Westland Municipality

The municipality of Westland is a growing, diverse and ambitious municipality. Westland is one of eight municipalities in the Province of South Holland with more than 110,000 inhabitants and is home to one of the largest economies in the Netherlands, the Greenport.

With 65,000 jobs and nearly 12,000 companies, Westland is vital for the competitive position of South Holland. The unique chain collaboration between horticultural producers, suppliers of horticultural technology, the flower and vegetable auction places, trade and logistics is the strength of Westland and Greenport West-Holland.

This cluster has many prominent international entrepreneurs who are leaders in the field of sustainability and innovation. Not only the fruit, vegetables and flowers that are grown in Westland are exported around the world, the innovations and techniques developed by Westland entrepreneurs are also used worldwide. The added value of greenhouse horticulture production in the municipality of Westland now adds up to more than € 6 billion.

© Thierry Schut

Good accessibility of Westland is essential. Not only for the agrologistics sector, education, but also for commuting. At the moment it is often busy on the roads of Westland. Due to the growth in demand for mobility, the economy and the population, Westland's roads are becoming increasingly busy. To ensure a smooth and safe flow of traffic, the municipality of Westland is therefore focusing on fast, comfortable and separate routes for cyclists and pedestrians, making better use of and solving bottlenecks on existing roads, but also on a fast, frequent and comfortable high-quality public transport system also referred to as the public transport scale leap.

Good and well-functioning agrologistics are of great importance for a growing Greenport. A smooth flow of traffic on Westland roads is essential for this. By using smart innovative techniques, the existing road structure can be better utilized, transport can be further optimized and sustainability challenges can be met. The use of easily accessible transfer points, hubs and new forms of energy (such as hydrogen and electricity) will also require innovative solutions.

© Thierry Schut

Many residents of the region travel to and from the municipality of Westland on a daily basis. At the moment, however, there is a lack of a robust HOV connection, which means that many commuters, more often than we would like, opt for the car. To improve the connection between the various municipalities, we are focusing on an innovative high-quality public transport connection (HOV). An investigation into how this should take shape will soon start.

Given the distances within Westland and surrounding urban areas, much of the current commuter traffic can take place by e-bike. To this end, work is being done at a regional level on separate, traffic-safe and comfortable fast cycle paths. Innovative solutions are needed to make it possible to continue cycling along the entire route.

They have been involved in the Nefertiti project.

You can find out more on their website, or follow them on Twitter and LinkedIn.