Welcome to Nieuwezee - Welkom op Nieuwezee!
(Nieuwezee, town centre)
Nieuwezee is a small provincial town in Noord-Holland, located on the shores of the IJsselmeer (the huge man-made lake at the heart of the Netherlands):
(a view across the IJsselmeer)
It's a sleepy place, nestled in the midst of the 'Green Heart' of the Dutch Randstad.
(Nieuwezee, as seen from the surrounding countryside)
The town is centred along a peninsula, where the mouth of the river Vos enters the IJsselmeer. To the East and West the town gives way to fertile farmland along the shores of the lake:
(farmland to the South-west of town)
To the North is the vast floodplain of the Noord Randstad; the town is however cut off from its hinterland by the railway (ca. 1910) and by the imposing highway (ca. 1975) which diverts through-traffic away from the congested town centre...
(a thumbnail view of the town in its surroundings. Note the highway which bridges the floodplain, and which marks the northernmost limit of the town)
The result, is a town that is surrounded on all sides by water and by valuable farmland. Fortunately, a Polder program was begun in the 90's to reclaim a tract of land behind the peninsula, immediately to the East of town.
(the polder operation in progress, late 2014)
After nearly twenty years, the process of draining the polder is almost complete and it will soon be possible to make several square kilometres of new land available for development.
In support of this, the central government has shortlisted Nieuwezee for a potential €100,000,000 Infrastructure Development Fund. Subject to approval, Nieuwezee may bid to use this investment as the first stage in its ambitious '15 Year Plan', to expand the town beyond its current limits and revision it as a high-tech, 21st Century regional city hub.
This is an exciting time for Nieuwezee, as its citizens contemplate a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to genuinely transform the place they live. Will the new polder give way to more mundane suburbs for commuters heading to nearby city of Hoorn, or will Nieuwezee grow to become a city in its own right?
Next time in the Nieuwezee city journal, we will take a closer look around the Peninsula and, we can expect an announcement from central government regarding the funding bid...
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