The Groene Hart (; English: Green Heart) is a relatively thinly populated area of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Neth ...
covering much of the middle portion of the
Randstad
The Randstad (; "Rim" or "Edge" City) is a roughly crescent-shaped conurbation in the central-western Netherlands, consisting primarily of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht); their suburbs, and many tow ...
megalopolis. The major Dutch cities of
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
,
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital ...
,
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...
,
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
and
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Ne ...
surround this area. Cities inside the Groene Hart include
Zoetermeer
Zoetermeer () is a city in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950. By 2013 this had grown to 123,328 ...
,
Alphen aan den Rijn
Alphen aan den Rijn (; en, "Alphen upon Rhine" or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Old Rhine), where the r ...
,
Gouda,
Woerden
Woerden () is a city and a municipality in central Netherlands. Due to its central location between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, and the fact that it has rail and road connections to those cities, it is a popular town for commu ...
and the smaller cities of
Schoonhoven
Schoonhoven () is a city and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Since 2015 it has been a part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, before it had been an independent municipality.
The former municip ...
,
Oudewater
Oudewater () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands.
History
The origin of the town of Oudewater is obscure and no information has been found concerning the first settlement of citizens. It is also difficult to recover the name of Oud ...
,
Haastrecht,
Nieuwkoop
Nieuwkoop () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality was enlarged on 1 January 2007, through the amalgamation of Liemeer and Ter Aar. The municipality now covers an area of of w ...
,
Montfoort
Montfoort () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Montfoort received city rights in 1329.
Population centres
The municipality of Montfoort consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or distric ...
,
Waddinxveen
Waddinxveen () is a town and municipality along the Gouwe river in the western Netherlands in the province of South Holland near Gouda. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area of of which is water.
A small piece of artwor ...
,
Bodegraven
Bodegraven () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The former municipality covers an area of of which is water.
The former municipality of Bodegraven also includes the communities Mei ...
and
Boskoop
Boskoop () is a town in the province of South Holland. It was a separate municipality until it merged into Alphen aan den Rijn in 2014. The town had a population of 15,050 in 2012 and covers an area of of which is water. It's the world's bigge ...
.
The Groene Hart is characterised by its rural character which contrasts the urban areas around it. Agriculture, nature and recreation are the primary activities in the Groene Hart. Residents and urban visitors can often find rest and many green spaces. Mills, dikes and Dutch cows are the primary landmarks of this lowland area. Thanks to the various separated cycle paths in the Groene Hart, the area can very well be explored by bike. The Groene Hart is of major importance to consolidate the number of Dutch meadow birds. The bird species
black-tailed godwit
The black-tailed godwit (''Limosa limosa'') is a large, long-legged, long-billed shorebird first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It is a member of the godwit genus, ''Limosa''. There are four subspecies, all with orange head, neck and ches ...
,
northern lapwing
The northern lapwing (''Vanellus vanellus''), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tew-it, green plover, or (in Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe ...
and
Eurasian oystercatcher can all be found in the area.
History
Since the
Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and art and ...
there has been a ring of cities surrounding a green and open central area. This area was given the nickname of "Groene Hart" by the middle of the twentieth century. The Groene Hart developed in the territory between the large cities in the Western Netherlands as an area of
wet meadow
A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are saturated for part or all of the growing season. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of wetland. Wet prairies and wet savannas are hydrologically ...
s and
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
land. These
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free ( anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. T ...
s were not suitable for building but instead were used for
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
and
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficie ...
production.
Geography
The Groene Hart is a water-rich area, with bodies of water such as the
Langeraarse Plassen,
Nieuwkoopse Plassen,
Reeuwijkse Plassen,
Kagerplassen {{coord, 52, 12, 19, N, 4, 32, 18, E, type:waterbody_region:NL_scale:60000, display=title
The ''Kagerplassen'' (a Dutch term meaning "the Kaag Lakes") is a small lake system in South Holland located to the northeast of Leiden.Some of the informat ...
and
Braassemermeer. In addition, rivers such as the
Hollandse IJssel
The Hollandse (or Hollandsche) IJssel (; "Holland IJssel", as opposed to the 'regular' or Gelderland IJssel) is a branch of the Rhine delta that flows westward from Nieuwegein on river Lek through IJsselstein, Gouda and Capelle aan den IJs ...
,
Oude Rijn,
Lek,
Vlist __NOTOC__
Vlist () is a village and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. As of 2015, it is a part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard.
Description
Vlist is named after the river with the same name ...
,
Loet,
Rotte and
Meije
La Meije is a mountain in the Massif des Écrins range, located at the border of the Hautes-Alpes and Isère '' départements''. It overlooks the nearby village of La Grave, a mountaineering centre and ski resort, well known for its off-piste ...
run through the area.
One of the
European footpaths runs through the area. In the Netherlands this is known as the Floris V-pad, part of the Dutch LAW 1-3 path. Also the Limes (former northern border of the Roman empire in The Netherlands) is one of the historical topics included in the Groene Hart.
Government policy
A government policy was adopted in 2003 to preserve the Groene Hart. It allows for the larger cities on the edge of the Groene Hart to build limited amounts of housing. The government also limits the establishment of greenhouses and other types of commercial buildings within the area.
The upcoming plan for the development of the Groene Hart includes four areas:
*Around the outside of the Groene Hart is the
Randstad
The Randstad (; "Rim" or "Edge" City) is a roughly crescent-shaped conurbation in the central-western Netherlands, consisting primarily of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht); their suburbs, and many tow ...
ring of cities. This is an urban area that almost completely surrounds the Groene Hart. Between these urban areas lie green environs that connect to other green sections of the Netherlands.
*Connected to the Randstad Ring is an extended area with lots of water and forests. This is used for recreation and as a buffer against urban
sprawl.
*There will be four core areas for
nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...
and
water sports
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
. There will be extended areas of bogs,
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
es, and other types of wet forests. These four areas (De Venen, Krimpenerwaard, Vechtplassen and Hollandse Plassen) will be connected to each other with grassy berms.
*Between the core areas and the outer areas will be pastures for nature, recreation and agriculture.
External links
Groene Hart tourism and recreation(partially translated in multiple languages)
Programmabureau Groene Hart (in Dutch)
Groenehart Archieven(in Dutch)
(in Dutch)
{{coord, 52, 06, 45, N, 4, 42, 03, E, region:NL_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
Regions of the Netherlands
Regions of North Holland
Regions of South Holland
Regions of Utrecht (province)
Urban planning in the Netherlands