Almere


Almere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises six official areas that are the districts of Almere Stad, Almere Buiten and Almere Pampus, and the boroughs of Almere Haven, Almere Hout and Almere Poort. Four of them feature official district or borough offices. Furthermore, it also comprises the unofficial historic district and neighborhood Oostvaardersdiep, which has an active semi-self-governing community, and the planned district of Almere Oosterwold. Almere is part of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.
Almere is the newest city in the Netherlands: the land on which the city sits, the Southern Flevoland polder, was reclaimed from the IJsselmeer from 1959 to 1968. 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
citizens in and the 7th largest in the Netherlands. In October 2007, the city council of Almere made agreements with the government to expand the city to 350,000 inhabitants by 2030.

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 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, 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.

Governance

Local executive

serves as Mayor of Almere since 9 September 2015. Following the Dutch municipal elections, 2014 the current municipal council was inaugurated. The nationalist 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

The first municipal 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. 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 2018, the council of Almere has comprised a total of 45 members.
Party1984198619901994199820022006201020142018
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy557101287758
Labour Party1014969712857
Party for Freedom-------996
Democrats 6612710521365
GroenLinks2134443324
Leefbaar Almere-----94343
Socialist Party------4243
Party for the Animals---------3
Christian Union----112112
Christian Democratic Appeal2343343222
Almere Partij/OPA-122322-11
Respect---------1
Trots op Nederland-------1--
Verenigde Senioren Partij----111---
Stadspartij Almere----11----
Centrumdemocraten2112------
Stap '841---------
Total23273337393939393945

International relations

Twin cities

Almere maintains international relations with the following twin cities:

  • Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
  • Port Sudan, Sudan
  • Rendsburg, Germany
  • Tainan City, Taiwan
  • Växjö, Sweden
  • Yaroslavl, Russia

    • Geography

    Almere is located in the polder of Southern 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, three of which are under construction.
    NameYearLocation
    Almere Haven 1976
    Almere Stad 1980
    Almere Buiten 1984
    Almere Hout 1991
    Almere Poort 2000
    Almere PampusTo be constructed

    Climate

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

    Demography

    Inhabitants by origin

    2017Numbers%
    Dutch natives118,94459.20
    European immigrants17,3808.65
    Non-European immigrants64,59032.15
    Suriname22,77211.33
    Morocco7,8713.92
    Indonesia5,9812.98
    Netherlands Antilles and Aruba4,9552.47
    Turkey3,5721.78
    Others36,81918.33

    Total population

    Culture

    On 19 May 2004, at the instigation of Kees Kousemaker, owner of the Amsterdam comics store Lambiek, the first buildings of the Stripheldenbuurt were inaugurated in Almere. This is a district where all street names are named after famous comics characters and cartoonists.

    Sport

    Almere is the home of football team Almere City FC, American football team FlevoPhantoms and the home of basketball team the Almere Pioneers.

    Transport

    The traffic infrastructure in Almere is recognisable because of its
    separate infrastructure for cycles, cars
    and buses.
    Almere is connected to the motorways A6 and A27.

    Railway

    In 1987 Almere was connected to the national railway system 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, 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. 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 bus lines

    In Almere there are 10 bus lines which service the urban area.
    Line #RouteNotes
    M1Almere Centrum Station – Almere Haven De Marken or Almere Haven De Gouwen – Almere Haven CentrumRuns every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours. The bus line changes into M2 at Almere Centrum
    M2Almere Centrum Station – Almere Buiten station - Almere Oostvaarders station - Almere StripheldenbuurtRuns every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours. The bus line changes into M1 at Almere Centrum
    M3Almere Centrum Station - Almere Beatrixpark - Almere MuziekwijkRuns every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours.
    M4Almere Centrum Station – Almere Literatuurwijk – Almere Gooisekant-West – Almere Poort Homeruskwartier – Almere Poort StationRuns every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours.
    M5Almere Centrum station - Almere Danswijk - Almere Parkwijk station - Almere SallandsekantRuns every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours.
    M6Almere Centrum Station – NoorderplassenRuns every 7 minutes Mon-Fri.
    M7Almere Centrum station - Almere Parkwijk station - Almere Buiten station - Almere Oostvaarders stationRuns every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours.
    22Almere De Vaart/PIA – Almere Buiten StationMon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends. Has 2 request stops
    25Almere Sallandsekant - Almere NobelhorstOnly on Mon-Fri in rush hours
    525Almere Sallandsekant – Almere NobelhorstMon-Sat outside rush hours only

    Monday to Friday, most city buses run about every 5 minutes 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, most of the city buses run every 15 minutes and M6 which only runs every 30 minutes.
    There are a few overnight bus lines : N21, N22 and N23. They run under the Keolis internal name nightGo.
    The bus company running almost all buses is Keolis Netherlands. Local buses run under the name allGo. In the buses one can use the national transportation chipcard, subscriptions or one can buy bus tickets of allGo in the bus or at TVM's.

    Regional bus lines

    Besides the local bus lines, there are regional and rush hour bus lines to towns and cities in the area.
    LineRouteNotes
    323Almere Parkwijk station - Almere Poort Station – Muiden P+R - Amsterdam BijlmerMon-Fri between 5.30 AM and 10.30 AM and between 14.00 PM until the end of the day. Sat only after 18.00 PM and Sun all day long.
    324Almere Parkwijk Station – Almere Filmwijk - Amsterdam BijlmerMon-Fri, rush hours-only, express bus without stops in Amsterdam
    326Almere Centrum Station – Busstation 't Oor – Almere De Kemphaan – Blaricum CarpoolplaatsMon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends.
    159Almere Centrum Station – Almere Veluwsekant – Almere De Kemphaan – Almere Hout – Zeewolde – HarderwijkMon-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.
    160Almere Centrum Station – Busstation 't Oor – Almere De Kemphaan – Zeewolde De Eemhof – Amersfoort Vathorst StationRuns 7 days a week, but only every 2 hours and only between 10 AM-10:30 PM. This bus is actually part of the OV Regio IJsselmond concession, but Keolis operates it under contract with Syntus Overijssel-branded buses.
    322Almere Parkwijk Station – Almere Flevoziekenhuis – Almere Gooisepoort – Almere Poort Station – Muiden P+R – Diemen Diemerknoop – Amsterdam AmstelIs allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to maneuver past traffic jams.
    327Almere Haven Centrum – Busstation 't Oor – Muiden P+R – Diemen Diemerknoop – Amsterdam AmstelIs allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to maneuver past traffic jams.
    328Almere Haven Centrum – Busstation 't Oor – Muiden P+R – Diemen Diemerknoop – Amsterdam BijlmerClosed-system in Amsterdam. Is allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to maneuver past traffic jams.

    Line 159 is operated by the bus company Connexxion.
    Since April 2012, there was a rush hour route, 150, to Utrecht which connected Almere directly with the University Area of Utrecht called De Uithof.. Due to budget cuts, line 150 was scrapped on July 9, 2016.

    Notable residents