In the program The Lost City we go to a different place in Amsterdam every time to see how it has changed over time. This time we are on a Slatuinenweg. It was once part of the Slatuinenpad that led to Sloterdijk. Believers used it to go to the Peter Church. Couples in love also liked to take a walk in this area.
You can hardly imagine it now, but more than a hundred years ago the Slatuinenweg was still part of the Slatuinenpad, which ran all the way from Kostverlorenkade to Sloterdijk, over what is now called Willem de Zwijgerlaan. It was a romantic path consisting of narrow pieces of land, country roads, ditches and bridges. All along that path were vegetable gardens. That is how the path eventually got the name Slatuinenpad.
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ditches
The current Slatuinenweg is located in what used to be the hamlet The Perch was called, named after the Inn The Three Perch†
“The streets are laid according to the patterns of the ditches of that time.”
You can still see how the landscape was formed then, says local resident Bart Verlinden: “You can see it in how the streets are now. The streets are laid according to the patterns of the ditches from then.”
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Polderweg
“The Slatuinenweg was built on the former polder level”, Bart explains the differences in height in the neighbourhood. “The rest of the area is a metropolitan expansion and built at Amsterdam level. There is about a meter and eighty difference between them. You can see the Slatuinenweg walking down and at the end, at the Admiraal de Ruyterweg, going up again. few places in the city where that is still so clearly reflected.”
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Neighborhood in revolt
Piet Nieuwenkamp is the oldest resident of the Slatuinenweg. He has lived here since 1936 and has obviously seen many changes. Opposite his house were horse stables and storage rooms for vegetables. It also had a more village-like character. “People walked in together and if someone had made soup and there was some left, it was shared with the neighbors,” he says. None of that is any more, but it would have been close if a lot more had disappeared.
The big money, in the form of a project developer, had his eye on this beautiful spot. In an environment where the houses are no higher than seven metres, a building of no less than 28 meters now had to be erected from the ground. A large part of the Slatuinen had to be demolished for this. But the neighborhood didn’t let that happen, with Piet Nieuwenkamp leading the way.
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The municipality had listened to the new construction plans. On Slatuinenweg are low houses on valuable land. Thanks to the high-rise buildings, more people could come here. In addition, the houses were poorly maintained. So action had to be taken anyway. But according to the neighborhood, do not go through the height. They demanded a zoning plan from the municipality in which their requirements were laid down.
For that, it was time to go to court. He did not address the concerns of the neighbourhood, but in the end the protests were successful. To everyone’s surprise, the local residents of the municipality were now allowed to draw up their own zoning plan. High-rise plans were now out of the question. “I think we had the time with us,” says Piet Nieuwenkamp looking back. “We got a lot more done then. It has now become much more official.”
Look here for more episodes of The Disappeared City.
