The city of Utrecht and the surrounding cities, villages, and townships form an

agglomeration Agglomeration may refer to: * Urban agglomeration, in standard English * Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as " city cluster". * Economies of ag ...

in the middle 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 Netherl ...

. It is located entirely in the

province of Utrecht Utrecht (), officially the Province of Utrecht ( nl, Provincie Utrecht, link=no), is a province of the Netherlands. It is located in the centre of the country, bordering the Eemmeer in the north-east, the province of Gelderland in the east a ...

, and is the eastern part of so-called North Wing the larger

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 ...

urban area. The agglomeration has a population of about 690.000 people (a rough estimate based on data collected in 2001-2012). The following towns are commonly recognized as part of the agglomeration: This interpretation of what is to be acknowledged the greater Utrecht area, is the most common one. The physically joint urban area (the innercity-Utrecht area and its surrounding authentic quarters, boroughs and outskirts; the town of Maarssen, which is connected to Utrecht by the Utrecht district of Zuilen and the Lage Weide industrial area; Nieuwegein which has grown attached to the south of the city during the seventies and nineties. To which are attached the smaller suburban towns of IJsselstein and Vianen; the former villages of De Meern and Vleuten, which have been annexed - also formally - by the Utrecht municipality and the western city expansion of Leidsche Rijn; the chained towns of De Bilt and Bilthoven, who are nearly connected to the east side of the city with less than a mile of recreational areas and infrastructure separating both) houses around half a million people. The other 100-200.000 inhabitants making up the entire agglomeration population mostly live in slightly more distant towns such as Zeist, Bunnik, Houten, Breukelen etc. These suburban towns and villages are situated, averagely about four of five miles from the outer districts of Utrecht city. The larger economic, cultural and educational area of which the city of Utrecht is the main centre is equal to the province of Utrecht excluding the small agglomeration of Amersfoort and the town of Veenendaal (which are more self-sufficient and self-orientated). It provides shopping facilities, employment, some large hospitals, cinemas, recreation and other facilities for around 800.000 people. If Woerden, Breukelen and Culemborg are to by included in the greater Utrecht area (seen the vast forensism towards the city) the population would be around 750.000. In the 1970s and 1980s, large residential areas were built in

Maarssen Maarssen () is a town in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal. The west of Maarssen is called Maarssen-BroekStatistics are taken from thSDU Staatscourant whereas the east ...

and

Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of "Seist" was first mentioned in a charter in the year 83 ...

, as well as in the

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Nieuwegein Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht (city), Utrecht, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the ...

. In the 1990s, construction of new houses was concentrated in the new town

Houten Houten () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Population centres The municipality consists of the following towns: * 't Goy * Houten * Schalkwijk * Tull en 't Waal Houten (town) The main town in the municipality is ...

and in the

Leidsche Rijn Leidsche Rijn (, Utrecht dialect: ) is a neighbourhood in the west of Utrecht in the central Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = ...

neighbourhood.

Footnotes

{{coord missing, Netherlands Geography of Utrecht (province)