The

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

city 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 ...

has had many planned expansions over the past two centuries.

Samuel Sarphati

Samuel Sarphati Samuel Sarphati (31 January 1813 – 23 June 1866) was a Dutch physician and Amsterdam city planner. Biography Sarphati's ancestors were Spanish and Portuguese Jews who arrived in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Though middle-class, his p ...

was a

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

in 19th century Amsterdam. By working in Amsterdam as a doctor in that period of time, he was confronted with the bad

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

of people especially in the poorer neighborhoods. He subsequently undertook steps to improve public health for the people of Amsterdam. One of these steps was an expansion on the south side of the city's center. This part of Amsterdam would become a neighborhood with the grandeur of

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of that time. It was very different from the older neighborhoods of Amsterdam, which were overcrowded and consisted of small streets. His expansion consisted of a central wide street with large

public buildings A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fu ...

on it and smaller side streets. He financed it with the support of rich inhabitants of Amsterdam. This main street would later become known as the ''

Sarphatistraat The Sarphatistraat is a street in the center of Amsterdam between Frederiksplein and Oostenburgergracht at the Cruquiuskade. The street crosses the Amstel and forms an almost long connection between the southern part of the Grachtengordel and the ...

'' in his honour. Some public buildings that once stood or still stand along this street are the ''Paleis van Volksvlijt'' and the ''Amstel Hotel''. The Paleis van Volksvlijt was a large building especially made for exhibitions of all sorts. It was modeled after the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

in London. The Amstel Hotel was built as a hotel for visitors of Amsterdam and were now able to stay in the new and improved part of this city.

The Van Niftrik Plan and the Kalff Plan

One of the first plans devised to expand beyond the current city’s center was made by ''Van Niftrik'' in 1867.Van Niftrik’s plan at the Amsterdam City Archives
It was rejected in 1868 by the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, but a small part of the plan was eventually realized. This small part is the northwestern corner of ''de Pijp'' adjacent to the city’s center. Its southern border became the ''Gerard Doustraat''. The neighborhood was to be built for the

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...

of society, but eventually became a working-class neighborhood. This neighborhood was expanded in 1876 and onwards to the ''Ceintuurbaan''. This expansion was only a small part of a bigger plan, which was designed by ''Kalff''. The plan consisted of a ring of new neighborhoods, which would come to surround the city’s center. It comprises the ''Van Lennepbuurt'', ''Da Costabuurt'', ''Helmersbuurt'', ''Frederik Hendrikbuurt'', ''Staatsliedenbuurt'', ''Spaarndammerbuurt'', ''Oosterparkbuurt'' and a large part of ''Pijp-Noord''. All of these neighborhoods consist of long, straight and narrow streets, which were densely built. Most of the buildings were built in a typical 19th century eclectic style. Although both plans were executed around the same time, the houses do differ somewhat in style. The houses of the Plan-Van Niftrik have a more stately appearance than those of the Plan-Kalff.

Gordel ’20-‘40

At the end of the 19th century with the

second industrial revolution The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of rapid scientific discovery, standardization, mass production and industrialization from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The Fi ...

being at a high, a lot of people from the countryside were moving to Amsterdam in the hopes of finding a job and better life. Because of the large number of people moving into the city, it soon became too populated and a shortage of living space became a fact. In 1901 a new

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

was signed called the ''Woningwet''. The purpose of this law was to improve housing conditions in large cities in the Netherlands and especially Amsterdam. With this new law, corporations whose purpose was to build affordable houses were eligible to receive financial support from the central Dutch government. As a result of the reform, these corporations grew larger and soon established a dominant position on the residential construction market. Large overcrowded cities were obliged by law to make plans to expand. An architect named

Berlage Hendrik Petrus Berlage (21 February 1856 – 12 August 1934) was a Dutch architect. He is considered one of the fathers of the architecture of the Amsterdam School. Life and work Hendrik Petrus Berlage, son of Nicolaas Willem Berlage and A ...

devised such plans. These plans were ''Plan Zuid'' and parts of the lesser known ''Plan West''. Plan Zuid and Plan West combined are termed the ''Gordel ’20-’40'', because both plans were executed between the two

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Plan Zuid

Berlage presented this to the city council. At first they rejected his plan, but in 1917 it was accepted after a few adjustments. The plan consisted of a large expansion of the city southwards. It consisted of the following neighborhoods: ''Stadionbuurt'', ''Apollobuurt'', ''Nieuwe Pijp'' and ''Rivierenbuurt''. The new neighborhoods were to become very different from the existing ones. The existing neighborhoods consisted mostly of privately owned houses and cramped streets. Berlage’ plan envisioned wide stately streets with smaller side streets, a lot of squares and open spaces and even more greenery. Privately owned houses were a thing of the past, since his plan envisioned large housing blocks. People of all social classes were to inhabit these housing blocks. With this vision he tried to uplift the segregation of social classes in that period of time. In a way he succeeded in doing this. Berlage did not design the housing blocks himself. They were designed by notable architects of that time such as

Michel de Klerk Michel de Klerk (24 November 1884, Amsterdam – 24 November 1923, Amsterdam) was a Dutch architect. Born to a Jewish family, he was one of the founding architects of the movement Amsterdam School (Expressionist architecture) Early in his car ...

in an

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style known as the ''Amsterdamse School'', or Amsterdam School. The housing blocks became well known for their richly decorated facades and monumental appearance.

Plan West

Plan West was an expansion of Amsterdam westwards. After the annexation of the former community of ''Sloten'' in 1921 the city's government devised a plan to create many new houses. The plan was executed in the style of Plan Zuid, which was designed by Berlage. Only the ''Mercatorplein'' however was designed by Berlage himself. The most striking difference between Plan Zuid and Plan West is that the housing blocks built according to the latter plan contain much less decorations on their facades. Plan West consists of the following neighborhoods: ''Hoofddorppleinbuurt'', ''Surinamebuurt'', ''Admiralenbuurt'' and ''Mercatorbuurt''.

References