As a cultural and racial melting pot Amsterdam is unrivalled by comparable European cities. At its best Amsterdam provides a climate in which both its citizens and its administrators favour change and innovation, welcoming exotic influences, new ideas and new customs. That is what has made Amsterdam great. The combination of dynamism and soberness has meant it has been possible to develop the city in a unique fashion. Though the city's best urban designers were at the forefront of renewal, they nevertheless always kept the coherence and totality of the city clearly in mind. Their plans were often bold, sometimes successful, sometimes less so. But whatever else can be said of the seventeenth-century canal belt, Kalff's late nineteenth-century plan, Berlage's Plan-Zuid, the 1935 General Extension Plan, or more modern ventures such as Schiphol airport, the Bijlmermeer development, the Waterfront area, the new centre in Zuidoost and the already famous IJburg, they all broke new ground. This remarkable combination of harmony and anarchy, order and chaos, is a constant factor in the history of the city. It is its strength. A second constant feature is the unceasing expansion of the city. In the space of seven centuries the small settlement at the mouth of the Amstel has developed into a cosmopolitan city. Further development does not mean growth for growth's sake. Above all it means growth which improves the quality of the living environment and results in sustainable development.

A few characteristics: