Former industrial area with soil pollution

The Buiksloter Canal is a branch of the Johan van Hasselt Canal, a 100m-wide former canal in the middle of the Buiksloterham, a former industrial area. Due to old industrial contaminants, the Johan van Hasselt Canal has a heavily contaminated deeper layer of silt in the soil. Residents are concerned about pollution and would like to swim in the canal.

Transformation into a living and working area

De Buiksloterham is transforming from an industrial area into a residential area where you can also work, but too little green is planned within the plans, and the municipality still wants to try to achieve the green standard.

Discretions and green challenge recommendations

Part of the canal on the North side will be shallow with lightly contaminated soil that is released during construction work, and the plan is also to demolish 15% of the canal and make it “green” here. What kind of 'green' is still unknown, and an idea factory and participation process have been set up for it. Many interests come together in this stretch of water, and the question is who will stand up for the organisms that live in it.

City swamp?

Shallows offer opportunities for aquatic nature. Revocations are at the expense of aquatic nature. Could “wet nature” also count as “recreational green”? Would residents see a semi-accessible regenerative urban swamp with water recreation as an attractive addition to the range of 'dry' green areas on land? Can human and non-human residents in and around the canal coexist in harmony?