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City of Amsterdam in
pages. Scale 1 : 20.000.
upward. On this page:
Amsterdam about
in both sides of the
Amstel. The oldest part
east with Oude Kerk,
older part to the west
Nieuwe Kerk. Below,
Amsterdam about 1600. Page
19th

Figure 7.1, Far left – Amsterdam in about 1400; the original settlement was on the east bank dike of the Amstel with the old church on lower ground. Key: a, Amstel; o, Oudezijds Voorburgwal; n, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal.

Left – Amsterdam at the beginning of the nineteenth century with the area laid out under the 'Plan of the Three Canals' fully developed. The extent of the city at the end of the fifteenth century, before the plan was adopted, is shown in solid black. Key (where different to above): s, Singel Canal; h, Herengracht Canal; k, Keizersgracht Canal; p, Prinsengracht Canal; J, the Jordaan District; D, the main dock area. North at the top for both plans.

Control of development was strictest in the areas between the three great concentric canals. Here the plot sizes averaged 26 feet frontage and 180 feet depth, and the prescription of a minimum distance of 160 feet between the backs of buildings resulted in a minimum garden length of 80 feet for each plot. A maximum site coverage of 56 per cent was thus secured. A typical set of conditions of sale, published in 1663, stipulated that the following trades could not be carried on within the area: blacksmith, brewer, cooper, dyemaker, glassblower, gluemaker, soapboiler, stone-cutter, sugar manufacturer and similar noxious or noisy occupations. It is remarkable that these restrictions have remained in force there ever since. The 'Building Order' for the same district required, inter alia, that outside walls be constructed only in Lekse, Leytse, Vechtse or Rijnse bricks, and that only blue bricks or Bremen stone could be used for drains.

So rarely are buildings of less than three stories to be seen in this area that the existence of some form of municipal control to secure a minimum, as well as a maximum, height might be presumed. Investigation has so far yielded no evidence of such control, and it is unfortunate that most of the city's older records perished in three major fires; but land values along such important frontages doubtless induced developers to obtain the maximum return in lettable space.

(Gerald Burke, 'The Making of Dutch Towns')

## PLAN OF THE THREE CANALS

Amsterdam developed from its late sixteenth century area of around 450 acres to an early nineteenth century total of nearly 1,800 acres, in accordance with the 'Plan of the Three Canals' (Fig. 7.1). Hendrik Jz Staets was responsible for this plan, adopted by the city council in 1607 but not without objections from certain speculators amongst the councillors who had bought up land in anticipation of development⁵. The layout of the new parts of the city was determined by the first two of the three factors referred to above. Amsterdam's trading function required direct water access to individual merchants' houses and warehouses. This was only possible through communal action in the construction of canals – linear expansion along existing waterfronts, for example, was precluded. Organised excavation of these canals required a plan, and the considerable investment needed for a defensive system imposed a limit on its extent.

The three canals of the 1607 plan are the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht and the Prinsengracht, named in sequence out from the centre. The Herengracht, 80 ft wide, had been excavated in 1585 and the Keizersgracht, 88 ft wide, in 1593. Both therefore predate the plan itself and were located in the city according to this

5. Gerald Burke, *The Making of Dutch Towns*.