For the basic structure of Amsterdam-Zuidoost a grid
was drawn parallel to the pre-existing railway. The underlying landscape was
completely wiped out by covering it with a thick layer of sand. As the
CIAM-inspired suburban satellite was to be developed replacing several polders,
each with its own artificial water level,
the whole of the area had to be given a new water system divided in
several gauges. These artificial watercourses run throughout
Amsterdam-Zuidoost.
As everything in this new satellite was planned anew,
the fact that the street names are regularly distributed is no surprise. Dutch
planners like to theme the street names in new neighbourhoods. Here all streets
start with the same letter. For the most part this principle is strictly
adhered to. In some places the streets of two subsequent letters in the
sequence join up. Some letters are used more frequently than others. The
streets names are also themed, referring to historic, farms, manor houses and
stately homes in the oldest part and to villages in the east of the country and
former city councilors in Gaasperdam. The industrial estates Bullewijk and
Amstel, however, follows the themed trend in a more traditional way, by not
adhering to a strict alliterative grouping. Al the streets here are named after
hills in the Netherlands (rather ambitiously called "berg" which
translates as mountain).
The structure of watercourses loosely follows the grid
and runs throughout the whole of Amsterdam-Zuidoost. In most place the water
divides the neighbourhoods, in some places though it runs right through. Each
neighbourhood has a letter, that is also the first letter of all the streets in
that section.
Morphologically the underlying infrastructure grid
divided the area of Amsterdam-Zuidoost in rectangular cells. Each of these has
a certain infill with either greenery, buildings or a combination of the two. The
grid is irregular to allow for a better layout of streets and placement of
buildings. The northern part, planned in the 1960s and built in the 1960s and
1970s, follows the grid in the orientation of the housing within the framework
of elevated roads and walking paths and cycle paths. The southern part that was
redesigned in the late 1970s and built during the 1980s differs in orientation
(away from the grid), type of buildings being built and layout of the streets.
Those parts in the northern section that were built in the late 1970s and 1980s
also differ greatly from the earlier housing.
The underlying grid structure of Amsterdam-Zuidoost
(shown in red) is relatively easily recognizable. The main grid flanks the
railway line and the structure of most of the suburban satellite can be aligned
with this grid, even the Gaasperplas a sandpit that now lies at the heart of
the Gaasperpark. There are three lesser grids that underpin the rest of the urban layout of
Amsterdam-Zuidoost. They all include development from the 1970s onwards and
should be seen as conscious interventions in the principle grid structure of
the suburb.
Amenities were originally located in a wide strip at
the heart of the northern part extending from the railway station to the green
belt. The Bijlmerpark would form a central park zone and connects the central functional
strip with the green belt. Apart from the central strip amenities such as
schools were spread across the development with each neighbourhood having its
own primary school and each cluster of neighbourhoods (or wards) a secondary
school. A new development embraced with the planning of Amsterdam-Zuidoost are
nursing homes, several of which are to be found throughout the suburb. Each
ward also had a small shopping centre, two of which were located beneath the
large parking garages near the hexagonal high-rises and always next to a metro
stop. The area had no church buildings, religious groups shared specially
allotted community halls. The central functional strip extending from the
Bijlmer train station never really materialised and had large vacant plots
until the 1990s.
The amenities such as shops, schools, day care
centres, nursing homes, medical practices, post office, youth club,
planetarium, etcetera are spread around the suburban satellite. The exact
location within the housing is dependent on the type of housing and the decade
in which the plans were drawn up.
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