Leidsche Rijn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leidsche Rijn | |
|---|---|
Neighborhood in Utrecht | |
.jpg) Leidsche Rijn Centrum, the shopping centre of Leidsche Rijn | |
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| Coordinates: 52°05′50″N 5°03′53″E / 52.097094°N 5.064638°E | |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 95,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postcodes | 3454-3545 |
Leidsche Rijn (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlɛitsə ˈrɛin], Utrecht dialect: [ˈlaitsə ˈʁain]) is a new construction site and neighborhood in Utrecht, the capital of the Dutch province of Utrecht. The area is located west of the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal and its name is derived from the Leidse Rijn canal, which runs through it. At the time of its inception in the 1990s and in the decades that followed, Leidsche Rijn was the largest Vinex location in the Netherlands. Most of this location was on the territory of the former municipality of Vleuten-De Meern, located west of the city of Utrecht. A smaller part of this location, namely the area of Hoge and Lage Weide, was located in the municipality of Utrecht.
Vleuten-De Meern was added to the municipality of Utrecht on 1 January 2001. The intended size of the Vinex location was about 30,000 houses for about 90,000 inhabitants. The Utrecht City Council decided to divide it into two districts, namely the Vleuten-De Meern district and the Leidsche Rijn district. Despite this division, the aforementioned neighborhoods are the largest in the municipality of Utrecht in terms of population with approximately 50,000 and 45,000 inhabitants, respectively.
The area, including the Rijnenburg polder area, is about 25 km2. Originally, 30,000 houses for about 90,000 inhabitants were planned. This included the approximately 6,000 existing homes in the villages of De Meern, Vleuten, and Haarzuilens. By the end of 2019, the target number of 90,000 inhabitants was passed. On 1 January 2022 the two districts together numbered over 95,000 residents, of whom about 45,000 lived in the Leidsche Rijn district. The biggest milestones in the development of Leidsche Rijn were, successively,
- the first pile driven on 4 December 1997 by then Prime Minister Wim Kok;
- the completion of the first homes with the first handover of keys on 14 October 1998;
- the official start of the major infrastructure works for Leidsche Rijn, including the relocation, widening and covering of the A2 motorway and the raising and doubling of the Utrecht-Woerden railroad line (to four tracks) on 12 April 2005 by then Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management Karla Peijs.
After the relocation and covering of the A2 highway, the official go-ahead could be given for the construction of the Leidsche Rijn Centrum neighborhood on 20 June 2014, whose shopping center was opened on 16 May 2018 by the mayor, Jan van Zanen.
Smaller milestones (which are more contained in Leidsche Rijn itself) included:
- the commissioning in 2011 of the Máximapark;
- its official opening in 2013;
- the commissioning of other shopping centers such as the Vleuterweide shopping center in the neighboring Vleuten-De Meern district in 2010 and the Terwijde shopping center in the subdistrict of the same name in 2014.
The oldest sub-locations within the area are Veldhuizen and Langerak. Construction activities there began in 1997. Veldhuizen then still belonged to the municipality of Vleuten-De Meern. When this municipality joined Utrecht in 2001, most of the 3,000 new homes in Veldhuizen were already occupied. The largest sub-location of the area is Vleuterweide; it has over 18,000 inhabitants. Because of this size, Vleuterweide is divided into three neighborhoods. Other large sub-locations are Terwijde and Het Zand. By 2020, about 90% of the Leidsche Rijn project was complete. New construction activities of any size will still take place in Leidsche Rijn Centrum and north of Vleuten.
During construction, several archeological remains were discovered. In 1997 and in 2003 Roman ships were discovered in the neighbourhood of De Balije. In 2002 and 2003 Roman watchtowers were discovered in the neighbourhoods of Vleuterweide and Het Zand.
