Nieuw-West

Nieuw-West was created in 2010 by merging three former districts: Geuzenveld-Slotermeer, Osdorp and Slotervaart. Since 2015 it also includes the part of the Westpoort port area west of the A10 ring road. It covers about 32.4 km² and had about 159,500 residents on 1 January 2021, the largest population of Amsterdam's seven districts.

Most of the district was planned under the city's General Extension Plan of 1935 (Algemeen Uitbreidingsplan, AUP) and built in the 1950s and 1960s as the Western Garden Cities (Westelijke Tuinsteden): open rows of housing set in generous green space rather than closed city blocks. The village of Sloten, which dates back to 1063, is the oldest settlement in the area.

Official neighbourhoods include Geuzenveld, Slotermeer, Osdorp, Oud Osdorp, Slotervaart, Overtoomse Veld, Nieuw Sloten, Sloten and the eastern shore of the Sloterplas (Oostoever), with De Aker in the far west.

Nieuw-West feels very different from the inner city: wider streets, more water and lawns between buildings, and neighbourhood shopping centres rather than continuous shopping streets.

• The garden cities around the Sloterplas, a large excavated lake, and the Sloterpark form the heart of the district.
• Large-scale renewal: from 2001, under the programme Richting Parkstad 2015, thousands of post-war homes were demolished and rebuilt or renovated, so many streets now combine original 1950s blocks with newer buildings.
• Sloten keeps the scale of a village, while Nieuw Sloten and De Aker in the south-west are later, more suburban extensions.

• Metro: lines 50 and 51 run along the western ring through the district, with stations including Isolatorweg, Lelylaan, Heemstedestraat and Henk Sneevlietweg, linking Nieuw-West with Station Sloterdijk, Station Zuid and (on line 51) the centre.
• Train: Station Lelylaan (trains, metro and trams) is the main interchange; Station Sloterdijk lies to the north.
• Trams: 1 (Osdorp De Aker via Lelylaan and Surinameplein to Leidseplein and Weesperplein), 2 (Nieuw Sloten via Hoofddorpplein and Museumplein to Centraal Station), 7 (Slotermeer to Leidseplein and the east), 13 (Geuzenveld via the Slotermeerlaan, currently diverted and ending at Zeilstraat), 17 (Osdorp Dijkgraafplein via Osdorpplein and Lelylaan towards the centre) and the peak-hour line 27 (Osdorp Dijkgraafplein to Surinameplein), which was introduced with the network change of 29 March 2026.

Journey times to the centre vary considerably across this large district, so test your commute at rush hour. The metro lines are due to be renumbered in December 2027.

Most housing dates from the 1950s and 1960s: walk-up flats and gallery blocks in open rows, plus some single-family houses, especially in Sloten, Nieuw Sloten and parts of Osdorp. Renewal since 2001 has added new-build apartments and owner-occupied homes among the older rental stock.

There is no official rent figure for Nieuw-West alone. Homes here are generally more spacious than in the inner districts for the same budget, but the city-wide picture applies: according to I amsterdam, social housing has waiting times of typically 8 to 18 years and most newcomers rent privately. Check whether a rent falls under the points system before you sign (see our tenant rights guide).

Nieuw-West offers more space and green per resident than the inner city. The Sloterplas and Sloterpark are the main recreation area, and the garden-city layout puts lawns and playgrounds between many housing blocks.

As everywhere in Amsterdam, register in good time for primary school; I amsterdam recommends comparing schools near your address on Scholen op de Kaart. Our schools and childcare guides explain the system.