Amsterdam Oud-Zuid
Oud-Zuid | |
|---|---|
Area of Amsterdam | |
 Housing along Apollolaan, seen from Jan van Goyenkade | |
Interactive map of Oud-Zuid | |
| Coordinates: 52°21′07″N 4°52′47″E / 52.35194°N 4.87972°E | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Province | North Holland |
| Municipality | Amsterdam |
| Borough | Zuid |
| Population (1 January 2026) | |
• Total | 43,905 |
Oud-Zuid (Dutch for "Old South") is an area of Amsterdam in the borough of Zuid. In the city's present-day administrative geography, Oud-Zuid is one of the areas used for area-based municipal administration and has the code GK11.[1] It had 43,905 inhabitants on 1 January 2026.[2]
The present municipal area comprises the neighbourhoods of Apollobuurt, Hoofddorppleinbuurt, Museumkwartier, Schinkelbuurt, Stadionbuurt and Willemspark. It includes the Museumplein and surrounding Museum Quarter, much of the southern edge of the Vondelpark, the monumental avenues of Plan Zuid, and the area around the Olympic Stadium.[1]
From 1998 to 2010, Oud-Zuid was also the name of a larger Amsterdam borough that included De Pijp. This historical administrative area should therefore be distinguished from the present-day Oud-Zuid area; De Pijp now forms part of the separate municipal area De Pijp, Rivierenbuurt.[3]
Geography and neighbourhoods
The present-day Oud-Zuid area lies immediately south and southwest of Amsterdam's historic centre. Its six constituent neighbourhoods are:[1]
Within these neighbourhoods are smaller areas such as the Concertgebouwbuurt, Cornelis Schuytbuurt, P.C. Hooftbuurt, Beethovenbuurt and Minervabuurt. The western side reaches the Schinkel, while the Vondelpark forms a major green element along the northern side of much of the area.
The municipal definition is broader than the part of Oud-Zuid most familiar to visitors, around Museumplein, Willemspark and the Apollobuurt: it also extends westwards through the Stadionbuurt, Hoofddorppleinbuurt and Schinkelbuurt.[1]
History and urban development
Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century expansion
Much of Oud-Zuid developed as Amsterdam expanded southwards during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Around the Vondelpark, Museumplein and Concertgebouw, new residential districts were laid out with town houses, villas and apartment buildings. The Willemspark district, developed around 1900 on the south side of the Vondelpark, was designed as a spacious and green residential quarter centred on the Emmaplein.[4]
A major later phase of development followed Hendrik Petrus Berlage's Plan Zuid. Berlage had been commissioned to plan the large area between the Amstel and the Schinkel. After an earlier proposal proved too expensive, his second plan was adopted in 1917. It combined broad avenues and major traffic streets with narrower residential streets, perimeter blocks with internal courtyards, squares, waterways and extensive greenery.[5]
The architectural development of Plan Zuid became closely associated with the Amsterdam School movement, whose architects used expressive brickwork and sculptural façades. Within present-day Oud-Zuid, the Apollobuurt and Stadionbuurt are among the principal areas shaped by the plan. Major urban axes include Apollolaan and Minervalaan, while the Olympic Stadium was constructed at the western end of the plan for the 1928 Summer Olympics.[5]
Former borough, 1998–2010
A borough named Amsterdam Oud Zuid was created on 14 April 1998 through the merger of the previous boroughs of Zuid and De Pijp.[3] The Prinses Irenebuurt, which had previously belonged to Zuid, was not included. Instead it became part of the newly created borough of Zuideramstel, together with the Rivierenbuurt and Buitenveldert.
The former borough comprised the Oude Pijp and Nieuwe Pijp, Museumkwartier, Willemspark, Apollobuurt, Stadionbuurt, Schinkelbuurt and Hoofddorppleinbuurt. It had 83,696 inhabitants on 1 January 2005.[6]
On 1 May 2010 the boroughs of Oud-Zuid and Zuideramstel were merged to create the present borough of Amsterdam-Zuid.[3] The name Oud-Zuid nevertheless remained in use and was subsequently retained for the smaller present-day municipal area.[1]
Protected townscape
On 30 November 2022, the Amsterdam city council granted municipal protected townscape status to an area designated as Oud-Zuid.[4] The boundary of this protected townscape does not coincide exactly with either the present municipal area or the former borough. It covers a broad range of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century urban development, including areas outside present-day GK11, and adjoins the separately protected Plan Zuid area.[4]
Culture and architecture
The Museum Quarter is one of Amsterdam's principal cultural districts. Museumplein is bordered by the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum, while the Concertgebouw stands at its southern end. The Rijksmuseum building, designed by Pierre Cuypers, opened in 1885.[7] The main Van Gogh Museum building, designed by Gerrit Rietveld, opened in 1973; an exhibition wing designed by Kisho Kurokawa was completed in 1999.[8] The Concertgebouw was completed in 1886 and officially opened in 1888.[9]
The architecture of Oud-Zuid includes large ensembles associated with Plan Zuid and the Amsterdam School, alongside examples of Dutch modernism. Notable buildings include the Olympic Stadium, the Open Air School by Jan Duiker, the Apollo House and the former Amsterdam Orphanage by Aldo van Eyck.
The broad central reservations of Apollolaan and Minervalaan are also used for ARTZUID, a recurring international sculpture biennale in which contemporary sculpture is exhibited in public space.[10]
Parks and open space
The Vondelpark is the principal large park associated with Oud-Zuid. Its southern side forms an important edge to the Museumkwartier and Willemspark, and the city's present neighbourhood classification places parts of the park within those districts.[1]
At the western edge of Oud-Zuid, Park Schinkeleilanden consists of a series of green and recreational spaces along the Schinkel and around the IJsbaanpad.
The Sarphatipark, although part of the former borough of Oud-Zuid between 1998 and 2010, is situated in De Pijp and is not part of the present Oud-Zuid area.
Sport and recreation
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The western and southern parts of Oud-Zuid contain a concentration of sports facilities. The Olympic Stadium, designed by Jan Wils, was built in 1926–1928 for the 1928 Summer Olympics and remains one of the area's best-known landmarks.
Nearby facilities include Sporthallen Zuid, a major municipal indoor sports complex;[11] the Frans Otten Stadion, used for sports including tennis, squash and padel;[12] and Sportpark Olympiaplein, which accommodates a range of field and court sports.[13]
Elsewhere in the area, the Apollohal is a 1930s indoor sports hall in the Apollobuurt, while the Zuiderbad, close to the Rijksmuseum, occupies an 1897 building originally constructed as an indoor cycling school. It opened as a swimming pool in 1912.[14]
Shopping
Oud-Zuid contains several of Amsterdam's better-known upmarket shopping streets. The P.C. Hooftstraat, near Museumplein, is the city's principal luxury shopping street, while Van Baerlestraat, Cornelis Schuytstraat and Beethovenstraat have concentrations of fashion retailers, specialist shops, cafés and restaurants.[15]
Railway heritage and Havenstraatterrein
At the western edge of Oud-Zuid stands the former Haarlemmermeer railway station, which opened in 1915 as an Amsterdam terminus of the Haarlemmermeer railway lines. The station and adjoining railway land were later associated with the Electrische Museumtramlijn Amsterdam, which began heritage tram operations in 1975.
The adjacent Havenstraatterrein, formerly used for railway and tram facilities, is being redeveloped as a mixed urban district. The City of Amsterdam plans approximately 500 homes, a primary school, community and healthcare facilities, workspace and hospitality uses. A new depot and infrastructure for the historic trams are incorporated into the redevelopment so that the site's railway and tram heritage remains part of the new district.[16]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Gebiedsgerichtwerken-gebied – Oud-Zuid (GK11)" [Area-based municipal area – Oud-Zuid (GK11)] (in Dutch). City of Amsterdam – Data and Information. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Dashboard kerncijfers" [Key Figures Dashboard] (in Dutch). Research and Statistics, City of Amsterdam. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Archief van Stadsdeel Oud-Zuid" [Archive of the Oud-Zuid borough] (in Dutch). Amsterdam City Archives. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Van villawijk tot tuindorp – Amsterdam is drie beschermde stadsgezichten rijker" [From villa district to garden village – Amsterdam gains three protected townscapes] (in Dutch). City of Amsterdam. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- 1 2 "1917 Plan-Zuid" (in Dutch). Amsterdam City Archives. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Stadsdelen in cijfers 2007" [Boroughs in figures 2007] (in Dutch). Research and Statistics, City of Amsterdam. 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "The building". Rijksmuseum. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "The building". Van Gogh Museum. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Our history". Royal Concertgebouw. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "ARTZUID – Amsterdam Sculpture Biennale" (in Dutch). Stichting Art Zuid. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Sporthallen Zuid" (in Dutch). City of Amsterdam. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Frans Otten Stadion" (in Dutch). Frans Otten Stadion. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Sportpark Olympiaplein" (in Dutch). City of Amsterdam. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Zuiderbad" (in Dutch). City of Amsterdam. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Shopping areas in Amsterdam". I amsterdam. 23 January 2026. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "Havenstraatterrein: 500 woningen, een basisschool en bedrijven" [Havenstraatterrein: 500 homes, a primary school and businesses] (in Dutch). City of Amsterdam. Retrieved 17 August 2026.