City-district Westerpark

The Westerpark district counted 33.956 inhabitants during a 2003 census. It occupies a space of 10,96 km². The district is most known for it's namesake; the Westerpark. This park was established in 1890, replacing a trainstation from which trains to Haarlem would depart, that station was demolished in 1879 however. Directly west of the park lies the former Westergas-fabriek (factory). The factory terrain is no longer functional in an industrial capacity, and has been added to the park terrain. It's historic-industrial buildings in a classic victorian era style of Dutch architecture have been renovated and the entire terrain has been established as a cultural-event site. Parties and festivals of all sorts are frequently organized on the terrain, aswell as productplacements and open-air theatre shows. In one of the former factory buildings, a cinema is housed which focuses on Dutch and European art films. The park itself is frequented by artists of all stripes, and it's not uncommon to find people in the early morning hours (or throughout the day) practicing tai–chi or meditation. The entire district in fact houses quite many artists (both starving and otherwise).

Aside from the remarkable industrial architecture of the Westergasfabriek, we can take a look at the Spaarndammerbuurt (neighbourhood), home to famous worker-housing blocks designed in the 1920's by Michel de Klerk, one of the founders of the so called Amsterdam School of architecture, which is heavily influenced by expressionism. The most famous of these blocks is known as Het Schip (the ship), and currently houses a museum by the same name, which is dedicated to the architectural style.

The Staatsliedenbuurt (neighbourhood) is a very multicultural neighbourhood and generally considered a pleasant one; however, in the 1980's the neighbourhood became known as a squatters-stronghold, with cafe de rioolrat (The Sewer rat) as it's center. The mayor of the city was violently ran out by a crowd of angry squatters when he tried to visit the neighbourhood, and during the inevitable confrontation with police to get rid of the squatters, at least one of the squatters died. Most of the neighbourhood is dominated by social housing. The district is also made up by the Frederik Hendrikbuurt (neighbourhood).

The many tramdistricts and great road-access make it an easy district to get around. The efforts by the city to make the district a center of culture have been paying off (they've even instituted an official city-district poet, and the district administrators post on a blog daily) and largely as a result of this, the district is considered to be a pleasant one that can only get better.

Fields of influence: Cultural institutions and organizations, sports organization (tennis), Retailers

Haven qualities: location up to 1, size up 2 (exception being the elysium haven)