Buikslotermeer is a neighborhood and a polder of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The Buikslotermeer is a reclaimed

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

, now largely located within the city of Amsterdam-Noord. Nowadays, the name 'Buikslotermeer' is used to refer to the entire ''Buikslotermeerpolder'' (approximately 12.000 inhabitants) of the similarly named neighborhood, located in the south-east of the polder.

History

The lake must have been 340

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

in size and 3 to 4 meters deep, before it was

drained ''Drained'', (Portuguese: ''O Cheiro do Ralo'') is a 2006 Brazilian dark comedy film based on a novel by Lourenço Mutarelli. It was directed by Heitor Dhalia, and stars Selton Mello. The film was produced by Geração Conteúdo, Primo Filmes & ...

in 1627, together with two other

Waterland Waterland () is a municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland. It is situated north of Amsterdam, on the western shore of the Markermeer. It is well-known for comprising the touristy towns of Broek in Waterland and M ...

lakes; the Belmer and Broeker lake. The lakes were probably formed due to the

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

of worn-down

peatland A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...

(the ' water wolf'). The soil of the polder - no

marine clay Marine clay is a type of clay found in coastal regions around the world. In the northern, deglaciated regions, it can sometimes be quick clay, which is notorious for being involved in landslides. Marine clay is a particle of soil that is dedica ...

- turned out to be only suitable as

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

. The western part of the

ring ditch In archaeology, a ring ditch is a trench of circular or penannular plan, cut into bedrock. They are usually identified through aerial photography either as soil marks or cropmarks. When excavated, ring ditches are usually found to be the ploughed� ...

became part of the Noordhollandsch Kanaal (Great North Holland

Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

) in 1824. A year after, in 1825, the dyke at

Durgerdam Durgerdam is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Amsterdam, and lies about 7 km east of the city centre, along the dyke of the IJmeer. Durgerdam is a part of the ''deelgemeente'' (sub-munici ...

collapsed and the Waterland and the Buikslotermeer were completely flooded. The last time the polder flooded was in 1916. The Buikslotermeerpolder was located in the former

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Nieuwendam and Buiksloot. Both merged into the municipality of Amsterdam in 1921, as part of Amsterdam Noord. Hereafter, the polder retained its agricultural nature. Amsterdam's General Expansion Plan ("Algemeen Uitbreidingsplan") from 1934 did not provide

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...

in ''Amsterdam Noord''. However, in the 1930s the Noorderbegraafplaats (a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

) was built in the northwestern part. A change in the ''Algemeen Uitbreidingsplan'' in 1958 meant that the polder was built up at a rapid pace in the 1960s. Early 20th century buildings along the southern ring dike (''Buikslotermeerdijk'') disappeared without a trace, as did the older large

farmsteads A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

'Boerelust', 'Herteveld' and 'Elsenhage' (located at the current sports park 'Elzenhagen').

Buikslotermeer in present day

The polder still drains into the drainage system via the Noordhollands Kanaal. The water level in the canal is -1.54 m NAP (''Dutch: Normaal Amsterdams Peil/ English:

Amsterdam Ordnance Datum Amsterdam Ordnance Datum or ' (NAP) is a vertical datum in use in large parts of Western Europe. Originally created for use in the Netherlands, its height was used by Prussia in 1879 for defining ', and in 1955 by other European countries. In the ...

''). In the polder this varies to -4.8 to -5.2 m below NAP. The ground level varies from -3.5 to -4.5 m NAP. Typical is the elevated construction of all roads crossing the polder. Notably, the raised

slopes In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line is a number that describes both the ''direction'' and the ''steepness'' of the line. Slope is often denoted by the letter ''m''; there is no clear answer to the question why the letter ''m'' is used ...

of the A10 ring road and ''Nieuwe Leeuwarderweg'' divide the polder into four sections. A water treatment plant is located in the northwestern section, the

northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

section has a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

. Within the ring road, west of the ''Nieuwe Leeuwardenweg'', are the ''De Nieuwe Noorder'' cemetery (formerly the ''Noorderbegraafplaats'') and the residential areas of ''Jeugdland'' (construction 1995-1998) and ''Elzenhagen-Noord'' (construction since 2006) and sports park Elzenhagen. The largest part of the polder is located in the southeast. Here is the Buikslotermeer district, along with the ''Buikslotermeerplein'' and the ''Olof'' ''Palmeplein''; where the ''Boven 't Y'' shopping center and the district office are located. To the west and south of the ''Buikslotermeerplein'' are the districts of ''Loenermark'' (often called the 'banana flats') and the ''Plan van Gool''. East of the ''Buikslotermeerplein'' is the ''Waterlandpleinbuurt'', formerly named ''Nieuwendam-Noord''. The Research and Statistics department of the municipality of Amsterdam uses the combination 'Buikslotermeer' for its reports, which covers the entire polder. A big portion of the polder is part of the ''Centrum Amsterdam Noord'' planning area, which provided new housing, schools, a library and theatre, expansion of the shopping mall and the construction of subway station

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

at the North-South line at the traffic median of the Nieuwe Leeuwarderweg. Content in this edit is translated from the existing Dutch Wikipedia article at :nl:Buikslotermeer; see its history for attribution. Neighbourhoods of Amsterdam Amsterdam-Noord {{NorthHolland-geo-stub