Why we write about this topic:
The tenth episode of the Innovation Origins heat island series focuses – for the second time – on the capital’s city heat stress. The first part already covered the city districts of Centrum, South, and West. This time we zoom in on the situation in North, East, and Southeast. This way, a complete picture of all Amsterdam neighborhoods is created; it will become apparent after this second part what the warmest residential areas of the Dutch capital are on a hot August day.
Using super local ground temperature data derived from the ECOSTRESS satellite of U.S. space agency NASA, it has recently become possible to also check the status in the Netherlands on areas measuring 70 by 70 meters. During the tropical weekend of Aug. 12 and 13, the probe flew over the Netherlands during a cloudless afternoon.
Perfect conditions for a comparative urban survey, especially since almost everywhere in the country the temperature rose above 30 degrees, and the differences in maximum temperatures were extremely small by Dutch standards. Such was the case in Amsterdam-Noord, one of the newest districts of our capital city.
Amsterdam-North
North of the IJ River, the differences between the waterfront industrial areas and the modern residential areas further inland are pretty striking. Values reaching over 45 degrees in business parks, furniture malls, and industrial areas is nothing new in this section. In residential areas to the east and north, it remains, on average, about four degrees more relaxed on the ground, according to NASA measurements. The interactive zoom-in tool below clearly shows this effect.
Amsterdam-North appears to have the dubious honor of having the highest ground temperature in the capital. Nowhere did it heat up as much as on the roof of the sheds on Nieuwendammerham with a blood-hot 52.7°C. This hotspot is by the water. Although locally, it also warms up considerably in the Western Docklands, the values do not come close to this very hottest spot in the city.
Still, such high records are not measured everywhere. In the suburbs such as Molenwijk and Nieuwendam, it remained below forty in large parts on August 13. In neighborhoods such as Buiksloot and the IJplein/Vogelbuurt, where buildings are packed more densely together and where there are fewer green areas, it is several degrees more.
A final notable heat island can be spotted at Buikslotermeerplein, where it warms up more or less as much in the shopping area as in the heart of the city center on the other side of the water, where we also find the second map of this episode.
Amsterdam East
On the map of Amsterdam East, we see not only the district East but also a large part of Diemen and the coolest part of the city center. Real outliers towards the fifty do not occur here because this part is almost entirely built up with residential areas. In Zeeburg, Transvaalbuurt, Oud-Oost, and the north of Watergraafsmeer, the surface values come out several degrees higher than in Betondorp, Weesperzijde, and Diemen-Noord.
For the most fanatical heat-haters, IJburg seems to be the safest haven with just about the lowest temperatures in the city. That green does not necessarily equate to cool is well illustrated by the figures on the grassy plains in Diemerpark, where similar conditions can be spotted as in the dune area west of Alkmaar covered in episode 8.
Some other relatively hot locations in this part of town can be found around Amsterdam Science Park near the UvA campus and the sheds on the Molenkade by ring road A10. Yet here – even in the business parks on the edges – the heat stress is not so bad. Is this also the case in Southeast?
Amsterdam Southeast
The Bijlmer and the rest of the neighborhoods in Southeast are doing slightly better than average compared to the rest of the city. Generally not as cool as IJburg, but certainly not as muggy as Bos en Lommer or Oud-Oost. The west of Gaasperdam and Venserpolder even seem to be among the “best boys in town”. Despite the densely packed built-up areas, ratings above 45 hardly occur here.
Yet this does not mean that heat stress does not occur here at all or that you can avoid it altogether. The streets in Bullewijk west of the Amsterdam ArenA are a clear example. If you want to fry an egg here without a pan, it is best to climb above the Ziggo Dome. On the roof of this large concert hall, ground temperatures tick upwards of 50.7. It’s the third hottest spot in the city.
On the opposite side of the A10, we also see Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, where although it is clearly hotter than in the surrounding meadows, no outliers occur. Does Amsterdam – or Diemen – then have no neighborhoods at all where heat island problems are severely out of whack like in some other cities? This city is actually not bad at all.
Hot spot rankings
The capital is fortunate in its proximity to the IJ and the historic ring of canals, and in recent decades it has further developed the city in a sustainable manner that has also taken reasonable account of sufficient green areas and city parks.
Amsterdam is by no means completely heat island-free, certainly not where you would expect it to be. Isolatorweg, Ziggo Dome, and Nieuwedammerham even enter the top ten of this section in places five, eight, and ten. With this, the capital is relatively often represented on the list.
Yet this picture is somewhat distorted because in this case, the entire city was subjected to the heat stress test using six maps instead of one. After all, this was the first time in this series that not a district but an entire city was scrutinized.
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