In recent years, population ageing is becoming more and more of a challenge for cities to prepare for. Improving facilities for an all-age-friendly city can provide a healthy and supportive life for both the young and the old living in cities. One of the cities of interest in this is Amsterdam. Amsterdam has been exploring sustainable and healthy city development, such as garden city in the 1920s. In Amsterdam Noord, a central area of Amsterdam, the post-industrial IJ bank and the attached garden villages currently need renovation. Amsterdam Noord is the potential site for an all-age-friendly development. Amsterdam Noord was built with the concept of garden city, where urban forest is used mainly as green buffer and formed entities from industrial nuisances. However, since the industry is moving out, the existing urban forest becomes barriers for connectivity and undermines the dike-polder landscape of Noord. Thus, this project takes urban forest as a key element to renovate Amsterdam Noord and aims to explore an urban forest framework for Amsterdam Noord to be all-age-friendly and to develop the Noord identity as a dike city and a garden city.
Firstly, theoretical study is executed in topics of urban identity, all-age-friendly city, and urban forest to conclude a theoretical framework of restorative and identity-narrative green network. Secondly, based on the theoretical framework, site study is executed in topics of urban fabric, site visit of the dike, and urban forest tradition. Thirdly, these studies provide site-speci c strategies to build Amsterdam Noord with a restorative and identity-narrative plan, to develop the all-age-friendly-ness and its identity. As the result, this project proposes a multi-scale plan for Amsterdam Noord. In city scale (L), Amsterdam Noord is divided into 3 zones, with different urbanization plans, to integrate into the expanding Amsterdam center as well as preserve and develop its identity. In green system scale (M), a multi-functional and restorative urban forest network is designed with the old dike as its spine, to improve connectivity within and beyond Amsterdam Noord. In green space scale (S), urban forest places are designed to offer sensorial experiences related to identity elements, as well as provide all-age-friendly space and program for Noord. The results of this project will provide a new view about how Amsterdam Noord can be developed into a future garden city, which is all-age-friendly, green, and related to its own identity as a dike city.