center of Antwerp, and Wilrijk flourished. In 1810 Wilrijk had 1660 inhabitants, this increased in 1840 to 2275, and in 1875 it were already 3553, to become 6243 in 1900. It was a slow evolution, and Wilrijk evolved from a rural village into a small suburb. In the 20th century some of the Hoven van plaisantie were demolished, and their large surrounding parks were used to construct new housing projects. The primary goal was to create new urban areas after the First World War. The first new immigrants were mostly people moving from the city to the fresh air in the suburbs. Some of Wilrijk's districts that were created in this way are Eenheid, Elsdonk, and Valaar. Wilrijk as a suburban town When the population exceeded 20,000 inhabitants in 1928, the town acquired the Hof van plaisantie Steytelinck. From then on, Wilrijk had its own public park, close to the center. During the Second World War, Wilrijk suffered a lot because of bombardments by the Germans with the V1 and V2. 71 civilians were killed by as much as 65 bombs. After the war Wilrijk again started to grow rapidly. The agricultural character disappeared and was replaced by industry. Again many people migrated from the center of Antwerp to the suburbs. This time also the first high buildings appeared in Wilrijk. The population peaked. In 1950, 27.213 inhabitants, in 1956 30,000 and in 1964, 40,000. On January 1, 1975 the number of inhabitants was officially 44.219, from this day, the population decreased steadily. In 1960 the town council decided to renew the town center. This urbanistic project included some high buildings, a shopping center and a cultural center. It was agreed to create a large industrial area of 1.5 km² next to the important economical axes Antwerp-Boom (Boomsesteenweg (A12)). More than 6000 people are employed in this area right now. Because of the increase in traffic the Boomsesteenweg (A12) was modernised in 1958 (also because of the Expo '58 in Brussels). In 1978 the highway Antwerp-Brussels (E10, now called E19) and the R11 were constructed, further dividing Wilrijk into different parts. The communal road network was more than 200 km. Until then Wilrijk had been an independent town with its own town council and mayor, but this was about to change. Wilrijk as part of Antwerp On January 1, 1983 Wilrijk became, together with seven other communities – Antwerp, Berchem,