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Almere

Location of Almere in Flevoland and the Netherlands Coordinates: Country  Netherlands Province  Flevoland Government  • Mayor Annemarie Jorritsma (VVD) Area  • Total 248.77 km2 (96.05 sq mi)  • Land 130.47 km2 (50.37 sq mi)  • Water 118.29 km2 (45.67 sq mi) Elevation -2 m (−7 ft) Population (Feb 2012)  • Total 193,303  • Density 1,369/km2 (3,550/sq mi) Time zone CET (UTC+1)  • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2) Postal codes 1300-1379 Area code(s) (+31) 36 Website www.almere.nl

Almere (Dutch pronunciation:  ( listen)) is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort (under construction) and Almere Pampus (design phase).

Almere is the youngest city in the Netherlands: the first house was finished in 1976, and Almere became a municipality in 1984. It is the largest municipality in Flevoland with 193,303 citizens (1 Feb 2012),[1] and the 7th largest in the Netherlands.[2] In October 2007, the city council of Almere made agreements with the government to expand the city to 350,000 inhabitants by 2030.[3]

Contents

History []

The original plans for the IJsselmeerpolders saw the land being used for agriculture. However, after World War II housing was needed for the rapidly growing population of Amsterdam and two towns were planned in the polders Oostelijk Flevoland and Zuidelijk Flevoland. The town in Oostelijk Flevoland became Lelystad. The town in Zuidelijk Flevoland was still called Zuidweststad (English: South West City) on the first sketches, but in the 1970s it became called Almere, named after the early medieval name of the Zuiderzee. The first house in Almere was finished in 1976. At that time the town was still controlled by the Openbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders (Z.IJ.P.), with a Landdrost. In 1984 Almere became an official municipality. Originally, Almere was envisioned as a town with multiple centres. This idea was later abandoned in favor of allowing neighbourhoods like Tussen de Vaarten to be built. There is also a difference between the way houses are built in the oldest and the newest parts of the city. The housing plan in Almere in the 1970s was basic functionality and a levelling of social status. However, starting in the 1990s more exclusive homes with striking designs were built (e.g., in the Regenboogbuurt). The name of the city comes from the ancient lake Almere.

Governance []

Local executive []

Former minister Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink (VVD) has been the mayor of Almere since 16 August 2003. On 20 May 2010 the new council was inaugurated. The populist Party for Freedom had won the most seats in the local elections, which was both national and international news due to the controversial statements of its leader Geert Wilders. Even though the largest party they didn't take part in the local administration.

  • Adri Duivesteijn (PvdA)
  • Ineke Smidt (PvdA)
  • Arno Visser (VVD)
  • Ben Scholten (VVD)
  • René Peeters (D66)
  • Berdien Steunenberg (CDA/CU)

List of mayors:

  • 1984 - 1986 Han Lammers (PvdA)
  • 1986 - 1993 Cees de Cloe (PvdA)
  • 1993 - 1994 Cees Roozemond (PvdA, supervisor)
  • 1994 - 1998 Ralph Pans (PvdA)
  • 1998 - 2003 Hans Ouwerkerk (PvdA)
  • 2003 - 2003 Jaap van der Doef (PvdA, supervisor)
  • 2003–present Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink (VVD)

City council []

The first local council was installed on 2 January 1984 in the presence of the then minister of the Interior Koos Rietkerk. The council elections took place on 21 September 1983. Prior to 1984 Almere had an Adviesraad, which was chosen every 2 years (1978–1980, 1980–1982, 1982–1984). This Adviesraad was made up of different political parties similar to a local council. On 11 March 1977 the first adviescommissie was elected. It consisted of 5 people that were chosen on personal title. Since 1998, the council of Almere has a total of 39 members.

Party 1984 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010
PVV - - - - - - - 9
PvdA 10 14 9 6 9 7 12 8
VVD 5 5 7 10 12 8 7 7
Leefbaar Almere - - - - - 9 4 3
SP - - - - - - 4 2
GroenLinks 2 1 3 4 4 4 3 3
CDA 2 3 4 3 3 4 3 2
Almere Partij - 1 2 2 3 2 2 -
ChristenUnie - - - - 1 1 2 1
D66 1 2 7 10 5 2 1 3
Trots op Nederland - - - - - - - 1
Verenigde Senioren Partij - - - - 1 1 1 -
Stadspartij Almere - - - - 1 1 - -
CP/CD 2 1 1 2 - - - -
Stap '84 1 - - - - - - -
Total 23 27 33 37 39 39 39 39

International relations []

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Netherlands

Twin towns — Sister cities []

Almere maintains international relations with the following twin cities:[4][5]

Geography []

Satellite image of Southern and Eastern Flevoland.
Map of Almere.
Topographic map image of Almere (2011).

Almere is located in the polder of Southern Flevoland (Dutch: Zuidelijk Flevoland). It is the most western municipality of the province Flevoland. It borders with Lake Marken in the west and north, Lelystad in the northeast, Zeewolde in the east, and Lake Gooi in the south.

Almere consists of six districts (Dutch: stadsdelen), three of which are under construction.[6]

Name Year[7] Location
Almere Haven 1976 Map NL Almere Haven.PNG
Almere Stad 1980 Map NL Almere Stad.PNG
Almere Buiten 1984 Map NL Almere Buiten.PNG
Almere Hout 1991 Map NL Almere Hout.PNG
Almere Poort 2000 Map NL Almere Poort.PNG
Almere Pampus - Map NL Almere Pampus.PNG

Demography []

Inhabitants by origin []

In 2011 [1]

2011 Numbers %
Dutch natives 118,902 62.3
European immigrants 18,617 9.8
Non European immigrants 53,136 27.9
Surinam 21,183 11.1
Morocco 6,900 3.6
Turkey 3,262 1.7
Netherlands Antilles and Aruba 4,750 2.5
Others 17,041 8.9
  Almere Haven Almere Stad Almere Buiten Almere Hout Almere Poort Almere Pampus Almere in total
1970             52
1975             47
1980 6596           6632
1985 21410 17240 1559       40297
1990 22355 37024 11499       71087
1995 22376 58816 22740 564     104496
2000 22237 83934 35290 1336     142797
2005 22590 103560 47358 1366     175008
2007 22507 105261 51751 1345 134   180998

Transport []

Theatre "Schouwburg Almere"

The traffic infrastructure in Almere is recognisable because of its separate infrastructure for cycles (which have separate cycle paths), cars and buses (In Almere the buses drive on a separate bus lane). Almere is connected to the motorways the A6 and the A27.

Railway []

In 1987 Almere was connected to the national railway system (see NS) with the fully completed Flevolijn which connected Weesp to Lelystad Centrum. Almere currently has five railway stations:

A sixth station for Almere Poort will open on December 9, 2012.
For now a temporary station at Almere Strand is usually set up for certain events, such as Libelle Zomerweek. It was closed just after the summer of 2012 and the iron platforms were torn down at the weekend of October 6-7, 2012.

Public buses []

In Almere there are 10 bus lines which service the urban area:

  • 1 Almere Buiten Stripheldenbuurt-Almere Haven De Marken
  • 2 CS Almere-Almere Poort Station
  • 3 Almere de Vaart-Almere Haven De Gouwen
  • 4 CS Almere-Almere Poort Columbuskwartier
  • 5 Almere Oostvaarders-Almere Muziekwijk
  • 6 Noorderplassen-CS Almere-Almere Parkwijk
  • 7 CS Almere-Almere Sallandsekant
  • 10 Almere Buiten-Almere Stad Gooisekant
  • 14 CS Almere-Almere Poort Station

Most buses run about every 7 minutes. The bus company that runs the buses is called Connexxion and the name of the local bus system is called Maxx Almere owned by Connexxion. In the buses one can use the national transportation chipcard (smart card), subscriptions or one can buy bus tickets of Maxx Almere.

Besides the local bus lines there are regional bus lines to Hilversum, Zeewolde, Harderwijk, Nijkerk, Amsterdam Amstel and Amsterdam Bijlmer

In addition to the regional bus lines, there are also spitsbussen (buses that only run during rush hours) to Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Naarden, Bussum, Utrecht and Schiphol.

Since April 2012 a new rush hour bus line to Utrecht connects Almere directly with the University Area of Utrecht called De Uithof. (This was previously done by former bus line 155).

Notable Natives []

References []

Notes []

  1. ^ (Dutch) Gemeente Almere. Retrieved on 2011-05-09.
  2. ^ (Dutch) Lijst van grooste gemeenten in Nederland. Retrieved on 2010-12-31.
  3. ^ (Dutch) Schaalsprong Almere 2030, PDF. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
  4. ^ (Dutch) Gemeente Almere: Partnersteden. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
  5. ^ (Dutch) Algemene Informatie. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
  6. ^ (Dutch) Gemeente Almere: Stadsdelen. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
  7. ^ (Dutch) Sociale Atlas 2007 Bevolkingsopbouw. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.

External links []

Source

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