Lunetten is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

in the southeastern part of the city of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

, that has approximately 12.000 inhabitants. It is mainly a

residential area A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resi ...

, since there is no significant industry present. Lunetten was constructed as an urban experiment mostly during the late 1970s and 1980s. It was designed and planned by a combination of students of architecture and urban planning and the then foreseen future inhabitants. A result of this was the use of a ring-road with many circular bifurcations running back onto themselves or with dead ends. In

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

this is called a ''Bloemkoolwijk'' ("Cauliflower-neighbourhood"). This urban setup results in the whole neighbourhood becoming like a single

living street A living street is a street designed with the interests of pedestrians and cyclists in mind by providing enriching and experiential spaces. Living streets also act as social spaces, allowing children to play and encouraging social interactions ...

, much like a distinct village within a city. Lunetten has a network of alleyways connecting the inner courtyards of the urban blocks. This creates a child-friendly neighbourhood with many playing spots. There are also many sports facilities within and around Lunetten. Lunetten is surrounded by major

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

and

highways A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

. To cope with the noise and

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

a park was created to surround and insulate the neighbourhood. Lunetten has the longest (140 meters) lightweight bridge in the world with a weight of 400 tonnes (Viaduct Nieuwe Houtenseweg). This was constructed on the A27 on the weekend of 3 and 4 March 2012.

External links

Website Lunetten
(only in Dutch)

Sources

{{coord, 52, 03, 44, N, 5, 08, 03, E, display=title, region:NL_source:nlwiki Districts in Utrecht (city)