Before your eyes, the tiny 13^th century village of Amsterdam emerges from the water. A dam appears on this drained peatland – and as the centuries tick by, it grows into a thriving modern metropolis.

On Monday, marking the end of celebrations for Amsterdam’s 750^th birthday, mayor Femke Halsema will open “Amsterdam in Motion”, an extraordinary scale model and presentation telling the story of the city past and present.

From the first moment the settlement was recognised in a trading toll exemption issued by Count Floris V on October 27, 1275 to the diverse, modern city of 930,000 people, the new model and exhibition quite literally give visitors a bird’s eye view of the Dutch capital.

Inspired by a similar project in Japan, Amsterdam has built what it claims is the world’s largest multimedia city scale model, with an exhibition by the Amsterdam Museum upstairs exploring what it might mean to be an Amsterdammer – when 59% of the inhabitants have foreign roots.

Imara Limon, chief curator of the Amsterdam Museum, says that the city’s past is a source of inspiration. “We thought it was important to look at how you can give form to the future, by looking at the past,” she said. “At how changes in the city happened through people, through protest, through those who dared to dream. And we end with the question, the invitation actually, to think about your own role in the city.”

Visitors to the exhibition first step into a 15-minute theatrical show telling stories of the past projected over the cityscape and illuminating how the city grew with the laying of canals, new districts and reclaimed land. There is time to explore the 200 square metre model and then the doors open to an exhibition by the Amsterdam Museum about important themes in the modern city, from football and protest to the housing crisis.

While the presentation is given in English and Dutch, the displays can be translated into multiple languages. The narrative tackles difficult aspects of the city’s history – the murder of 80,000 Jewish people during the Nazi occupation “with the cooperation of the municipality and police”, and the city’s “active role in the slavery history” of colonial trade, exploitation, suppression and slavery.

But it also looks at the role of protesters such as squatters, women’s rights and sexual diversity activists.

There’s a board upstairs inviting visitors to make their own protest slogan, and a lottery wheel to spin to see whether you get a house in Almere or are still living with your parents until you are 35. Various displays – including a classic, broken bike skeleton – include information about the crumbling canal walls and challenges to biodiversity.

“Amsterdam remains a city of emancipation and protest,” goes the voiceover, as the theatre walls are flooded with pictures representing aspects of the capital. “And Amsterdam might be a city of freedom, but we are also a city of contrasts: the richest city in the country, with the most homeless…

“Affordable housing is extremely scarce, and for many people who work in the city, impossible to find. House prices in many parts of the city have doubled in the past 10 years, and climate change will have a greater impact on people with a low income than those who can permit themselves a well-insulated, energy-efficient home.”

But, as this flat model vividly demonstrates, it would not take much for it all to be under water again: as sea levels rise, the vulnerable delta of the Netherlands faces drier summers and water shortages as well as cloudbursts and river floods.

“Amsterdam could easily look like it did before,” says the narrator as a biblical flood is projected over the houses. “With far more water than we would like.”

The Amsterdam in Motion experience is free to under 18s and opens on October 27, 2025