It is important to remember that all aspects of human culture, including city planning, are matters of choice. But the choices a given city makes in how it changes and expands are in a continual evolution based on geography, history, culture, and an awareness of the options available. Lastly, politics and economics are usually determining factors in what choices are actually made.
Amsterdam was built on wet marshlands filled with swamps, lakes, and soggy peat (www.lonelyplanet.com). Although there was a Roman settlement where the modern city was built, Amsterdam really owes its origin to 12th century dam-building farmers and fishermen who drained the swamps and built canals and dikes to control the encroaching sea water.
The city grew because of its natural harbor and strategic location between the North and Baltic seas and the trading ports of southern Europe.
As money flowed in divisions between the newly rich Protestants and the Catholic aristocrats allied with the Spanish who occupied the region at the time resulted in Holland's independence in 1579. From then until 1740 the country enjoyed a Golden Age, becoming the dominant sea power in Europe, with Dutch explorers making major voyages of discovery and conquering new lands for the empire.
The French and English eventually eclipsed the Dutch. Industrialization replaced fishing and the sea trade in the 20th century as the prime economic focus.
By the 1960s Amsterdam was earning its reputation as the most tolerant and radical place in Europe, with a cosmopolitan population that was not shy about protesting city planning issues to the powers that be.
A motley collection of anarchistr (the Provos), rtudents, women, hippies, gays, and squatters pressured the local politicians to rethink the demolition of scare cheap inner-city housing. Their alternative to American-style "urban renewal" was the formulation of a series of progressive principles that were all bas...