Noorderpark Onderneemt

The park is located in the North of Amsterdam, which due to its negative reputation, used to be highly functionally separated and perceived as quite remote. Since the turn of the century, however, both the Northern city district and the Noorderpark gradually found their way onto the mental maps of residents and visitors. The redevelopment of Noorderpark occurred in the same timeframe. Amsterdam’s local government organized a competition to redesign the two separate green spaces into a lively city park. Funds for the renovation would be provided by the national government as part of a social policy agenda that focused on disadvantaged neighborhoods. The pavilions were an important part of the project developer’s vision, since he believed that physical interventions alone would not be enough to create a lively park. From his personal network, he contacted a local resident to run the activities in one of the pavilions. However, the focus on a single pavilion and a cultural program meant that a lot of these initiatives could not be facilitated. This led to the formation of a complementary organization with wider social objectives, i.e. culture, sports, wellbeing and greening. Inspired by community trusts in the UK, the organization was named ‘Noorderpark Trust’. The trust consists of a small management team and a board of residents from the surrounding neighborhoods. The team aims to remain small, it strives to be a connecting entity between local residents and SMEs in the area.