Parkstad Limburg

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The municipalities of Parkstad Limburg

The Parkstad Limburg (German Parkstadt Limburg ) is a plusregio ( special purpose association ) of seven municipalities in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine : Brunssum , Heerlen , Kerkrade , Landgraaf , Simpelveld , Voerendaal and, since the church was founded in 2019, Beekdaelen . This urban agglomeration in the southwest of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands includes the eastern part of the former Dutch mining area ( Dutch Kempens Bekken or Kempens steenkoolbekken ), the so-called "Oostelijke Mijnstreek".

Around 250,000 people live in Parkstad Limburg.

The "Westelijke Mijnstreek" includes the communities Beek , Schinnen , Stein and the then independent community Geleen .

history

'Parkstad' is a local or regional association . Parkstadt Limburg is part of an older association of mining communities in the south-eastern Dutch coalfield (the so-called "Oostelijke Mijnstreek"). The municipalities of Brunssum , Beekdaelen , Heerlen , Kerkrade , Landgraaf , Simpelveld and Voerendaal work together in this regional authority .

The name "Parkstad" refers in particular to the new image of the former mining region, which after 1975 developed from a soot and dust-blackened mining area into a tourism and service region.

The old association was only effective to a limited extent because the decisions made there were not binding for the member communities. This became clear when the region was undergoing structural change as a result of the decline in coal mining. An investigation showed that the region offers many development opportunities. However, the potential has not yet been used sustainably. The best way to change this is to take joint and coordinated action by the communities. Therefore one saw improved perspectives in a structurally coherent region . Parkstad was built in 1999 at the initiative of local politicians T. Wöltgens , J. Pleumeekers and J. Zuidgeest .

The city ​​region of Aachen is a comparable municipal association in the German part of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine . Between Parkstad Limburg and the Aachen city region, there is Eurode , the twin city of Kerkrade in the Netherlands and Herzogenrath in North Rhine-Westphalia .

Goal setting and plan

When Parkstad was founded, the following priority objectives were set for the cooperation:

  • Elimination of the economic development gap compared to the rest of the Netherlands within a decade;
  • Use of the endogenous potential of the Parkstad as an urban border region.

This results in a large number of individual measures. Parkstad Limburg's development strategy is based on four pillars. In addition, a package of ten core measures was defined. The pillars and core tasks are:

First pillar: economic pillar

  • Key point 1: Action plan to improve training and teaching as well as to stabilize the labor market, possibly investment in the educational infrastructure.
  • Key point 2: Recruitment and settlement of commercial enterprises
  • Key point 3: Preservation and development of commercial areas or entire industrial and commercial areas.

Second pillar: spatial pillar

  • Key point 4: structure plan, d. H. scientific recording and mapping of the existing socio-economic structures;
  • Key point 5: improving the living environment;
  • Key point 6: Conception of a regional traffic and transport plan, ergo improvement of the traffic infrastructure;
  • Key point 7: Construction of bypass roads or so-called ring routes (nl .: ring ways)

Third pillar: social pillar

  • Key point 8: Development of a so-called cultural manifesto;
  • Key point 9: Welfare Action Plan
  • Key point 10: Action plan for the revitalization and preservation of the village and settlement centers or district centers.

Fourth pillar: strategic pillar

None of the core tasks are subordinate to this pillar. However, almost all points also concern an embedding in the overall strategy. They also benefit from a closed, strategic approach. Such points include contact or lobbying with representatives in the government and parliament in The Hague , in the Province of Limburg , in interest groups and in other areas.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gemeenten. In: parkstad-limburg.nl. Stadsregio Parkstad Limburg, accessed on January 4, 2019 (Dutch).

Web links

Coordinates: 50 ° 54 '  N , 5 ° 59'  E