The Future
Almere 2.0 – our ambition
As Almere 2.0, we will have grown to be the fifth largest city in the Netherlands. In only a few decades we already grew to comfortably hold 190,000+ residents. Many of us are quite happy with the way things are in today's Almere – Almere 1.0. They just love all the extra space, all the green, the surrounding waterways and our multizoned way of living – just as it was envisioned by Almere's designers and architects. Now, more than 30 years later Almere has a new mission. The city will double in size with 60,000 new homes and 100,000 extra jobs. This expansion will contribute to the economic development of the northern 'Randstad' as well as the ecological restoration of the Markermeer and the IJmeer. See here for more information.
We understand that a building should have its foundations dug where it can last, so Almere pays attention to durability. The 'Almere Principles' help us keep a grip on giving due attention to durability, during our growth spurt. We work on the 'cradle to cradle' principle described by the American architect William McDonough . This is really important to us all and means that any expansion must not only take the welfare of current and future residents of Almere into account, but also consider the planet as a whole.
This is really, really important because Almere is on the cusp of a huge expansion that will see the city almost double in size to 350,000 by 2030. And while the number of available jobs needs to increase by 100,000, we must not forget to examine exit and entrance routes to the city as well as keeping all facilities at useful levels. In short, it is no easy task, but it is one that is being worked on with a lot of courage and conviction as well as ambition.
