The Legmeer business park will be one of the first areas in Amstelveen to face a major transformation. Besides, the 33 hectares’ business park is one of the few areas in Amstelveen which can be transformed on a large scale and one of the limited locations where substantial densification is conceivable. Therefore, the bar is set high in both quantitative and qualitative way.

Legmeer is situated in between the bigger green areas of De Poel, Amsterdamse Bos and het Groene Hart. Currently, a typical mix of car dealers, DIY-stores, recreational functions, the municipal dump and wholesale stores can be found in the area. The area has strong borders on every side with different characters, and a lot of owners and stakeholders. The municipality is looking for a way of planning that can guarantee qualities of the area and provides enough flexibility for a changing programme and users.

A first step has been made in 2018 by a note of principles (‘Nota van uitgangspunten’) which states: “We are looking for a plan that, on the one hand, establishes enough to safeguard qualities, anchor policy ambitions and give certainty to the environment (companies, local residents, users). Thereafter BURA (formerly known as marco.broekman) has worked on a development vision with organic growth as starting point, but based on a clear and powerful ambition and on a robust urban development framework that firmly safeguards the ambitions we have for spatial quality and quality of life.

The essence of the transformation of Legmeer can be summarised in four interventions:

• Based on the existing road structure, car-free streets, green and water structures are added which create a robust framework and small grain structure.

• Transforms from a business park into a mixed neighborhood which remains at least 20% of the total number of square meters for work (both activity and facilities).

• Changing the car dominated streets into mixed streets for pedestrians, cyclists and cars. In addition, the center of Legmeer will get a pedestrian zone where the cyclists are guest.

• The extensive businesspark tranforms into a highly mixed urban area with buildings up to 4 layers in the center, 6 layers at the edges and with multiple towers up to 14 layers.