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Almere

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Template:Other uses Template:Infobox settlement Almere (Template:IPA) is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands across the IJmeer from Amsterdam.

Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere comprises six official areas<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> that are the districts of 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),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the boroughs of Almere Haven, Almere Hout and Almere Poort. Four of them feature official district or borough offices.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Furthermore, it also comprises the unofficial historic district and neighborhood Oostvaardersdiep.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Almere is part of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA).

Almere is the newest city in the Netherlands:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 Template:Dutch municipality population citizens in Template:YEAR and the 8th 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.<ref>Template:In lang Schaalsprong Almere 2030, PDF. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.</ref><ref>Template:In lang Feiten en cijfers over Almere, Almere.nl.</ref>

History

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Template:Unreferencedsect 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 (notably in the Regenboogbuurt).

Governance

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File:Stadhuis Almere (2024).jpg
The town hall of the municipality of Almere. The building is located on the Stadhuisplein.

Local executive

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Hein van der Loo (independent) has been mayor of Almere since March 2023, with the municipal council consisting of a coalition of several parties.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

List of mayors

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Municipal council

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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 (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 2018, the council of Almere has comprised a total of 45 members.

Party 1984 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
People's Party for Freedom & Democracy 5 5 7 10 12 8 7 7 5 8 6
Labour Party 10 14 9 6 9 7 12 8 5 7 4
Party for Freedom - - - - - - - 9 9 6 5
Democrats 66 1 2 7 10 5 2 1 3 6 5 4
GroenLinks 2 1 3 4 4 4 3 3 2 4 3
Leefbaar Almere - - - - - 9 4 3 4 3 3
Socialist Party - - - - - - 4 2 4 3 4
Party for the Animals - - - - - - - - - 3 3
Christian Union - - - - 1 1 2 1 1 2 2
Christian Democratic Appeal 2 3 4 3 3 4 3 2 2 2 2
Almere Partij/OPA - 1 2 2 3 2 2 - 1 1 1
Respect Almere - - - - - - - - - 1 1
Trots op Nederland - - - - - - - 1 - - -
Verenigde Senioren Partij - - - - 1 1 1 - - - -
Stadspartij Almere - - - - 1 1 - - - - -
Centrumdemocraten 2 1 1 2 - - - - - - -
Stap '84 1 - - - - - - - - - -
BIJ1 - - - - - - - - - - 2
50PLUS - - - - - - - - - - 2
Forum for Democracy - - - - - - - - - - 2
DENK - - - - - - - - - - 1
Total 23 27 33 37 39 39 39 39 39 45 45

International relations

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Template:See also

Twin cities

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Almere maintains international relations with the following twin cities:<ref name="stedenband">Template:In lang Gemeente Almere: Partnersteden. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.</ref><ref name="sistercities">Template:In lang Algemene Informatie Template:Webarchive. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.</ref>

Geography

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File:Satellite image of Flevopolder, Netherlands (5.48E 52.43N).png
Satellite image of the Flevopolder
File:Almere-plaats-OpenTopo.jpg
Topographic map of Almere, September 2014
File:Map NL Almere.PNG
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 Markermeer in the west and north, Lelystad in the northeast, Zeewolde in the east, and Gooimeer in the south.

Almere consists of three boroughs and three districts (Dutch: stadsdelen), three of which are under construction.<ref>Template:In lang Gemeente Almere: Stadsdelen. Retrieved on 2015-08-29.</ref>

Name Year<ref>Template:In lang Sociale Atlas 2007 BevolkingsopbouwTemplate:Dead link. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.</ref> Location
Almere Haven ('Almere Harbor') 1976 File:Map NL Almere Haven.PNG
Almere Stad ('Almere City') 1980 File:Map NL Almere Stad.PNG
Almere Buiten ('Outer Almere') 1984 File:Map NL Almere Buiten.PNG
Almere Hout ('Almere Woods') 1991 File:Map NL Almere Hout.PNG
Almere Poort ('Almere Gate') 2000 File:Map NL Almere Poort.PNG
Almere Pampus To be constructed File:Map NL Almere Pampus.PNG

Climate

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

Template:Weather box

Demography

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Inhabitants by origin

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2017 Numbers %
Dutch origin 118,944 54.31
Other European origin 17,380 10.91
Non-European origin 64,590 32.93
Suriname<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 22,772 11.33
Morocco 7,871 3.92
Indonesia 5,981 2.98
Netherlands Antilles and Aruba 4,955 2.47
Turkey 3,572 1.78
Others 36,819 11.50

Total population

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Year Almere Haven Almere Stad Almere Buiten Almere Hout Almere Poort Almere Pampus Almere in total
1970             52
1975             47
1980 6,596           6,632
1985 21,410 17,240 1,559       40,297
1990 22,355 37,024 11,499       71,087
1995 22,376 58,816 22,740 564     104,496
2000 22,237 83,934 35,290 1,336     142,797
2005 22,590 103,560 47,358 1,366     175,008
2007 22,507 105,261 51,751 1,345 134   180,998
2016 22,037 109,863 55,663 1,678 10,920   200,812
2024 24,571 110,946 58,481 11,510 22,848 4 228,360

Culture

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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.<ref name= "lambiek.net8" >Template:Cite web</ref>

Sport

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

Transport

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File:Schouwburg Almere.jpg
Kunstlinie Almere Flevoland (formerly known as "Schouwburg Almere")

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

Railway

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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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There are no remains of the station, although passengers can still see where the platforms once stood from the windows of Flevolijn trains.Template:Clarify

Public buses

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Local bus lines

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In Almere there are 11 bus lines which service the urban area.

Line # Route Notes
M1 Almere Centrum Station – Almere Haven De Marken or Almere Haven De Gouwen – Almere Haven Centrum Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays). The bus line changes into M2 at Almere Centrum
M2 Almere Centrum Station – Almere Buiten station - Almere Oostvaarders station - Almere Stripheldenbuurt Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays). The bus line changes into M1 at Almere Centrum
M3 Almere Centrum Station - Almere Beatrixpark - Almere Muziekwijk Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays).
M4 Almere Centrum Station – Almere Literatuurwijk – Almere Gooisekant-West – Almere Poort Homeruskwartier – Almere Poort Station Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays).
M5 Almere Centrum station - Almere Filmwijk - Almere Danswijk - Almere Parkwijk station Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays).
M6 Almere Centrum Station – Noorderplassen Runs every 7 minutes Mon-Fri (every 15 minutes on Saturdays and every 30 minutes on Sundays).
M7 Almere Centrum station - Almere Parkwijk station - Almere Buiten station - Almere Oostvaarders station Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays).
22 Almere De Vaart/PIA – Almere Buiten Station Mon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends. Has 2 request stops
24 Almere Poort Station - Almere Duin Only on Mon-Fri in rush hours. During the summer months also on weekends
25 Almere Sallandsekant - Almere Nobelhorst Only on Mon-Fri in rush hours
525 Almere Sallandsekant – Almere Nobelhorst Mon-Sat outside rush hours only

Monday to Friday, most city buses run about every 5 minutes (10 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, most of the city buses run every 15 minutes (with some buses running extra runs during certain hours) and M6 which only runs every 30 minutes.

There are a few overnight bus lines (Mon-Sat nights only): N21, N22 and N23. They run under the Keolis internal name nightGo (but are operated by R-net branded regional buses).

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

Regional bus lines

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

Line Route Notes
323 Almere Parkwijk station - Almere Poort Station – Muiden P+R - Amsterdam Bijlmer Mon-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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
324 Almere Parkwijk Station – Almere Filmwijk - Amsterdam Bijlmer Mon-Fri, rush hours-only, express bus without stops in Amsterdam
326 Almere Centrum Station – Busstation 't Oor – Almere De Kemphaan – Blaricum Carpoolplaats Mon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends.
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 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 manoeuvre past traffic jams.
327 Almere Haven Centrum – Busstation 't Oor – Muiden P+R – Diemen Diemerknoop – Amsterdam Amstel Is allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to manoeuvre past traffic jams.
328 Almere Haven Centrum – Busstation 't Oor – Muiden P+R – Diemen Diemerknoop – Amsterdam Bijlmer Closed-system in Amsterdam. Is allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to manoeuvre 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. (This was previously done by former bus line 295<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>). Due to budget cuts, line 150 was scrapped on July 9, 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable residents

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File:Rob Verlinden.jpg
Rob Verlinden, 2012
File:Krajicek M. WMQ16 (11) (28107246912).jpg
Michaëlla Krajicek, 2016

Sport

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See also

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References

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Template:Reflist

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Template:Sister bar Template:Geographic location

Template:Flevoland Province Template:Authority control

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