Lelystad is the capital of the Dutch province of Flevoland. The first residents arrived on September 28, 1967 and Lelystad became a municipality on January 1, 1980. The municipality has 79,284 inhabitants (August 1, 2020, source: Statistics Netherlands). Until the establishment of the province of Flevoland on January 9, 1986, Lelystad was not divided provincially.
Lelystad has a number of tourist attractions. Best known are:
The
reconstruction of the VOC ship Batavia
The stagnated reconstruction
(under construction) of a ship of the line of the admiralty of the Maze
and flagship of Michiel de Ruyter, Hr. Ms. The Seven Provinces
The
reconstruction of a 17th century Watership.
Batavia City
Batavia
harbor with the "Kamper" brown fleet, large, historic ships with which
day trips can be made on the IJsselmeer and Markermeer.
The New Land
Heritage Center
The Racm Lelystad (National Office for Architecture,
Cultural Landscape and Monuments), an institute for naval archaeology,
accessible via the Bataviawerf
The Oostvaardersplassen, a large
nature reserve with wild Konik horses, Heck cattle, red deer and various
birds, including the rare white-tailed eagle.
Lelystad Nature Park
with bison, Father David's deer, moose, storks and small-clawed otters,
among others.
Natural Islands Marker Wadden
The Belevenissenbos,
the largest play forest in Europe that is freely accessible
Aviodrome, aviation museum, located at Lelystad Airport, south of the
city. The airport is an alternate airport for Schiphol's business air
traffic and with the relocation of the Aviodrome (formerly Aviodome)
from Schiphol to Lelystad, the city has gained an additional tourist
attraction.
The large landscape artworks Observatory between Lelystad
and Swifterbant and Exposure by Antony Gormley on the breakwater at the
Houtribsluizen on the N307.
The former Werkeiland near Lelystad-Haven
Special architecture in the form of the Zilverparkkade and the
Agoratheater
Lely's Zuil artwork
Since 1975, a 161 meter high
television tower has been standing in the west of the city.
In Lelystad there is a war memorial and a national monument: Shipwreck VAL1460. See the List of municipal monuments in Lelystad for an overview of the municipal monuments.
Various statues, sculptures and objects have been placed in the public space in the municipality, see List of statues in Lelystad.
Motor Racing - Midland Circuit (This circuit regularly hosts motor
speedway and oval racing events)
Cinema - Since August 11, 2022 there
is a new cinema Kok Cinemaxx. Since the closure of cinema Utopolis in
January 2013, films have been shown in the Agoratheater under the name
"AGORA Filmtheater" Due to corona, Agora had already stopped showing
cinema films in March 2021.
Golf course - Golf Event Center (18
holes)
National Oldtimer Day (one of the largest oldtimer events in
the Netherlands)
Dog sports park with, among other things, a
greyhound racing club.
Pop stage Corneel
Seabottom Jazz festival -
annual jazz music festival at the Agora Theater
Sportcentrum De
Koploper (multifunctional sports and recreation center for swimming,
tennis, squash, indoor sports, climbing, bowling and catering)
Sunsation - Annual event in honor of the solstice. Location: Observatory
Theater - Agora Theater
Bataviahavendagen (last weekend of June) -
free annual nautical event with the national sloop show and classic fm
concert, concluded with a large fireworks show
Yachtvision boatshow -
Nautical event in the Bataviahaven
ANWB test circuit - Circuit for
various driving skills training of the ANWB
National Aviation Theme
Park Aviodrome
Lelystart - Annual three-day culture/music/art event
Jordaan in the Polder - Annual two-day music event
A so-called Sidha village has been located in Lelystad since about 1985. This is a neighborhood where many Transcendental Meditation (TM) practitioners live and work. There is a special primary school where TM is also taught, there is also an Ayurvedic health center, a health food store and a vegetarian restaurant. The Sidha Village was founded by the Harmonic Living Foundation (SHL).
Lelystad is named after Cornelis Lely, the spiritual
father of the Zuiderzee Works. However, the name was not fixed from
the beginning. When after the Second World War it became clear that
the polders to be drained would receive a population and care
center, it was suggested in the media that this place would be
called Flevostad. Not everyone liked this. At the end of 1950 an
article appeared in which Kornelis Jansma and Sjoerd Groenman,
chairman resp. secretary of the Society 'Flevo' (a research fund and
think tank around the Zuiderzee Works) rejected this name on
historical grounds and proposed giving Lely credit. They naturally
called it 'that should be called after him the most significant
place in the new area, which is mainly added to the Netherlands
through his actions' and their conclusion was that 'Lelystad' would
be the correct name. A Senate Committee pleaded for this name
with Minister Wemmers. He responded favorably, but indicated that
for a definitive determination, the Zuiderzee Council's judgment
would be requested in due course.
The name issue continued.
Professor of Human Geography Alida Vlam was asked for advice by the
Dienst der Zuiderzee Works, she put forward the name 'Flevo'.
Furthermore, the Royal Netherlands Geographical Society was
consulted. Even then, at the beginning of 1952, the name Lelystad
came back into the picture, but the Zuiderzee Council was internally
divided, as was apparent from a letter from the Council of 23 June
1952 to the Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water
Management. Half of the members thought that the main center 'could
very well be named after Lely, (...) as it is, as it were, the
pinnacle of Lely's work'. Others thought that Lely had hardly dealt
with 'the questions of habitation and the like', but the same letter
also mentioned the counter-arguments. The response came in a letter
dated 11 November 1952 from the new minister, Jacob Algera. He
thought that in addition to the Lely pumping station, an important
object should be connected to the former statesman, namely the
'C-core' projected at the time. "I would like to give this C-core
the name Lelystad." The official publication of the decree was in
the Government Gazette of December 30, 1952.
A resident of
Lelystad is called Lelystedel, Lelystatter or (for women)
Lelystadse. In Lelystad, the municipality also generally refers to
Lelysteding.
Lelystad is one of the youngest
places to live in the Netherlands. As a result, its history is a
short, but well-documented one. Lelystad is located in Eastern
Flevoland, the third polder of the Lely plan. The Wieringermeer is
the first, the Noordoostpolder is the second and Southern Flevoland
the fourth. Originally, Lely's Zuiderzee project was to be completed
with the Markerwaard, but the fifth polder was never built.
Eastern Flevoland has four residential areas: two villages
(Swifterbant and Biddinghuizen), a small urban community (Dronten)
and a city (Lelystad). While many villages had been built in the
Noordoostpolder, this was no longer considered necessary in Eastern
Flevoland due to an increase in scale in agriculture and the
increase in car ownership.
In the summer of 1950 a start was
made on the construction of the ring dike of Eastern Flevoland. In
the middle of the IJsselmeer, the Perceel P dike section was
constructed, which had a length of seven kilometers. Work on the
rest of the ring dike could be carried out on both sides from Plot
P. One kilometer of dike section was widened to 50 to 100 meters. A
working harbor was constructed on this widened stretch. A
construction pit was also dug for the Wortman pumping station, one
of the three pumping stations that were used to drain Eastern
Flevoland. A camp was also built where dyke workers and other
personnel were housed.
In October 1954 the dyke route between
Parcel P and Harderwijk was completed. Plot P was no longer an
island. Nevertheless, the widened dike section was renamed
Werkeiland Lelystad-Haven. The ring dyke of Eastern Flevoland was
closed in September 1956, and in June 1957 the polder became dry.
However, the development of Lelystad did not get started; for a long
time the city consisted only of the Werkeiland Lelystad-Haven, which
corresponds to the current district of the same name. The first
inhabitants of the 'actual' Lelystad arrived in September 1967. It
then took a long time before Lelystad was seen as a real city.
According to the 'outside world' people lived in the jungle in
Lelystad. The municipality of Lelystad was established by law on
January 1, 1980, with Hans Gruijters as the first mayor.
In the 1980s, Lelystad was faced with an exodus due to
construction in the southwest of the Flevopolder Almere. Due to its
more favorable location in relation to Amsterdam and the Gooi, this
city was more attractive to commuters and other new residents than
Lelystad. A period of vacancy and impoverishment followed. In the
mid-1990s things changed course. Urban planning insights changed and
neighborhoods were restructured. In the Schouw district, entire
streets were even razed to the ground to make way for the Hanzepark
district. In the meantime, people are living again and building was
in full swing until the end of 2009. Lelystad focused on residential
environments, and so neighborhoods such as the Golfresort, a
neighborhood built in the middle of a golf course, and Parkhaven
were created.
Rather than being just a residential city for
commuters, Lelystad wants to profile itself as an attractive
residential city with attractions, nature and employment. They also
want to look for more connections with the Randstad and Amsterdam in
particular, because about half of the working population works in
and around Amsterdam. This development was prompted by the
discussion about the expansion of Lelystad airport. The city center,
which dates back to the 1980s, has been completely restructured.
Appealing names from the architectural world are contracted to give
Lelystad its own identity and self-confidence. Examples are the
Agora Theater and the Zilverparkkade.
For the first time in
its history, the long coastline is also part of the city. Because of
the construction of the Markerwaard for a long time, the city has
turned away from the water. Because these plans are definitively off
the table, the water is more involved in the city and Bataviahaven
becomes a real harbor basin. Batavia Stad expands towards the water.
The municipality is also participating in Marker Wadden, a project
by Natuurmonumenten to create new (nature) islands in the Markermeer
just off the coastline of Lelystad.
Lelystad Airport is being
expanded to accommodate part of Schiphol's growth. The enlarged
airport may be taken into use after 2020. The new district of
Warande is expected to increase the population to 80,000.
The
Hanze line, a new railway line between Lelystad and Zwolle, was
completed in 2012. Since the end of that year, a train journey
between the two cities takes only twenty-five minutes. The north and
north-east of the Netherlands have thus come closer to the Randstad
in travel time by train. Stations were opened in Dronten and Kampen
and Lelystad station was expanded.
Together with
the municipality of Dronten and a small part of the municipality of
Zeewolde, Lelystad forms the polder Oostelijk Flevoland. This polder
is part of the Zuiderzee Works, fell dry on June 29, 1957 and is 4.8
meters below sea level. With a total surface area of 765.39 km²,
Lelystad is the third largest municipality in the Netherlands. Only
234.13 km² of this is land, the rest is water (IJsselmeer and
Markermeer).
Lelystad is bordered on the eastern side by the
A6. The second thoroughfare that runs through the city is the N307,
which runs from Hoorn to Kampen. Besides the largest municipality,
Lelystad is a city on the water. Lelystad has many ports for
pleasure craft and houses with private jetties.
Special numbering has been applied in various districts of Lelystad. There are 24 "districts" with individually numbered streets, followed by the house number, eg Kogge 10-20, Tjalk 15-01, Gondel 17-37 etc. This numbering mainly occurs in the alderman districts (Tjalk, Kempenaar, Gondel, etc.) , in the forest district (Kamp, Zoom, Griend, Horst, Wold, etc.) and in a few streets of the city center (De Veste, De Schans and De Stelling). These neighborhoods were mainly built in the second half of the 70s to the second half of the 80s of the 20th century. This system does not exist in the neighborhoods that were built before (Zuiderzeewijk and Atolwijk) and afterwards (Waterwijk, Lelystad-Haven, Landzinnwijk, Golfpark, Hollandse Hout, Landerijen, etc.). This system of street numbering is quite unique in the Netherlands. It previously occurred in Wijchen (de Blauwe Hof), Zevenaar (Zonegge) and Nijmegen (in the boroughs Lindenholt and Dukenburg) and Zeist (Nijenheim, Crosesteijn, Brugakker).
Primary education in Lelystad consists of various schools located in
the various residential areas within walking and cycling distance for
the students and their parents. There are public, Christian, Islamic and
interdenominational primary schools. Special education also has several
branches in Lelystad.
Until 2021, the municipality of Lelystad
had three schools communities: SGL (School community Lelystad), De Arcus
and De Rietlanden. In September 2021, these three schools merged into
one large school community (Porteum, located next to the old school
building of the Rietlanden in Campus-Midden), which belongs to the SVOL,
Stichting Voortzet Onderwijs Lelystad. In addition, there is Green
Education at Aeres and special education for students between 12 and 18
years old. The MBO, Roc-Flevoland, now known as MBO College Lelystad, is
located in the center of the city, with a branch in Almere.
Higher professional education is minimal in Lelystad. In surrounding
cities such as Harderwijk, Zwolle and Almere, higher professional
education programs are located that collaborate with the study programs
in Lelystad.
Lelystad only got a hospital relatively late. It was completed in
September 1982. It is located in the center near the train station. At
first it was much too big for Lelystad. This was due to the enormous
decline of the city in the early eighties. In the period 1981-1984 more
than 10,000 inhabitants left. This was partly due to the large-scale
housing construction in Almere. In addition, there were neighborhoods
full of rental homes at the time, while there was also a need for
owner-occupied homes. The hospital was opened during this recession, and
partly because of this, entire departments were empty. In 1990, the
hospitals of Lelystad and Emmeloord merged into the IJsselmeer
hospitals.
The hospital became known because the hospital drama
series Medisch Centrum West was recorded from 1987 to 1993. This used
the vacant fourth floor. The city itself also became more famous through
this series. The popularity of the series was a reason for the
municipality of Lelystad to cooperate, to promote Lelystad. The Dutch
Railways also cooperated and illuminated the then brand-new Lelystad
Centrum station to promote the new Flevo line. The series was developed
by the TROS and John de Mol TV productions (nowadays Endemol Shine
Group).
Otherwise, the hospital did not enjoy a good reputation.
In 2002, for example, there was an admission freeze imposed by the
Health Care Inspectorate because patient care could no longer be
guaranteed. In 2007, the IJsselmeer Hospital was once again at the very
last place in the annual list of the best Dutch hospitals published by
opinion weekly magazine Elsevier. Operating theaters were also closed in
2008 by order of the Inspectorate.
At the end of 2008, the
hospitals were taken over and renamed MC Zuiderzee, which was eventually
declared bankrupt in 2018. Since November 2018, the hospital has been
part of the St Jansdal Hospital.
Lelystad has four large industrial estates, Oostervaart on the
northeastern side of the city, Noordersluis on the southwestern side of
the city and Flevopoort and Larserpoort both on the southeastern side of
the city.
Lelystad is home to nationally renowned companies such
as McCain (potato fries and other potato products), Giant (bicycles),
Donkervoort (sports cars), Stipte (telecommunications), Feenstra Heating
(installers), AIS Airlines (airline) and Mac3Park (real estate).
In addition, the city has a few smaller business parks such as Groene
Velden, Gildenhof, Kempenaar, Jol, Tjalk, Sont, Ketelmeerstraat and
Griend with mainly local activities. These industrial estates are often
located on the edge of residential areas.
There are four large shopping centers in Lelystad: Lelycentre (the
oldest shopping centre), Stadshart (main shopping centre), Palazzo
(various shops in the field of home furnishings) and Batavia Stad, which
is best known for its many bargains. In addition, there are various
smaller shopping centers scattered throughout the city, such as in De
Botter, Tjalk, Waterwijk, Boswijk, etc.
Lelystad Airport
More
and more (small-scale) companies that are involved in aviation are
establishing themselves at Lelystad Airport. Such as the Lelystad
airline AIS Airlines. Because the airport is being expanded, more
activity is expected around the airport. It will be located at, for
example, the Larserpoort business park and Airport City Garden, an
initiative of the Municipality of Lelystad and interest group OMALA. For
example, two hotel chains have reported that they want to build a hotel,
both with 100 rooms, and a fast food chain wants to establish itself
near the airport terminal.
Until 1976, when the Houtribdijk was opened, the only connection
between North Holland and Flevoland was the Oostvaardersdijk, the
northwestern dike of Southern Flevoland, along the Markermeer. Since
June 8, 1969, the first bus service of the Flevo service between
Lelystad and Amsterdam ran over this dike, later extended to Emmeloord
and Kampen. The Gordiaan central bus station was located northeast of
the current Lelystad Centrum station. Lelystad was connected to the A6
in 1981, since then it is no longer necessary to drive via the
Oostvaardersdijk.
Since 1988, Lelystad has been connected to the
national railway network, at the time as the terminus of the Flevo Line
(Weesp – Lelystad), which was also completed in 1988. The city has one
station, namely Lelystad Centrum. In 2012, the Flevo line was extended
with the Hanze line between Lelystad and Zwolle. To this end, the
station has been expanded from two to four tracks. Lelystad
Opstelterrein is located north of the city. Trains are set up and
cleaned here.
A second station, Lelystad Zuid, has been ready
since 1988. It will be completed and put into use when Lelystad South is
built on. At the end of 2007, decisions were made about this residential
area - De Warande - and the associated station in the municipal council.
The ultimate goal of this expansion is to increase the number of
inhabitants to approximately 100,000.
The infrastructure within
Lelystad is characterized by separate infrastructure for cyclists on the
one hand and other traffic on the other (cyclists have completely
separate cycle paths). The cycle paths are led over or under the through
roads by means of bicycle bridges or tunnels. For car traffic there are
through lanes around the city and lanes towards the center of the city.
In and around the center this system has been abandoned and replaced by
level crossings, "De Groene Carré". As a result, various lanes in and
around the center have been diverted and various roundabouts have been
installed. The maximum speed on these lanes has been reduced to 50 km/h.
The ultimate goal is to divert traffic – which does not need to be in
(near) the center – via the so-called ring road (Larserdreef,
Oostranddreef, Westerdreef and Houtribdreef). This system does not work
effectively everywhere and causes traffic jams on the avenues and in the
streets around the station, especially around the evening rush hour.
In 2007, the cycle paths were tackled and, where necessary, provided
with better markings. This has made it clearer in which direction the
main shopping center (De Gordiaan) is located and in which wind
direction the cyclist is riding.
The city bus service is operated
by Arriva. The city bus service has thirteen bus lines, of which ten
"regular" bus lines (1 to 8, 13 and 16), two neighborhood bus lines (9
and 10) and one school bus line (612). The city service provides a
connection to the train station or center every half hour on (almost)
every line. In addition, regional lines depart from the station to
Emmeloord, Harderwijk, Nagele and Swifterbant. These lines are provided
by OV Regio IJsselmond. The bus connection to Zwolle was replaced in
December 2012 by the Hanzespoorlijn.
In April 2018, the first
part of the Flevokust Port was opened north of Lelystad. This
transhipment port is located near the Maxima power plant, near the
Vaarweg Amsterdam-Lemmer in the IJsselmeer. In addition to a
transhipment quay and a container terminal, Flevokust Haven also
includes a port-related industrial estate inside the dike.