Demolition in the Bijlmermeer: Lessons from transforming a large housing estate

The most idealistic modern post-war housing area in the Netherlands is the Bijlmermeer high-rise district in Amsterdam's suburbs. However, the development quickly became a failure, leading to the eventual demolition of half of its 13000 dwellings, only a generation after completion, becoming one of Europe's largest urban renewal areas. The underlying reasons for this drastic demolition process are explored through a longitudinal view of how and why demolition occurs. The urban renewal process occurred over 20 plus years and changed dramatically in policy and strategy over this period: from initial denial, to the provision of new or improved services, amenities and infrastructure, to new management, finance and demographic (inhabitant) selection processes, to demolition and rebuilding. The process reflects the varied nature of difficult problems, the changing dynamics in building consensus between stakeholders and the emerging recognition that solutions must entail social, physical and financial capital. The Bijlmermeer transformation is significant for the regeneration of other housing estates as clear lessons are evident about the interplay between the physical form, management and demographics and they illustrate why demolition is a solution of the last resort.