Almere is Facing a Flourishing Future

Almere and MVRDV present their far-sighted plans for the Floriade 2022. We might have to reconsider the term “urban gardening” should it get the go-ahead.

You will probably have heard and read about the Netherland’s botanical extravaganza that is the Floriade (we featured this year’s Floriade in Venlo here). And although this floral fest takes place only every ten years, plans for the next edition are already well under way. MVRDV, one of the Netherland’s most remarkable architecture firms, presented their surprising plans for the Floriade 2022 candidate Almere. One of the four Dutch cities in the race for the expo, Almere plans to not only implement a temporary site but to build no less than a “lasting green Cité Idéale” as an extension of the existing city centre right by the waterfront, a vibrant new neighbourhood complete with a university, hotel, offices and homes. Reason for the extensive scale of the plans is the housing shortage in the Amsterdam metropolitan area. With 60.000 new homes, Almere is going to see the largest part of an impressive housing programme covering the whole area. So the architects have taken the opportunity to address some far-sighted questions with their proposal such as, in the words of Winy Maas, one of MVRDV’s principals, “Can a symbiosis between city and countryside offer essential argumentation to the global concerns regarding urbanisation and consumption? Can we realise in the next ten years an exemplary ‘green’ city which realises this synthesis?” He goes on to elaborate: “We dream of making green cities. A city that is literally green as well as ecological. A city that produces food and energy, cleans its own water, recycles waste and holds a great biodiversity. A city which might even be autarkic: A symbiotic world of people, plants and animals.”

There might just be a new ring to the term “urban gardening” if Almere and MVRDV should get the go-ahead for their ambitious plans.

Find out more about the proposal on the MVRDV website