Just 20 minutes by train from Utrecht, in the small Dutch town of Culemborg, lies Lanxmeer: a neighborhood designed with and by its residents, where every path, garden, and shared space fosters connection, sustainability, and quality of life.

It’s not a rural eco-village, but a real urban district—with schools, offices, and public transport—created to be functional, self-sufficient and integrated with the natural environment.

Building with Nature, not against it

Lanxmeer was born in the late 1990s from a bold vision: to create a fully sustainable neighborhood on previously restricted, unused land. The project was initiated by Dutch biologist and planner Marleen Kaptein, who brought together experts, public officials and future residents to co-design a new kind of urban space.

Here, people live alongside wetlands, urban vineyards, shared gardens and ecological corridors. Homes are built with natural, energy-efficient materials, powered by renewables, and fully integrated into a system that protects water, soil, and biodiversity. The streets prioritize pedestrians and bicycles first. And cars? Parked on the edges.

A living, evolving community

What makes Lanxmeer unique isn’t just its design—it’s the co-creational spirit behind it. Residents meet regularly, make decisions together, and help manage the neighborhood. A local cooperative handles shared services, energy systems, and community life.

Over the years, Lanxmeer has become an international reference point: urbanists, architects and change-makers visit to learn how ecology, social governance, and participatory design can come together to shape living cities.

In a Nutshell

Lanxmeer is a sustainable neighborhood located in Culemborg, the Netherlands, created through a participatory design process that involved residents, experts and local institutions. Launched in the early 2000s, it now hosts hundreds of people and stands as a concrete model of regenerative urbanism.

Lanxmeer is a place where people live in close connection with the Earth—eco-friendly homes, renewable energy, urban agriculture, shared spaces and bottom-up governace.

A place to collectively take care of relationships, cultivate a sense of belonging, and nourish a greener vision of a the future.