To do this the farmers made use of the canal in Loosduinen, since this was the most efficient way to transport the fruits and vegetables in both a cheap and fast manner.

Furthermore, to sell their vegetables and fruits to nearby areas the farmers could make use of the Oude Haagweg, which is a road that has been used since medieval times and connects Loosduinen with the cities 's-Gravenzande and The Hague ('s-Gravenhage).

Within the local council this led to discussions about whether areas that were mainly used for cultivation and horticulture needed be used instead to build houses on.

This discussion took quite some time, but eventually led to an agreement which was supported by the majority in the local council in the 1950s.

The agreement called for the construction of houses and other buildings in the Leyenburg and Oud Waldeck areas.

The result of the agreement meant that the areas used for cultivation of fruits and vegetables in Loosduinen became significantly smaller for the first time in history.

This trend continued in the 1960s when the remaining horticulturalists in the Leyenburg and Oud Waldeck areas left and moved to other places.

Rather than spending time giving each quarter a unique look, the goal became to build as fast as possible to make sure people could be housed in the short term.

[4][5] Even though Houtwijk was a green area meant for the cultivation of fruits and vegetables for most of its history, it still has some marks left from this period.

[4] Houtwijk owes its name to the ancient path called Houtweg (roughly translated: Wood Road).

It used to run from what is nowadays known as Lippe Biesterfeldweg to the place where the Leyenburg hospital now stands, so roughly between the village of Loosduinen to the shopping mall at Leyweg.

The name indicates that the road ran through a wooded area, since a forest was called 'wood' in Holland in earlier times.

[4] Houtwijk can be reached in The Hague via several streets, such as Escamplaan, Margaretha van Hennebergweg, Oude Haagweg and Leyweg.

For example, Tram 2 has a stop at the Oude Haagweg which is only a few steps from the local shopping centre in Houtwijk.

Secondary main bicycle routes are located on the Oude Haagweg, Houtwijklaan and Leyweg.

Some years ago Eshof used to be also a primary school located in Houtwijk, but it moved away to a different area in the mid 2010s.

The owner-occupied properties and houses rented from social corporations are located sometimes in separate streets, but for most cases they are mixed.

Research done by civil servants pointed out that the residents of Houtwijk give their own home a score of 8.4 out of 10, which is the highest of all the sub-district's and neighbourhoods in Loosduinen.

As of 2018 there are many constructions ongoing in Houtwijk, for example, at the Oude Haagweg several apartments are being built, while others have recently been completed.