In order to facilitate growth of the city, a significant rezoning of the southeast of the province of North Brabant was undertaken, in which part of the territory of the town of Veldhoven was added to Eindhoven.

A large tract of the Meerhoven area was formerly the PIROC terrain (Pantser Infanterie RijOpleidingsCentrum, English Armored Infantry Drivers Training Center).

As of 1 January 2010 the quarter houses 8640 people, which is expected to grow to 12.000 upon completion of the entire development project.

The term "Meerhoven" is often used to refer to the residential parts of the quarter, i.e., the neighborhoods Bosrijk, Grasrijk, Meerrijk, Waterrijk and Zandrijk.

Before the actual building started, a lot of time was spent thoroughly searching the grounds for leftover explosives from World War II, which are found in the area regularly.