Amsterdam's Canal District : origins, evolution, and future prospects / edited by Jan Nijman.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"In terms of design, scale, and blending of ecologicical and esthetic function, Amsterdam's seventeenth-century Canal District is a European marvel. Its survival for four centuries is a testament to its ingenuity, reflected in its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. The Canal District today is an extraordinary example of resilient historic design and cultural heritage in a living city, but it is not without present-day challenges: in recent years, its urban ecology has become subject to severe pressures of global tourism and supergentrification. This edited volume brings together 17 reputable scholars to debate questions about the origins, evolution, and future of the Canal District. With differing approaches and perspectives on the Canal District, the contributions render a collection where the whole is much more than the sum of the parts. The book breaks new ground in our understanding of the District's historic design, its evolution over four hundred years, and the fundamental issues in strategies and policies towards the future. While the main focus is clearly on Amsterdam, the discussions have an important bearing on urban historic preservation elsewhere, and on questions about enduring urban design."-- Provided by publisher.

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on September 30, 2020).

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Maps -- List of Tables -- Preface -- 1 Introduction: Amsterdam's Canal District in Global Perspective -- PART I: HISTORIC ORIGINS -- 2 Between Art and Expediency: Origins of the Canal District -- 3 Designing the World's Most Liberal City -- 4 A Privileged Site in the City, the Republic, and the World Economy -- PART II: EVOLUTION -- 5 Bourgeois Homes: The Elite Spaces of the Canal District, 1600-1910 -- 6 The Architectural Essence of the Canal District: Past and Present

7 The Canal District: A Continuing History of Modern Planning -- PART III: TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY CHALLENGES -- 8 Preservation through Transformation: Amsterdam through the Lens of Barcelona -- 9 The Canal District as a Site of Cognitive-Cultural Activities: "A Miracle of Spaciousness, Compactness, Intelligible Order" -- 10 Cause Célèbre: The Contested History of the Canal District -- 11 The Present-Day Canal District as Home: Living in a Commodified Space -- References -- Contributors -- Index

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