Atelier Almere I | portfolio

ATELIER ALMERE

UMDSU1 | Is Almere an ideal city? | an environmental, economical and social development analysis

The objective of the atelier was to do an analysis of the city, focusing in the main areas: environmental, economical and social development, also considering the physical aspects of those three dimensions. This analysis was done after the participation in lectures and interviews with politicians, entrepreneurs, local residents, and specialists in the city. After that, a data collection was done, triangulating with the information received on the field research made previously. Using this information, each group did a SWOT analysis, focusing in their own area of study and research.

Environmental and physical development

strengths

weaknesses

opportunities

threats

Strengths

Almere is a city that was planned to be green and the evolution of the city continues to prove this orientation towards sustainability. Between all nuclei, one can see green belts and parks, that are protected areas. As a new city, Almere has a strong attraction towards innovation. Not only does this attract creative minds and researchers, but the city itself is innovative, through smart solutions like the selective waste collection system and the sun island (520 solar panels that heat water for 2,700 homes and reduce CO2 emissions by 50%). Furthermore, the quality of buildings is high, because of new technologies, materials and techniques.

Weaknesses

Almere is a low density city, with poly-nuclear structure, in which main areas are separated by green belts. This means that the areas are mostly residential and don't offer so many other opportunities. As the city has not reached its full capacity, the nuclei are still under-developed, therefore public facilities are also not yet as accessible or as developed as they could be, which is a disadvantage for the citizens. Another issue is that people are not rewarded or incentivized to build sustainably, which affects the environment and economy, since cheap houses in the building phase will not produce a worthy return of investment, but probably will bring more issues in the future. Last, but not least, lack of city branding (as a "green, sustainable city") worsens the situation.

Opportunities

In terms of areas to exploit, Almere has an abundance of land that is fit for agriculture (which would mean sustainable and high quality local production) and not only. Projects like Oosterworld, that empower citizens to build and exploit the space freely (as long as they comply with some general rules), build up even more interest for the area. Also, not to be ignored, initiatives like Almere 2.0 (a city vision and plan based on seven principles that aim to maximize the potential of the place) and Floriade (a large scale horticultural exhibition taking place in 2022), that involve and develop the community and the urban space. Even if Almere is a thoroughly planned city, there has been a shift throughout the years between top-down and bottom-up planning, so the planning process is more participatory. This gives inhabitants more freedom to build according to their individual tastes and needs.

Threats

The financial crisis affected the city and its sustainability focus, due to budget cuts. Caused by climate change, extreme rainfall is as well a constant issue, that increases flood risk and threatens the agriculture.

Evolution of Almere	Location of Sun Island	Picture of Almere's neighborhood with limited freedom to modify houses design
Illustration of Floriade	People working on the extraction of the floating algae layer on the beach in Almere Haven.	Drawing made by the architect Teun Koolhaas in 1974. Through this sketch we already can analyze how car oriented the city was, from the outset of the city's creation until the current urban plan reality.
Area of Flevoland	Illustration of Oosterworld showing freedom to construct and predominance of green areas	Teun Koolhaas drawing of Almere (1974)
Sun Island - scheme operation	Sun Island - Aerial Image	Disposal points in Almere Stad
Green spaces in Almere

Economic and physical development

strengths

weaknesses

opportunities

threats

Strengths

The proximity to Amsterdam and being part of this metropolitan area acts as a catalyzer for investments and income of social capital. Also, infrastructure ties everything together through high quality facilities. The low cost of living is definitely attractive for new dwellers, as well as the quality of buildings. Being a planned city means that Almere has clear principles and economic goals, which results in a lower risk for investors and new businesses and projects. The quality of buildings is high, since they are built with new materials and also the public transportation is efficient.

Weaknesses

Even if Almere is part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area, this also brings a certain dependency. If most of the population of the city works somewhere else, it signals that the city itself does not provide sufficient work opportunities. The lack of substantial local economy is visible also in the fact that available bussiness spaces are not used at full capacity, due to a lack of demand. Another issue is the lack of higher education courses. Because renowned universities already exist in other big cities, the inhabitants of Almere usually leave the place in favour of another with a proper educational offer. Less attractive for building a career, the city is scarcely populated with a strong, highly skilled work force. Lastly, even if the population is continuously growing, the employment market is stagnating, so this disproportional growth leads to a worse situation for the inhabitants.

Opportunities

As a city under development, Almere's approach is very free and pioneering. Citizens are allowed to build their own house and a few major innovative projects aim to significantly improve the city, like Floriade, the Almere 2.0 and Chinatown. Moreover, there is a big reserve of spare land to support all these developments. The touristic potential is also high, due to the innovative architectural projects and to the abundance of green spaces and water. Another positive feature is the privileged position, close to the new Lelystad airport and also the good infrastructure - new railway connecting Almere to Amsterdam. Also, in terms of infrastructure, the city benefits from a glass fiber cable network, which represents a great advantage in attracting investments from the ICT and media sectors.

Threats

Because of financial crises, investments and social programs in Almere are being cut off. Another threat is losing the "green-city" brand, since more and more cities focus on sustainability and choose to invest in it.

The city of Almere has a privileged location close to important cities and infrastructures.	The recently built city center	Bus lines of Almere and their routes
The empty city center	Structural vision of Almere 2.0	Almere inside the Amsterdam metropolitan area

Social and physical development

strengths

weaknesses

opportunities

threats

Strengths

The abundance of space mean for housing purposes in Almere opens up the posibility for citizens to live in a spacious house, have a garden and a peaceful, green environment. The poly-nuclear structure of the city brings the main facilities in the city center, but also makes available at least a health care center and a primary school for each neighbourhood. The public transportation connects well all the main areas and works efficiently. The center is only for pedestrians and has a large number of parking spots. Besides that, it is one of the safest places in the Netherlands, with a very low crime rate. This is particularly good due to the high percentage of families with children living in Almere (34%). Moreover, it is a place with mixed income population (30% social housing) and with diverse nationalities (200 different ones). Housing in the city makes it easier for different categories of inhabitants to settle in, with the freedom to build customized structures and a price for renting which is 98.92% lower than Amsterdam.

Weaknesses

Being a planned city, the participatory aspect only became posible more recently, as for many years, all the changes were made top-down. Another negative aspect is that this city is extended (248,8 square km) and besides the center, it is not walkable, imposing the need for own means of transportation. The center is also rather empty, due to reduced density (422 dwellings/sq km as opposed to the national density of 1934 dwellings/sq km), which gives people a sense of insecurity. Moreover, business units are too large for small entrepreneurs, so that cuts the chances of new businesses developing.

Opportunities

As opportunities, Almere is developing the Chinatown project, which will be an important economic pillar and will help small new businesses. Another project aims to double the available jobs and build 60,000 more houses, increasing the quality of life for the citizens. The proximity to the railways and to Lelystad and Schiphol airports will make it easier to create new connections and attract more people. Lastly, even if other cities in the country are expected to enter recession, Almere is expected to grow and expand.

Threats

While the closeness to Amsterdam does ensure at least economic security, the people of Almere wish to develop their own city as well. However, with such intense commuting to jobs in there, Almere seems more a part of Amsterdam, rather than a city of its own. The architectural freedom, even if pleasant, also brings along some controversial issues, like animosities between neighbours with unusual houses. Furthermore, it also builds prejudice to some extent, because Dutch people enjoy more traditional architecture and such an experimental style can be hard to get used to.

Neighbourhood of Almere Poort	Underground street in the city center of Almere	Bike left unlocked in Almere
34% of Almere is made up of families with children. There are also 200 different nationalities among the inhabitants.	Surface of Almere: 248,8 km², whereas Utrecht has 99,33 km².	Empty Almere city center on a normal day
Chinatown Community	Proximity of Almere to Randstad	Map of Almere with the distance between the two closest airports
Architectural Freedom in Almere Poort