Almere is a new town, found­ed in 1977 on arti­fi­cial land. Right from the start, the town con­sid­ered itself not only an over­spill for near­by Ams­ter­dam, but also a field for exper­i­men­ta­tion. In recent years, Almere focuss­es on the increased demand for indi­vid­u­al­i­ty in hous­ing areas. 

Home­ruskwarti­er is a self-build area, with an icon­ic urban design by OMA. Besides self-build hous­es for low­er incomes, there’s also a tiny hous­ing build­ing expo. Neigh­bour­ing Plan Duin is a new-build area with hous­es scat­tered amongst arti­fi­cial dunes. Exper­i­men­ta­tion is tak­en to the next lev­el in Oost­er­wold, a dis­trict based on an urban plan by MVRDV: here, res­i­dents even have to realise their own infra­struc­ture.
The city cen­tre of Almere, based on a mas­ter­plan by OMA, stands in direct con­trast to these low-rise devel­op­ments: it fea­tures a mix of shop­ping and hous­ing typlo­gies in a high-den­si­ty setting.