The Randstad ('rim city') describes the polycentric ring of cities — Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht among them — encircling a deliberately preserved rural interior known as the Green Heart. The idea, articulated in national planning from the 1950s, sought to keep the cities distinct and prevent them merging into a single sprawl. National policy used growth centres and open-space protection to maintain the structure. It remains a guiding spatial concept for the most urbanised part of the country.
The Randstad–Green Heart model is an influential example of consciously planned polycentric metropolitan structure and green containment.
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