Photo: Tara Schepers and Yolanda Sikking/Almere municipality
To plan meals, Marco de Kat looks just outside his house. Oosterwold, where he has lived since 2017, is a 4,300 hectare (10,625 acre) urban experiment east of Amsterdam, in a suburb of the city of Almere. First visualized by a local network, it was established by local government and Oosterwold planners to challenge rigid Dutch city planning. The area, which has about 5,000 residents and a growing waiting list, is completely self-sufficient. Residents can build houses however they like, and must collaborate with others to figure out street names, waste management, roads, and even schools. But half of each plot must be devoted to urban agriculture. Jalil Bekkour, who opened his restaurant, Atelier Feddan, where 80% of the food is from Oosterwold, says it now has the same climate France had 40 years ago.
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