Zaanstad

With its population of 136.000 Zaanstad is the fifteenth largest city in The Netherlands. The municipality was established in 1974 through the merger of seven villages/towns, noteably Zaandam. This feature makes Zaanstad unique: the dynamics of the city itself, together with the peacefulness of the villages and the extensive stretches of peat-meadow alternate in the Zaanstad landscape. This region has an industrial tradition of more than four hundred years, with many industrial monuments along the River Zaan as silent witnesses. This river is another important attribute of Zaanstad. This old peat route is 11 kilometres long.

When Amsterdam developed into a global trading centre in the 17th century, the Zaan Region joined this economic boom. Staple products stored in Amsterdam were refined here. No less than one thousand industrial windmills were built in the Zaan Region to this end. In the last quarter of the 19th century, the second period of prosperity for Zaan industry and trade began. Zaan businesses switched to the production of end products. In this way, the Zaan food industry emerged and its accompanying large food supermarket group.

In Zaanstad, some 22% of the population still works in industry. The food industry (including the large cocoa industry) is still prominent and Forbo Krommenie is the world's largest manufacturer of linoleum. The international retail concern Ahold grew into the Zaan Region's leading company. Many offices were developed in the vicinity of the Zaandam train station. These were occupied by a large number of companies coming from outside the region, because Zaanstad had become a vital component of regional economics and the job market. Office space is still available now, and there is space in the new industrial estates for industrial and service companies.

It isn't the most prestigious of places to live, much of the city itself is filled with archetypical 80's commie blocks, and the many industries ensure that it isn't always the most visually attractive of places. This in stark contrast to the more rural areas that surround the city, and form a part of Zaanstad. The primary population and industrial centre is Zaandam in the south, which borders the Westpoort Industrial harbor of Amsterdam. Zaanstad snakes along the river to the north, to the former villages of Wormerveer and Krommenie. Smaller villages are dotted around in the rural farmland that surrounds Zaanstad.

Fields of influence: Heavy industry, Agriculture, Sportsclubs

Haven qualities: Location up to 1, Size up to 3