Zoetermeer is located in the Randstad and this is why

taketonews

Whether you live in Zoetermeer, Leeuwarden or Maastricht; almost every Dutch person knows the term ‘the Randstad’. And most people know that the Randstad is located in the west of the country, but… Where does the name Randstad actually come from?

First a quick refresher: the Randstad consists of the four major cities of Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. That is the minimum definition of the Randstad, but the size of the Randstad can differ per research or subject.

Randstad region

This is because the Randstad has no real border, such as a province or country. For example, when it comes to the traffic situation in the Netherlands, Alkmaar, Veenendaal and Breda are indicated as border municipalities of the Randstad, as can be read in the daily newspaper Fidelity. But when it comes to other topics, for example the most populous municipalities in the Randstad, those cities are not included. Amersfoort is suddenly part of it, just like Zoetermeer.

Form Randstad

But where does the name Randstad come from? Because it is not the case that the cities run along the edge of the Netherlands. That is true, but the cities do form a different kind of edge, namely around the Green Heart. As you can see in the map below, the shape of that edge is a kind of horseshoe.

The Green Heart is the large green area between the surrounding urban area in the Randstad. Roughly speaking, this concerns the area between (clockwise) Amsterdam, Hilversum, Utrecht, Culemborg, Gorinchem, Dordrecht, Rotterdam, Zoetermeer, Leiden and the Haarlemmermeer. (source: placesguide.nl)

The shape of the Randstad is a kind of horseshoe that surrounds the Green Heart Photo: Arcgis.com

Name Randstad

As you can see on the map, the Randstad forms an edge around the Green Heart. This is clearly visible from the air. It is perhaps not surprising that Albert Plesman, the founder of the airline KLM, first used the term. He is said to have coined the name when he was looking for a location for a national airport. He flew over Holland and saw from the air ‘a ring of cities on the edge of a green open space’, according to a passage from the study Many cities do not yet become a fringe city.

Albert Plesman first used the term around 1930. In the 1950s, the term was adopted in government publications. The Randstad was initially called ‘Randstad Holland’. In the second half of the twentieth century, ‘Randstad’ became a household name in the Netherlands, according to the study.

More facts about Zoetermeer:

ttn-47