Did you know? This is why Oosterheem is a vinex district

Zoetermeer is full of special neighborhoods: Palenstein, Driemanspolder and Oosterheem! The latter is extra special, because it is a vinex district. Chances are you’ve heard of that term, but what does it actually mean?

The abbreviation ‘vinex’ stands for Vierd Nota Spatial Planning Extra. The term, and the district itself, is according to name and address devised by the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. Don’t you know this ministry? That is not surprising, because it was discontinued in 2010.

Seduced to the vinex district

Back to the origins of the vinex district. In the 1990s, too many people lived in ‘too cheap houses’, according to the aforementioned ministry. As a result, these homes were not available to low-income people. Zoetermeer residents with a higher income therefore had to be tempted to move from their cheap house to a vinex neighbourhood. Here were larger and more luxurious homes.

Vinex district in Zoetermeer

Zoetermeer also got a vinex district: Oosterheem. This district has been part of Zoetermeer since the year 2000. The district is built in the Binnenwegsche Polder and consists of about 8,500 homes. With the construction of Oosterheem, Zoetermeer became one of the largest cities in South Holland. Only Rotterdam and The Hague are larger.

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Living in the Vinex district

It CBS conducted research into vinex neighborhoods in the Netherlands in 2016. It showed that at that time almost 790,000 people lived in a vinex district. How high that number is now is unknown. According to the report, ‘relatively more families with young children, people with a high income, and residents of non-Western origin live in these neighborhoods than the average in the Netherlands’. It also turned out that on average there is little crime in the Vinex district, compared to other districts.

Living in Oosterheem

Does living in a vinex neighborhood sound good? On Funda you will now find 188 owner-occupied homes in Oosterheem. The asking prices of the homes vary enormously: you can live in Oosterheem for 200,000 but also for 1 million. And the nice thing is: with so much water in front of the door, everyone can sail a boat.

Sources: name and address / Evaluation Urbanization VINEX 1995 to 2005 / CBS