. Market parties involved in developing the southern banks of the IJ pulled out and, in the early nineteen-nineties, a growing number of companies relocated to the South Axis; the redevelopment of the area could be warded off no longer. Major banks moved their headquarters there and the municipality finally decided to get involved in the project. According to alderman Stadig ‘the government caved in to the market’. The South Axis was set to become the new top location but in such a way as to have an added value for the city. Housing and amenities, not only offices, were to be developed.

The market coerced the development of the South Axis. Although the term did not yet exist in the early nineteen-nineties, it is an example of what is today referred to as developmental urban planning. It is the new buzzword when it comes to regional development, because market and government need each other to realize spatial projects. Dialogue is coloured by the demands of the market because, after all, the market well knows what investors and consumers need. It reflects a society in which consumer needs are of mounting importance and the government is withdrawing on all fronts. Developmental urban planning is a project development approach that places more emphasis on realization. In the past, many spatial projects didn't get off the ground because the government made plans and left the realization to market parties. In a bid to avoid this, these days the approach is to capitalize on the spatial and economic potentials that present themselves. A set plan isn't followed as such, but visions are formulated so as to be able to respond to changing factors. The point of this is to realize spatial projects more rapidly and to enhance spatial quality. In the Netherlands, this working method breaks a mould because spatial planning in the Netherlands has long been the exclusive domain of the government.
Although it’s not entirely out of place that market parties have a say in the locations where they build their offices, in the case of the South Axis it goes a step further, because here they have enormous influence on the design of an urban hub. The involvement of the market in urban districts has advantages because major investments are required that the government cannot manage alone. But market parties will only invest if the money is recouped. And companies will only pay the high prices of the South Axis if the area has added value compared to other office parks. Here, status plays a crucial role. Because commercial and economic interests are substantial, there is a very real chance that a type of urbanization will arise that serves those commercial interests. A chic restaurant and theatre to take out business contacts has added value because the proximity of such amenities enhances the South Axis’ attractions to businesses. With this, the desired urban character becomes a selling point geared to the office market and urban functions will come to serve economic interests.

Mixed functions at the South Axis
There is an aspiration to build a mixed urban centre at the South Axis. Various reasons have been identified for the area being more than simply an office location, and being spatially integrated into the city. At present, the area is a physical barrier. The dike where the A10 and railway run, forms a distinct border between Amsterdam South and Buitenveldert. By placing this - and future – infrastructure below ground, an opportunity for creating a continuous urban area (the dock variant) arises. Moreover, a great deal more housing and offices can be built which is the only way that ambitions for an urban centre can be fully realized. The financial feasibility of the dock scheme will become clear in the spring of 2006. If the dock variant doesn’t go ahead, the South Axis can nevertheless evolve into a high calibre office district thanks to its prime location. Both Schiphol and the historic inner city are, after all, within a relatively short distance.
But if the dock does go ahead, permission will be granted for the development of the desired urban centre. This must be a high quality, high density project which takes as its reference point the heart of old Amsterdam. Spatially, separate parts of the city will be linked. Where many other centres become increasingly mono-functional by focusing on a specific function, the idea of the South Axis is to bring about a mixture of functions.
This means: no boring office areas that are deserted after working hours, no dormitory town consisting solely of housing and no centre that offers only leisure activities. The added value of the district lies precisely in this combination of functions. Moreover, it offers the chance of attracting people from outside into the area thanks to cultural amenities.
And from a purely economic perspective, the commingling of functions in the district is vital. Because an office area alone means that the district will be vulnerable to downturns in the market. By connecting offices to knowledge institutions and cultural amenities, functions can complement each other and there’s a greater chance the area will continue to be an attractive relocation zone. And moreover, because intentions are to create a high calibre urban area, and an international milieu, highly trained knowledge workers from Holland and beyond – the most important target group – will be able to work, live and enjoy their leisure time at the South Axis. With restaurants, a Joop van de Ende music theatre, museums, sporting facilities, parks and shops, they will have a complete package on their doorstep that slots into their lifestyle. Although everyday amenities will also be available at the South Axis, the emphasis will lie on an unusual range of high quality facilities. So there’s little likelihood of a Hema or Blokker here.

By setting their sights on knowledge workers, a substantial share of the housing will be developed in the top segment of housing stock. Because Amsterdam is keen to have more such housing within the city limits, this will be a welcome chance to supplement the deficit in housing stock. Besides apartments, there will be multi-storey urban residences, penthouses and lofts, living/working units, studio flats and social housing. As regards social housing, the municipality has dropped the requirement of 30% social housing for the dock, which lowers the percentage for the entire area to below the urban minimum, ending up at just above 20%. As costs increase, the social housing will be the first to suffer downsizing. Minister Dekker after all has no inclination to see social housing built on such costly land. The South Axis must, first and foremost, be an attractive district for international companies and their employees. Amsterdam is keen to carve itself a reputation as a city of business, housing and culture. As an icon, the South Axis in particular has the potential to combat the current image of the city as a drug and backpackers’ paradise.


South Axis as urban centre
Combining various functions plays a vital role in the South Axis in structuring the new centre, modelled on the heart of Amsterdam. An equal mix of housing, work and amenities with a comparable density is the goal if a lively district is to be the result. However, it is too simple to think that an attractive urban centre will be the upshot of simply mixing functions and spatial density. On the basis of the plans there’s little chance of socio-cultural mingling. The shops, cafes, housing and offices will focus on residents and visitors with above average incomes, which will ensure that the South Axis will be a centre for a specific group of Amsterdammers. The park and AFC football pitches may hook a broader public but given the range of amenities it's hard to imagine finding the average footballer on the terrace of the World Trade Center on a Sunday afternoon. Various people will travel through the district but this says little in advance of people’s ties with a locality. An urban centre has broader significance, one which is realized only if part of the city attracts people from the entire region, and if its residents span different social sectors. This is the case in Amsterdam town centre because the centre's appeal revolves around the presence of highly diversified groups of people who can, and do, make the centre their own. Economic and socio-cultural functions have become very closely intertwined. It is the diversity of groups of people, the existence of high and low culture and different types of economic activities that lend substance to the district’s function as a centre. And the town centre is still a highly desirable location for businesses although space and accessibility leave a lot to be desired.
This is not the problem with the South Axis, but then why are there no attempts to encourage the same human diversity there? By offering more groups the opportunity to live in the South Axis and by creating a more diversified range of amenities, more resilient links can be forged with the rest of the city. Where the current focus is on a ‘distinguished, high quality’ supply of amenities, a broader basis will need to be found if the South Axis is to succeed in functioning as an urban centre. Combinations of expensive bookstores next to a second hand bookstore and a Moroccan baker next to a luxury sandwich counter could appeal to visitors and daily users. It increases diversity and lowers the threshold for a wider public that wants access to choices and opportunities for discovery.  


This would give the South Axis the ability to appeal to and service a variety of groups with which it would fit better with the rest of Amsterdam. If this doesn’t happen, the South Axis will be spatially embedded within the city, but as a socio-cultural island within Amsterdam.

Laboured urbanization
Jan Winsemius of the spatial development and research consultancy Middelkoop rightly comments that existing centres like the heart of Amsterdam were never ‘thought up’ and never along the lines of ‘how to introduce urbanization into the area’.  In the current development of the area, this question is determinedly at the forefront, and attempts are made to introduce diversity into functions to encourage the springing up of a varied, exciting urban environment as rapidly as possible. With the allocation of the lowest storey to restaurants and bars, the intensive use of space and establishment of cultural institutions in the area, an urban climate is stimulated and an attempt is made to meet the needs of residents and users. That the saleability of the South Axis plays a major role is patently obvious. There are substantial interests in realizing a dynamic city centre quarter as speedily as possible. The consumer immediately wants to live and work in the lively environment so highly praised in the brochures. What’s more, the South Axis must meet the status criterion, and it is imperative that the area’s development generates money.
However, the result will be a laboured urbanization, something resembling the centres we’re familiar with, but which could remain a mere surrogate thanks to the hefty economic interests. Planning is required for construction, but users must assume ownership to inject life into the district. Character will only evolve if a more daring approach is taken with more scope for development from the bottom up and diversity is allowed to flourish by ‘accident’ rather than design.  And more space is needed for future residents, users and community organisations in the locality. Which isn't happening much at the moment. Future residents’ sole involvement in the development process is through lifestyle research, for instance. With the increased influence of the market on the development of projects such as the South Axis, the involvement of citizens and community organizations has been sidelined. In contrast to what is generally believed, developmental planning does not automatically mean development from the bottom up. On the basis of his research into major European projects, Belgian professor Swyngedouw concludes that a small elite is taking decisions that are difficult to monitor. He points out the importance of a broader process in which far more groups in society are actively approached to have their say in deciding what projects like the South Axis should be like. Advancing developmental planning a step further along these lines creates scope for residents and users of the area. This enables them to take ownership of the district and to become part of the South Axis’ design, which means it can become more ‘their’ environment, and enhance the vibrancy of the South Axis. If this doesn’t happen, it will take longer for the district to evolve a distinct character. The next opportunity would occur when buildings that currently have the function of economic calling card, acquire a different function. After all, it is universally the case that a lively, diverse urban climate flourishes when people take control over their environment, buildings are assigned a different  purpose and new groups of people settle in a neighbourhood.



Joost Zonneveld is a journalist and researcher

Literature
Swyngedouw, E. (2005) ‘A New Urbanity? The ambiguous politics of large-scale urban development projects in European cities’, in: W. Salet and S. Majoor (eds) Amsterdam South Axis. European Space, 010 publishers Rotterdam
Winsemius, J. (2001) ‘Economische maakbaarheid van stedelijkheid’, in: Leve(n) de stad, RPD