Though the city of Almere is only four decades old, it has almost 200,000 inhabitants and is still developing as part of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. Since 2012, that development is focused on sustainability, health and green space and an increased agency of its residents. Almere has been selected as host of the Floriade, the World Horticulture Exhibition, in 2022. Part of a city-wide program to become greener, healthier, and more sustainable is the development of a greenfield neighbourhood in the polder, called Oosterwold. Contrary to almost all other New Towns, there is no masterplan underlying this development, but a set of rules, developed by Dutch architecture firm MVRDV. Safeguarding the green and ecological character of the area, the rules provide for an organic development of the area in which residents not only build their own housing, but through cooperation also their roads and other infrastructure.

• Unique reversal of roles between top down and bottom up, increased agency of residents
• Model for organic urbanism