Vondelpark only Amsterdam area that meets WHO clean air standards

Vondelpark is the only place in Amsterdam that meets the strict air quality standards of the World Health Organization, according to the city's annual publication Amsterdam in figures 2017. Air quality in the rest of the city is improving, but the air still contains too much particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, RTL Nieuws reports.

Air quality was measured in ten spots throughout the Dutch capital for this publication. In the area of particulate matter, air quality in Amsterdam does meet the European standards, which are less stringent than those of the WHO.

The city made considerable improvements when it comes to nitrogen dioxide in the air over the past years, the municipality says in the figures. Over the past decade, the nitrogen dioxide concentration in Amsterdam dropped from 59 micrograms per cubic meter to 42 micrograms.

The publication also revealed that Amsterdam's population grew by 10 thousand inhabitants to 844,952 this year. Many families with young children left the Dutch capital and moved to Amstelveen, Almere and Haarlem in particular. The number of students that came to Amsterdam decreased for the third year in a row.

Amsterdam is also expecting to break its population record - 872 thousand residents in 1959 - in 2019.