AMSTERDAM (3 June 2015)—Bob van der Zande, Director of Residential Markets for the City of Amsterdam, has been appointed as the next Chair of ULI Netherlands. Van der Zande will officially begin his term on 1st July 2015 and will serve on a voluntary basis for the next two years.

Under Van der Zande’s leadership, a key priority of ULI Netherlands will be to look at land use issues from a human perspective. “In our projects and events, my goal will be to always recognise the human perspective—how to create cohesive communities where people prosper; share ways of attracting and retaining talent; and stimulate the reinvention of city life and growth with a sensible social, economic and functional diversity,” said Van der Zande.

Taking this approach, Van der Zande aims to increase membership during his tenure as chair, with a goal of doubling membership by 2017. To achieve this growth, Van der Zande plans to intensify ULI Netherlands’ programme of events and workshops, secure high quality international speakers, and form partnerships with other industry organisations events such as PROVADA, Expo Real, MIPIM, Platform 31 and Watertorenberaad. “I am confident that the depth of our programme and the broad international knowledge of the ULI global network will inspire people to become members,” said Van der Zande.

“Bob’s extensive knowledge of the Dutch real estate market and passion for ULI make him an excellent choice to lead ULI Netherlands and contribute to ULI’s mission of fostering cooperation between the public and private sectors,” said ULI Europe CEO Lisette van Doorn. “I am pleased to welcome him as one of a number of new chairs to further develop the National Council Network.”

Van der Zande succeeds Rudy Stroink, who chaired ULI Netherlands for the past two years and grew the council’s membership to over 100 members. Van der Zande brings considerable experience with ULI to this role. A member of ULI for six years, he organised the ULI Netherlands Amsterdam Summit in 2011, which attracted 150 international attendees. For the past two years, he has served on the ULI Netherlands Executive Committee, where he has worked to set up new programmes and recruit new members from both the public and private sectors. In addition, Van der Zande has served on two ULI Advisory Services Panels in the last 12 months, the first in Atlantic City and the second in Frankfurt/Offenbach. He is a member of the ULI Europe Urban Regeneration Council.

In his role as Director of Residential Markets for the City of Amsterdam, Van der Zande is responsible for seeking new markets and new investors to speed up housing production in Amsterdam and the surrounding metropolitan region. Trained as an urban designer at Delft University of Technology, he has worked in the field of city and community development since 1978.

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a global non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has more than 34,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

ULI has been active in Europe since the early 1990s and today we have over 2,000 members across 27 different countries. ULI Europe has a particularly strong presence in the major European real estate markets of the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands but is also active in emerging markets such as Turkey and Poland.