Reclamation of Land
In the 1950s, the central government gave precedence to the realization of the Southeastern polder over the Southwestern polder, and therefore also to a speedy construction of Lelystad, the future capital of the Zuiderzee province. Agriculture was no longer the central concern and the designers went in search of a more varied landscape.

Woodlands
Because of increasing demand for recreation areas, the designs included more and more woodland areas. Generous woodlands were planted both in the corners and at the edges of the polder, and around Lelystad. The number of villages in the proposal was reduced from ten to three between 1954 and 1965. This was partly a consequence of continuing mechanization and the greater mobility of farmers.

Lack of vision
In the report Development of the West of the Country (1958) researchers stated that Lelystad and other urban centres in the polders would have to accommodate future population growth in the Randstad. The polder was no longer regarded as an independent enclave, but as a component of a national spatial policy. In 1959, Cornelis van Eesteren was commissioned to devise an urban design for Lelystad, on the basis of a city of 50,000 inhabitants and a potential expansion to 100,000 inhabitants. The commissioners lacked a clear-cut vision for the future, and they could not agree about the brief. Van Eesteren worked in vain for five long years on a series of proposals. His design was never approved and the structural framework for Lelystad by the Commission for Planning and Urban Development did not appear until 1969.

Theme The Big Challenge

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