Zeeburg

Zeeburg is a quarter built north east of Amsterdam on a series of artificial islands on the river IJ. It has about 43,000 residents and covers a surface of 19.31 km².

The construction of the new islands in the East, called the Oostelijke Eilanden ( Eastern Islands), make it the most rapidly growing borough of Amsterdam.

Zeeburg is basically a residential area famous for its modern architecture buildings and for its nice restaurants.

History

The district, which was created in 1990, was named after the Zeeburgerdijk (Zeeburg dike) and the Zeeburgereiland (Zeeburg island), which lay in the centre of the borough.

The Zeeburgerdijk is named after the fortress ‘Seeburg’ which in the 17th century was part of the dike that protected the land from the Zuiderzee. This dike connected Amsterdam and Muiden and was the only land route to Naarden before the Watergraafsmeer was drained.

From the end of the 19th century, with the construction of the Oostelijk Havengebied (Eastern Docklands) and the residential Indische Buurt (Indonesian Ward) the area has slowly become part of the city.

These three areas (IJburg, Oostelijk Havengebied and the Indische Buurt) all have different characters.

The IJburg is still under construction and it generally contains middle-class housing.

The Oostelijk Havengebied has an urban character reflecting one of the cities in the country with the highest density.

The Indische Buurt, on the other hand, is more a working-class area with a high immigrant population.