I amsterdam - Zuidoost and the ArenA Boulevard

Besides the restructuring of the modernist residential area from the 1970s, when the Borough of Zuidoost (Southeast) was built up as a honeycomb of medium-rise blocks, the central area is being developed into a secondary urban heart, with high-quality retail and entertainment. The ArenA Boulevard centres around the Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA Station, a totally new railway, metro and bus station set for completion in 2007. There is a retail and entertainment strip against the backdrop of striking high-rise offices and the spaceship-like ArenA stadium, home to Ajax football club and a venue for mega-concerts and -events. Besides warehouse-type stores there is the Villa ArenA home furnishing mall and the Living Tomorrow attraction, a home/office of the future designed by Amsterdam-based architects UN Studio. There is already a Pathé multiplex cinema, the medium-size Heineken Music Hall, accommodating up to 5,500 people, and the temporary Pepsi Stage theatre. Future plans include the Getz Entertainment Centre, with culture, restaurants, a casino, disco, hotel and much more.

All this stands in the midst of a thriving business area, with medium- and high-rise offices occupied by publishers, high-tech companies (including Cisco Systems), financial institutions and customer service centres. The borough is certainly changing, creating a secondary urban heart with efficient public transport that will beat vitally at all times of day and night.