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Bubble map showing the population sizes of larger towns and cities in the Randstad

The Randstad (Dutch: Randstad or Randstad Holland, pronounced [ˈrɑnt.stɑt ˈɦɔ.lɑnt]) is a conurbation in the Netherlands. It consists of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht), and the surrounding areas. With a population of 7,100,000 it is one of the largest conurbations in Europe ^[b], comparable in size to Milan or the San Francisco Bay Area. The Randstad covers an area of approximately 8287 km² ^[a].

The Randstad's main cities are Almere, Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Delft, Dordrecht, Gouda, Haarlem, Leiden, Rotterdam, The Hague (Den Haag in Dutch), Utrecht, and Zoetermeer. Other centres include Alphen aan den Rijn, Amstelveen, Barendrecht, Capelle aan den IJssel, Hilversum, Hoofddorp, Hoek van Holland, Houten, Katwijk, Leidschendam, Maassluis, Nieuwegein, Oostzaan, Purmerend, Rijswijk, Schiedam, Spijkenisse, Vlaardingen, Voorburg, Zeist and Zaanstad.

The cities of the Randstad more or less form a crescent or chain. This shape has given the Randstad its name (rand means rim or edge and stad means city or town). The area that is enclosed by the larger cities is called Groene Hart (the Green Heart).

Controversy[link]

Amsterdam

Over the last few decades, a major topic in the Randstad has been the conflict between the cities and the towns that lie between them. These towns and the surrounding countryside, known as the Groene Hart (Green Heart), are usually much greener than the cities, they house many commuters who work in the cities and the former strongly depend on the latter for facilities such as hospitals and large-scale entertainment. Cities need more space to expand, yet the towns fear losing their identity and autonomy.

An issue regarding the Randstad is the question of its borders. Nobody can tell for certain where the Randstad begins, and where it ends. Some consider only the four biggest cities of the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) to be part of it, while others would say that areas such as Alkmaar (which represents itself as being part of it^[1][2][3]), Hoorn and Lelystad are also part of this conurbation. The publication "Randstad 2040", released by the Dutch government, reveals that the Noordvleugel (North Wing) (Amsterdam and Utrecht region) is already growing parallel to the A1, A2, and A4 motorways, as well as into the northern part of North Holland (Alkmaar region) and Flevoland (Lelystad region).^[4] There is also a trend shown that the Noordvleugel are expanding parallel to the A2 (Amsterdam towards Eindhoven) and A12 (Utrecht towards the WERV (Wageningen-Ede-Rhenen-Veenendaal)) motorways. This region is called the 'Zuidoostflank' (Southeastside).^[5]

Culture in the Randstad[link]

Rotterdam

The Randstad has a history of competition. For instance, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, the two main cities, compete in many ways, from football to art. Lately the cultural sector has tried to limit this rivalry and look for mutual strength. The main cultural organisations in Amsterdam, such as the Concertgebouw and Holland Festival, have joined forces with similar organisations in Rotterdam, via A'R'dam. In 2007 these organisations published a manifesto with plans for co-operation. One of the goals is to strengthen the international position of culture and art in the Netherlands in the international context.

The Hague

Randstad Wings and other planners' thoughts[link]

Utrecht

Recently, Dutch planners have started to refer to the Randstad as Deltametropool.^[6] Deltametropolis actually consists of two large metropolitan areas:

1. The Noordvleugel (with a population of around 3.6 million people), consisting of the Haarlem and IJmuiden conurbations in the west, Amsterdam at the centre and Almere and the Gooi area in the east. The conurbation of Utrecht (pop. around an extra 1 million) could also be considered to be part of the North Wing. The main center is however clearly Amsterdam, which could - as such - be considered a classical centralistic metropole. Amsterdam recently started to present itself as the Amsterdam metropolitan area (Metropool regio Amsterdam). The expectation is that the use of Noordvleugel and the Randstad will become less as a result.^[7] This part of the Randstad is expected to grow more in population than the Zuidvleugel and the Groene Hart/Green Heart areas, with the growth of population also being in effect for a longer period of time, compared to the other two areas.^[8]

2. The Zuidvleugel (South Wing, with a population of around 3.5 million people), stretching some 60 kilometers from Dordrecht in the South East to Leiden in the North. The main conurbations are the Rotterdam and The Hague areas. The virtual centre of the Zuidvleugel lies in between these two major cities, near Delft. The first steps toward this development are currently being taken with the construction of a new fast light-rail connection between Rotterdam and The Hague: RandstadRail. A long delayed extension of the western A4-motorway from the south of Delft to Rotterdam has also been put back on the administrative agenda, creating a second connection between Rotterdam, via The Hague, to Amsterdam.

A possible new area would be the Zuidoostflank; parallel to the A2 motorway (from Amsterdam to Eindhoven) and parallel to the A12 motorway (Utrecht to WERV (Wageningen, Ede, Rhenen and Veenendaal)), as this region has much potential to strengthen the knowledge economy of the Randstad.^[9]

Knowledge and Innovation Community[link]

Randstad is one of co-location centres of Knowledge and Innovation Community (Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation) of The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).^[10]

The Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) met on 16 December in Budapest to designate the first three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs).

Sustainable energy - Co-location centres:^[11] Karlsruhe, Krakow, Grenoble, Eindhoven / Leuven, Barcelona, Stockholm.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation - Co-location centres^[12] : London, Zürich, Berlin metropolitan area, Paris metropolitan area, Randstad metropolitan area.

Future information and communication society - Co-location centres:^[13] Berlin, Eindhoven, Helsinki, Paris and Stockholm.

Transport[link]

Almere

The Randstad possesses a large infrastructure system, with many railways, motorways, trams and subways in various cities. Home to various mainports, transport is an important issue in the Randstad, with the port of Rotterdam, and Schiphol airport. There are various smaller ports and airports in the Randstad, like the ports of IJmuiden, Amsterdam and Dordrecht, as well as Rotterdam - The Hague airport.

Motorways[link]

The Randstad has various motorways, most of them starting around Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Many international corridors start in the Randstad, including the A1, A2, A4, A7, A12, A15, A16 and A20 motorways, as well as various commuter routes.

Most motorways suffer from severe congestion, and are home to many bottlenecks, mostly outdated tunnels, viaducts and bridges. The Randstad, like much of the Netherlands, has a large number of waterways, and motorway tunnels and bridges are usually the only way to cross major bodies of water. Additionally, the canals in the Randstad are often spanned by raising briges, including bridges carrying major roads and motorways. Problems are commonly found at the Coentunnel, Ringvaart Aqueduct, Vechtbridge, Moerdijkbridge, Heinenoordtunnel, Beneluxtunnel and Brienenoordbridge.

Traffic jams can occur at any time of the day; however rush hour lasts from 6.00 am to 10.00 am and from 3.00 pm to 7.00 pm.

Major bottlenecks can create traffic jams up to 30 kilometers in length. Most motorways are no wider than 2x2 or 2x3 lanes, despite having some of the highest traffic volumes in Europe. Some hard shoulders are in use as peak hour lanes - traffic is allowed to use the hard shoulder as a 3rd lane during periods of congestion, when signs indicate. Because of the lack of sufficient minor roads, a lot of local traffic also uses the motorways.

There are a few missing links in the motorway network of the Randstad, especially on the A4 motorway, where construction has been a topic of debate since the 1960s.

Another growing issue is the number of trucks on the radiating motorways from the Randstad: truck volumes can be as high as 20,000 trucks per day, occupying the entire right lane on some motorways.

Railways[link]

The Randstad is the keystone of the Dutch railway network; most intercity connections terminate in one of the key cities in the Randstad. The railway network in the area is dense and heavily used. Delays used to be common, but in the last few years services have improved; together with the Swiss Federal Railways (#1), and the Belgian railways (#3), the Dutch Railways is in the top 3 of Europe.^[14][15] Larger cities in the Randstad have many railway stations, as well as light rail, subway and/or tram networks.

Cycling[link]

Much effort is being expended in increasing the cycling rate of the Randstad. The campaign Fietsfilevrij exists to encourage cycling as an alternative to waiting in traffic jams on the motorway.

Bicycle superhighways have been built on which cyclists have priority for long distance, high speed cycle commuting. For instance, one of these stretches the 50 km distance between Amsterdam and Utrecht.

See also[link]

• List of metropolitan areas in the European Union by GDP
• Blue Banana

Notes[link]

1. ^ Randstad is not an official statistical area. The 'land area' figure is the sum of the areas of the 4 member provinces. The Randstad is normally not considered to cover the whole of any of these provinces.
2. ^ Estimates range from a conservative 6.6 million to 7.6 million (full population of the 4 member provinces). The figure of 7.1 million is used in various official publications.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Holland Region official website
• OECD Territorial Reviews: Randstad Holland, Netherlands
• (Dutch) Official Zuidvleugel website