Almere

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Almere
The skyline of Almere

Flag
Coat of arms
Location of Almere in Flevoland and the Netherlands
Almere is located in Netherlands
Almere
Almere
Location in the Netherlands
Coordinates: 52°22′N 5°13′E / 52.367°N 5.217°E / 52.367; 5.217
Country  Netherlands
Province  Flevoland
Government
 - Mayor Annemarie Jorritsma (VVD)
Area
 - Total 248.77 km2 (96.1 sq mi)
 - Land 130.47 km2 (50.4 sq mi)
 - Water 118.29 km2 (45.7 sq mi)
Population (January 2009)
 - Total 186,011
 - Density 1,369/km2 (3,545.7/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Website www.almere.nl

Image:Ltspkr.pngAlmere is a city and municipality in 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 one of the youngest cities 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 184,405 citizens (7 July 2008)[1], and the 8th 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

[edit] History

The original plans for the IJsselmeerpolders saw the land being used for agriculture. After World War II however ideas about housing for the rapidly growing population of Amsterdam were launched. Two towns in the polders Oostelijk Flevoland and Zuidelijk Flevoland were therefore designed. 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. The town was then still controlled by the Openbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders (Z.IJ.P.), with a Landdrost. In 1984 Almere became an official municipality. Originally, Almere was built as what should be "Utopia"[citation needed] in the Netherlands. 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 in the 1990s it became the trend to build more exclusive homes with striking designs (e.g. in the Regenboogbuurt).

[edit] Governance

[edit] Local executive

Former minister Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink (VVD) has been the mayor since 16 August 2003. On 7 April 2006 the new council was inaugurated.

A list of mayors:

[edit] City council

The inauguration of the first local council took place on 2 January 1984 in the presence of the then minister of the Interior Koos Rietkerk. The elections took place on 21 September 1983. Before 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 there was the first election for a governor; the advies commisie, consisting of 5 people that were chosen on personal title. The council of Almere has consisted of 39 seats since 1998.

Party 1984 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006
PvdA 10 14 9 6 9 7 12
VVD 5 5 7 10 12 8 7
Leefbaar Almere - - - - - 9 4
SP - - - - - - 4
GroenLinks 2 1 3 4 4 4 3
CDA 2 3 4 3 3 4 3
Almere Partij - 1 2 2 3 2 2
ChristenUnie - - - - 1 1 2
D66 1 2 7 10 5 2 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

[edit] Twin cities

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

[edit] Geography

Satellite image of Southern and Eastern Flevoland.
Map of Almere.

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
Almere Stad 1980
Almere Buiten 1984
Almere Hout 1991
Almere Poort 2000
Almere Pampus -

[edit] Demography

Theater "Schouwburg Almere"
  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

[edit] Transport

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.

[edit] Railway

In 1987 Almere was connected to the national railway (see NS) in 1988 with the fully completed Flevolijn which connected Weesp to Lelystad Centrum. Almere currently has five railway stations:

A sixth station for Almere Poort will probably open within 3 years.

[edit] 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-Gooisekant
  • 3 Almere de Vaart-Almere Haven Centrun
  • 4 CS Almere-Almere Poort Columbuskwartier
  • 5 Almere Oostvaarders-Almere 't Oor (bus station)
  • 6 CS Almere-Almere Parkwijk
  • 7 Almere Noorderplassen-Almere Sallandsekant
  • 8 CS Almere-Kemphaan
  • 9 Almere Buiten-Almere de Vaart
  • 10 Almere Buiten- Almere Stad Gooisekant

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 bus tickets, subscriptions or one can buy bus tickets of Maxx Almere.

Besides the local bus lines there are regional bus lines to Hilversum, Zeewolde, Harderwijk, Schiphol, Amsterdam Amstel

[edit] References

  1. ^ (Dutch) CBS Statline. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
  2. ^ (Dutch) CBS Statline - Bevolking; ontwikkeling in gemeenten met 100 000 of meer inwoners. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
  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.

[edit] External links

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