Economy
The economy of Utrecht depends for a large part on the several large institutions located in the city. Production industry has a relatively small influence in Utrecht. Rabobank, a large bank, has its headquarters in Utrecht. It is the centre of the Dutch railroad network and the location of the head office of Nederlandse Spoorwegen. The former offices of Nederlandse Spoorwegen – De Inktpot – is the largest brick building in the Netherlands (the "UFO" featured on its facade stems from an art program in 2000). The building is currently used by ProRail.
A large indoor shopping centre called Hoog Catharijne (nl) is located between Utrecht Centraal railway station and the city centre. The corridors have been considered public places like streets, and the route between the station and the city centre is open all night. Over the next 20 years (counting from 2004), parts of Hoog Catharijne will disappear as a consequence of the renovation of the station area. Parts of the city's network of canals, which were filled to create the shopping center and central station area, will be recreated.
The Jaarbeurs, one of the largest convention centres in the Netherlands, is located at the west side of the central railway station.
One of Europe's biggest used car markets is located in the Voordorp district. It is open every Tuesday except on official holidays. With thousands of second-hand vehicles on sale the market is a special point of interest for customers from Eastern European countries who even organize special one-way bus tours for shopping there.
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Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Quidquid luce fuit tenebris agit: but also the other way around. What we experience in dreams, so long as we experience it frequently, is in the end just as much a part of the total economy of our soul as anything we “really” experience: because of it we are richer or poorer, are sensitive to one need more or less, and are eventually guided a little by our dream-habits in broad daylight and even in the most cheerful moments occupying our waking spirit.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Everyone is always in favour of general economy and particular expenditure.”
—Anthony, Sir Eden (1897–1977)
“The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get “a good job,” but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)