The NDSM is an area of Amsterdam that is located in its north. It can be reached by ferry that departs from Amsterdam Central and can be used free of charge.

NDSM stands for Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij, which translates into Netherlands Docks and Shipbuilding Company. It was first opened in the 1920s as a ship building yard, that build passenger as well as cargo and tanker ships. When in 1984 the shipyard went bankrupt, it left behind an empty site the size of 14 football fields. Since the 1990s the prior shipyard has transformed into a hotspot for artists and creatives. It regularly hosts a wide array of festivals, art show and other creative events.  

This increase in activity, specifically of creatives in the area, has drawn in residents and housing developer, that saw the potential for the newly discovered creative hub. This recent spark/rise in interest has lead to plans for building hundreds of new homes and drove up the rent prices significantly. 

More and more hip cafes, posh vegan restaurants and sustainable brewery bar are appearing all over NDSM. This new cityscape that offers new fancy consumption spaces combined with the alternative vibe that artistic activity gives the area, has continued to attract more visitors as well as residents. Many of which are often times belong to an upper-middle class group, and the new and modern apartments are marketed towards them. Many of those newly built apartment complexes are outside of the price range of most residents or artists hat currently live in the area. 
Artists and other creatives shaped and continue to shape the unique character of NDSM and the surrounding area, but this has at the same time attracted many more affluent residents and housing developers that see the appeal of this. Increasing housing prices already do and will continue to drive out less affluent residents and rising property prices can lead to the closing of shops, art workshops and small galleries, that have for year relied on the low prices that NDSM offered them. Artists made NDSM what it is today, and are now being pushed out by rising prices as more affluent residents took interest in the area.