Schematic map of the Randstad. The Randstad is a conurbation in the Netherlands. It consists of the four largest Dutch cities, and the surrounding areas. With its 7.5 million inhabitants (almost half of the population of the Netherlands; when other conurbations connected to this area are also taken into consideration, it would have a population a little over 10 million, almost 2/3 of the entire Dutch population. It is one of the largest conurbations in Europe. Its main cities are Almere, Amsterdam, Delft, Dordrecht, Gouda, Haarlem, Hilversum, Leiden, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, and Zoetermeer. Other centres include Alphen aan den Rijn, Amstelveen, Capelle aan den IJssel, Hoofddorp, Katwijk, Leidschendam, Nieuwegein, Purmerend, Rijswijk, Schiedam, Spijkenisse, Vlaardingen, Voorburg, and Zaanstad. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1053x1024, 96 KB) This is a schematic map of the Randstad, Netherlands. ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1053x1024, 96 KB) This is a schematic map of the Randstad, Netherlands. ...
A conurbation is an urban area comprising a number of cities, towns and villages which, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. ...
World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ...
Almere can mean: A large lake that in early times was in the area of the southern part of the Zuiderzee, - see for more information. ...
Amsterdam Location Flag Country Netherlands Province North Holland Population 741,329 (1 August 2006) Demonym Amsterdammer Coordinates Website www. ...
Country Netherlands Province South Holland Coordinates Area 24. ...
This is about the Dutch city of Dordrecht. ...
Goudas 15th Century Town Hall Flag of Gouda Goudas Cheese Market Gouda (population 71,797 in 2004) is a city in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ...
Country Netherlands Province North Holland Coordinates Area 32. ...
is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ...
Leyden redirects here. ...
Rotterdam Location Coat of arms The coat of arms reads Sterker door strijd, i. ...
Arms of The Hague Flag of The city of The Hague. ...
Utrecht ( (help· info)) is a municipality and the capital city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. ...
Zoetermeer (population: 115,913 in February 2005) is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ...
Alphen aan den Rijn (population: 70,477 in 2004) is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ...
Amstelveen is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ...
Capelle aan den IJssel (population: 65,605 in 2005) is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ...
Hoofddorp is a town in North Holland, the main settlement of the Haarlemmermeer district. ...
Katwijk Location Flag Country Netherlands Province South Holland Population 61. ...
Leidschendam is a town in the municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg in the province of South Holland of the Netherlands. ...
Nieuwegein is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands. ...
Purmerend is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ...
Jaagpad street in Rijswijk Rijswijk ( listen), also Ryswick in English (population: 47,693 in 2004) is a suburb of The Hague in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ...
Nickname: Brandersstad Motto: Official website: http://www. ...
Spijkenisse (population: 75,170 in 2004) is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ...
Queens Day performance outside the town hall Vlaardingen ( (help· info)) is a city in South Holland in the Netherlands. ...
Voorburg is a town in the municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg in the province of South Holland of the Netherlands. ...
Image:Http://www. ...
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 the Green Heart (Groene Hart).
Hot Issues
Over the last few decades, a major topic in the Randstad is the "conflict" between the cities and the towns in between. These towns are usually much greener than the cities, they house many commuters that 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.
Another 'hot issue' about the Randstad, is the question about its borders. Nobody can tell where the Randstad begins, and where it ends. Some will say that only the four biggest cities of the Netherlands are part of this Metropole, others would say that areas such as Alkmaar-Hoorn, and Eindhoven-Tilburg-Breda-Roosendaal are also part of this conurbation. All of these conurbations are self-sufficient areas, but for many things, they still rely upon the bigger cities.
(For further details: see the articles of Global City, Agglomeration Conurbation and Metropolitan Area). A global city or world city are a concept which postulates that globalisation can be broken down in terms of strategic geographic locales that see global processes being created, facilitated and enacted. ...
In the study of human settlements, an agglomeration is an extended city or town area comprising the built-up area of a central place (usually a municipality) and any suburbs or adjacent satellite towns. ...
A conurbation is an urban area comprising a number of cities, towns and villages which, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. ...
Metropolitan area in Western Tokyo as seen from Tokyo Tower A metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large city and its adjacent zone of influence, or of several neighboring cities or towns and adjoining areas, with one or more large cities serving as its hub or...
The Groene Hart (Green Heart) is another hotly debated issue closely related to the conflict between cities and towns. On the one hand people feel this large and relatively sparsely populated area should be protected, as it is considered a valuable rural area amongst cities. On the other hand, many people enjoy living in the relatively quiet environment near their places of work and the facilities the Randstad provides.
Recently, Dutch planologists have started to refer to the Randstad as Deltametropool [1]. Deltametropolis actually consists of two large metropolitan areas:
1. The Noordvleugel (North Wing, with a population of around 2.5 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 800,000) 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.
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. RandstadRail is a lightrail public transport system in the southern area of the Randstad conurbation in The Netherlands. ...
A colloquial joke is: "There is only one Dutch city... the Randstad"
See also A metropolitan regions gross domestic product, or GRP, is one of several measures of the size of its economy. ...
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