Amsterdam

===Canals===
{{Main|Canals of Amsterdam}}
[[File:Town Houses on Canal in Amsterdam - Nov 1977.jpg|left|thumb|Rokin – November 1977]]
The Amsterdam canal system is the result of conscious [[Urban planning|city planning]].<ref name="canals">{{Cite web |title=Amsterdamse Grachten |url=http://amsterdam.nl/stad_in_beeld/werkstukken/grachten |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320060143/http://amsterdam.nl/stad_in_beeld/werkstukken/grachten |archive-date=20 March 2008 |access-date=21 May 2008 |publisher=Municipality Amsterdam |language=nl}}</ref> In the early 17th century, when immigration was at a peak, a comprehensive plan was developed that was based on four concentric half-circles of canals with their ends emerging at the [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ]] bay. Known as the [[Grachtengordel]], three of the canals were mostly for residential development: the [[Herengracht]] (where "Heren" refers to ''Heren Regeerders van de stad Amsterdam'', ruling lords of Amsterdam, whilst ''[[gracht]]'' means canal, so that the name can be roughly translated as "Canal of the Lords"), [[Keizersgracht]] (Emperor's Canal) and [[Prinsengracht]] (Prince's Canal).<ref>{{Cite web |title=SHVriendenwandeling2017web1.pdf |url=https://www.stadsherstel.nl/ul/cms/fck-uploaded/SHVriendenwandeling2017web1.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409171642/https://www.stadsherstel.nl/ul/cms/fck-uploaded/SHVriendenwandeling2017web1.pdf |archive-date=9 April 2018 |access-date=9 April 2018 |publisher=stadsherstel}}</ref> The fourth and outermost canal is the [[Singelgracht]], which is often not mentioned on maps because it is a collective name for all canals in the outer ring. The Singelgracht should not be confused with the oldest and innermost canal, the [[Singel]].

[[File:Herengracht-december-2.jpg|thumb|Herengracht]]
[[File:Prinsengracht towads Lekkeresluis from Bridge Prinsenstraat 2016-09-12.jpg|thumb|Prinsengracht]]
The canals served for defense, [[Water resource management|water management]] and transport. The defenses took the form of a moat and [[Earthworks (engineering)|earthen dikes]], with gates at transit points, but otherwise no masonry [[superstructure]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taverne |first=E. R. M. |title=In 't land van belofte, in de nieuwe stadt: ideaal en werkelijkheid van de stadsuitleg in de Republiek, 1580–1680 (In the land of promise, in the kinky city: ideal and reality of the city lay-out in the [Dutch] Republic, 1580–1680) |publisher=Schwartz |year=1978 |isbn=978-90-6179-024-2 |location=Maarssen}}</ref> The original plans have been lost, so historians, such as Ed Taverne, need to speculate on the original intentions: it is thought that the considerations of the layout were purely practical and defensive rather than ornamental.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sako Musterd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5UaM50-E-wwC&pg=PA33 |title=Amsterdam Human Capital |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-90-5356-595-7 |page=33}}</ref>

Construction started in 1613 and proceeded from west to east, across the breadth of the layout, like a gigantic [[Windscreen wiper|windshield wiper]] as the historian [[Geert Mak]] calls it – and not from the centre outwards, as a popular myth has it. The canal construction in the southern sector was completed by 1656. Subsequently, the construction of residential buildings proceeded slowly. The eastern part of the concentric canal plan, covering the area between the Amstel river and the IJ bay, has never been implemented. In the following centuries, the land was used for parks, senior citizens' homes, theatres, other public facilities, and waterways without much planning.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mak |first=G. |title=Een kleine geschiedenis van Amsterdam |publisher=Uitgeverij Atlas |year=1995 |isbn=978-90-450-1232-2 |location=Amsterdam/Antwerp}}</ref> Over the years, several canals have been filled in, becoming streets or squares, such as the [[Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal]] and the [[Spui (Amsterdam)|Spui]].<ref name="filledincanals">{{Cite web |title=Dempingen en Aanplempingen |url=http://www.onderdekeizerskroon.nl/wschoonenberg/dempingen.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518172457/http://www.onderdekeizerskroon.nl/wschoonenberg/dempingen.html |archive-date=18 May 2008 |access-date=21 May 2008 |publisher=Walther Schoonenberg |language=nl}}</ref>