It's all relative, that's for sure. I've lived in lots of different places and indeed, by Dutch standards the Bijlmer is a collosal failure, at the same time it is obvious that that is the context. This is a country that is pretty big on making stuff work, if not for that the country itself wouldn't even exist. Engineering on this scale is nothing strange to the Dutch mentality at all, turning sea into land or having Eifel-tower sized movable dams to keep out the water is something people don't even bat an eye at (probably because they are unaware of the feats of engineering underpinning that).

That there are much worse places in the world I readily concede, but it did not at all turn out how it was meant to be and that's what differentiates Bijlmermeer from the rest of the Netherlands and how major planning is done here, and that is why to me it is a collosal failure.

By the way: welcome to our little rainy country!