The economic crisis has caused gaps to appear around Amsterdam. Ambitious new housing projects have suddenly been dropped because of continuing poor house sales. The result: loads of empty lots in the city. Local people are giving the bits of waste ground a new lease of life as parks, playing fields, training circuits or vegetable gardens.

In West Amsterdam, Thamar Zijlstra and some friends are growing greens in pots on what is set to become a building site: 
“I saw a message about it by chance on Facebook. I thought it would be nice to join in with a few friends and signed up immediately. My friends were enthusiastic right away. A group of us have now got some troughs of plants which we look after together.”

No hollyhocks
The wooden containers were supplied by the Stadsboeren (City Farmers) group which hopes to encourage more of these community gardens in Amsterdam, as Philip Coppenhagen explains.

“I was familiar with this kind of development from Detroit and Berlin. An increasing number of unused sites started to appear in Amsterdam because of the construction crisis. We soon cottoned on and realised we could do the same with these sites here.”

He could not start right away, however. First, parties such as Amsterdam City Council had to be approached. The local authorities thought it was a good idea but were wary of allowing the sites to be used on a temporary basis. The worry was that the gardens would in time be seen as permanent and might become very popular. This would make it difficult eventually to close them down.

The council is not allowing the ground itself to be used and everything has to be grown in moveable containers. And no hollyhocks – a protected plant in the Netherlands – may be grown. Environmentalists can use the fact that hollyhocks are growing on a site to fight development in the courts.

Fennel and lamb’s lettuce
The City Farmers idea has really caught on and there’s a waiting list for the growing containers. Thamar Zijlstra is looking forward to the first harvest from her containers, which will include fennel, purslane, spinach, lamb’s lettuce and beetroot.

“Most people in Amsterdam haven’t got a garden, but enjoy gardening. It’s great to end up with something you can eat. It’s also nice that it’s local and involves other people. Amsterdam is anonymous: you often don’t know your neighbours. Now I meet other locals here. It’s good to share public space with each other.”

A bonus is that the waste ground looks much better into the bargain.

Digital map
In another area of the city, similar sites have also been given a new lease of life. People have converted the waste ground into gardens, parks, playing fields or training circuits – sometimes without the permission of the council or the housing associations. The council insists on tough conditions in exchange for its permission. Safety issues must be addressed, and other members of the public must not be inconvenienced. There must also be guarantees that the use is just temporary. And, of course, the owner or user of the site must be in agreement.

Despite the red tape, the council wants to encourage local people to come up with ideas for the use of waste ground. It has set up a digital map on its website showing vacant lots in the city. A councillor says ideas – some more realistic than others – have already started coming in. They vary from projects for student housing in containers and camp sites, to plans for whole flocks of sheep to graze the land.

(mw/imm)