8 Changing population The city’s demographic development has always been guided by urban planning. The abrupt expansion in the 1920s was made possible by the annexations of outlying districts (see graph). The loss of population in the 1940s was a tragic consequence of the German occupation. Returning displaced persons and the post-war baby-boom children set Amsterdam on a new demographic trend. In the 1970s and ’80s, national housing policy met surging demand by assigning suburban growth trajectories and satellite cores around major cities. Annual population growth and decline 1900-1999 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 0 -30,000 -20,000 -10,000 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 1999 Migration in 2008 The advantages offered by large-scale housing programmes in cities like Purmerend, Hoorn and Almere drew many families away from Amsterdam. Meeting the requirements of contemporary preferences, current city-planning policy is once again looking to the ageing housing stock within the city. Amsterdam has grown steadily since the 1990s, attracting people from the rest of the Netherlands and from abroad seeking further education or work. But all the while Amsterdam loses families to the regions, indicating that the former growth cores remain attractive to certain sections of the Amsterdam population. Amsterdam is home to 177 nationalities and 50% of the city’s population is comprised of single-person households
Administrative borders and collaboration Looking inside Amsterdam The City of Amsterdam has two administrative tiers: the city-wide municipality and city districts. A rearrangement of local government in May 2010 consolidated fourteen city districts into just seven, ranging between 80,000 and 150,000 inhabitants. The elected district councils and their executives perform almost all the statutory tasks of an independent municipality. Amsterdam’s municipal executive and city council are responsible for matters that extend beyond the boundaries of a single city district, or exceed its powers, and administers a municipal budget. 9 Westpoort harbour area North 86,681 West 129,910 New West 132,974 Centre 81,305 South 132,153 East 112,445 Southeast 80,490 Looking outside Amsterdam Amsterdam is part of the Province of North Holland, which has its administrative seat in Haarlem. Amsterdam participates in the City Region of Amsterdam, a collaborative platform of 16 municipalities. On a more informal level, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (AMA) is the name given to a wider collaboration of regional and local authorities with a combined population of 2.2 million. Under the metropolitan arrangement, the regional partners agree on issues such as housing construction, business sites, infrastructure and green space. The municipalities engage in joint efforts to make the AMA an internationally competitive region.