Lelystad is a spacious new town with 85,000 residents. This young city features extensive green spaces and is situated on reclaimed land along the water, in the heart of the country. After sixty years, the city faces challenges related to housing, public amenities, accessibility, climate, and quality of life. How can Lelystad grow in a balanced and high-quality manner, in a way that strengthens the existing city?

The city is named after Cornelis Lely; Cornelis van Eesteren drew up the initial plan for Lelystad. The final design was based on a larger population than actually materialized. That spacious layout, which was once its strength, has since made the management of public spaces disproportionately expensive. Now, Lelystad aims to make a second leap in scale towards becoming a complete and compact city of 120,000 residents.

The pressure to build housing is giving Lelystad new momentum. The Spatial Vision leverages that growth and the city’s spacious layout to improve the spatial quality. Targeted densification creates support for more amenities and brings new vitality.

Five Main Principles

This quality improvement requires more clearly defined areas. What is possible in which locations? And what exactly do we want to protect? Within each of the five main principles, a distinction has therefore been made between areas with their own dynamics, appropriate functions, and specific challenges.

Integrated urban design for sustainable and healthy environments.

Research