It is impossible to keep up with the changes in Rotterdam Centre. The brilliant minds in the architecture world are designing beautiful plans for a green, sustainable and efficient city. Below we share what is planned for the coming period.
Not long now and we’ll be able to walk amid lush greenery from the Hofplein station all the way to the A20 motorway, in a new urban park being created along the almost two-kilometre roof of the old railway viaduct.
Hofbogenpark is being conceived as an inviting place for area residents and visitors to come together and keep fit in nature. The planting itself will encourage a wider diversity of animal life and have a cooling effect on hot days, while also helping to prevent flooding and drought. All these factors will support the city’s adaptation to a changing climate. For more information on this project, visit this link about Rotterdam Hofbogenpark.
Rotterdam’s ambition for the development of the Schiekadeblok is to create a lively, densely built and mixed urban hub that retains its unique character in terms of programming and public space. The recently adopted urban development plan illustrates what this might look like.
The plan centres on integrating reconstruction-era and modern buildings around a green urban meeting place, and on harnessing the area’s intrinsic qualities to amplify each other.
The next step in the process is adoption of the zoning plan, which is expected to become available for public inspection in May 2022.
The Luchtsingel – Dutch for ‘air bridge’ – may well be Rotterdam’s best known pedestrian walkway. With its distinctive bright yellow colour, this winner of Rotterdam’s first urban initiative became an instant attraction.
Currently, the Municipality is exploring options for the future of this landmark, which was originally built in 2012-2014 as a temporary structure for ten years. This year, the Municipality will assess how long the Luchtsingel can responsibly and safely stay up.
It will also work out scenarios for the bridge’s partial or full replacement with a new raised walkway. With the opening of the Hofbogenpark and developments such as ZOHO and the Schiekadeblok, traffic across the Luchtsingel is only expected to increase further in future.
