Amsterdam wants to built a new city ... under the grachten

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Amsterdam looks underground to ease congestion

Robert BoothThe Guardian
Thursday February 21 2008


in Amsterdam are considering plans to build a vast underground city beneath the city's famous canals to house car parks, cinemas and sports halls.

A consortium of engineers and architects has submitted proposals for a network of 60-metre-deep (195ft) underground tunnels to provide up to 6m square metres of new space in the crowded historic centre. They want to use the tunnels to take the cars off Amsterdam's narrow canalside streets to reduce pollution and increase space for cafes, parks and shopping.

The "city under the city" proposal - dubbed Amfora - could cost £6bn and has been given a cautious welcome by the Amsterdam authorities. It would be financed by private banks, but requires the permission of the city government.

Backers have warned that Amsterdam's lack of space and high land prices could result in the city centre losing popularity to the suburbs over the next 20 years.

The proposal has been submitted by engineers Strukton and the architect firm Zwarts & Jansma and involves draining the biggest canals, digging down 60 metres to a layer of waterproof clay and dropping in concrete walls. A roof would then be built and the canal water poured back in. Underneath, up to six storeys of accommodation would be built using access from canalside shafts. Cinemas, for example, could have their entrance at ground level but the auditoria would be in the tunnel. Some tunnels would be used for a park and ride system to keep cars out of the city.

"Canals that now feature only houses and lawyers' offices will become real shopping streets full of activity again," said Moshe Zwarts, the architect behind the plan. "Like Barcelona and London have world-famous shopping streets, such as the Ramblas and Regent Street, Amsterdam could develop a characterful shopping area along the canals."

The designers believe they could make the underground spaces pleasant by projecting images of the sky on to the ceilings and by regulating the temperature at 18C (64F) using canal water as a coolant.

"Those spaces can not only be used to accommodate parking places, but also shops, sports halls, cinemas, storage of archives, room for cables and piping," said Bas Obladen, the project engineer.

"I can imagine more cars underneath the canals," said Alderman Tjeerd Herrema, responsible for city infrastructure. But he voiced concern that Amsterdammers would not want to live "like moles" in the tunnels. "I doubt if we should build shops underground," he said. "This is not a new idea. But we welcome every plan."

Since the 1970s more than 20 miles of tunnels and shopping areas have been built beneath Toronto, Canada.