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Developing and renewing the public outdoor space and facilitating construction and transformation projects is an ongoing process in a large municipality like Amstelveen. Unlike a governing municipality, Amstelveen's strategy is to have these developments carried out as much as possible by its own people. Given the continued growth of the "suburb of Amsterdam," they are diligently seeking project and technical staff.
The Municipality of Amstelveen is a serious company with over a thousand employees. Of these, just under 250 work in the Projects and Advice Department and the Urban Development Department. "Several years ago both departments joined forces," says Maarten Wilschut, Department Head of Projects and Advice at the municipality of Amstelveen. "Mainly to be able to make use of each other's expertise and to think jointly about policy and its implementation. Nevertheless, the tasks of both departments are still separated. Urban Development focuses primarily on facilitating construction projects in the municipality, while the (re)design of public outdoor space is the domain of the Projects and Advice department."
Both project organizations of the municipality of Amstelveen also provide services to neighboring Aalsmeer. "Serving two different municipalities and a total of 120,000 inhabitants(!) make the work extremely interesting," Wilschut believes. "That explains the size of both our project organizations. With the Urban Development Department, among other things, we are working on a number of large transformation projects such as the transformation of the Kronenburg office complex into student and temporary housing, and the relocation of the Nieuw Legmeer business park, which is quite a major operation. In Amstelveen we have to deal with the noise contours of Schiphol Airport. Housing is not allowed everywhere. And the industrial area is a suitable location. Therefore it was decided to move the industrial area to a location that is not suitable for housing, so that in Nieuw Legmeer space is created for the development of 3,000 homes."
The above developments naturally also feed the Projects and Consulting Department. In addition, this department deals with regular maintenance projects, among other things. Wilschut gives some examples: "Amstelveen has grown in phases into the large municipality it is today. That means that neighborhoods have also been set up in phases. Residential neighborhoods that are now thirty to forty years old are in urgent need of maintenance. That means replacing sewers, changing the paving and addressing the greenery. When one neighborhood is finished, it's already the next. In short, it is an ongoing process. Separately, we are widening roads and doubling lanes on a larger scale. For example, the busy Bovenkerkerweg is scheduled to be widened and we are constantly adjusting intersections by replacing traffic control installations for traffic circles."
All developments in the municipality of Amstelveen and neighboring Aalsmeer are led and executed as much as possible by in-house project teams, from sketch design and technical investigations to the preparation of specifications, VO, DOs and supervision during execution. "Especially because of the growth of both municipalities and the many projects on our plate, we are looking for project and technical staff in almost all positions," Wilschut acknowledges. "First and foremost, what we offer is an incredibly versatile job with an awful lot of stakeholders on each project. One day you have a resident on the line, the next evening you are giving a presentation in the city council about how you are going to tackle a project. And everything in between. You are the spider in the web at the municipality. If I may speak for myself, I have rarely experienced so much variety in a job as here. The drive to deliver quality is incredibly high given the 120,000 residents we serve. In addition, the work atmosphere is extremely enjoyable and a healthy work-life balance is guaranteed."
Do you also know what tackling is and which approach best suits our projects? For the Projects and Consultancy and Urban Development departments, we are looking for new colleagues for ambitious projects. See: aanpakkeninamstelveen.nl For various positions!
