The New Life Across IJ--Shaping an Innovative Community Model in Amsterdam Noord- IJ Plein in 2050

Abstract: After Brexit, the city of Amsterdam has been boosting its attractive power for people around the world, becoming a major international centre in Europe and one of the most interesting social-cultural and innovation hubs of the globe. While the city grows, it pursues ambitious objectives related to sustainable development, social inclusion, housing shortage and heritage protection. Amsterdam-Noord has historically been a leftover part of city, accommodating large industrial infrastructure, while the fabric of the old town would expand in all the other directions. Only in the last century, the Dutch capital started expanding on the other side of the river IJ. The late development generated a mix of models and urban typologies that collide and coexist in the area. Village-like row houses and low-density neighborhoods from the 1920s are only few meters away from brand new residential towers, social housing blocks mix with new industrial heritage regeneration projects, touristic harbor and boat houses pop here and there. IJ-Plein is the site of a representative urban plan designed by OMA in the 1980s, which created a distinctive urban fabric, but over time the original neighborhood no longer meets the requirements of sustainability and the needs of the people. Together with the old harbor industrial area next door, this area is in need of renewal and renovation. With the aim of developing a new urban center for Amsterdam, the project intends to provide a future-proof urban solution, with innovative, cultural and urban center roles in different loops, depending on the specific location of the area. It will attempt to address a variety of urban issues such as student housing pressure, urban-water relations, community social-cultural life, recycling, green space, urban densification, etc., making the area a well-rounded organic whole and an attractive highlight of Amsterdam in 2050.