2024-10-05 06:00:00
A relentless stream of cars rushes in both directions on the A4, under the La Place bridge restaurant, near Hoofddorp. In the distance you can see greenhouses, meadows, tufts of trees and every now and then an airplane takes off. At a table in front of the window, journalist and city researcher Tijs van den Boomen watches the busy scene.
Let’s meet there, he suggested. “Then you have the best view of the area in our book. And from there you can also see Schiphol’s Kaagbaan runway with the control tower.” Van den Boomen made the book with photographer Theo Baart Life under the air – How Schiphol controls a thousand square kilometers and how this could be done differently.
Where did this book come from?
“When it comes to Schiphol, everyone always looks upwards. Then it concerns flight movements, or night flights. With this book we want to provide a starting point for looking at the land side, i.e. downwards.”
What is characteristic of the area beneath the airspace?
“All in all it is about five times the size of Amsterdam. It is a neglected area. If we limit ourselves to the area where we are now, around the Kaagbaan and Aalsmeerbaan, it is messy. With caravan parks, dilapidated greenhouses and loveless distribution centers.”
Is that despite or thanks to the proximity of Schiphol?
“Thanks. It is a residual zone in the shadow of the airport. But above all: in the grip of Schiphol. Our national airport has an exceptional position. He will be given plenty of space.”
In the book you sketch scenarios of what is possible with those thousand square kilometers. Can you name something?
“Further on is the Westeinderscheg, a fragmented green zone towards Amsterdam. Turn it into a beautiful recreational area, everyone will benefit from it. Also airport employees who often live in this region themselves. Don’t add new greenhouses from Westland on the west side, but build a campus for the manufacturing industry where things are devised and put together. The idea that the Netherlands should focus its entire economy on services and knowledge is nonsense. There is enough space under the airspace for the manufacturing industry.”
Should Schiphol first shrink to make room for this?
“You can start tomorrow, so to speak, with the expansion of the Westeinderscheg, as well as with the construction of the campus. It is also possible to construct so-called noise-adaptive residential areas. They are built in such a way that fly noise is reflected away and has less free play in streets and squares. A green corridor from the sea to the IJsselmeer could also easily run through this area. And build bicycle bridges over the ring canal. It’s all possible now. By the way, we didn’t come up with most of the plans ourselves. We took existing ideas out of drawers and tied them together.”
What of those plans is not possible now?
“Up to 70,000 homes can be built in the area where we are now. But then the Aalsmeer runway must disappear and the number of flight movements must be reduced to 350,000, which is a 30 percent reduction, back to the level of the 1990s.”
Does this come at the right time? Schiphol CEO Pieter van Oord is not thinking about downsizing, nor is the Schoof cabinet. And the aviation trade association expects that 5 billion people will board a plane this year. A record.
“We think the big question is whether Schiphol should remain a hub, a hub that brings as many passengers as possible here just to transfer. And as mentioned, you can do a lot with an airport of this size. Moreover, a more right-wing cabinet and a vision of Schiphol do not have to conflict with each other: this cabinet puts the region first. Well, Henk and Ingrid also live here under the sky. We live now, so start now.”
Theo Baart and Tijs van den Boomen; Living beneath the skies – How Schiphol controls a thousand square kilometers and how this could be done differently; Edition nai010; 402 blz; € 49,95
Also read:
The government cannot simply allow Schiphol to shrink, says the Supreme Court
Plans by the previous government to do this temporarily would first have to comply with European rules. The Supreme Court has ruled that.
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