Westerdoksplein is on Westerdokseiland, in the Haarlemmerbuurt, just behind Amsterdam Central Station. The island was connected to Westerdoksdijk in 1878 and for decades served as a rail and transshipment yard for the station: a freight station, customs sheds, and a lock, the Westertoegang, provided access to the Westerdok. Part of that history is still visible: the 1922 swing bridge, designed by P. Joosting, is still there and now houses restaurant Open.

The square in its current form dates from 2004. The surrounding development is largely new: the homes on Westerdokseiland were built around 2007 on the site where tracks and sheds once stood.

Residents of Westerdokseiland are actively involved in the planting on and around the square. Since 2019, a group of local residents, the Groengroep Westerdoksplein, has maintained six planting beds with more than 120 hardy species and cultivars from Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa, installed by the City of Amsterdam under the name 'Inheemse Exoten'. Along the Westerdok, there are also 51 trees, each with its own tree pit, maintained by more than thirty volunteers.

Van den Berk Boomkwekerijen supplied a large number of trees for Westerdoksplein.