STRATEGY OPEN SPACE & BUILDINGS

PRIVATE OPEN SPACE

SPECIFIC CHARACTER

Compared to other European cities, Rotterdam has a very low building volume density, due to its reconstruction in the Modernist Era. The ratio is close to the inversion of most cities: 60% open space and 40 % built volume. This opens many action and design possibilities, but it also creates a vast open space that neither activates specifically nor allows a density of people or activities. This results in an excess public space that is unused and not particularly attractive, further reducing the density of moments of intensity. These open spaces are also not easily readable and leave doubts concerning their character, functions and usage. A higher density of building volume strengthens the public open space, gathering events, interesting sites, and therefore people, on a smaller surface. This leads to a better feeling of urban density. Many spaces that now seem public are not intended to be and therefore need to be excluded from the network of public open space. To localize the spaces with a greater number of qualities and potential, they are cataloged according to which specific criteria they meet: Criteria like e.g. the urbanistic clarity of the form, the embedding in the infrastructure net work, an already existing specific character of its own,

This is to be understood as a general direction of impact and is not contradictory to a blending or overlapping of private and public space. Especially the buildings of the Modernist Era are not aligned; consequently, the streets and open spaces are not well defined by the building volume, and sometimes it is not obvious how to handle an open space because it cannot be categorized as a street, square, or

simply interstitial space. Problematic are also the various functional access streets behind business buildings; they occupy valuable space in the center of the city without any program or attraction. They are practical and fulfill their functions well, but they also create large gaps in the continuity of the city fabric. The front and rear sides of these buildings create too stark a contrast within one building block, impeding a dramaturgically structured density of the city fabric.

24 HOURS ACTIVATED

a 24h-activity through different programs in adjacent buildings help assert which spaces have more potential and are worth strengthening. The remaining spaces are those that are best removed from the public network. This is achieved by making them clearly private or by using them as building surface.

URBANISTICALLY CLEAR SHAPE

STRATEGY / TOOLS | 45

OPEN SPACE_VISION

47 VISION | 47

PUBLIC TRANSPORT_STATUS QUO

49 ANALYSIS | 49

STRATEGY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

ANALYSIS PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

EXISTING TRAM STOPS

NEW TRAM STOPS

RADIUS 200m

RADIUS 200m

RADIUS 250m

The means of public transportation are usually located on the broad, busy streets and tram and bus lines do not ideally connect the points of interest and in this way are not conducive to activating the different areas of the city. The network of lines and stations, especially the metro, connects well towards the outer parts of the city, but within the city there is a lack of clarity and transparency of intent.

A balanced and strategically placed public transport network conveys a blend of functions throughout the city. If it is not a hassle to travel from one point to another, the businesses and private functions are no longer strictly tied to one specific area. The metro assumes the function of connecting the center with the outer parts of the city, while the tram connects within the city. By relocating the tramlines and shifting the stops to more strategic points, the latter is activated by the flux of people passing the infrastructure nodes on one hand; on the other hand they are activated simply by being more easily and quickly accessible. Movement is facilitated within the city, making it more attractive as a whole. Also, an efficient public transport network will help reduce the traffic on the large axes, weakening them to a point where they no longer cut through the city fabric.

RADIUS 250m

STRATEGY / TOOLS | 51

PUBLIC TRANSPORT / VISION

53 VISION| 53

ROAD NETWORK_STATIS QUO

55 ANALYSIS | 55

ANALYSIS ROAD NETWORK STRUCTURES

By boosting potential intraurban streets like Karel Doormanstraat, Meent and even Hoogstraat, a possibility is created to move within the city center without necessarily using the hierarchically higher axes. Many streets are dead-ends and do not lead to other major streets, making them not meaningful on the city level. Impasses are to be reconnected to the traffic network, ensuring an easy flow of traffic.

The existing hierarchies in Rotterdam ensure an implementation of a differentiated structure as opposed to a homogenous grid. At the same time large, busy streets like Weena, Coolsingel and Blaak slice through the city districts, often forming a barrier to areas located the other side of the street, especially for pedestrians. Pedestrian zones like Lijnbaan, on the other hand, are obstructions for cars and even for public transportation.

COOLSINGEL

WESTBLAAK

WEENA

(tram)

(2x tram)

STRATEGY / TOOLS | 57

POTENTIAL INTRA-URBAN STREETS Karel Doormanstraat - and through its position in the city even Hoogstraat to some point - already show many of the qualities of an intraurban street, making it easy to strengthen its potentials. Unfortunately it is abruptly disconnected along the Shouwburgplein, where only pedestrians can pass at the moment. This piece is to be reconnected to the whole road network and with a new tramline, public transportation is infused as an activation tool.

MEENT

Intraurban roads connect rather than separating parts of the city fabric and are accessible by various means of transportation, meaning they do not create a barrier on any city layer. They connect in both directions, joining one neighborhood with the other lengthwise, as well as crosswise, while not delimitating accessibility for pedestrians. They operate on a human-friendly scale, which requires the ability for pedestrians to cross the street easily. The structures are also far more small-scaled and fragmented than the ones of the hierarchically higher roads where high-rises and other large structures dominate. Public and commercial functions occupying the ground floor activate the street both during the day and in the evening when stores and offices are closed.

Instead of connecting linearly they work as a network space bringing points and areas of the city together, while at the same time remaining spaces themselves worth lingering in. The street space is not just infrastructure that is subtracted from the public open space, but a positive space that has specific qualities of its own. The connective character is further strengthened by diverse means of transportation.

Meent on the other hand is already one of the best functioning intraurban streets in the city center of Rotterdam. The proportions allow pedestrians to meander from one side to the other, with stores, cafés and restaurants attracting a steady flux of people. Cars are able to pass easily and people can find parking right along the side of the street: the road takes them right from one end of the center to the other.

COOLSINGEL

STRATEGY / TOOLS | 59

ROAD NETWORK_VISION

61 VISION | 61

CONNECTOR PLAN

CONCLUSION OF STRATEGY

Metro-Stops Bus-Stops Tram-Stops Singels Sport Track Streets Pedestrians Water Bridges Visual Connection Connection Spine Public Key Projects High Rise Area

STRATEGY | 65

STRATEGIC MAP / FOCUS AREAS

Connection Spine Catalyst Areas Green Zone Potential Zones Waiting Land Old Building with strong Identity New Buildings with strong Identity Public Buildings Proposed public buildings Free Space Parks Plazas Sport Fields Sport Track Train Metro Tram Bus Former RandstadRail Streets Pedestrians Conversion (Low Priority) Structural Development (High Priority) Reconstruction (Low Priority) New Projects New Projects Studio

STRATEGY | 67