Migration and, more specifically, the challenges of social cohesion are some of the more important issues facing 'new town' Almere. Almere, which is a great example of 70's utopianism, is shifting from an adolescent to a more mature and fully grown city. Like many young European cities, Almere is looking for its cultural identity. This 'new town', created from scratch by engineers and administrators, is still 'developing' its softer, more cultured side. This project (Almere 2018) outlines briefly matters that needed to be addressed and includes ideas and genuine changes for creating culture in new towns. It describes both its recent and archeological history.
An account is also given of the Seven Almere Principles which serve as guidelines for the development of a sustainable city of the future. William McDonough, ‘the famous Cradle to Cradle architect’, was flown into Almere in the spring of 2008 for the purpose of helping out on the sustainability side of things. Finally, this project sums up, in retrospect, the various phases a young city goes through from an organisational point of view: from pioneering to integration. The initiative to put Almere forward as a viable nominee for the European Capital of Culture in 2018 will perhaps give the town a higher purpose in this integrational phase. Almere has to overcome a lot of challenges. The main motivation behind the idea of the Cultural Capital bid is to crown the next ten years of 'municipal strengthening on the cultural front' with a showcase of what can be achieved from 2010 to 2018. Culture is the spice of life: No culture, no society. Getting 'new town' people acquainted with culture (both passively and actively) at the earliest possible stage when starting a new town will make this a better place for its inhabitants.
Since its foundation in 1975, Almere is the largest and most rapidly growing new town in the Netherlands. With the realization that the building of a city comes first and progress toward a vital municipal community second, much value has been attached to well thought-out urban planning design, architectural experiments and also the city’s social structure, since construction started in 1975. With 187,000 inhabitants, Almere is one of the largest cities in the Netherlands; the population is expected to double by 2030. It’s task is to position itself as a fully-fledged city with its own modern image, in the economically powerful region around Amsterdam. The residents have started an initiative Almere2018 to prepare Almere for nomination as European Capital of Culture in 2018.
English summary from http://www.almere2018.eu/home_en
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