During the past 25 years, Almere has turned from a small town into a notable location in the Randstad area. Being situated in the metropolitan area of Amsterdam the initial growth of population and businesses was due to the “overspill” of the capital city. Nowadays, the city’s expansion is majorly supported by immigrants from the rest of the Netherlands as well as from overseas. Both domestic and international companies are attracted to Almere by its impeccable infrastructure, proximity to Amsterdam and affordable office space. For instance, Yakult Group in Europe and Mitsubishi already have their EU headquarters in the city. These major Japanese companies share the city with European Csmart. The Dutch Government and the city of Almere have announced a doubling of the city by the year 2030. In this way, Almere will be the fifth biggest city. This massive growth is expected to have great impacts on the city and its region. The strategic plan, therefore, foresees the construction of 60 thousand residential units and the creation of 100 thousand jobs by 2030. The local authorities aim at an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable future with the massive population growth.
