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Houten
—  Municipality  —
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 52°02′N 5°10′E / 52.03°N 5.17°E / 52.03; 5.17Coordinates: 52°02′N 5°10′E / 52.03°N 5.17°E / 52.03; 5.17
Country	Netherlands
Province	Utrecht
Area(2006)
• Total	58.98 km2 (22.77 sq mi)
• Land	55.71 km2 (21.51 sq mi)
• Water	3.27 km2 (1.26 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2007)
• Total	45,610
• Density	819/km2 (2,120/sq mi)
	Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website	www.houten.nl

Houten ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. The municipality consists of the following towns:

• Houten (pop. 38,062)
• 't Goy (pop. 606 in 2002)
• Schalkwijk (pop. 1,946)
• Tull en 't Waal (pop. 665)

Houten (town)[link]

The main town in the municipality is Houten, a commuter town about 9 km southeast of Utrecht. In 2010, the town had 47.952 inhabitants. The built-up area was 5.08 km² in area, and contained 11,486 residences.^[1] The slightly larger statistical district of Houten had a population of about 39,100 in 2004.^[2]

History of Houten[link]

Historical map of Houten

Remains of a Roman villa have been found in the old centre of Houten, made visible in a street pattern. There used to be a Roman villa on that spot. This building was discovered in the fifties. In the Dark Ages Houten took shape as a rural centre. The area of the municipality of Houten was divided in the so-called 'gerechten' (districts). The names of these districts are still in use: Schonauwen, Wulven, Waijen, Heemstede.

A lot of elements in present-day Houten are reminders of its history. Prominent in the old centre 'Het Oude Dorp' are the Roman Catholic Church (1884) and the Protestant Church (1563). The first accounts of this church date from the ninth century, the oldest parts of the church are probably from the eleventh century. Another prominent building is the restaurant/cafe 'De Engel', already mentioned in the 16th century as a tavern.^[3]

Former access roads to the old centre are still recognisable by their names, such as the 'Odijkseweg' and 'Loerikseweg'. Houten had many orchards, but few have survived.

The expanding city 1966-1993[link]

Modern Houten started to take shape in the last decades of the 20th century (1966–1993). It was designated a 'Groeikern' - a centre of growth - to meet the needs of the growing city of Utrecht. In 1979 the construction of 10,000 dwellings started and the population grew from 4,000 to more than 30,000 in the nineties.

Second designation as a centre of urban growth 1995-2007[link]

Until 2012, some 7,000 new houses are being built in Houten-Zuid, following the same urban design principles as the existing Houten-Noord, but with some differences. The body of water to the east is large in comparison with water bodies in the old parts of Houten. The pentagonal green zone in Houten-Zuid embracing the centre is different from the greenzone in Houten-Noord, which runs through the whole city in a linear structure, with parks at either end. Another difference is that in some places cars share the road with bicycle paths.

Transportation[link]

Rail[link]

Houten has two railway stations, Houten (opened in 1868, closed in 1935, re-opened on a different location in 1982 and restructured in 2010) and Houten Castellum (opened in 2010). These stations are served by local commuter trains to Utrecht (northbound) and Geldermalsen (southbound, with subsequent connections to Tiel and 's-Hertogenbosch/Breda). The railway has been doubled from two tracks to four, to accommodate for an extra stop at Castellum with a frequency of four trains per hour in each direction.

• 

  Old railway building

• 

  Relocation of old railway building (24 aug 2007)

• 

  Houten Station (1982)

Bus[link]

Busses travel to regional destinations.

Bike[link]

Houten is well adapted to the high number of cyclists. A large network of bike paths make it convenient to cycle to various destinations and within the town the bike is the most popular mean of transportation.

On October 29, 2008 Houten was chosen as "Bicycle-city 2008" of The Netherlands.^[4]

Car[link]

To the west, Houten has its own exit from the A27 motorway, and the N409 (single carriageway with bus lane) runs from Houten to Nieuwegein. To the east and south, there are only local roads, not designed for through traffic. There have been plans for a connection to the A12 motorway to the north (to facilitate for a better connection from the western parts of Houten) since 2002,^[5] but since this road needs to be built across land of the neighbouring municipality Bunnik, these plans are blocked by NIMBY lobby groups.^[6]

The only way to get from one district to another is via the ring road which circles around Houten, thus preventing through traffic in residential areas. Maximum speed on most of the ring road is 70 km/h (43 mph)^[7]

Urban planning and architecture[link]

Sustainable urban design[link]

Houten is internationally known for its urban design. Because of the city structure, people are encouraged to travel by bike and train. Distinctive qualities of Houten include the accessibility of the railway station, green and water zones throughout the whole city, numerous soccer and basketball fields, high standard of accommodation for different groups and the child-friendly bicycle paths. It is one of the safest cities in the Netherlands. Cyclists and cars are able to avoid each other: an extensive network of bicycle tracks connects the different districts of the town, while cars have to go to the city ring road before they can go to another part of the city.

Remarkable buildings in Houten[link]

- Aluminiumcentre (Micha de Haas)
- Pyramid-shaped apartment complex (Gebroeders Das)
- Total petrol station (Samyn and Partners)
- Fire department (Samyn and Partners)

Famous people from Houten[link]

• Branimir (Johnny) Štulić (born 1953), Yugoslav singer, songwriter, poet and a leader of the popular former Yugoslav rock group Azra
• Chriet Titulaer (born 1943), television presenter and a writer of popular scientific material

Trivia[link]

• The Hobby Computer Club (established in 1977) is based in Houten.

References[link]

1. ^ Statistics Netherlands (CBS), Bevolkingskernen in Nederland 2001 [1]. Statistics are for the continuous built-up area.
2. ^ Statistics Netherlands (CBS), Gemeente Op Maat 2004: Houten [2].
3. ^ Houten te voet of the fiets, publication by the municipality of Houten (2001)
4. ^ http://www.fietsstad2008.nl/houten_thema_verkeersveilighei.php
5. ^ [3]
6. ^ Nieuwsbode Bunnik
7. ^ Gemeente Houten - Veelgestelde vragen over verkeer (in Dutch, frequently asked questions about traffic)

• Other statistics are taken from the SDU Staatscourant

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Houten

• Official website
• Historical website (in Dutch)

v t e    Municipalities of Utrecht Amersfoort Baarn Bunnik Bunschoten De Bilt De Ronde Venen Eemnes Houten IJsselstein Leusden Lopik Montfoort Nieuwegein Oudewater Renswoude Rhenen Soest Stichtse Vecht Utrecht Utrechtse Heuvelrug Veenendaal Vianen Wijk bij Duurstede Woerden Woudenberg Zeist See also Netherlands Provinces Municipalities

v t e Populated places in the municipality of Houten Villages Houten Schalkwijk 't Goy Tull en 't Waal Hamlets De Heul Heemstede Honswijk Molenbuurt Oud-Wulven Wayen List of cities, towns and villages in Utrecht

Carice van Houten
Carice van Houten in 2008
Born	Carice Anouk van Houten (1976-09-05) 5 September 1976 (age 35) Leiderdorp, Netherlands
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present
Partner	Sebastian Koch (2005–2009)
Website
www.caricevanhouten.com

Carice Anouk van Houten (Dutch pronunciation: [kaˑˈris ɑˈnuk vɑn ˈɦʌu̯tə(n)]; born 5 September 1976) is a Dutch stage and film actress. She won five Golden Calves for her roles in Suzy Q (1999), Undercover Kitty (2001), Black Book (2006), De Gelukkige Huisvrouw (2010) and most recently for Black Butterflies (2011). Her role in Black Book launched her international career. She acted in the American films Valkyrie (2008) and Repo Men (2010).

Early life[link]

Van Houten was born on 5 September 1976 in Leiderdorp, the Netherlands. Her mother Margje Stasse is on the board of Dutch educational TV and her father Theodore van Houten is a writer and broadcaster. She has a younger sister, Jelka van Houten, who is also an actress. She went to the St. Bonifatiuscollege (high school) in Utrecht, where she played the leading role in Hugo Claus' Tijl Uilenspieghel, directed by Ad Migchielsen. Van Houten studied at the Kleinkunstacademie in Amsterdam.^[1]

Acting career[link]

Van Houten at the premiere of Dorothy

Carice van Houten played her first leading role in Martin Koolhoven's TV film Suzy Q. Van Houten won a Golden Calf for her part as Suzy. She also won the Pisuisse Award and the Top Naeff Award for her stage acting and another Golden Calf for her part as the kitten that becomes a girl in Undercover Kitty (2001). The first time she could be seen in cinemas in the USA was when Martin Koolhoven's AmnesiA (2001) got a small theatrical release.

Van Houten won a Golden Calf for her performance as Rachel Stein in the 2006 film Black Book^[2] at the Netherlands Film Festival. Black Book's director Paul Verhoeven says about her in a television interview: "Never in my life I have worked with an actress this talented", and when asked to compare her with Sharon Stone he said "Carice can really act".^[3] The international press is also enthusiastic about her role in Black Book.^[4] Dick Schümer wrote in his review of the film in the Frankfurter Allgemeine that Carice van Houten is "not only more beautiful, but also a better actress than Scarlett Johansson".^[5]

In December 2006, Van Houten withdrew from a theatre production of Alex van Warmerdam due to personal reasons. According to a theatre spokesman it was because of a work overload.^[6]

Carice's first English spoken movie was Dorothy from French director Agnès Merlet.

Her performance in Black Book led to roles opposite Tom Cruise in Valkyrie and Jude Law and Forest Whitaker in Repo Men. She has acted in three movies directed by Dutch director Martin Koolhoven.

In 2008, she starred in the non-commercial short movie Zingen in het Donker, a drama on domestic violence. In January 2008, Van Houten was named Woman of the Year by New York Magazine.^[7] She appeared in the magazine Vanity Fair in the issue for March 2008, photographed by Wayne Maser.^[8]

On 4 October 2008, filming began on From Time To Time, directed by Julian Fellowes. It is based on the children's literature classic The Chimneys of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston. Van Houten is attached to star as Maria Oldknow.

In April 2009, it was announced that Van Houten would star in Black Death by UK director Christopher Smith and in the highly anticipated Dutch film Love Life (Komt een vrouw bij de dokter), based on the celebrated novel of the same name by Ray Kluun. She also starred in the Science-Fiction thriller Repo Men.^[9]

In July 2011, Van Houten was cast as the priestess Melisandre in the second season of HBO's fantasy TV series Game of Thrones.^[10]

Personal life[link]

She was in a relationship with actor Sebastian Koch, her co-star in Black Book.^[11] The couple announced they were separating in August 2009.

Carice has stated that Hollywood makes her unhappy: "I have seen Hollywood, and although I have nothing against it, it's not my kind of life. My agent is shocked that I want to stay in Europe", she says. "If Hollywood offers me a great part, of course I'll take it, but I just don't want to live there".^[12]

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

• Black Book (2007)

Awards[link]

Film Awards

• Golden Calf 1999: Best TV Actress – Suzy Q
• Camério (2002): Best Actress – Undercover Kitty
• Golden Calf 2002: Best Actress – Undercover Kitty
• Artek (2005): Best Actress – Undercover Kitty
• Golden Calf 2006: Best Actress – Black Book
• Rembrandt Award 2009: Best Actress – Komt een vrouw bij de dokter
• Tribeca Film Festival 2011: Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film - Black Butterflies

Theatre Awards

• Pisuisse Prize (1999)
• Top Naeff Prize (2000)

Other Awards

• ELLE Personal Style Award 2006

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carice van Houten

• Official website
• Carice van Houten at the Internet Movie Database
• Carice van Houten at AllRovi
• Carice van Houten at Virtual History