How fast the city changes! That is the impression that the Bosatlas of Amsterdam leaves behind. Like a river with flowing water, different population groups are always dominant. If you look closely at the atlas, you will see a dynamic city behind the many static maps.
An 'ordinary' atlas is often so exciting because it leaves places on the map blank. The highest peak, the deepest valley, rocky coastlines… You get the urge to see it in real life. Very different are the many statistical data and facts that mainly concern policymakers and administrators and that are included in Noordhoff's thematic atlas about Amsterdam.
It is the first forest atlas of a Dutch city. Not super exciting, but informative and recently also published in English. An Amsterdammer will not read much new in it. Yet there are special facts to be found, if you look carefully. Especially about the historical and demographic data.
For example, you will find out that at the moment the largest group of believers in the capital adheres to Islam. Surprising, in these troubled times. Nevertheless, the majority of Amsterdammers are incredulous:about 62 percent.
Outflow of Amsterdammers
How different it was half a century ago. At that time the Roman Catholics and Protestants (Dutch Reformed) were in the majority, but even then more than half were not religious (a little over a century ago a third were unbelievers). But 'Amsterdam' emigrated to the new country:as many as half a million Amsterdammers - mainly families - returned to the city towards Flevoland. Leaving the old neighborhoods behind for young people (often squatters), guest workers and immigrants from the former colonies.
Other demographic facts that impress is the decimation of the number of Amsterdammers during the Second World War. 110,000 Amsterdammers – one eighth – were transported to concentration camps, including 75,000 Jews.
Amsterdam left the war past behind and a time of renewal began. The housing shortage was an impulse for demolition, but later also for renovation. The urban renewal has continued. Neighborhoods such as the Pijp and the Staatsliedenbuurt have been taken care of; new neighborhoods were resurrected, such as the Zuidas. Infrastructure works have also been and are being tackled on a large scale, such as the Central Station and the Noordzuidlijn.
Design of the atlas
The atlas subdivides the various subjects into eight main themes:Becoming the city, Amsterdammers, Public services, Economy, Traffic and transport, Philosophy of life, Leisure and entertainment, and Culture. Furthermore, there is information about the administrative division (the city districts) and city plans and a register are included
For example, under Public services you can find how much waste Amsterdam processes:six hundred trucks per day and 1.3 million tons per year. The fact that this has been stable for years would mean that waste separation is not really getting off the ground. The fact that Amsterdam, for example, also imports a lot of waste, also from abroad, cannot be found.
To help the reader further, a bibliography would have been welcome, because a wealth of wonderful books has been published about Amsterdam. Think, for example, of De Grote Uitleg of Amsterdam, about urban development in the seventeenth century, the Water Canon of Amsterdam and – last but not least – the impressive work with Maps of Amsterdam (1538-1865) and part 2 about the period thereafter. Amsterdam was once a water city and transport went by water; those books make that clear.
Currants in the porridge
In short, the reader has to search for the best of the best in an overwhelming amount of maps, photos and infographics. To this end, there was intensive cooperation with the statistics department of the municipality. The headings are rather business-like and the information is presented without connections. It is therefore also difficult to navigate using a register.
For example, we find data on air quality under the heading 'car', while tourist boats and scooters form an important part of air pollution. Probably because no hard statistics are available from these diffuse sources. For example, if we search the register under 'scooters', we arrive at the theme page about Amsterdam-North because that is where most scooter owners live. Typically a fact useful to a policy maker in the transport sector.
Important innovations
Chapters that I miss as a native of Amsterdam are about important trends, such as environmental innovations, development of tourism, the effect of globalization on Amsterdam and new forms of transport. This atlas mainly looks back, while the statistics could also have been used as a basis for new knowledge.
For example, the city seems to be the new port for biodiversity and an urban environment in it surpasses the species-poor agricultural landscape. In that context, the relationship with the countryside and the supply of food would also have been welcome, such as new developments in urban agriculture.
Perhaps we can expect that in the future, in the Bosatlas of Amsterdam 2.0. What Amsterdam will look like then, and especially who will live and recreate there, remains a surprise.
The expansion of Amsterdam in the Golden Age (1600-1700), inspiringly rendered in 3D with ever-changing perspectives, by the Amsterdam City Archives. Credits:City Archives.