Ams­ter­dam-Noord is a work­ers’ hous­ing area in tran­si­tion. It con­sists of a mix of gar­den cities from the 1920s and post-war res­i­den­tial devel­op­ments. After decades of neglect, a process of gen­tri­fi­ca­tion is cur­rent­ly under­way – and arous­es con­sid­er­able controversy.

In Van de Pekbu­urt, hous­ing cor­po­ra­tion Ymere recent­ly real­ized a prize-win­ning, large-scale ren­o­va­tion scheme. Adja­cent neigh­bour­hood Bloe­men­bu­urt is also in trans­for­ma­tion: Built in the ear­ly 1930s, it con­sist­ed of social rental apart­ments, which have part­ly been merged into larg­er free-sec­tor rental houses.

A short ride with the new metro leads to Plan van Gool, a hous­ing area from the 1960s, which has also recent­ly under­gone a ren­o­va­tion. The aim was to bring the hous­ing blocks up to stan­dard — regard­ing sus­tain­abil­i­ty as well as safety.