Gender (stream)
The Gender () is a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It originates in originally marshy flatlands near Steensel and flows through Veldhoven and its eastern district Meerveldhoven in a general east-northeast direction towards Eindhoven. The Gender is one of many small streams that drain what once was the marshy heath and moorland of eastern North Brabant and the Kempen plateau. Similar streams include the Dommel, Kleine Dommel, Keersop, Tongelreep, Aa, Binnendieze and Run. All of these streams at one point or other merge to finally form River Dieze in Den Bosch, which in turn flows  into River Maas. Near Eindhoven, the Gender originally flowed just north of the medieval city walls, serving as the north part of the city moat, to end in confluence with the Dommel stream. As early as the fifteenth century, its course was diverted southward through the city centre, to provide the city with freshwater supplies and fire-extinguishing means. By the 19th century, the stretch within the old city had been filled in and the Gender now ended in De Vest, the city moat, which itself was connected to the Dommel. Archaeological excavations during the 1980s and 1990s before the  construction of a new shopping centre have brought several branches of the artificial inner-city section of the Gender to light, including a connection to the moat of Eindhoven Castle, which stood just east of the city walls. Nieuwe Gender. In 2005, proposals were accepted to have the Gender flow through the Eindhoven city centre once again: the Nieuwe Gender ('New Gender') project. The stream is to flow partially underground, partially above-ground from the Engelsbergen pond through the city centre and discharge into the Dommel near the railway station. As of the summer of 2006, large-scale city centre  reconstruction plans have included the implementation of the Nieuwe Gender, which is still in progress.