Westerpark joins Amsterdam’s nineteenth-century public green space with the former Westergasfabriek, whose coal-gas works shaped the district and left a legacy of contaminated soil. Today the covered industrial site is a cultural park beside lawns, water and recreation.
Quick facts
Westerpark opened in 1891, replacing the earlier Westerplantsoen after canal and railway works displaced it.
The Westergasfabriek made coal gas for Amsterdam’s street lighting; production ended in 1967 as natural gas replaced it.
The 2003 Cultuurpark Westergasfabriek extension was built on a clean top layer covering contaminated soil, following Kathryn Gustafson’s design.
Get directions to Westerpark. Confirm the visitor entrance and current access with the venue before travelling.
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Guide
Westerpark is easiest to understand as a meeting of two urban needs: fresh air for a crowded industrial city, and room for the industry that helped light it. Today its lawns, water, recreation spaces and monumental brick works sit side by side in Amsterdam-West. The park’s boundaries and name can refer to a wider collection of green spaces, but this guide focuses on the historic municipal park and the adjacent former Westergasfabriek grounds that became its cultural extension.
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