IJburg
Encyclopedia
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. It is situated in the IJ Lake
IJ (bay)
The IJ is a river, formerly a bay, in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is known for being Amsterdam's waterfront. The name derives from the generic Germanic term for "water" and is similar to other Aa/Ee names for bodies of water. In Dutch, the name consists of the digraph ij, which is...
and is being built on artificial islands which have been raised from the lake. Administratively, IJburg is part of the Zeeburg
Zeeburg
Zeeburg is one of the boroughs of Amsterdam. It has 52,701 residents and is 19.31 km². The construction of new islands to the east called IJburg makes it the most rapidly growing borough of Amsterdam.-History:...
borough of Amsterdam.
History
In 1965, the architects Johannes Hendrik ("Jo") van den Broek and Jacob Berend (Jaap) BakemaJacob B. Bakema
Jacob Berend Bakema was a Dutch modernist architect, notable for his public housing and involvement in the reconstruction of Rotterdam after the Second World War....
designed the Pampus Plan for a town in the IJ Lake which was to house 350,000 residents, most of whom were to come from Amsterdam. However, in national plans another strategy was chosen, forcing people from Amsterdam to move to expanding towns in the area such as Purmerend
Purmerend
Purmerend is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.The city is surrounded by polders, such as the Purmer, Beemster and the Wormer. The city became the trade center of the region but the population grew relatively slow. Only after 1960 did the population...
, Hoorn
Hoorn
-Cities :* Purmerend * Enkhuizen * Alkmaar * Amsterdam * Lelystad * Den Helder * Leeuwarden -Towns :* Edam...
and the new town Almere
Almere
Almere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort and Almere Pampus .Almere is the youngest city in the...
. As well as this, the Bijlmermeer
Bijlmermeer
The Bijlmermeer or colloquially Bijlmer is one of the neighbourhoods that form the Amsterdam Zuidoost borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands. To many people, the Bijlmer designation is used to refer to Amsterdam Zuidoost and Diemen Zuid as a pars pro toto...
was constructed to the south of the city and Diemen
Diemen
Diemen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands with a population of around 24,000. Diemen is located in the province of North Holland directly to the east of Amsterdam within the capital's metropolitan area.-Geography:...
was expanded.
The 80’s saw a change of policy and construction sites nearer to the city were sought. As Amsterdam is located between Schiphol and nature reserves such as the Bovenkerkerpolder and Landelijk Noord, the only possible location became Nieuw-Oost (New East).
The Amsterdam city council decided to build the neighbourhood in 1996. Opponents of the plan called for a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
as there were objections to possible negative effects for the nature of the IJ Lake. This referendum was held 19 March 1997. Although a majority of voters was against the construction, an insufficient number of votes was cast and construction could therefore be started.
Islands
IJburg consists of 6 artificial islands built in the IJ Lake. They are Steigereiland (Jetty island), Haveneiland West & East (Harbour island) and the 3 Rieteilanden (Reed islands), Large, Small and East. The construction of, and building on, these six islands formed Phase 1. Four more islands are planned to be constructed in the future. These islands will be called Centrumeiland (Centre island), Middeneiland (Middle island), Strandeiland (Beach island) and Buiteneiland (Outer island). The plans call for a total of ten islands to be constructed, but construction of these has been delayed by a Superior Administrative Court decision to annul the building permit of Phase 2 due to lack of consideration for the local environment. The main thoroughfare is IJburglaan (IJburg Avenue) which connects the islands. There is also a tramTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
line connecting the islands to the city and Amsterdam Centraal
Amsterdam Centraal
' is the central station of Amsterdam. It is one of the main railway hubs of the Netherlands and is used by 250,000 passengers a day, excluding transferring passengers. It is also the starting point of Amsterdam Metro lines 51, 53, and 54. The station building of Amsterdam Centraal was designed by...
Station (Route 26, Amsterdam's most modern tram line, and the only one to allow non-folding bicycles on board).
Residents
The first residents moved into their houses on Rieteiland in November 2002. Since then people have moved into houses and flats on both Haveneiland and Steigereiland. Due to a slow take-up of properties the construction of phase 1 was delayed meaning that IJburg probably will not be finished in 2012 as planned.When complete the neighbourhood will have 18,000 homes for 45,000 residents and should also include employment for 12,000 people. As well as homes, schools and shops; leisure centres, restaurants, a beach and a cemetery are planned.
Bridges
Enneus Heerma Bridge
The Enneüs Heerma Bridge is a bridge in the Netherlands which connects the new urban district of IJburg, built on seven artificial islands in IJ Lake, with the isle of Zeeburg, a borough on the eastern edge of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands....
(bridge 2001) connects Zeeburgereiland with Steigereiland. This bridge is currently the main route to IJburg and is also used by the tram. The bridge, designed by the English architect Nicholas Grimshaw
Nicholas Grimshaw
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, CBE is a prominent English architect, particularly noted for several modernist buildings, including London's Waterloo International railway station and the Eden Project in Cornwall...
was built in 2000 and with two spans of 75 metres is one of the biggest bridges in Amsterdam.
Bridge 2002 was designed by the same architect and is a smaller version of bridge 2001. This bridge connects Steigereiland to Haveneiland. The tram also uses this bridge.
IJburg's pedestrians and cyclists also have their own bridge connecting them to the Ooster Ringdijk and Watergraafsmeer
Watergraafsmeer
The Watergraafsmeer is a polder in The Netherlands. It was reclaimed in 1629. In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were many buitenplaatsen in the Watergraafsmeer, though nowadays only one, Frankendael, remains....
, in the form of the Nesciobrug, whose southern end terminates in an expansive spiral cycle ramp. It is named after the writer Frits Grönloh, whose pen name was Nescio
Nescio
"Nescio", Latin for "I don't know", was the pseudonym of the Dutch writer Jan Hendrik Frederik Grönloh, born June 22, 1882 in Amsterdam and died July 25, 1961 in Hilversum, both in the Netherlands. Grönloh was a businessman by profession; as Nescio he is mainly remembered for the three novellas De...
(Latin for "I don't know").