Amstelveen

Amstelveen is situated in the province of North Holland, Netherlands, south of Amsterdam. The city lies on an area of 44.08 square kilometres, of which water covers 2.30 square kilometres. The soil consists of peat-moor and sea clay; regarding the former, please see 'The history of Amstelveen' in Dutch.

Population

Amstelveen had 84,377 citizens on the 1st of January 2013, an increase of more than 1,500 as against a year earlier. The breakthrough at the number of 80,000 citizens was reached in 2009. The city population is relatively aged; almost 1/5th of the Amstelveen citizens is aged 65 or over, compared to 17% in the Netherlands. The ageing process keeps continuing, both in Amstelveen and in the Netherlands as a whole. The average age is currently 41.2, which is 40.3 for Netherlands.

The number of elderly people will slowly rise. According to forecasts, the elderly will represent about 21% of the population in 2020 and no less than 26% in 2038. As much as 28% of the Amstelveners is younger than 25 years – which figure is 30% in the Netherlands.

Households

The Amstelveen households are predominantly small, because only one or two people live in almost 68% of the households. A quarter of the households consist of one family with children. The number of singles is growing. In the whole Netherlands 35% of the inhabitants was single, 40.5% in Amstelveen, partly due to the aging population, and partly to the loss of a spouse. With 8,223 citizens, Westwijk-Oost is the largest district of Amstelveen, followed by Middenhoven with 7,041 citizens.

Population

The population of Amstelveen grows considerably in 2013, similarly to last year. The large number of new homes in the south of Westwijk provide a migration surplus, i.e. there are more people moving to than leaving Amstelveen.

On the 1st of January 2012, as many as 11,562 people with a non-Dutch nationality lived in Amstelveen. This is 14% of the total Amstelveen population. The number of people from India has increased for years. With 1,819 persons they form the largest non-Dutch population, followed by the Japanese community of 1,524 people.

v Projections show that the population will grow considerably to over 85,000 in 2020. According to estimates, by 2023 some 3,000 homes will be built, of which more than half will be located in the suburbs of the Westwijk district.

Income

The average disposable income was € 39,600 in Amstelveen in 2010, well above the national average. The highest average incomes are in ‘Buitengebied’ North and Elsrijk West. Kronenburg/Uilenstede is the only district where the average household income is well below the national average – because it is also a student area, a campus with 3,000 dwellings.

After a remarkable decrease in the number of unemployed in 2012, the effect of the crisis is also reflected by the increase in the number of unemployed in 2013. For young people under 25 years, the number more than doubled in the 25-44 age group, increasing by 73%.

The number of unemployed older than 45 years of age decreased slightly. There is also a shift in the duration of unemployment. The number of job seekers who looked for a job for more than 3 years has decreased.

On the 1st of January 2013, as many as 1,884 people were unemployed in the town. But, the population of Amstelveen is relatively prosperous with an average income of 25% above the national average.

Homes and businesses

In Amstelveen, 1/10th of the homes were built before 1945 and 47% between 1945 and 1970. The houses are relatively new in Amstelveen. As much as 80% of the homes was built after 1960 and 35% after 1980. The 84,377 residents of Amstelveen live in 41,677 homes. Of these homes, 45% is owner occupied, 34% is council flat and 21% is rented out. As much as 48% is the single family houses and 52% is represented by multi-family homes.

In addition to homes, many offices, especially for trade, banking and insurance have also been built in Amstelveen in recent decades with the Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) building. The city has large computer centres and the head offices of national and international institutions. Many people, who work in Schiphol, the airport of Amsterdam, live in Amstelveen, which is only a few kilometres away from this airport. The proximity to the airport is seen by many companies as a favourable location factor.

Traffic and transport

As a result of easy access and excellent links with Amsterdam, other business areas and international destinations in the area, Amstelveen is an attractive place not only to live, but also to work in. Amstelveners have 34,753 cars, 1,741 vans for transporting goods or people, and 103 trucks, a total of 38,915 vehicles in 2013. The total number of airplane ground manoeuvres (takeoffs and landings) from and to Schiphol, the airport of Amsterdam, was 437,904 in 2012.

With 51 million passengers in 2012, Schiphol takes the fourth place in the ranking of European passenger airports. Regarding airport cargo, Schiphol handled 1.5 million tonnes in 2012, taking it to the third place in the list of the top 10 European airports. The number of passengers increased by 3.3% and freight dropped by 2.7%.

Education

There are 18 schools in Amstelveen: 8 public, 4 Protestant Christian, 4 Roman Catholic and 2 special neutral schools. There are also two special schools. The number of schools has decreased in recent years as a result of fusions.

v Concentrated in the district Keizer Karelpark, there are four secondary schools with a total of over 5,600 students. The number of pupils in secondary education climbed steadily to 6,430 in 2012/2013. All in all, Amstelveen has 12,107 primary and secondary school students.

International School

The ISA (International School of Amsterdam) provides education for pupils between the ages of 3 to 18 years (from kindergarten to the GCSE) and has a total of 1,075 students: 606 in elementary and 469 in secondary school.

There are students from 53 different countries. The largest group of students come from the United States, Japan, South-Korea, the UK, Netherlands and Scandinavia. ISA students tend to spend an average of between two and five years studying in Amstelveen.

Child care

In the framework of harmonization, the municipality of Amstelveen decided in 2010 to subordinate the kindergarten facilities to child care organizations. This means that there are 3,700 children in the Amstelveen kindergartens in 2013.

The kindergarten activities are carried out by a special organization called 'toddler care' ('peuteropvang'). This also explains the increase in the number of nurseries. The municipality pays a contribution to parents who are not entitled to childcare allowance through taxation. The municipality buys places for such children from the six child care providers.

Public order and safety

In terms of public safety, Amstelveen has long been the first among the medium-sized municipalities. The total number of crime reports has increased slightly by 3% to 4,525 in 2012. Although the number of crime reports about burglaries in homes fell by a quarter (530), the number of reports on theft of/from motor vehicles increased by just over a quarter (to 802).

The number of crime reports on hooliganism continued to decrease as in previous years (440 in 2012 and 605 in 2009). Reported domestic violence grew to 332 in 2012 compared to 292 in 2009.

Culture

The Schouwburg theatre, the Puppet theatre, pop podium P60 and the Griffioen theatre offer a wide variety of performing arts to young and old people alike. The number of spectators showed a slight decline last year. The P60 audience has risen sharply this year.

Performing art shows and spectators in Amstelveen in 2012

Schouwburg theatre Amstelveen 78,617 spectators

Cinema Amstelveen 19,375 spectators

Puppet Theatre Amstelveen 3,581 spectators

Pop podium P60 37,817 spectators

The Griffioen theatre 15,450 spectators

Cultural institutions

In addition to performing arts, various institutions are also active in the cultural sphere, such as the Library, Music and Dance school, the Cobra Museum and the Jan van der Togt Museum. The key figures show that the institutions are frequently visited and their facilities are broadly used:

Library Amstelland: number of lendings (books and other media) 598,828, as many as 32,286 Internet users

Kunstuitleen Amstelveen: 4,828 artworks, of which 1,417 are currently on lease.

Volksuniversiteit Amstelland: 3,117 students

Music and Dance School Amstelland: 2,188 students

Cobra Museum: 8 exhibitions and 86,682 visitors

Jan van der Togt Museum: 16 exhibitions and 26,000 visitors.

It is difficult to tell how many works of art are on display throughout Amstelveen. From classic to modern, large and small, they are everywhere.

Health care and welfare

For people who are not so much able to live independently, there are various forms of assisted living opportunities in Amstelveen, ranging from a room in an institution to an independent unit with a helper. At present, the number of new care centres is greatly expanding, with fashionable small units.

There is an average number of medical practices in Amstelveen. For special care, Hospital Amstelland can be visited and there are two academic hospitals (AMC and VU in Amsterdam) within a reasonable distance.

v As many as 1,521 people live in nursing homes, homes for the elderly, foster-homes / homes with assisted living, and other special forms of housing. As many as 29 doctors, 29 dentists, 11 pharmacies, 31 physiotherapists, and 3 midwives work in the city.

Sport and recreation

Amstelveen offers a large and varied range of sports facilities. There are 341 sport clubs, where people are able to use soccer, hockey, tennis, basketball, baseball and softball, athletics, rugby and cricket facilities. In addition, the Meerkamp swimming pool with indoor and outdoor pools, and a cycling circuit are available. Recently a 9-hole golf course has been opened. These sports facilities are used by approximately 85 sport clubs based in Amstelveen, as well as many individuals.

Environment and green topics

Amstelveen is a green city in a highly urbanized area. Less than a third of the town is built up and a huge agricultural area is still in use. The agricultural use of land shows a steady decline, while the share of semi-cultivated land expressed in hectares has doubled.

In 2002, Amstelveen participated in a land exchange with the village of Aalsmeer in the southern part of the Amsterdam Forest (Schinkelbos). The figures prove that the hectares of recreational land and inland have risen considerably. The year 2012 was a relatively sunny year, although the average temperature was not very high, and the winter was relatively cold with a negative peak of -18.8 º C (32º F).

Parks

In Amstelveen there are many natural parks, such as the Bovenkerkerpolder, De Braak, Broersepark, Elsenhove, Jac. P. Thijssepark, Dr Koos Landwehr Park, the Meander Park, in the Middelpolder the Cherry Blossom Park and the peat-moor lake, the Amstelveense Poel. This lake is part of the 935 acre Amsterdam Forest (Amsterdamse Bos).

Restaurants and shops

The hotels are relatively small in Amstelveen . In total, as many as 143 rooms with 297 beds are available. Besides the hotels, there are more than 60 restaurants in Amstelveen. Many old shops have been converted to eateries. Indeed, these are the best known and highly popular restaurants: the Greek restaurant Alexandros, the always crowded Buenos Aires, the Korean restaurant Damso, and the ancient mill restaurant De Dikkert.

In the Old Village, an increasing number of restaurants are opened, such as Antico Borgo, Royal Sang Kong, LounZ, Aan de Poel, 't Hert and so on. In Stadshart, the following are popular: Popov, Dixie, Crazy Grill Sticks, Délifrance, New Beijing City and Tanuki. On the Amstel side there are some exclusive restaurants such as the Lute, Paardenburg, ’t Deurtje and the ‘t Jagershuis. In Bovenkerk there are also good restaurants, such as the Silversant and Maal3. For a list of other restaurants, please visit the special restaurant website Iens.

A mall with one or more restaurants was built in virtually every Amstelveen district. From the 1990s, the centre of Amstelveen was transformed slowly, but surely into a large Stadshart (Heart of the City), with more than 200 shops suiting every taste. Around the Town Square (Stadsplein) there are many restaurants, with terraces in the summer.

County and municipalities

In January 2013, Amstelveen has seen an official merger with the neighbouring municipality of Aalsmeer. The two organizations are now combined into a new civil service, which performs all administrative tasks for the two municipalities. In the Netherlands, this is the largest and farthest reaching cooperation between two official municipalities.

Both municipalities will continue to exist independently, with their own council and their own mayor and aldermen. The number of members of a council depends on the number of inhabitants. The current city council of Amstelveen has 37 members from 9 different political parties.

The council members are elected every four years by citizens above 18 years of age. In the last municipal elections (3rd of March 2010), 54.7% of the citizens turned out, this figure was slightly higher than the national average. In these elections, the VVD remained the largest political party with 9 out of the 37 seats.

In the Amstelveen council, the largest political party is the VVD with 9 out of 37 seats. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen is formed by VVD, Burger Belangen Amstelveen, CDA, and ChristenUnie, supported by OCA (the Party for the Elderly) Amstelveen. The municipality of Amstelveen has 728 civil servants, spread over 7 companies, eight departments, the staff and the management. In the year 2013, as many as 868 people ranging from the management to the Zorgvlied cemetery worked at the municipality of Amstelveen.

Seats breakdown of the city council of Amstelveen in 2013

Amstelveenweb.com

If you want to know more and get details about the topics described, visit the website Amstelveenweb.com where you can look up the subject that interests you and read about Amstelveen’s past and present. If you have any questions or notice shortfalls in the text, please contact us by clicking on Contact.

If you want to have more information and read about special figures, you can download the Facts & Figures 2012-2013 (pdf 45 pages), or visit the website of the municipality. (Source: Facts and Figures 2012-2013 Municipality of Amstelveen).