The neighbourhood is situated in the eastern part of the Amsterdam borough of Amsterdam-Zuid, bordered by the river Amstel to the east, the Boerenwetering canal in the west, the Amstelkanaal in the north and the A10 motorway in the south.

[1] The Rivierenbuurt was built in the 1920s as a primarily middle-class residential area, part of the Plan Zuid urban expansion programme designed by Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage.

Until World War II the area had a sizable Jewish population[3] which included Anne Frank and her family, who lived at Merwedeplein square until they went into hiding in the secret annex located in the old city centre.

[4] In the second half of the 19th century, the city of Amsterdam grew quickly as a result of the Industrial Revolution taking place in the Netherlands.

Many of the old innercity neighbourhoods had become overcrowded and were suffering from poor living conditions and a lack of sanitary facilities.

With this process underway, it became clear that the original plan, which in many ways resembled the old city with its curvy streets and low-rise buildings, would be too expensive and inefficient.

The area mainly consists of fully enclosed apartment blocks, many of which were designed in Amsterdam School style.

Famous architects such as Margaret Staal-Kropholler, Michel de Klerk and Piet Kramer were commissioned to design the apartment blocks.

As economic circumstances changed, many of Berlage's ambitious plans including a monumental local railway station never materialized.

A prominent example is the Twaalfverdiepingenhuis ('Twelve Story House'), an unusually tall building located at Victorieplein, the Y junction of the three main thoroughfares of the neighborhood.

The last major infrastructural project in Berlage's masterplan for the neighborhood to be carried out was the construction of a bridge over the river Amstel.

The bridge provides access to new Plan Zuid neighborhood from the east, but because of its design also serves as a symbolic city gate.

The playground on Gaaspstraat was at first denied to Jewish children as ordered by the German occupiers, then on November 3, 1941 was converted to a market where Jews were required to shop.

A bronze sculpture erected in 1986 honors the Jewish children who were forbidden from using the playground; commemorations occur at the site every year on November 3.