Koomen, A..

Operatie Spaarnwoude. Van dorp tot recreatiegebied.

Historisch-Geografisch Tijdschrift 30 (2012) 104 - 111.

Het Noord-Hollandse recreatiegebied Spaarnwoude ligt ingeklemd tussen het westelijk haven- en industriegebied van Amsterdam, het Noordzeekanaal, Velsen-Zuid, Velserbroek, Haarlem en Halfweg en fungeert als groene 'buffer' in een verstedelijkt gebied, dat bovendien doorkruist wordt door autowegen en spoorlijnen. Het pittoreske dorp)e Spaarnwoude ligt middenin de weilanden en het even mooie Spaarndam ligt tegenover de Mooie Nel, een prachtig en druk bezocht watersportgebied. Aan het landschap in het recreatiegebied is duidelijk te zien dat het een aangelegd gebied is, verbonden door rechte rij- en waterwegen, afgewisseld met glooiende waterlijnen en mooie doorkijken. De recreatiegebieden Oosterbroek, Buitenhuizen en de Houtrak beslaan samen niet de omliggende polders en weilanden bijna 5000 ha. Over Spaarnwoude is al veel gepubliceerd, waarbij de nadruk meestal ligt op de periode van de jaren '70, toen het recreatiegebied gerealiseerd werd. Andere uitgangspunten van onderzoek zijn vaak de Tweede Nota Ruimtelijke Ordening uit 1966 of de ontwerpovereenkomsten met het Amsterdamse Bos. Bij een recente inventarisatie van het archief van het Recreatieschap Spaarnwoude werden notulen van vergaderingen, overheidscommuniqués, correspondentie, plattegronden en grote hoeveelheden onderzoeken aangetroffen, die een verhelderend inzicht bieden in de complexiteit van de transformatie van dorp naar recreatiegebied.

Operation Spaarnwoude: from village to recreation area

The recreation area Spaarnwoude in the Amsterdam area acts as a green 'buffer' in an urbanized area. In 1965 there were large farms lying scattered in the polders around the town of Haarlemmerliede-Spaarnwoude, where arable and livestock farming took place. On the 22nd of April 1965 the members of the municipal executive (College of mayor and aldermen) of Haarlemmerliede-Spaarnwoude assembled in order to discuss the disturbing reports in the media about the plans of the national government for the establishment of an oil refinery in the adjacent port area of Amsterdam and in the polders. They were concerned about the implications for the environment and decided to write to the Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning the same day. In the sixties of the last century the social-democratic Dutch government took effective financial measures and granted vast sums of money to stimulate the economy and the employment, expecting a large growth in population and migration to the west of the country, which would lead to an increase in urbanization. The establishment of an oil refinery in the Amsterdam harbour area was one of the first steps. This economic growth was expected to lead to more leisure and greater mobility of the working population. One of the spearheads of government policy was to provide for the recreation of the working class. This period saw the emergence of (day) recreation as a phenomenon regulated by the authorities. The municipal executive set up a 'Steering Group' in which aldermen from neighbouring towns and representatives from the province and the national government took a seat. Miss. Jacoba Mulder, the landscape architect who already designed the Amsterdamse Bos, was invited to design the recreation area. She deemed a park-like and varied landscape the most appropriate for the area. Numerous studies were made of the advisable development of the area, the traffic flow and the number of visitors to be expected, but the most important and ideological issue was to create a recreation area meant for all strata of the population. In the spring of 1969 the preliminary draft, the 'Voorontwerp', was ready; the plans were carried out energetically; grounds were expropriated and the realization of the recreation area was planned and executed according to a tight schedule. The area was to comprise a large number of facilities, such as a public golf course, water sport facilities, sunbathing areas and playing fields, camping grounds, animal parks, swimming pools, canoeing courses and other accommodations. By the end of the sixties of the last century one tried to create definite boundaries between the urban build-on areas and the open spaces in between. The initiative to create a public recreation area as a counterpart to industrial activities, arose from society and was supported and financed by the national authorities. Even now the most important task of the managers of the recreational area is putting a halt to the plans for industrial expansion of the surrounding large municipalities. In that respect the green 'buffer' still functions excellently in 2012.