The article reviews the design of two neighborhoods on the former east harbor of Amsterdam. The article focuses on the master plan of these developments, designed by West 8, and the framework that allowed the building of private residences in relatively high density. The article was written after participating in a tour to the Netherlands as part of a course in urban design from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The article was published in the “Landscape Architecture” journal (Hebrew), of the Israeli Union of Landscape Architects. December 2003.