Idea · Plan

Van Eesteren's General Extension Plan (AUP)

adopted 1935 · Amsterdam · Cornelis van Eesteren

What it is

The Algemeen Uitbreidingsplan, led by Cornelis van Eesteren with researcher Theo van Lohuizen, projected Amsterdam's growth to the year 2000 using survey data on population, traffic and land use. It applied CIAM functionalist principles, separating dwelling, work, recreation and circulation and distributing open green space throughout the western expansion. The plan was grounded in empirical analysis rather than monumental composition. Its garden-suburb districts were built largely after the Second World War.

Why it matters

The AUP is a foundational example of data-driven functionalist city planning and influenced modern urbanism well beyond the Netherlands.

See it on the timeline →
hub.toekom.st — History of Urbanism · an interactive timeline of 850 planned cities across 6,000 years.