Have We Got Your Attention?

摘要

Approaching Almere by train you can see why young families were tempted to leave the city. Well tended allotments fringe the edge of the railway line and the odd pony munches away contentedly in a field. The houses are low rise, inoffensive and, by Dutch standards, a little dull, but they have gardens where paddling pools are already full in anticipation of a hot summer afternoon. The town was planned 20 years ago as a low-rise development along the lines of the traditional garden city offering a version of the good life far enough from Amsterdam to be self-sufficient, yet only 20 minutes by train from Schipol, the country's international airport, where many of Almere's 150,000 inhabitants work. But in their enthusiasm to create something distinct, the planners forgot one essential ingredient: a town centre. The lack of bars, cafes, theatres and concert halls meant that money and people flowed back to Amsterdam; those who couldn't afford to leave (a third of the population is under 23) hung about the town's shopping centre, bored.