Although the name Randstad is often translated into English as "edge city" or "border city", a more accurate translation would be "rim city". The Dutch name was coined in 1938 byKLM founderAlbert Plesman who, while flying over the region, used it to describe a strip of cities at the rim of a large greenagricultural area (theGreen Heart).[5] While technically more of acrescent (the southeastern edge of the rim is significantly less populated), the ring shape formed by connecting the four major cities of the region led to the use of the name "Ring City".[5][6]
TheNoordvleugel [nl] ("North Wing"), with a population of around 3.6 million people, consists of theHaarlem andIJmuiden conurbations in the west,Amsterdam at the centre andAlmere, theGooi area andUtrecht in the east. The conurbation of Utrecht (population around one million) can be considered to be part of this wing, but can also be excluded. The cultural centre of the Noordvleugel, however, is notably centered onAmsterdam, which could as such be considered a classical centralisticmetropolis. Amsterdam recently started to present itself as theAmsterdam metropolitan area (Metropoolregio Amsterdam). The expectation is that the use of the terms Noordvleugel and the Randstad will become less prevalent as a result.[8]
While Utrecht is not the center of the Noordvleugel, it is in fact the center of the whole of the Netherlands itself. While being categorised as part of the Randstad, the Utrecht agglomeration lies relatively further apart, owing to its long history of rivalry with Holland and Amsterdam in particular. Utrecht is much more monocentric than Amsterdam, which has booming satellite cities such as Haarlem and Almere. While Utrecht functions as the gateway to the Randstad for both car and rail transport, it is disconnected from the virtually continuous urbanised zone in western Holland by the protected polder landscape of theGroene Hart. The North Wing of the Randstad is expected to grow more in population than the Zuidvleugel and the Groene Hart areas, with the growth of population also being in effect for a longer period of time, compared to the other two areas.[9]
TheZuidvleugel ("South Wing"), with a population of around 3.5 million people, stretches some 60 kilometers fromDordrecht in the southeast toLeiden in the north. The main conurbations are theRotterdam andThe Hague areas. The virtual centre of the Zuidvleugel lies in between these two major cities, nearDelft. The first steps toward this development were taken with the construction of a new fast light-rail connection betweenRotterdam andThe Hague:RandstadRail. A long-delayed extension of the westernA4 motorway from the south ofDelft toRotterdam has also been constructed, creating a second connection fromRotterdam, viaThe Hague, toAmsterdam.
A possible new area would be the Zuidoostflank; parallel to theA2 motorway (from Amsterdam to Eindhoven) and parallel to theA12 motorway (Utrecht to WERV (Wageningen, Ede, Rhenen and Veenendaal)), as this region has much potential to strengthen theknowledge economy of the Randstad.[10]
Over the last few decades, a major topic in the Randstad is the conflict between the cities and the towns in between. These towns and the surrounding countryside, known as theGroene Hart (Green Heart), 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.
The Randstad's borders have never been officially specified. Some consider only the four most populous cities of the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) part of it, others would say that areas such asAlkmaar (which represents itself as being part of it),[11][12][13]Hoorn andLelystad are also part of this conurbation.
The publication "Randstad 2040", released by the Government of the Netherlands, reveals that the Noordvleugel (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 and Hoorn region) and Flevoland (Almere and Lelystad region).[14] There is also a trend shown that the Noordvleugel is expanding parallel to the A2 (Amsterdam towards Eindhoven) and A12 (Utrecht towards the WERV region, encompassing the cities ofWageningen,Ede,Rhenen andVeenendaal) motorways. This region is called the Zuidoostflank (English: Southeastside).[10]
It is sometimes argued that a cultural divide exists between the Randstad and the rest of the country.[16] This distinction is usually made in relation to Dutch politics and media, who according to critics are mostly interested in the affairs of the Randstad. Both branches (government and media) have their centre in the Randstad; respectively inThe Hague and inHilversum. The Randstad itself, however, does not represent a unified cultural zone. It is not a 'place' of residence or a carrier of cultural identity. According to the late influential urbanistNiek de Boer, the Randstad simply 'does not exist'.[17] While the cities and landscapes in the Randstad share some commonalities, there are also large differences originating in centuries of divergent development. There are strong local identities within the region, especially in rural environments.
The Randstad possesses a large infrastructure system, with many railways, motorways, trams and subways in various cities. It is possible to cycle on reasonably safe and pleasant routes almost everywhere and cycling is a major mode of transport. ThePort of Rotterdam, andAmsterdam Airport Schiphol, are both major international gateways. There are various smaller ports and airports in the Randstad, like the ports of IJmuiden, Amsterdam and Dordrecht, as well asRotterdam The Hague Airport.
The Randstad has various motorways, most of them starting around Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Many (inter)national corridors start in the Randstad, including the A1, A2, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10, A12, A13, A15, A16, A20, A27 and A28autosnelwegen, as well as various commuter routes.
The Randstad network of motorways carry some of the highest traffic volumes in Europe. Until 2005 most motorways used to be no wider than four or six lanes, but from 2005 on capacity of most major highways expanded to six or eight and on some parts even ten lanes. A 14-lane highway is projected near Utrecht. Somehard shoulders are in use as peak hour lanes – traffic is allowed to use the hard shoulder as a third or fourth lane during periods of congestion, when traffic management signs indicate. Since these expansions traffic jams (which used to be quite intense) have been reduced by up to 25%. Traffic on the highway still is quite heavy however.
Because of the many obstructions in minor roads, such as one-way or circular routes (often created to make living neighbourhoods safer), a lot of local traffic also uses the motorways.
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.[citation needed]
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. Together with theSwiss Federal Railways (1st), and theBelgian railways (3rd), theDutch Railways are in the top 3 of Europe in punctuality.[20][21] Larger cities in the Randstad have many railway stations, as well as light rail, subway and/or tram networks.
Much effort is being expended in increasing the cycling rate of the Randstad. The campaign Fietsfilevrij[22] exists to encourage cycling as an alternative to waiting in traffic jams on the motorway.Bicycle "superhighways"[23] 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.
^ 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.
^ Estimates range from a conservative 7.1 million (agglomerations on the rim of theGroene Hart) to 8.4 million (full population of the 4 member provinces).
^Heuvel, Frank van den (17 November 2006)."Opzij, Randstad, maak plaats voor de provincie".NRC.NRC Handelsblad.Generaliserend: cultureel is er een kloof tussen de Randstad en de rest van Nederland, 'de provincie', aan het ontstaan. De mensen die in de twee delen van ons land wonen zijn verschillend; hun beleving en ideeën zijn verschillend.
^Niek De Boer - De Randstad bestaat niet (1996) Nai Publishers
^"Archived copy".www.treinreiziger.nl (in Dutch). Archived fromthe original on 2011-07-02. Retrieved2010-11-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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