Almere

For other uses, see Almere (disambiguation).
Almere
Municipality

Skyline of Almere

Flag
Coat of arms
Highlighted position of Almere in a municipal map of Flevoland
Location in Flevoland
Coordinates: 52°22′N 5°13′E / 52.367°N 5.217°E / 52.367; 5.217Coordinates: 52°22′N 5°13′E / 52.367°N 5.217°E / 52.367; 5.217
Country Netherlands
Province Flevoland
Government[1]
 • Body Municipal council
 • Mayor Franc Weerwind (D66)
Area[2]
 • Total 248.77 km2 (96.05 sq mi)
 • Land 129.60 km2 (50.04 sq mi)
 • Water 119.17 km2 (46.01 sq mi)
Elevation[3] −3 m (−10 ft)
Population (May 2014)[4]
 • Total 196,290
 • Density 1,515/km2 (3,920/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Almeerder
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postcode 1300–1379
Area code 036
Website www.almere.nl

Almere (Dutch pronunciation: [ɑlˈmeːrə]) is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere compromises 6 official districts and boroughs.[5] These are the districts Almere Stad (which is further split up into Almere Stad Oost, Almere Stad West and Almere Centrum), Almere Buiten and Almere Pampus (which is currently being designed),[6] and the boroughs of Almere Haven, Almere Hout and Almere Poort. 4 of them also feature official district/borough offices.[7] Furthermore, it also compromises of the unofficial historic district and neighborhood Oostvaardersdiep,[8] which has an active semi-self-governing community,[9] and the planned district of Almere Oosterwold.

Almere is the newest city in the Netherlands: the land on which Almere sits, the Southern Flevoland Polder, was reclaimed from the IJsselmeer in 1959-68. The first house was finished in 1976, and Almere became a municipality in 1984. It has the largest population of the municipalities in Flevoland with 196,290 citizens in 2014 and the 7th largest in the Netherlands.[10] In October 2007, the city council of Almere made agreements with the government to expand the city to 350,000 inhabitants by 2030.[11]

History

The original plans for the IJsselmeerpolders saw the land being used for agriculture. However, after World War II housing was needed for the rapidly growing population of Amsterdam and two towns were planned in the polders Oostelijk Flevoland and Zuidelijk Flevoland. The town in Oostelijk Flevoland became Lelystad. The town in Zuidelijk Flevoland was still called Zuidweststad (English: South West City) on the first sketches, but in the 1970s it became called Almere, named after the lake Almere, the early medieval name of the Zuiderzee. The first house in Almere was finished in 1976. At that time the town was still controlled by the Openbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders (Z.IJ.P.), with a Landdrost. In 1984 Almere became an official municipality. Originally, Almere was envisioned as a town with multiple centres. This idea was later abandoned in favor of allowing neighbourhoods like Tussen de Vaarten to be built. There is also a difference between the way houses are built in the oldest and the newest parts of the city. The housing plan in Almere in the 1970s was basic functionality and a levelling of social status. However, starting in the 1990s more exclusive homes with striking designs were built (e.g., in the Regenboogbuurt).

Governance

Local executive

Franc Weerwind (D66) has been the mayor of Almere since 9 September 2015. On 20 May 2010 the new council was inaugurated. The populist Party for Freedom had won the most seats in the local elections, which was both national and international news due to the controversial statements of its leader Geert Wilders. Even though the largest party they didn't take part in the local administration.

List of mayors:

City council

The first local council was installed on 2 January 1984 in the presence of the then minister of the Interior Koos Rietkerk. The council elections took place on 21 September 1983. Prior to 1984 Almere had an Adviesraad, which was chosen every 2 years (1978–1980, 1980–1982, 1982–1984). This Adviesraad was made up of different political parties similar to a local council. On 11 March 1977 the first adviescommissie was elected. It consisted of 5 people that were chosen on personal title. Since 1998, the council of Almere has comprised a total of 39 members.

Party198419861990199419982002200620102014
PVV-------98 (9)
D661271052136
PvdA101496971285
VVD55710128775
Leefbaar Almere-----9434
SP------424
GroenLinks213444332
CDA234334322
ChristenUnie----11211
Almere Partij-122322-1
Faction Eekhuis--------1 (0)
Trots op Nederland-------1-
Verenigde Senioren Partij----111--
Stadspartij Almere----11---
CP/CD2112-----
Stap '841--------
Total232733373939393939

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Almere maintains international relations with the following twin cities:[12][13]

Geography

Satellite image of the Flevoland polder island.
Topographic map of Almere, Sept. 2014
Overview map of Almere.

Almere is located in the polder of Southern Flevoland (Dutch: Zuidelijk Flevoland). It is the most western municipality of the province Flevoland. It borders with Lake Marken in the west and north, Lelystad in the northeast, Zeewolde in the east, and Lake Gooi in the south.

Almere consists of three boroughs and three districts (Dutch: stadsdelen), three of which are under construction.[15]

Name Year[16] Location
Almere Haven 1976
Almere Stad 1980
Almere Buiten 1984
Almere Hout 1991
Almere Poort 2000
Almere Pampus -

Climate

Almere has an oceanic climate characterized by mild to cool winters, and warm summers with fair precipitation year round.

Climate data for Almere
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 4.9
(40.8)		 5.5
(41.9)		 8.2
(46.8)		 9.6
(49.3)		 16.2
(61.2)		 19.3
(66.7)		 20.8
(69.4)		 21.0
(69.8)		 18.5
(65.3)		 14.2
(57.6)		 8.9
(48)		 5.9
(42.6)		 12.75
(54.95)
Daily mean °C (°F) 2.2
(36)		 2.5
(36.5)		 4.8
(40.6)		 6.7
(44.1)		 11.9
(53.4)		 14.9
(58.8)		 16.5
(61.7)		 16.6
(61.9)		 14.3
(57.7)		 10.6
(51.1)		 6.1
(43)		 3.4
(38.1)		 9.21
(48.58)
Average low °C (°F) −0.4
(31.3)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 1.5
(34.7)		 3.8
(38.8)		 7.6
(45.7)		 10.5
(50.9)		 12.3
(54.1)		 12.2
(54)		 10.1
(50.2)		 7.1
(44.8)		 3.4
(38.1)		 0.9
(33.6)		 5.72
(42.29)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 68.0
(2.677)		 47.0
(1.85)		 59.0
(2.323)		 45.0
(1.772)		 53.0
(2.087)		 62.0
(2.441)		 75.0
(2.953)		 77.0
(3.031)		 76.0
(2.992)		 80.0
(3.15)		 78.0
(3.071)		 76.0
(2.992)		 838.2
(33)
Source: climatedata.org (1981–2010 normals)[17]

Demography

Inhabitants by origin

In 2011

2011 Numbers %
Dutch natives 118,902 62.3
European immigrants 18,617 9.8
Non European immigrants 53,136 27.9
Surinam 21,183 11.1
Morocco 6,900 3.6
Turkey 3,262 1.7
Netherlands Antilles and Aruba 4,750 2.5
Others 17,041 8.9
  Almere Haven Almere Stad Almere Buiten Almere Hout Almere Poort Almere Pampus Almere in total
1970             52
1975             47
1980 6596           6632
1985 21410 17240 1559       40297
1990 22355 37024 11499       71087
1995 22376 58816 22740 564     104496
2000 22237 83934 35290 1336     142797
2005 22590 103560 47358 1366     175008
2007 22507 105261 51751 1345 134   180998
2016[18] 22011 109125 55648 1626 10671   199733

Sport

Almere is the home of Almere City FC.

Transport

Theatre "Schouwburg Almere"

The traffic infrastructure in Almere is recognisable because of its separate infrastructure for cycles (which have separate cycle paths), cars and buses (In Almere the buses drive on a separate bus lane). Almere is connected to the motorways A6 and A27.

Railway

In 1987 Almere was connected to the national railway system (see NS) with the fully completed Flevolijn which connected Weesp to Lelystad Centrum.

Almere currently has six railway stations:

A seasonal-use station, Almere Strand, was set up for certain events, such as Libelle Zomerweek. The station was made up of iron platforms. It was opened in May 1996 under the name Muiderzand. The station was closed after June 1996 but re-opened in June 1999 under the name Muiderstrand and closed again in July 1999. It re-opened again in 2001 under the name Almere Strand as an official seasonal-use station, meaning it was now open certain seasons every year. Because of the rapid development of the adjacent borough Almere Poort, it was decided to open an official station there (see Almere Poort), thus making the station of Almere Strand obsolete. Almere Poort station opened on December 9, 2012. Therefore, Almere Strand station was officially closed just after the summer of 2012 and its iron platforms were torn down in the weekend of October 6–7, 2012.[19] There are no remains of the station, although passengers can still see where the platforms once stood from the windows of Flevolijn trains.

Public buses

Local/City bus lines

In Almere there are 10 bus lines which service the urban area:

Line # Route Notes
1 Almere Buiten Oostvaarders - Almere Centrum Station - Almere Haven De Marken - Almere Haven Centrum Runs every 10–12 minutes Mon-Sat during daytime hours (every 15 minutes on evenings and Sundays). The intervals are intertwined with those of line 3, so that one can take a bus every 4–6 minutes along the route.
2 Almere Centrum Station - Almere Gooisekant - Almere Poort Topsporthal - Almere Poort Station Mon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends and during the Summer.
3 Almere Buiten Oostvaarders - Almere Centrum Station - Almere Haven De Gouwen - Almere Haven Centrum Runs every 10–12 minutes Mon-Sat during daytime hours. The intervals are intertwined with those of line 1, so that one can take a bus every 4–6 minutes along the route. - Mon-Sat only; does not run on evenings and Sundays.
4 Almere Centrum Station - Almere Literatuurwijk - Almere Gooisekant-West - Almere Poort Homeruskwartier - Almere Poort Station Runs every 7 minutes Mon-Sat during daytime hours (every 15–30 minutes on evenings and Sundays). On Saturdays (except during the Summer), half of the runs terminate halfway at Gooisekant-West.
5 Almere Stripheldenbuurt - Almere Centrum Station
6 Almere Parkwijk Station - Almere Centrum Station - Noorderplassen Runs every 7 minutes Mon-Fri (every 15 minutes on Saturdays and every 30 minutes on Sundays). Mon-Sat (except during the Summer), half of the runs terminate halfway at Almere Centrum Station.
7 Almere Componistenpad (Muziekwijk) - Almere Centrum Station - Almere Parkwijk Station - Almere Tussen de Vaarten - Almere Sallandsekant
10 Almere De Vaart/PIA - Almere Buiten Station - Almere Tussen de Vaarten - Almere Veluwsekant - Busstation 't Oor - Almere Gooisekant - Almere Poort Station Mon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends. During summer, all buses terminate at Gooisekant-West instead of Almere Poort Station.
14 (Almere Buiten Molenbuurt-Noord -) Almere Centrum Station - Almere Muziekwijk Station - Almere Poort Station Mon-Fri, rush hours only. Only runs during the winter months outside of official holidays and school breaks. During morning rush hour, 2 runs begin at Almere Buiten Molenbuurt-Noord.
17 Almere Sallandsekant - Almere Nobelhorst Mon-Fri, rush hours only. The only city bus line to operate with a 8-passenger van (Mercedes-Benz Sprinter). In the near future, line 7 will be extended to Nobelhorst, thus replacing line 17.

Monday to Friday, most city buses run about every 7,5 minutes (8 times every hour) during daytime hours. Saturdays, only a few city bus lines run every 7,5 minutes during daytime hours; most of them run every 12–15 minutes. Sunday, almost all city buses run every 30 minutes (with some buses running extra runs during certain hours), except for line 1 which runs every 15 minutes during daytime hours (every 30 minutes outside of daytime hours).

There are a few overnight bus lines (Friday and Saturday night only): N11, N12 and N13. They run under the Connexxion internal name Niteliner (but are operated by Maxx Almere branded city buses).

The bus company running almost all buses is Connexxion. Local buses (city buses) run under the name Maxx Almere. In the buses one can use the national transportation chipcard (smart card), subscriptions or one can buy bus tickets of Maxx Almere in the bus or at TVM's (the latter only Downtown).

Regional bus lines

Besides the local bus lines, there are regional and rush hour bus lines to towns and cities in the area.

Line Route Notes
150 Almere Buiten Molenbuurt-Noord - Almere Centrum Station - Busstation 't Oor - Almere Veluwsekant - Almere De Kemphaan - Blaricum Carpoolplaats - Utrecht Rijnsweerd- Utrecht De Uithof Mon-Fri, rush hours only. Express bus (meaning it skips some of the stops along the route). Closed-system between Almere Buiten and Veluwsekant (v.v.) and in Utrecht. - Is part of a trial. If the trial eventually succeeds, this line will begin to run every day as part of R-NET.
151 (Almere Haven Centrum -) Almere Haven De Steiger - Busstation 't Oor - (Almere Poort Midden Kant -) Muiderberg P+R - Naarden - Bussum Mon-Fri only. Does not run on evenings and weekends. During extended rush hours (7-10 AM, 2-6 PM), line 151 also serves Almere Poort Midden Kant. Outside of rush hours, all buses terminate and start at Almere Haven De Steiger.
153 Almere Buiten Station - Almere Muziekwijk - Almere Literatuurwijk - Almere Poort Station - Muiden P+R - Diemen Stammerkamp - Amsterdam Bijlmer - Amsterdam Holendrecht Mon-Fri, rush hours only. Express bus (meaning it skips some of the stops along the route). Closed-system in Amsterdam. In the near future, this line will begin to run every day as part of R-NET.
155 Almere Parkwijk Station - Almere Filmwijk - Almere Flevoziekenhuis - Almere Gooisekant - Almere Gooisepoort - Muiden P+R - Diemen Stammerkamp - Amsterdam Bijlmer - Amsterdam Holendrecht Mon-Fri, rush hours only. Closed-system in Amsterdam.
156 Almere Centrum Station - Busstation 't Oor - Almere De Kemphaan - Blaricum Carpoolplaats (- Hilversum Station) Mon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends. In rush hours, 156 terminates halfway at Blaricum Carpoolplaats where it provides a direct transfer to line 320 to Hilversum Station.
159 Almere Centrum Station - Almere Veluwsekant - Almere De Kemphaan - Almere Hout - Zeewolde - Harderwijk Mon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends. The last two buses of the day terminate halfway at Zeewolde Kwartiermakerslaan. Closed-system in Almere.
160 Almere Centrum Station - Busstation 't Oor - Almere De Kemphaan - Zeewolde De Eemhof - Amersfoort Vathorst Station Runs 7 days a week, but 10 AM-10:30 PM only.
216 Almere Buiten Molenbuurt-Noord - Almere Buiten Station - Almere Parkwijk Station - Almere Filmwijk - Almere Flevoziekenhuis - Almere Gooisekant - Almere Gooisepoort - Muiden P+R - Amstelveen - Schiphol-Oost Stationsplein - Schiphol-Oost Zuideinde Mon-Fri, rush hours only (2 runs to Schiphol during morning rush hours, 2 runs to Almere during evening rush hours). Closed-system in Almere. All stops between Schiphol-Oost Stationsplein and Schiphol-Oost Zuideinde are only accessible by employees who own a Schipholpas.
322 Almere Parkwijk Station - Almere Flevoziekenhuis - Almere Gooisepoort - Almere Poort Station - Muiden P+R - Diemen Diemerknoop - Amsterdam Amstel Is allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to maneuver past traffic jams.
327 Almere Haven Centrum - Busstation 't Oor - Muiden P+R - Diemen Diemerknoop - Amsterdam Amstel Does not run on late nights (meaning not past 9 PM). Is allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to maneuver past traffic jams.
328 Almere Haven Centrum - Busstation 't Oor - Muiden P+R - Diemen Diemerknoop - Amsterdam Bijlmer - Amsterdam Holendrecht Closed-system in Amsterdam. Is allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to maneuver past traffic jams.

Line 150 is operated by the bus company Connexion Tours. Line 159 is operated by the bus company OV Regio IJsselmond. The line 322, 327 and 328 are operated by Connexxion using the R-NET branding and concept.

There's also an overnight bus (Saturday night only) from Amsterdam to Almere Haven Centrum (N27). It start at Amsterdam Leidseplein. From there on, it uses the route that line 327 uses during daytime hours/early evenings. It only runs one way (only from Amsterdam to Almere Haven Centrum).

Since April 2012, there's a rush hour bus line, 150, to Utrecht which connects Almere directly with the University Area of Utrecht called De Uithof. (This was previously done by former bus line 295[20]).

Notable residents

References

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Almere.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Almere.
 Markermeer Lelystad
IJmeer Zeewolde
   Almere  
Gooise Meren (NH) / IJmeer Gooimeer
Huizen (NH), Blaricum (NH)		 Gooimeer / Eemnes (UT)
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