The Flexible City

Sustainable
Solutions for
Tom Bergevoet &
Maarten van Tuijl

a Europe
in Transition

nai010 publishers
The Flexible City
The Flexible City
Sustainable Solutions for a Europe in Transition

Tom Bergevoet & Maarten van Tuijl

nai010 publishers
 Content
Foreword 7

Prologue 9

1. The Inflexible City 29 1.1 Europe in Transition

31 1.2 The Need for Sustainable Solutions
33 1.3 System Crisis
35 1.4 From Urban Expansion to Reuse
37 1.5 From Supply to Demand
39 1.6 From Blueprint to Unpredictability

2. The Flexible City 43 2.1 Flexible Planning

45 2.2 Local Flexibility
47 2.3 Use-driven Flexibility
49 2.4 Time-based Flexibility
51 2.5 How Does Flexible Planning Work?

3. Instruments for a Flexible City 73 3.1 The Key Factors Determining Spatial Development
74 3.2 Organizational Flexibility
75 3.3 Organizational Instruments
86 3.4 Legal Flexibility
87 3.5 Legal Instruments
98 3.6 Financial Flexibility
99 3.7 Financial Instruments
110 3.8 Spatial Flexibility
111 3.9 Spatial Instruments

4. Examples of a Flexible City 126 Dachausbauten, Vienna, Austria

132 Rückbau, Barkenberg, Germany
136 Byens Hegn, Copenhagen, Denmark
142 The White Meat City, Copenhagen, Denmark
146 Phénix Charleroi, Belgium
152 Fra tomt til gront, Vestervig, Denmark
156 Südstadt, Tübingen, Germany
162 Sargfabrik, Vienna, Austria
166 Neighbourhood Contract Navez-Portaels, Brussels, Belgium
172 Hotel de Marne, The Netherlands
176 Panorama West, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
182 Made in Marxloh, Duisburg, Germany
186 Open Lab Ebbinge, Groningen, The Netherlands
192 Park Hill, Sheffield, United Kingdom
196 Prinzesinnengarten, Berlin, Germany
202 Hummerhus, Klitmoller, Denmark
206 The Gerard Anton Buildings on Strijp-S, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
212 Grond en Pandenbeleid De Coninckplein, Antwerp, Belgium

Acknowledgements 220

Credits 222
Foreword

The society of the future is not the backdrop to a to make cities and villages future-proof. In a process
science-fiction film. Right now, throughout Europe, regulated by the Environment and Planning Act,
you can find specific examples of solution how cities procedures have become faster and simpler, mak-
and regions are strengthening themselves, working ing it possible for people to be resourceful and ex-
on smart solutions to the complex issues they face. periment. However, integrating and simplifying leg-
Urban regions, cities and villages are hives of activ- islation is also an important task for the European
ity, creating networks of innovation and experimen- Union. This development creates a wealth of oppor-
tation that will provide answers to the challenges tunities, and it is therefore fitting that this book de-
of today and tomorrow. Take, for example, climate votes a whole chapter to the subject.
change or urbanization. Or trends such as our in- The days when spatial development was a govern-
creasing mobility and the need to keep cities acces- ment-only matter are over: increasingly, we are see-
sible and liveable. Or how we need to make the tran- ing citizens, companies and public administrators
sition to ‘the next economy’, which will be defined by creating the space to innovate by entering into part-
sustainable energy and the circular economy. nerships. In the Netherlands and in many European
An example well set is generally well followed, villages and cities these alliances are coming up with
which is why the Netherlands wants to showcase radical solutions to issues such as vacancy, the circu-
some outstanding examples of innovation during its lar economy, energy transition and the quality of life.
Presidency of the Council of the European Union in This book inspired me. I am convinced it will do the
2016. That way we can learn from and inspire one same for you. I hope you enjoy reading it.
another.
This book is about spatial innovation in European Melanie Schultz van Haegen
cities and villages. The writers, Tom Bergevoet and Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment,
Maarten van Tuijl, view innovation as the key to mak- The Netherlands
ing today’s European cities and villages future-proof
and flexible. They use practical examples to show
how we can make population centres more sustain-
able and make flexible use of the available space.
Our use of space needs to be adaptable so as to ac-
commodate the changing wishes and needs of ur-
ban populations and businesses. And there must be
space to experiment and innovate – in villages with
dwindling populations, for example, buildings that
are not listed can be demolished and replaced by
community gardens on the land that has been freed
up as a result.
The space for new initiatives must be available
literally, in cubic metres, but also more abstractly,
at a legislative level. In the Netherlands, legislation
provides scope for innovation, resulting in projects

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 Prologue

VESTERVIG SHEFFIELD COPENHAGEN EMMEN

Denmark United Kingdom Denmark The Netherlands
This book offers sustainable solutions for a Europe In an attempt to make this investigation as precise
in transition. and thorough as possible, we researched primary
In order to understand the state in which Europe sources, carried out interviews, visited locations, and
finds itself, why it is in transition and how sustain- called on our own experiences. This was not possi-
MARIESTAD
able solutions can help during this period of change, ble for every village and city: gaining an insight into
we first of all examined a number of European vil- the position, nature and extent of the transformation
KLITMØLLER
ULRUM AALBORG
ANTWERP
The Netherlands MORSØ Belgium
lages, cities and metropolitan areas. This prologue areas was sometimes particularly difficult because
ODENSE VILNIUS contains our findings. of their politically sensitive nature. This prologue
DUN LAOGHAIRE
How have our villages and cities developed over should therefore been seen as a general exploration
GRONINGEN
GARYP
LEEUWARDEN AALDEN
HAMBURG the last 100 years? What is their current state? of the subject rather than as a scientific study.
AMSTERDAM ASSEN
LONDON
DRACHTEN
EINDHOVEN HANNOVER BERLIN Which challenges will they face over the coming dec- The selection of villages, cities and metropolitan
ades? We have addressed these questions in word areas studied exposes the challenges facing Europe
GLASTONBURRY
ESSEN LEIPZIG
MAUBEUGE HARLINGEN
BYTOM
GENT

and image for as varied a selection of villages and cit- in the future and sets the scene for the rest of the
GENK
France The Netherlands

ies as possible: our research ranged from very small book, which describes solutions to the challenges
TÜBINGEN
VIENNA to very large agglomerations, agglomerations strug- described here.
MULHOUSE
gling with demographic growth and demographic
shrinkage, capital cities and peripheral communities,
BORDEAUX agglomerations with various economic backgrounds,
BRUSSELS KATOWICE all in different European countries. This not only re-
Belgium Poland
vealed differences between villages, cities and coun-
tries but also shed light on common themes.
Three maps for each village or city illustrate its
development from the Industrial Revolution onwards. Inhabitants:
The first two maps make clear that in the twentieth Vestervig: 700
UTRECHT HEERLEN century nearly all European villages and cities in- Ulrum: 1,300
The Netherlands The Netherlands
creased in size as a result of demographic and eco- Neue Stadt Wulfen: 8,400
nomic growth. The third map shows that future de- Harlingen: 14,500
velopments will mainly occur within existing fabrics Maubeuge: 31,000
and no longer in new expansions. Emmen: 56,800
LILLE KASSEL CHARLEROI NEUE STADT This third map shows the areas that are currently Heerlen: 88,000
France Germany Belgium WULFEN in transition: areas with a high percentage of vacan- Kassel: 195,000
Germany
cy, areas where buildings are outdated and in need of Charleroi: 203,000
renovation, areas that have been designated for rede- Lille: 228,600
velopment, decontamination, change of use or den- Katowice: 295,000
sification; areas where buildings are to make way for Utrecht: 334,000
open spaces. You could say that it is precisely these Antwerp: 510,000
areas that contain the greatest potential for sustain- Sheffield: 552,000
able development: after all, transforming the current Brussels: 1,175,000
situation into a better one is most urgent here. Copenhagen: 1,200,000

8 9
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Vestervig
Denmark
Inhabitants Vestervig: 700
Inhabitants municipality of Thisted: 46,000
Demographic prognosis mun. of Thisted: -7% until 2040
Village and Surroundings
The Danish North Jutland region is experiencing se-
rious population shrinkage, with a movement from
small to larger villages and from villages to cities.
This threatens the continued existence of the small-
est villages such as Vestervig. The population is ag-
ing, public services are disappearing and more and
more houses are vacant.
In 2007 Vestervig together with 20 other villag-
es was absorbed into the municipality of Thisted.
Despite the shrinkage, the municipality is attempting
to maintain the quality of life in the villages through
policy, support and financial assistance from the pri-
vate Realdania fund, on the condition that the inhab-
itants themselves come up with ideas for improving
the situation.
Challenges
Vacant and dilapidated buildings in the main street
in particular – visually the most important public
space in Vestervig – gave the village an unattractive
aspect. Under the motto ‘from a vacant neighbour-
hood to a green neighbourhood’, a number of the
village’s inhabitants joined together and collected
private capital that was topped up with money from
other funds. This enabled them to buy and demol-
ish dilapidated buildings in the main street that were
not crucial to the street’s appearance. Over recent
years 17 houses have been demolished and replaced
with public gardens or views of the splendid land-
scape. Besides demolition, the money received from
the funds is occasionally used to construct a new
building.
Legenda for page 12-27:
municipality
urban region
areas recently transformed, currently in transition
or coping with vacancy (indication)
10
Vestervig premodern village
Vestervig modern village
Vestervig village in transition
0 1 2 3 KM
Ulrum premodern village Ulrum
The Netherlands
Inhabitants Ulrum: 1,300
Inhabitants municipality of De Marne: 10,500
Demographic prognosis mun. of De Marne: -23% until 2040
Village and Surroundings
Ulrum and some 20 other villages have been part
of the northern Dutch municipality De Marne since
1990. The village enjoys a degree of fame as this is
where the Gereformeerde kerk (Christian Reformed
Church) seceded from the Hervormde kerk (Dutch
Reformed Church) in 1834. For most of the twentieth
century the village was a prosperous community of
shopkeepers and farmers. However, due to a scale
0 1
Ulrum modern village increase in agriculture and the exodus of young peo-
ple, the village population has been shrinking since
the 1990s. Because the municipality has decided to
centralize services in the nearby village of Leens (ap-
prox. 1,800 inhabitants), Ulrum has lost a number of
its own services, such as the school and the library.
Between 2002 and 2005 the village saw its num-
bers temporarily increase by 30 per cent when an
asylum seekers’ centre was located here.
Challenges
In 2010 several local interest groups established
Project 2034, a vision for the village’s future that re-
ceived widespread support among its inhabitants.
Project 2034, a reference to the historic year of 1834,
focuses on maintaining the quality of life despite
Ulrum village in transition the population shrinkage. The De Marne municipal
council, the Province of Groningen and a variety of
professional advisers have since assisted in imple-
menting the project, always bearing in mind the in-
habitants’ wishes, which include adapting the hous-
ing stock to meet the needs of the aging population,
improving public areas, and finding meaningful new
uses for vacant buildings, such as a community cen-
tre or church history museum.
0 1 2 3 KM
11
Neue Stadt Wulfen
Germany
Prognosis (1961) Neue Stadt Wulfen: 60,000 inhabitants in 1980
Inhabitants Neue Stadt Wulfen: 8,400
Inhabitants Stadt Dorsten: 76,030
Demographic prognosis Stadt Dorsten: -3% until 2020
Town and Surroundings
In the 1960s a new city for 60,000 inhabitants was
planned near the old city of Wulfen, in Germany’s
Ruhr industrial region. This new city, located near a
mine, was intended to provide housing for 8,000
miners and their families. Because the mine was
closed shortly after the city was founded, only 450
jobs were created. Even as it was being realized, the
original plans were modified and only partly imple-
mented.
In 1995 Barkenberg, as it was called by then,
reached its peak population – just 12,500 inhabit-
ants. Because of the limited employment opportu-
nities, inhabitants continued to leave and the popu-
lation aged, threatening the continuation of public
services. Many house were vacant and the city’s
population included a disproportionate number of
the disadvantaged.
From 2007 onwards, the first houses were demol-
ished as part of the Stadtumbau West (Urban Re-
structuring in West Germany) programme.
Challenges
Downscaling has been a challenge in Neu Wulfen
ever since the first plans were made, and dealing
with excess continues to be an important issue. Re-
cent citizens’ initiatives have deployed volunteers
and donations to keep the oversized facilities such
as the swimming pool and the town hall open. If the
demographic trend is not reversed, further down-
scaling is inevitable – after all, Neu Wulfen’s aging
population is increasing and young families are leav-
ing rather than settling here.
The government is assisting in the downscaling
by investing in the demolition of houses as part of
the Stadtumbau West programme. Although this is
a loss-making exercise, it is a sustainable solution
for areas struggling with structural demographic de-
cline.
0 1
12
Neue Stadt Wulfen premodern town
Neue Stadt Wulfen modern town
Neue Stadt Wulfen town in transition
5 KM
Harlingen premodern town
Harlingen modern town
Harlingen town in transition
0 1
Harlingen
The Netherlands
Inhabitants Harlingen: 14,500
Inhabitants municipality of Harlingen: 16,000
Demographic prognosis mun. of Harlingen: -3% until 2040
Town and Surroundings
The Frisian town of Harlingen is the leading Dutch
port on the Wadden Sea, the North Sea coastal wa-
ters that stretch from the Netherlands to Denmark.
This port, created in 1200, has always been the
most important source of income for the metropoli-
tan area. In the course of the twentieth century this
port expanded following construction of the Van
Harinxma canal and the Industriehaven port area
to compete with other North Sea ports. Parts of the
port are currently struggling with high vacancy lev-
els. This is of concern because the port is an impor-
tant economic indicator for the Province of Friesland.
Harlingen has an attractive historic city cen-
tre and is situated very near the world-famous
Afsluitdijk (Enclosure Dam). This impressive feat
of engineering was built by the Netherlands in the
twentieth century and turned the Zuiderzee sea into
the freshwater IJsselmeer lake. As a result, tourism
and recreation have become increasingly important
in the metropolitan area.
Challenges
As with many other European villages and cities, de-
mographic prognoses for Harlingen do not indicate
unequivocally whether the city will grow or shrink.
In order to stimulate growth, the municipality of
Harlingen and the Province of Friesland have joined
forces to make the city more attractive to newcom-
ers and business by reinforcing the qualities that are
already present in the city and the landscape. In the
old city centre, for example, historic buildings are be-
ing renovated to provide housing and thus increase
the number of inner-city residents. And the connec-
tion between the city and the Wadden Sea is being
improved by refurbishing and re-zoning parts of the
Nieuwe Willemshaven port. This development is in-
troduced flexibly and step by step, with the govern-
ment investing in public space and accommodating
private-sector initiatives through an open planning
process. This revitalizing project includes the con-
struction of a cruise-ship port so that larger groups
of tourists can be received very near the historic city.
5 KM
13
Maubeuge Maubeuge premodern town
France
Inhabitants municipality of Maubeuge: 31,000
Inhabitants Communauté d’agglomération Maubeuge
Val de Sambre: 102,500
Demographic prognosis mun. of Maubeuge: -5% until 2025
Town and Surroundings
The northern French city of Maubeuge expanded
greatly during the nineteenth century: the steel in-
dustry flourished here as it was easy to transport coal
on the river Sambre from the neighbouring Borinage
area in Belgium. After the city’s destruction during
the Second World War it was speedily rebuilt on a
modernist plan by the French architect André Lurçat,
starting in 1949. Initially the population grew rapid-
ly but growth stagnated after the coal crisis in the Maubeuge modern town
1960s, followed by a decrease in the population from
the early1980s onwards. Those who could afford it
moved to the suburbs, while the disadvantaged re-
mained behind in the centre, where the condition of
the modernist heritage has rapidly deteriorated: res-
idential buildings are rundown and shops are vacant;
the oversized public space is badly maintained and
dominated by parked cars.
The car industry is currently the largest employer
in the metropolitan area.
Challenges
The challenges in the metropolitan area are mani-
fold: any further deterioration of buildings must be
stopped, vacancy reduced and the supply of high-
quality housing expanded; the local economy should Maubeuge town in transition
also be diversified to make it less vulnerable to cycli-
cal fluctuations. If the city’s business climate im-
proves it will be possible to slow or halt the demo-
graphic decline.
Local governments are looking for strategies that
combine a number of goals. For example, a regional
plan for a green-blue corridor aims to link the banks
of the river Sambre, now deserted by industry, to
create a long recreational zone; and railway stations
– important links when the steel industry flourished
– are considered feasible locations for new economic
and spatial developments. The large open spaces
in the modernist urban fabric also provide opportu-
nities for new uses: a renewed appreciation of the
modernist heritage, as in the French city of Le Havre,
could give the city a new appeal and reputation.
0 1 5 10 KM
14
Emmen premodern village Emmen
The Netherlands
Inhabitants city of Emmen: 56,800
Inhabitants municipality of Emmen: 107,500
Demographic prognosis mun. of Emmen: -9% until 2040
Town and Surroundings
In the north-east of the Netherlands, a sparsely pop-
ulated region with many small villages near the
German border, Emmen acts as a regional centre.
Be cause of the zoo, an important driving force for
the local economy, Emmen is also known as the
Vlinderstad (Butterfly City).
In the nineteenth century peat cutting created
employment opportunities, causing the population in
Emmen modern town this agricultural region to grow. However, as coal be-
came more important at the beginning of the twen-
tieth century, demand for peat declined and poverty
in the region increased. After the Second World War
the government invested heavily in Emmen and the
surrounding area, resulting in the growth of industry
and urban expansion. The new residential districts
were based on a special, non-urban plan that gave
the surrounding countryside a prominent role in the
heart of the city and made every district self-suffi-
cient.
The closure of industries from the 1970s onwards
led to increasing unemployment again. The munici-
pality has since tried to diversify the economy by
attracting not only industry but also centres of ag-
ricultural expertise and stimulating tourism. In addi-
Emmen town in transition tion, more emphasis is placed on the city centre at
the cost of the residential districts’ self-sufficiency.
Considerable sums have recently been invested in a
new city centre and the zoo.
Challenges
Despite considerable investment, Emmen’s future
is uncertain: if employment opportunities do not in-
crease, the region’s demographic decline will con-
tinue, leading to a dwindling base for services. As it
is, 15 per cent of the shops in the centre of the city
are vacant. Fewer services mean the whole region’s
competitive position will deteriorate. The munici-
pality’s aim of increasing employment places it in
a difficult position. Although nearly 25 per cent of
the office space in the city is vacant, the municipality
still makes sites available for new companies to build
their premises. If the number of households declines
further, the vacancy rate for dwellings will also in-
crease.
0 1 5 10 KM
15
Heerlen Heerlen premodern village
The Netherlands
Inhabitants municipality of Heerlen: 88,000
Inhabitants Parkstad Limburg: 240,000
Demographic prognosis Parkstad Limburg: -17% until 2045
City and Metropolitan Area
In about 1900 three coal mines opened near the ag-
ricultural village of Heerlen. This resulted in a rap-
id population increase from 6,500 to 32,000 by
1930: within only a few decades the village had de-
veloped into the largest city in the Oostelijke mijn-
streek (Eastern Mining District) in the southern Dutch
province of Limburg, providing services such as a
hospital, schools and shopping centres. Coal min-
ing ensured that Heerlen was one of the wealthiest Heerlen modern city
municipalities in the Netherlands during the 1950s.
However, following the closure of the mines in the
1960s the population declined dramatically, and this
has only recently come to a halt.
In 1975, under the motto ‘from black to green’,
the Operatie sanering mijnterreinen (Mining Areas
Decontamination Operation) got underway. The
mines that had become economically worthless
were re-zoned; the cooling towers and smokestacks
were demolished and the slagheaps were levelled
and transformed into residential areas or parks.
Today there are few reminders of the city’s coal-min-
ing past.
Heerlen, together with a number of adjacent mu-
nicipalities, forms the joint administrative body Park-
stad Limburg. This body makes it easier to harmonize Heerlen cityin transition
regional approaches to issues such as employment,
tourism and the provision of services.
Challenges
The metropolitan region is facing important chal-
lenges such as developing a large-scale plan to make
existing buildings sustainable, strengthening the re-
gional economy by making the city more attractive
to newcomers, exploring new areas such as sustain-
able energy, and stimulating entrepreneurship. Be-
cause these issues require an integral solution in-
volving spatial, economic and cultural aspects, the
Parkstad municipalities and the Province of Limburg
decided in October 2013 to establish an IBA in Park-
stad: an IBA, short for Internationale Bau Ausstellung
(International Architecture Exhibition), is a tried and
proven German concept to transform regions that
are struggling with serious spatial and economic
problems. The Parkstad IBA is the first non-German
0 1 5 10 KM
IBA.
16
Kassel premodern city
Kassel modern city
Kassel cityin transition
0 1 5 10 KM
Kassel
Germany
Inhabitants municipality of Kassel : 195,000
Inhabitants Kassel metropolitan area: 229,000
Demographic prognosis mun. of Kassel: -1,0% until 2030
City and Metropolitan Area
Kassel is located in central Germany on the river
Fulda and is surrounded by forested areas. The city
enjoys international fame because it hosts the five-
yearly Documenta art event.
In the middle of the nineteenth century the con-
struction of the Main–Weser railway line stimulated
industrialization in the city, resulting in a population
increase. Kassel was targeted by aerial bombing
raids: 80 per cent of the housing stock was de-
stroyed. After the war the city was rebuilt according
to a new street plan with modern buildings and a
strong separation between traffic flows. The Unter-
neustadt (Lower New City), which had been vacant
since the war, was finally rebuilt in the 1990s. As a
reaction against modernist architecture, develop-
ment here was carried out using smaller develop-
ment cores and a traditional urban development plan.
Since 1970 the economy has become increasingly
reliant on institutions that provide services and edu-
cation such as the university. A number of indicators
show that the quality of life is high because of the
city’s proximity to nature and the high standard of
healthcare.
Challenges
In the coming years, the demographic situation in the
city will be stable – depending on economic devel-
opments, the population will increase or decrease
slightly. The municipality’s boundaries do not per-
mit new expansions, and new developments are
therefore realized through Innenentwicklung (de-
velopment within): densification of the existing city.
Another important issue is how to maintain the qual-
ity of existing buildings, most of which date from the
period of post-war reconstruction, without large-
scale interventions.
Although the city has many ground-floor fam-
ily dwellings, only 35 per cent of the city’s families
live in these dwellings; most of them are inhabited
by the aging section of the population for whom the
dwellings are in fact too large. Achieving a Genera-
tionswechsel (generation change), so that inhabit-
ants live in the type of housing best suited to them, is
a considerable challenge.
17
Charleroi
Belgium
Inhabitants municipality of Charleroi: 203,000
Inhabitants Charleroi urban agglomeration 600,000
Demographic prognosis mun. of Charleroi: +2.5% until 2025
City and Metropolitan Area
Until the 1950s, heavy industry in the Walloon city
of Charleroi made a significant contribution to
Belgium’s prosperity. However, following the coal
crisis, industrial activity declined and more and more
factories closed. Because soil decontamination and
renovation were too expensive, the city still had
many vacant industrial sites.
Following decades of demographic decline, this
municipality is growing again: because the maison
quatre façades (detached house) is still the preferred
form of housing in Belgium, most of this growth is
occurring in the suburbs. The centre of the city has
seen its population shrink from 35,000 inhabitants
in 1901 to just 17,500 now, and the decline is still
continuing.
Yet, although Charleroi has acquired a negative
reputation due to its economic decline, the city is be-
coming increasingly popular. Commuters from Brus-
sels settle in the metropolitan area because property
prices are lower there. The local airport, which is
now called Brussels South Charleroi Airport, is ex-
panding and making an increasingly important con-
tribution to the local economy.
Challenges
Improving the city’s image and the quality of life in
the shrinking city centre are important challenges
for the local government. With the help of regional
and European subsidies, the Phénix project trans-
formed the Ville Basse (Lower City) and the banks
of the river Sambre between 2007 and 2014: historic
buildings were renovated; public spaces protected
from the effects of traffic by constructing under-
ground car parks; a shopping centre was built as a
counterpart to the suburban shopping centres; and
the area around the train station was improved by
re-profiling the banks of the Sambre. The Charleroi
District Créatif series of restructuring projects for
the Ville Haute (Upper City) started in 2014 and
will be completed in 2020, again with regional and
European subsidies. In 2013 the city appointed a
Stadsbouwmeester (City Architect), who guards the
qualitative spatial development of the city through
projects such as Charleroi District Créatif and the
0 1
propagation of a new identity for the city.
18
Charleroi premodern city
Charleroi modern city
Charleroi city in transition
5 10 KM
Lille premodern city Lille
France
Inhabitants municipality of Lille: 228,600
Inhabitants Métropole Européenne de Lille: 1,100,000
Demographic prognosis mun. of Lille: +1,2% until 2025
City and Metropolitan Area
Lille has always been a trading city, situated as it is
on intersecting land and water routes. Because of its
strategic location, the city has often been besieged
and destroyed: the worst destruction occurred dur-
ing the First World War, when large parts of the city
were bombed. During the period of reconstruction
immediately after the First World War, fortifications
that separated the old part of Lille from the districts
Lille modern city that had developed as a result of expansion were de-
molished. The space that then became available was
filled up with infrastructure and industry.
During the Industrial Revolution the textile indus-
try developed in Lille, bringing with it great prosper-
ity. The stock market crash in 1929 put an end to this
industrial activity and prosperity, and poverty in the
city increased. A crisis in the metal industry led to a
second period of economic decline in the early 1980s.
From then on, the city started to focus on developing
a service economy: it is gradually getting up steam
and since 1990 the city’s population has been in-
creasing, following a decline of approximately 30 per
cent in the second half of the twentieth century.
Challenges
Lille city in transition Recently, the city has again succeeded in exploiting
its strategic position in the water, rail and road net-
work: with the construction of Euralille, a large traf-
fic hub in the high-speed rail network, Lille has re-
affirmed its position as a vital link between France
and northern Europe. And the Eurasanté and Eura-
technologies centres of expertise have also been es-
tablished in Lille, providing a vast range of activities
and training programmes related to health and tech-
nology. Under the motto ‘continuity’, Lille is currently
working on plans to expand Euralille, Eurasanté and
Euratechnologies. In 2004 Lille was the European
Capital of Culture: industrial complexes were rebuilt
as cultural centres known as Maisons Folies; they
are still popular and occasionally lie at the heart of
transformations in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Gare Saint-Sauveur, for example, is a former railway
station that currently functions as a centre for exhi-
bitions and debates about urban planning; it is also
at the centre of the transformation of the surround-
0 1 5 10 KM
ing Saint-Sauveur district.
19
Katowice
Poland
Inhabitants municipality of Katowice: 295,000
Inhabitants Vovoideship Silesia: 4,593,000
Demographic prognosis mun. of Katowice: -16% until 2035
City and Metropolitan Area
Following the construction of a railway line between
Wrocław and the Russian border in the nineteenth
century, the Polish village of Katowice quickly de-
veloped into the urban centre of the Upper Silesia
industrial region. The combination of rapid urbani-
zation, changing urban-planning ideologies, and the
effects of the market have resulted in an agglomera-
tion that has been characterized by a non-hierarchi-
cal chain of villages, factories, mines, cities, railway
lines and open landscape that continues to exist to
the present day.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Katowice struggled
with a shrinking population. When Poland became a
member of the European Union in 2004, more and
more mines were closed, in compliance with Euro-
pean environmental targets. Although this policy
was rewarded with European Union funds, large
sectors of the unskilled labour market were threat-
ened with unemployment. As a result, unskilled work-
ers and craftsmen have gone to work abroad, in Ger-
many or England for example. In the meantime, a new
economy of education, trade and creative industries
is above all a magnet for the highly educated’. This
has led to the unusual combination of a shrinking pop-
ulation, a growing economy and low unemployment.
Challenges
To capitalize on the economic opportunities and
stop the population decline, Katowice must create a
more attractive climate for newcomers, especially
for young people and the highly educated. The chal-
lenges in this regard are legion: public transport
must be given an impulse, the green areas in the
city must be better protected and made accessible,
and the public space must be enhanced to make it
more attractive for rest and recreation. The city also
needs a better cultural infrastructure: although the
last ten years have seen investments in the restora-
tion of historic buildings such as the railway station,
the Silesian Museum and the public library, the cen-
tre still struggles with a large number of vacant and
run-down buildings, and newcomers prefer to settle
in the suburbs. There is a need for affordable hous-
ing and retraining programmes to stop the exodus of
0 1
unskilled workers and craftsmen.
20
Katowice premodern city
Katowice modern city
Katowice city in transition
5 10 KM
Utrecht premodern city
Utrecht modern city
Utrecht city in transition
0 1 5 10 KM
Utrecht
The Netherlands
Inhabitants municipality of Utrecht: 334,000
Inhabitants regional cooperative organization U10: 700,000
Demographic prognosis mun. of Utrecht: +21% until 2025
City and Metropolitan Area
Utrecht is one of the oldest and fastest growing cit-
ies in the Netherlands. The city is centrally located,
surrounded by attractive scenery, easily accessible
and has a good cultural climate. The city is a magnet
for young people because of its high concentration of
institutions for higher education and a plentiful sup-
ply of new housing, both in the existing city as well
as in the most recent large-scale urban expansion
called Leidsche Rijn. Utrecht has a highly educated
population and a strong services sector. However, as
in the rest of the Netherlands, there is an oversupply
of office space, which has led to high rates of vacan-
cy in the more peripheral, vulnerable sections of the
regional market for commercial premises.
Challenges
To protect the landscape, the Province of Utrecht
has drawn so-called rode contouren (red contours)
around cities and villages, imaginary ‘legal’ lines out-
side of which only limited building is permitted. The
Provinciale structuurvisie, or PRS (Vision for Provin-
cial Structure), is a programme that provides for the
construction of 68,000 houses until 2028 to cater
for the forecast growth; most of them are to be lo-
cated within the red contours. This means that most
of the forecast urban growth in the coming years will
have to be absorbed within the city’s boundaries. A
separate issue is the extent to which vacant offices
in the region can be structurally converted into high-
quality housing. Demand for affordable housing for
starters in particular will be high in the coming years.
The province’s PRS programme limits new office
construction. It stimulates either the transformation
of vacant office blocks into, or their demolition and
replacement with, new housing: the aim is to cre-
ate a balanced supply of new housing. Besides this,
the city, region and province are improving the infra-
structure: the world’s largest bicycle parking area
has recently been opened at the central station; the
city is constructing a tramline to the Utrecht Science
Park as well as several bridges to reduce the spatial
segregation between various quarters of the city
that has been created by infrastructural lines such as
railway tracks and motorways.
21
Antwerp Antwerp premodern city
Belgium
Inhabitants city of Antwerp: 510,000
Inhabitants arrondissement Antwerp: 960,000
Demographic prognosis city of Antwerp: +20% until 2030
City and Metropolitan Area
The Flemish city of Antwerp, situated on the riv-
er Scheldt, has the second largest port in Europe
(only the port of Rotterdam is larger). This mercan-
tile centre has attracted newcomers since the six-
teenth-century Golden Age, and Antwerp still has an
extremely diverse population that includes 170 na-
tionalities.
Its increasing popularity in recent decades has led
the city to renovate the nineteenth-century centre Antwerp modern city
and ring. Most of the population increase over the
last ten years has occurred within these areas, and
the city expects the population increase to continue
over the coming decades. This will cause growing
pressure on the city’s already overburdened infra-
structure and, by extension, on the quality of life in
the city. The city therefore intends to use the pop-
ulation increase as an opportunity to improve and
renovate the large, space-gobbling expansions in the
twentieth-century belt, outside the nineteenth-cen-
tury belt and the Singel.
Challenges
Due to the Flemish system for spatial planning, the
government has only limited influence on the city’s
development. Antwerp is therefore seeking innova- Antwerp city in transition
tive ways to get to grips with the challenges that go
hand in hand with urban growth. It aims to prevent
further suburbanization, reduce the pressure on
parking, and expand public transport in order to al-
leviate the pressure on infrastructure. At the same
time, this is an opportunity to create new, sustain-
able residential areas with district heating, schemes
for sharing cars or bicycles, and neighbourhood park-
ing areas.
In recent years, urban renewal in the city of Ant-
werp has mainly occurred in the area within the belt-
and the Singel, and the maximum density in this
zone has been reached. The renovation of the twen-
tieth-century ring is a logical next step in view of the
potential to combine densification and urban renew-
al here. Labo XX is a quest to see how spatial con-
sumption, which was unique to twentieth-century
urban development, can be exchanged for reuse, re-
conversion and recycling.
0 1 5 10 KM
22
Sheffield premodern city
Sheffield modern city
Sheffield city in transition
0 1 5 10 KM
Sheffield
United Kingdom
Inhabitants city of Sheffield: 552,000
Inhabitants Sheffield metropolitan area: 1,370,000
Demographic prognosis city of Sheffield: +20% until 2040
City and Metropolitan Area
The northern English city of Sheffield is located at
the confluence of five rivers in the Don valley at the
foot of the Pennines. Local innovations in the pro-
duction of stainless steel resulted in a rapid ten-fold
increase in the city’s population during the nine-
teenth century. In the 1980s the city lost its shine:
increasing international competition and the closure
of nearby coal mines led to the loss of many indus-
tries and high unemployment. However, at the be-
ginning of the twenty-first century financial assis-
tance from the European Union led to successful
investments to support a new urban economy: sig-
nificant investment was and continues to be made,
leading to the transformation of a number of brown-
fields and greatly improved public spaces in the
city centre, where the population is now increasing.
Sheffield has become a thriving knowledge and ser-
vices centre, boasting financial institutions and two
large city-centre university campuses.
The hills surrounding the city are unsuitable for
industry and, as a result, Sheffield has always re-
tained its beautiful setting, with nature even extend-
ing into in the heart of the city. This ‘golden frame’
currently acts as a magnet for newcomers.
In 2007 rivers burst their banks, causing consid-
erable damage, and the incidence of flooding is ex-
pected to increase due to climate change.
Challenges
Despite its history of heavy industry, the area’s bio-
diversity has recently recovered well thanks to pro-
tective measures. The Sheffield City Council aims
to improve residents’ contact with nature by extend-
ing the network of slow traffic routes for walking
and cycling, with ambitious targets for modal shift.
Currently, the Environment Agency is working on
several flood alleviation schemes to address the
impact of the 2007 floods and projected future wa-
ter levels. And with nature so prominent in the city,
Sheffield’s ambition is to become an urban example
for green design.
The new prosperity must be evenly distributed
across the city: pressure on the housing market in
the south-west of the city must be alleviated while
the quality of life in the residential areas to the north
needs to be improved.
23
Copenhagen
Denmark
Inhabitants Hovedstadsområdet København: 1,200,000
Inhabitants Øresund region: 3,843,000
Demographic prognosis Hovedstadsområdet København:
+10% until 2020
City and Metropolitan Area
The Danish capital Copenhagen and the Swedish
city of Malmö together form the Øresund region, the
largest urban region in Scandinavia. The construc-
tion of the 16-kilometre-long Sont bridge for road
and rail traffic in 2000 has contributed to the crea-
tion of a single economic region.
Following an economic recession at the end of
the twentieth century, Copenhagen has been trans-
formed from a stagnating industrial city into a city
with an internationally competitive service economy;
this has gone hand in hand with the transformation
of many former port and industrial zones into resi-
dential areas. The city is popular and scores high in
international rankings for quality of life, business cli-
mate, and environmental policies.
Although northern and western parts of Denmark
are struggling with a shrinking population, Copen-
hagen expects a considerable increase in popula-
tion. This must not affect the so-called Finger Plan,
which structured the city’s growth during the twen-
tieth century and gives nature a prominent place in
the city. In order to protect this urban structure the
Hovedstadsområdet, a special administrative region,
has been established for the greater Copenhagen
area.
Challenges
Copenhagen aims to be the first CO2-neutral city
in the world by 2025, and it is experimenting widely
with solutions to achieve sustainability. The guiding
principle for the city’s development is that growth
must not lead to a deterioration of the urban climate
but in fact contribute to a higher quality of life and
further sustainability.
To accommodate the forecast growth, the city has
several transformation areas at its disposal, includ-
ing former industrial and port zones. Improvements
to the infrastructure are being effected by extending
and improving the network of cycle paths, and the
construction of a new underground train line.
0 1
24
Copenhagen premodern city
Copenhagen modern city
Copenhagen city in transition
5 10 KM
Brussels premodern city
Brussels modern city
Brussels city in transition
0 1 5 10 KM
Brussels
Belgium
Inhabitants Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest: 1,175,000
Inhabitants Brussels metropolitan region: 1,997,000
Demographic prognosis Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest:
+8.3% until 2030
City and Metropolitan Area
Brussels is both the capital city of Belgium and the
capital city of the European Union; it also hosts the
headquarters of NATO. Brussels has long been an
administrative centre with a strong services sector,
and has always acted as a magnet for lobbyists, dip-
lomats and multinationals. The city expects a con-
siderable increase in population over the coming
decades.
Since 1989 the Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest
(Brussels-Capital Region) has had an independent
form of government, the equivalent of the govern-
ments of the Flemish region and the Walloon re-
gion. This has made it easier for Brussels to imple-
ment its own agenda in matters such as the quality
of life in the residential districts. The Hoofdstedelijk
gewest has been working to improve the qual-
ity of life in centrally located city neighbourhoods
through the Duurzaam wijkcontract (Sustainable
Neighbourhood Contract).
Parts of the Brussels metropolis are located in both
the Flemish and the Walloon regions, which makes
the spatial development of the metropolis as a whole
difficult to administer. In 2012 special legislation es-
tablished the Brusselse hoofdstedelijke gemeen-
schap, a consultative body whose mission is to im-
prove coordination between the various governments
(federal, regional and municipal) within the greater
Brussels metropolitan area.
Challenges
To prevent further suburbanization outside the Hoofd-
stedelijk Gewest (Brussels-Capital Region) bounda-
ries, the Brussels government intends to accommo-
date most of the predicted population growth in the
so-called Kanaalzone. In this centrally located area
manufacturing and industry will make way for a
mixed residential-work environment. If this transfor-
mation assignment succeeds, green areas in the city
can remain undeveloped and further traffic conges-
tion of the road network will be prevented. The de-
velopment of the Kanaalzone has a dimension that
spills over the borders of the Hoofdstedelijk Gewest
(Brussels-Capital Region), and it will benefit from
the establishment of the Brussels Hoofdstedelijk
Gemeenschap consultative body.
25
1. The Inflexible City

The enormous growth in European economies and popu­­­

lations during the twentieth century led to the ex­­pansion of
virtually every European city, town and village.

But this growth seems to have reached its limit as space

be­comes scarcer, the demographic makeup changes and
Europe’s economic future appears more uncertain. Our
cities, towns and villages cannot continue to expand at the
same rate in the coming decades. Instead, they will need
to be altered and improved, with infill or demolition to meet
future demands. In other words, they have to become more
sustain­able.

In this chapter, we will explain why enhanc­ing the sus­

tainability of existing parts of our cities, towns and villages
requires more flexibility than the construction of new
districts and urban sprawl.

back to content
 1.1 Europe in Transition
Europe is in transition. After a long period of con-
sistent economic and population growth from the
Second World War on, at the start of the twenty-first
century the continent is facing a crisis on several
fronts. Structural changes in the region’s demog-
raphy, economy and ecology are forcing us to relin-
quish many things we took for granted until recently,
such as increasing prosperity, social security for all,
low raw material prices and political stability. Future
generations will live in a different Europe to the one
we know now.
Firstly, demographic changes will have far-reach-
ing consequences. After a century of population
growth, Europe is expected to be the first continent
to experience population decline in the next few dec-
ades. This decline in the population will not be evenly
spread. Population shrinkage is most likely to af-
fect economically weaker peripheral and rural areas
whereas some urbanized regions are still expected
to see population growth. This will result in a grow-
ing gap between regions within Europe.
As an early signal of the imminent decline, the
population is already ageing in many parts of the
continent. This means that the labour force is de-
creasing in size while the costs of pensions and
health care are increasing. This is one reason why
the economic growth experienced in recent decades
is unlikely to continue. While young economies are
emerging in other parts of the world, living stand-
ards in Europe are under pressure, we are experienc-
ing ever greater divergence between different sec-
tions of the population and our competitive position
Demographic transition 2000-2010 in promille (source: Eurostat). on the international market is no longer so secure.
The economic growth of the past century has left
< -8 -2 – 0 4–8
its mark on our continent. Our supplies of raw mate-
-8 – -4 0–2 >8 rials have been depleted, our air is polluted and our
0 200 400 600 800 KM
-4 – -2 2–4 no data soil contaminated. Restoring our quality of life re-
quires major investments while raw materials such
as oil, metals and phosphate are becoming more
28
scarce in other parts of the world too, and therefore
more expensive.
Finally, courageous political decisions will need to
be taken if Europe is to maintain a high quality of life.
However, in a continent that espouses democracy it
is difficult to make decisions that impact negative-
ly on the purchasing power of large sections of the
population. Europe is therefore facing a crisis of gov-
ernance as well.
The changes that Europe is undergoing are re-
flected quite directly in the spatial challenges fac-
ing our cities, towns and villages. While the past
century with its growing population was dominated
by the need to house increasing numbers of people
by means of urban expansion, populations are now
set to shrink in many places. Where the demand for
housing is still growing, the demand for a healthy,
heterogeneous living environment is at odds with
the solution of further urban growth. This is forcing
us to think harder about area transformation and re-
use. In addition, housing requirements are becoming
increasingly diverse due to migration and the ageing
population profile. Furthermore, the funds available
for investment are decreasing in many places due
to increased economic uncertainty, whereas in fact
greater financial commitments are required for im-
provements to the quality of life. Finally, the spatial
domain is also facing its own crisis of governance.
Administrative borders often no longer coincide with
the natural limits of cities, towns and villages. This can
make the transformation of existing urban districts
problematic and local people do not always feel that
their views are being adequately represented.
Our cities, towns and villages will face challenges
in the coming decades that are fundamentally differ-
ent to the challenges of the twentieth century. It is
therefore clear that far-reaching reforms are needed
in the spatial development of our cities, towns and
villages.
29
 1.2 The Need for Sustainable Solutions
Sustainability can mean many different things. This
concept is usually associated with energy saving or
recycling materials. However the concept is broader
than that.
Ageing in 2030 Reduction life expectancy due to exposure to PM 2,5
Synthetic index of ageing in 2030 (mean age/ (data from 2000). In general, sustainability means treating with care
healthy life expectancy) (data from 2011) Number of months: all goods, conditions and features that are scarce
resources. A sustainable living environment, for ex-
0% 58% 0-1 6-9
ample, is a living environment in which responsible
49% 61% 1-2 9 -12 use is made not only of energy and raw materials,
52% no data 2-4 12 - 36 but also of open spaces and greenery. A sustainable
55% 4-6 society is also an inclusive society in which wealth
and prosperity are attainable for everyone, and no
groups are left out. In a sustainable society, building
structures are sufficiently resilient to cope with fu-
ture changes and unpredictable external influences
without collapsing; the same applies to immaterial
features such as networks, agreements and fund-
ing. After all, sustainable also literally means ‘future-
proof’.
From this perspective, the challenges facing Eu-
rope’s cities, towns and villages can be summarized
as the need to achieve greater sustainability.
When open spaces and greenery have become
scarce resources, the further expansion of cities,
towns and villages is not a good idea. It is better to
make adjustments to existing urban areas, with in-
fill where necessary. This is possible by redevelop-
ing existing structures and plots that have become
vacant. If further urban growth is avoided, the infra-
structure can also remain compact, which helps air
Youth unemployment Population at risk of poverty or social exclusion quality. The redeployment of buildings that become
(data from 2013) (data from 2011) vacant is a good solution even when demand for
space is falling rather than rising. This prevents per-
10% 50% < 16,1% > = 33,9%
manently high vacancy levels and boosts the quality
20% 60% 16.1% – 20.1% no data
of life.
30% no data 20.1% – 25.7%
A sustainable society is one where residents and
25.7% – 33.9% 0 400 800 KM
40% entrepreneurs have a say in the development of
their area. Only then can the supply of space remain
aligned with the changing attitudes and require-
30
ments of users and can high vacancy levels – which
are a kind of wastage – be avoided. There is a need,
for example, for alternative types of housing now that
the population is ageing, while renewed apprecia-
tion for manufacturing and crafts has led to growing
demand for appropriate workshops. Big-scale mar-
ket forces often do not result in a sufficiently rapid
response to such changes in the demand for space
so there needs to be sufficient opportunity for ini-
tiatives from the users themselves, including smaller
players. The quest for a new form of governance that
allows for such private initiatives can be seen as one
way of enhancing the sustainability of society.
If our cities, towns and villages are made more
sustainable, they will last longer. This means that the
decisions we take today have to be such that there
is still room for new insights in the future. The more
flexible our buildings are, the better they will be able
to cope with future requirements. Greater diversifi-
cation and less uniformity in the supply of housing
and other space in our cities, towns and villages can
make them less vulnerable to future economic cycli-
cal effects. Enhancing the sustainability of the living
environment means creating an environment that is
attractive not just for people today but also for peo-
ple in the future, under conditions that we do not yet
know.
In Europe, there is a growing willingness among
residents, entrepreneurs, administrators and archi-
tects to improve sustainability. But that is easier said
than done. In practice, enhancing the sustainability
of Europe’s villages and urban areas seems to be dif-
ficult.
31
 1.3 System Crisis
If we are to understand how our culture of spatial de-
velopment has to be changed in order to make our
cities, towns and villages more sustainable, we first
need to understand that culture.
The period of rapid growth in European popu-
lations and economies stems from the Industrial
Revolution that started in the eighteenth century and
Shop vacancy rate in Belgium Housing vacancy rate in Germany spread throughout Europe. The population of Europe
grew by a factor of four in just over two centuries,
less than avarage high less than 2% 6% to < 8%
from 187 million people in 1800 (source: Ferdinand
avarage 2% to < 4% 8% to < 10%
Braudel) to 830 million people in 2009 (source: UN).
more than avarage 4% to < 6% greater than 10% This demographic development led to a formidable
growth spurt in European cities, towns and villages.
Initially, this growth was unplanned and uncoordinat-
ed, as was the case in the Ruhr area in Germany and
the Borinage region of Belgium. As a result, workers
ended up being housed in very poor conditions.
Social democratic movements in various Euro-
pean countries led to initiatives in the early twentieth
century for the improvement of the health of people
living in urban slums. In Germany, a minimum sub-
sistence level (Existenzminimum) was defined. In the
Netherlands, the public authorities acquired a lead-
ing role in spatial planning through the 1901 Housing
Act. In 1928, an international group of leading archi-
tects and town planners drew up the Declaration of
La Sarraz, a plea for the standardization of building
output. This would enable high-quality housing to be
built cheaply and in large volumes in new districts
with plenty of greenery outside the historic city lim-
its. Residential areas should be kept separate from
work, which at that time meant heavy industry. An
extensive infrastructure would make sure that peo-
ple could travel to work.
Housing vacancy rate in Ireland Office vacancy rate in the Netherlands These guiding principles were adopted by all Euro-
pean governments to a certain extent in the first
less than 5% 15% to < 20% less than 5% 15% to < 20%
half of the twentieth century. This resulted in a hy-
5% to < 10% 20% to < 25% 5% to < 10% 20% to < 25%
per-efficient construction economy that was fully
10% to < 15% greater than 25% 10% to < 15% greater than 25% equiped to produce vast quantities of standardized
32
housing in short order, from its organizational struc-
tures to its professional mindset and from the legis-
lation to the business models and production meth-
ods. Although there were attempts in Denmark in
the second half of the twentieth century to develop
forms of building that did justice to the specific qual-
ities of the landscape, this was still based on rational
mass production. Even in Belgium, where the cen-
tral coordination of urban growth had little success,
commercial forces ensured standardization and an
increase in scale within the building industry. Even
in recent decades, in which Europe has seen a shift
from industry to a service economy, many buildings
were added on the outskirts of towns.
This approach has provided an effective answer
to the persistently high demand for space for almost
a century. At the moment, however, the specific fea-
tures of this system, focused as it is on quantity, are
standing in the way of a more sustainable solution.
Now that the demand for space is increasingly about
quality than quantity, the system is starting to fail.
The existing set of instruments is not flexible enough
to respond satisfactorily to the new situation. There
is a need to redevelop spaces that fall vacant in ex-
isting urban areas, for example, in order to spare the
surrounding countryside but the current instruments
are mainly geared to urban expansion and new build-
ings. There is also a need for a more user-oriented
approach but the instruments are supply-oriented.
Furthermore, there is a need for an approach that
can cope with unpredictability but the existing in-
struments are very much geared to long-term objec-
tives. There is a crisis in the system. European towns
and cities have become inflexible.
If we want to make our towns and cities more sus-
tainable, we will have to look for a more flexible set of
instruments that can make transformation possible,
that foregrounds users’ requirements and that en-
sures a future-proof urban environment.
33

1. The edges of the city are expanding; in the centre many buildings are vacant.
2. The qualities of the vacant buildings are rediscovered and reused.
3. Attracted by the special options for use, new users establish themselves in the building.
34
1.4 From Urban Expansion to Reuse
Urban Sprawl
Nearly every European city, town and village grew
considerably in the twentieth century because of
the unprecedented growth in European economies
and populations. As a result, the stock of property
in Europe increased rapidly. Existing properties now
require maintenance and have to undergo altera-
tions to meet changing requirements, for example
regarding energy efficiency. The maintenance of the
existing stocks is therefore becoming an increasing-
ly important task for European towns and cities.
Although parts of Europe are still experiencing
population growth and economic growth, our cities,
towns and villages will not expand as much this cen-
tury as they did in the previous century. There is sim-
ply not enough room for this. Further urban growth
is at odds with the desire to preserve the surround-
ing countryside. Administrative borders, for exam-
ple municipal limits, also make further urban expan-
sion more difficult. Existing infrastructure networks
cannot sustain yet more traffic between the centre
and the periphery. Transformation is therefore the
obvious solution for areas where there is growing
demand for space. This means infill where possible
in low-density urban districts and changing the des-
ignated use of sites that have become abandoned.
The increasingly uneven population growth across
the continent is also resulting in regions that are suf-
fering from population and economic decline. They
face the threat of high vacancy rates. That makes the
question of how to deal with existing property even
more urgent. Which is better: a change of designat-
ed use or demolition?
While the European approach to urban develop-
ment is still very much geared to urban expansion
and new buildings, the challenge of how to reuse the
existing stock is growing in day-to-day practice.
Local Flexibility
In contrast to the large-scale urban extensions that
were built on farmland beyond the city borders, the
context within the city borders is much more com-
plex and has more of an impact. Existing buildings,
property boundaries and rules governing liability are
all conditions that place big restrictions on the room
for manoeuvre. Land and properties have already
reached their potential value. Local residents are
attached to the existing situation and fear change.
Buildings or even entire streets may have listed sta-
tus because they are of particular historical interest.
Reusing existing stock is not easy and always de-
pends on the local situation.
The flexible city therefore takes shape by creat-
ing flexibility at the local level. A set of instruments
is needed for this that is responsive to the specific
local conditions. What is needed are location-spe-
cific solutions rather than generic ones; solutions
that preserve the city’s vitality and ensure that va-
cant sites get new users, in spite of changing needs.
A set of instruments capable of offering more lo-
cal flexibility can play a key role in making European
towns and cities more sustainable.
35
 1.5 From Supply to Demand

Segregation times of scarcity and is consequently less suited to

In the past few decades, building output was supply- the creation of supply that is in line with actual usage
driven and therefore speculative in nature because requirements.
of the consistently high demand for space. The sup- The flexible city therefore takes shape by creating
ply was not created in response to some specific, ac- use-driven flexibility. A set of instruments is need-
1. The generic housing supply no longer meets demand: residents leave. tual demand; rather it was developed on the basis ed that can enable specific user requirements to be
of speculative, assumed demand. Encouraged by met. As users gain influence over the layout of their
the convincing growth figures, the more speculative own living environment and the supply of space, sup-
builders and developers (who were the key players in ply and demand will become more aligned.
the market) prioritized the quest for financial profits.
In doing so, they lost sight of how space was actually
being used.
Supply and demand now need to be brought more
in line with one another in order to prevent high va-
cancy rates and make cities, towns and villages more
sustainable, with a better quality of life. In the case
of population decline and falling demand for space, a
more user-oriented approach will improve the likeli-
hood of vacant properties being reused. In the case
of population growth, a more user-oriented approach
will improve sustainability and social cohesion. After
2. The owner leaves only the shell of the building intact, reintroducing it to the market with many more all, aspects such as a sense of ownership, a sense of
options for use. community and user satisfaction increase when us-
ers have more influence over the spaces they use.

Use-driven Flexibility
Over the past century, urban development was
largely initiated and organized by public authorities,
housing corporations, institutional developers and
investment companies. The supply was based on as-
sumptions about demand or policy preferences, not
actual demand. Little or no account was taken of us-
ers’ actual requirements or maintenance issues such
as energy consumption after delivery of the building.
After all, the supply-driven set of instruments with
which space is created could never meet the require-
ments of a laborious and expensive use-driven ap-
3. Attracted by the special options for use, new users establish themselves in the building. proach. The system of standardization and mass
production is geared mainly to producing volume in

36 37
 1.6 From Blueprint to Unpredictability

Stagnation is needed for this that enables adjustments to be

Not only is it no longer possible to simply extrapo- made when the future does not turn out as expect-
late the growth curves from previous decades, many ed. In practice, time-based flexibility means work-
external factors are also less stable than they were a ing in steps, whereby results are always and open
few years ago. For example, no-one knows what the to change. Interventions no longer only depend on
1. An entire village was cleared to make way for the large-scale expansion of a seaport. future holds for the euro or how raw material prices large amounts of capital or a large scale for their
will develop. The realization that the future can no success. Modest steps that are well chosen can ulti-
longer be controlled or predicted to the same extent mately have big consequences.
is sapping the confidence of investors, developers,
users and other relevant players. Spatial develop-
ment projects are acquiring an increasingly high risk
profile from a fear that investments will not be re-
couped in time; as a result, necessary construction
and transformation projects are not going ahead.
A greater emphasis on time as a factor will lead to
a more sustainable investment climate in our cities,
towns and villages. If towns and cities can develop
at different speeds, they will be less vulnerable to
economic fluctuations. If there is the ability to impro-
vise in the short term alongside a focus on long-term
objectives, it will be possible to respond much more
2. As a result of an economic crisis, the port development stagnated; new residents settled in the village. quickly to a sudden change in conditions. That will
make towns and cities future-proof and adaptable
again.

Time-based Flexibility
In the current system for spatial development, it
seems as if everything is built to last for ever. The
strong focus on only long-term objectives removes
time from the equation. For many years, there was an
acceptance that the future often does not turn out as
expected and that this would result in failure costs.
After all, the profits generated by continual econom-
ic growth offset any costs of failure. But now that
growth can no longer be taken for granted, failure
costs are suddenly becoming an issue and develop-
ment is stagnating.
3. The village developed into a unique, flourishing community surrounded by an extensive seaport. The flexible city therefore takes shape by creat-
ing time-based flexibility. A new set of instruments

38 39
2. The Flexible City

A sustainable city is easily reused, adapts to the changing

requirements of its inhabitants and is future-proof. A sus­
tainable city is a flexible city.

Changes are not standalone events, they are emphatically

part of a process of continual transition. New developments
do not lead to a fixed blueprint, rather they emerge from
future-oriented, dynamic flexible planning. Only then can
truly sustain­able solutions be found.

In this chapter, we explain what we mean by flex­ible plan­

ning and how it works.

back to content
 2.1 Flexible Planning
TAX ECONOMIC
MEASURES BOOM
CO2
reduction OLYMPIC
TTIP MORE GAMES
REFUGEES
GREAT
FLOOD

LESS TERRORISM
BUDGET CUTS
BANK CHINESE
EURO CRISIS II BUBBLE
CRASH In flexible planning, each individual development is termined on a project basis. A building that can tem-

DEMOGRAPHIC
TRADE EMBARGO explicitly part of a continual process of development. porarily be used to satisfy peak demand and then be
If Europe’s cities, towns and villages are to be- removed without leaving any traces can just as much
DECLINE
come more sustainable, an innovative approach is be a step as a functionally neutral building designed
required that will enable a transformation of the ex- for the long term that is constantly able to adapt to
isting structure, is more focused on what users want fluctuating forms of use. The essential element in
and is better able to cope with unpredictability. Our development on the basis of initial scenarios is that
experience in our own projects, the thematic debates there is always a follow-up step available.
that we have organized, historical research and our As a result, spatial development no longer pro-
analysis of the international case studies presented duces an outcome that is static and permanent. In-
in Chapter 4 show that an approach in which each stead it produces something that is permanently in a
development is explicitly part of a continual process state of flux. Development is no longer about fixing a
of developments is the one that best satisfies these building or area according to a blueprint or final po-
requirements. If a development is seen as a stepwise sition. Instead it is about taking steps in a continual
process rather than a single event, it can gradual- process of gradual change.
ly take shape on the basis of the existing qualities,
OLYMPIC
GAMES
while users and other stakeholders gain more influ-
ence and it becomes easier to respond to unforeseen
MORE and unforeseeable social dynamics.
REFUGEES
EURO TRADE This stepwise approach to development contrasts
EMBARGO sharply with the conventional approach to develop-
CRASH
TTIP TERRORISM ment, which assumes a single large step to a prede-
fined situation or final position – what is known as
TAX MEASURES ECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHIC

BOOM DECLINE blueprint planning. To emphasize the contrast with

LESS blueprint or final-position planning, we call the steps

CO2
BUDGET CUTS in the flexible development model initial scenarios.
CHINESE GREAT The stepwise approach with these initial scenarios

BUB FLOOD
reduction gives a development strategy that is far more pliable

BLE
and flexible than in the case of blueprint planning.

BANK
This development strategy is scale-independ-
ent in principle and can be used for a wide range of
CRISIS II projects, from interiors to buildings, from streets to
urban districts and from new buildings to conver-
sions. Of course the steps are relative and a step on
the scale of an interior will have a different mean-
ing to that on the scale of a city. From a temporal
perspective too, small steps can be separated by
months, years or even decades in some cases. The
t1 t2 t3 tn size, nature, duration and impact of the steps are de-

42 43
 2.2 Local Flexibility
In blueprint planning, specific local conditions play
a subordinate role in the drive for efficiency. In this
development approach, it is standard practice to re-
move as many of the existing elements as possible
when preparing the site for building in order to keep
processes manageable.
OLYMPIC However, this practice is at odds with the drive
GAMES for sustainability; it is also costly and is increasingly
MORE
meeting local resistance.
Flexible planning, on the other hand, enables
REFUGEES specific local conditions to be taken as the starting
EURO TRADE point for redevelopment. Taking these conditions as
EMBARGO the point of departure rather than eliminating them
CRASH
TTIP TERRORISM brings major benefits such as lower investment costs,
shorter procedural and construction phases, broader
support among stakeholders and more local quality.
TAX MEASURES ECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHIC
BOOM DECLINE
A qualitative and quantitative analysis beforehand
LESS of the specific local conditions reveals the new pos-
sibilities that can be developed taking the existing
CO2
BUDGET CUTS situation as the starting point. Because flexible plan-
CHINESE GREAT ning is based on development steps, the next step
BUB FLOOD
reduction depends on the qualities of the existing situation.
Future situations therefore evolve from the charac-
BLE
teristics of the current situation.
BANK
Limiting Conditions
CRISIS II
The possibilities for developing or redeveloping lo-
cations are determined by the organizational, legal,
financial and spatial limiting conditions.
The organizational limiting conditions are set by
the local stakeholders. These stakeholders include
not just the parties that are traditionally involved in a
development, such as the public authorities and de-
velopers, but also the parties that until recently were
t0 watching from the side-lines, such as maintenance
managers and last but not least, the users.
The legal limiting conditions are determined by
the rules that apply for the location, for example
those laid down in structural concept documents,
44
zoning plans and local by-laws, as well as generally
applicable standards as defined in building decrees
and legislation.
The financial limiting conditions are, for instance,
land values and the value of existing properties as
well as any rental income and the opportunities for
financiering or refinancing.
Finally, the spatial limiting conditions concern the
physical characteristics of the location such as the
soil characteristics, the structure of any buildings on
the site and surrounding buildings, and the layout of
the plots. The spatial analysis should include a sur-
vey of the listed status, and the technical and histori-
cal features of the location.
Development Framework
These limiting conditions give an understanding of
all the available development or redevelopment op-
tions at a location. However, not all these options
are desirable. All the undesirable development op-
tions can be excluded by drawing up a development
framework with critical qualitative and quantitative
upper and lower thresholds. Although such a devel-
opment framework leaves much still open, it helps to
clarify the prospects for a location. This framework
can help persuade newcomers and reassure existing
stakeholders.
It seems logical that the development framework
should primarily be determined by the owner in con-
sultation with the governmental authorities, which
would be responsible for checks. But in principle
any party can draw up a development framework and
take the initiative to start up a project.
Because it is easier to map out the near future
than the more distant future, this results in a picture
of the prospects that fans out from a few identifia-
ble options in the short term that could in the longer
term lead to many possible follow-up steps, whereby
these more distant cannot yet be predicted in detail.
45
 2.3 Use-driven Flexibility

In blueprint planning, a small team of professionals
decides on the cubic content of the buildings, the
land values and the designated use of new devel-
opments beforehand. However good the market re-
search is, any development that is fixed in advance in
this way is bound to be speculative. This means that
OLYMPIC there is a risk of new developments disregarding the
on a larger scale and for a longer period as the public
interest will be greater then. On the other hand, self-
determination is a more obvious choice for smaller
scale decisions.
The role of advisors such as architects, urban
planners and construction cost experts is interest-
ing. Within the project’s development framework,

GAMES actual needs of the future occupants. This approach they list all the possible first steps based on the

MORE
can lead to vacant properties and social segregation. wishes of the stakeholders. The parties involved take
Flexible planning is centred on this actual use; as a good note of this information and then make a joint
REFUGEES result, developments are based on concrete require- decision. Because the decision is taken jointly, all

EURO TRADE ments rather than being speculative. Having all par- those involved are committing themselves to the de-

EMBARGO
ties that are relevant to the success of the new devel- cision and confirming their owns tasks and responsi-
CRASH TERRORISM opment take decisions jointly, rather than restricting bilities, such as letting the space, carrying out main-
this to a small team of professionals, ensures that tenance tasks, providing permits or financing the
only that space for which there is a demonstrable plan. Once a decision has been taken, it is irrevoca-
TAX MEASURES ECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHIC

BOOM DECLINE
demand is developed. This reduces investment risks ble for a limited period, and the impact on the future

LESS and makes it more likely that investments will be re-

couped.
remains limited.

CO2
BUDGET CUTS This approach to decision-making requires differ- Improvisational Planning

CHINESE GREAT ent forms of collaboration with different decision- The series of possible next steps as identified by the

BUB FLOOD
reduction making structures and different hierarchies. advisors are termed initial scenarios. These initial
scenarios form a comprehensive description of the

BLE
Decision-making options in the short term. Each initial scenario shows

BANK
Flexible planning permits input from all kinds of the interactions between the organizational, legal, fi-
stakeholders, from users to local residents, from fi- nancial and spatial consequences. The selection of

CRISIS II
nancers to the parties charged with maintaining and one specific initial scenario implies the rejection of
running the properties, from owners to government all other initial scenarios and automatically alters the
bodies such as city districts, municipalities and development framework.
provinces, and other relevant parties.
This does not mean that all parties automatically
have equal influence in the decision-making pro-
cess. The extent of their say depends on the project.
It is reasonable to expect the owner and perhaps the
t0 t1 initiator too to have the most influence on the setup
for the decision-making process. They determine
what decisions have to be taken, by whom, when and
how. It also seems likely that stakeholders will have
less of an influence in decisions where the impact is

46 47
 2.4 Time-based Flexibility

In blueprint planning, the development process is
kept manageable by keeping the final position fixed
with no further alterations after it has been calculat-
ed, checked, adopted by administrators and commu-
nicated to others. However, the actual situation turns
out time and time again to develop in a way not envis-
OLYMPIC aged in this final position. As a result, this approach
are needed; if there are few unexpected events, few-
er extra steps are required.
Recalibrating
Because of the stepwise approach, plans can be re-
calibrated within the development framework in the
event of unexpected events or new insights. An as-

GAMES leads to high costs of failure, which it is increasingly sessment based on the latest insights is made as to

MORE
difficult to earn back elsewhere. what forms of optimization are necessary, desirable
The stepwise approach used in flexible planning and possible. A series of new initial scenarios gives
REFUGEES means that it is still possible to work on a develop- an understanding of the consequences of these op-

EURO ment during the project execution. Changes in the timizations. This enables a new development course

CRASH TERRORISM TRADE

market or new insights can still be taken on board to be set based on sound considerations. Each sub-
once the project is in progress. Parties that join later sequent step is treated as a new initial scenario.
EMBARGO can still have a say rather than being faced with de- During the development process, it may transpire
finitive plans. It is possible to experiment during the that the development framework (containing all de-
DEMOGRAPHIC
ECONOMIC development process and to incorporate the conclu- sirable future scenarios) itself needs to be modified
DECLINE
LESS TAX MEASURES
BOOM sions in the decision-making. Investments are made
in phases rather than all in one go, which spreads the
or shifted.
What are termed ‘reflective sessions’ can be used

CO2
BUDGET CUTS risks. for the recalibration. In these sessions, stakeholders

CHINESE GREAT In this way, all kinds of unforeseen events can be reflect on the development process and discuss the

BUB FLOOD
reduction taken into account during the development process. consequences of recent events with one another. The
decision-making model as described above, which is

BLE
Events designed specifically for a particular project and in

BANK
Project-related conditions can change, with the which other stakeholders in addition to the initiator
threat of budget overruns and shifts in the number and the owner are also able to exercise influence,

CRISIS II
or category of users as a result. External factors can shows how the recalibration takes place exactly.
also change. Examples are an increase in energy Thus the factor time plays a key part in Flexible
costs, changes in the political climate or a deteriora- Planning.
tion in the economic situation. The consequences of
both project-related events and external events can
be allowed for in flexible planning.
Such events have an impact on the number and
size of the steps in the flexible development model.
t0 t1 t2 t3 If the economy is going through a tough time, the in-
vestments and therefore the steps are small; if the
economy is flourishing, the steps can be bigger. If
there are many unexpected events, many extra steps

48 49
 2.5 How Does Flexible Planning Work?

Urban Pioneers City Lab Urban Solid

From static town planning to multispeed
town planning
From an undeveloped plot to a temporary
neighbourhood facility
From pre-determined usage forms to a
structure that is open to interpretation
To illustrate what flexible planning involves, we pre-
sent nine current European assignments, which we
then consider from the perspective of this method-
ology.

These are the following projects:

Redevelopment Reuse of an Existing Urban Structure

of an Abandoned Industrial Park Close Reading
Urban Pioneers A location in Brussels’ Canal Zone,
A location in a European city with an industrial past in the Anderlecht area

Transformation Combatting Population Decline

of a Post-war Residential District Rural Acupuncture
City Lab A street (Aelderstraat) in the village of Aalden
A location in a post-war reconstruction district in the Dutch province of Drenthe
from the 1950s and 1960s
Instant City City Dressing Unbuilding Urban Densification and
From high vacancy levels to healthy From mono-functional to mixed urban From science park to city park Diversification in the Housing Supply Making Open Spaces More Sustainable
commercial operation districts Urban Solid Public-Private Alliances
A location in a post-war reconstruction district A street in De Zwaantjes, a district in Antwerp
from the 1950s and 1960s in a European city

Reuse of a Property with Listed Status

Instant City
The listed building Szombierki Power Station
in Bytom, near Katowice

Diversification
of a Mono-functional Science Park
City Dressing
A location in a science park from the 1970s
and 1980s in a European city

Demolition as a Design Assignment

Close Reading
From an industrial park with encircling
walls to an urban planning framework
Unbuilding
The Teleport business park in the Sloterdijk district
Rural Acupuncture Public-Private Alliances
From dilapidated village entry point to From road to broad cycle path of Amsterdam
lively meeting point

50 51
Urban Pioneers
From static town planning to multispeed
town planning
3a
3b
Large-scale, mono-functional new building projects In this way, it is even possible to encourage new de- 1 2 3c
often lack the appeal of the existing urban fabric velopment with temporary programmes. The best
where buildings of different ages stand alongside approach for developing the area can be investigat-
one another, with different programmes at different ed ‘on the job’. The success of this first step deter-
speeds. mines what happens next.
If buildings or parts of buildings can be preserved
during transformation projects, with temporary,
semi-permanent and new buildings being added,
this can lead to an urban fabric with a greater diver- 3a. The temporary intervention is success-
ful; new permanent investments are made
sity in the types of building and forms of usage.
further along.

1. The planned development has come to 2. Part of the site is put to use temporarily. 3b.A mixed area emerges with temporary
a standstill; a vast building site is derelict. and permanent functions.

3c. The temporary zone evolves further; the

adjoining site remains undeveloped (as yet).

52 53
City Lab
From an undeveloped plot to a temporary
3a
neighbourhood facility
2 3b
3c
Plots often remain undeveloped for long periods dur- Forms of usage that take off can eventually be incor- 1
ing transformation processes due to delays in pro- porated in the new building plans. In this way the lab
cedures, consultation processes or other unforeseen generates valuable information that can be used in
factors. the next step.
This mobile City Laboratory enables the negative
impact of the derelict site to be kept to a minimum
and the quality of life to be maintained. Like a Swiss
army knife, the City Lab has an assortment of tools
for temporary programming, such as sports, garden- 3a. The neighbourhood turns out to prefer a
central sports facility.
ing, the sale of fresh produce and cultural events,
that local stakeholders can experiment with.

1. The planned development has come 2. A mobile front office supports experi- 3b. The neighbourhood turns out to prefer a
to a standstill, causing the site to remain ments with public programmes. central green area with a playground.
derelict for a long time.

3c. The neighbourhood turns out to prefer

communal vegetable gardens in building
blocks.

54 55
Urban Solid
From pre-determined usage forms to a structure
that is open to interpretation

It is not always possible to recoup the investments
in one go in transformation projects due to high land
prices, the costs of demolition or disappointing de-
mand.
This construction concept encourages users to
start small and cheap at one spot and make further
investments in the structure in the course of its use-
ful life. The structural volume is initially simple and
compact. Users can invest in upgrading and expand-
ing the building depending on their spatial require-
ments and financial capacity. In this way, payment 1 3a
for the use of the land and/or the building can be
2 3b
raised step-by-step starting from a basic fee. 3c
The structure is suitable for use as residential ac-
commodation but also as a school or office space,
which means that the ability to recoup the invest-
ment does not depend on a single user type.
3a. The project is a success and is extended
by users; the concept is soon copied in neigh-
bouring plots.

1. A post-war residential district has a
one-sided demographic composition and
housing supply. The public spaces are
little used.
2. A first Urban Solid – an experimental 3b. The project is a success; residents
structure that can be extended and lets modify and extend it.
residents create their own homes – is built
to increase the diversification and density
of the housing supply in the district.

3c. Extension of the flexible structure is not

desired by the users.

56 57
Instant City
From high vacancy levels to healthy commercial
operation
Many industrial buildings in Europe are standing
empty, waiting for a new, financially viable business
plan for their operation.
To find out what programmes would bring in suffi-
cient income, an old power station with listed-build-
ing status near Katowice in Poland is refurbished
with minimal resources, such as scaffold tubes and
mobile toilets, so that various programmes can be
tested.
58
3a
3b
An events permit then enables different usage forms 1 2 3c
to be tried out without the legal framework having
to be amended. If there turns out to be enough in-
terest in a particular programme such that it offers
prospects of a viable commercial operation, the pro-
visional facilities can be converted into higher grade
structures.
3a. The sports programme turns out to be
popular and the hall is transformed into a
sports centre.
1. The old power station with listed-build- 2. Minimal facilities make the interior 3b. The theatrical programme turns out to
ing status is empty. suitable for trying out a wide range be popular and the hall is transformed into
of programmes. a theatre.
3c. Small-scale business activity turns out
to be popular and the hall is transformed
into a shopping mall.
59
City Dressing
From mono-functional to mixed urban districts
3a

Mono-functional urban districts such as office
blocks and business parks are susceptible to high
vacancy levels because they are highly dependent on
a single user category. The public spaces are also of-
ten lacking in quality because they are also geared to
a single kind of use - often car parking.
In this office and business park, which is strug-
gling with vacant properties, each owner has its own
car park, barrier and demarcated site. Two building
owners decide to merge their separate parking fa-
cilities, which makes parking more efficient and im-
proves the quality of the space between the build- 2 3b
3c
ings. 1
This small first step can inspire other owners to
join in, preventing the further progressive loss of oc-
cupants and encouraging the establishment of new
functions such as residential accommodation.
3a. The more inviting ambience attracts
residential functions, which in turn improve
the ambience further.

T
E

H
U
U
R

1. High vacancy levels in offices, and public 2. Two owners merge their car parks, 3b. More owners become involved in the
spaces with an uninviting ambience for creating room for a more inviting ambience initiative, which has a positive effect on the
pedestrians ambience.

3c. Other owners fail to take action.

60 61
Unbuilding
From science park to city park
Buildings with no prospects and struggling with
structural vacancy would be better off being demol-
ished.
On the regional scale, Sloterdijk, a mono-func-
tional office park on the edge of Amsterdam, is a fos-
silized obstacle in the kilometres-long green Bretten
zone. The park has 160,000 m2 of vacant office
space and many buildings are only part occupied.
If the vacant properties were to be demolished, this
would connect up the separate sections of greenery.
Such a demolition operation becomes a realistic
option through the establishment of a local equaliza-
62
tion fund whereby the rental income is shared
among the owners of let property and vacant 1 3a
property. If the operation becomes a complete 2 3b
success, Sloterdijk station will once again be 3c
surrounded by offices with high occupancy lev-
els and the Bretten zone will be a continuous
zone again. Even if the operation is only partly
successful, this will still mean an improvement
in the quality of the area.
3a. All tenants move to the station square
and their plots are added to the Bretten zone.
TE HUUR TE HUUR TE HUUR
1. Sloterdijk is struggling with high vacancy 2. Two streets acquire a greener profile, 3b. A few tenants move to the station square
levels and derelict sites. which improves the visibility of the Bretten and their plots are added to the Bretten zone.
zone in the area.
TE HUUR
3c. The derelict plots are made public and
are added to the Bretten zone.
63
Close Reading
From an industrial park with encircling walls to
an urban planning framework
Traces from the past can structure transforma-
tion processes as well as giving significance to new
buildings.
In Brussels, the central Canal Zone will be trans-
formed from an industrial area to a mixed urban dis-
trict over the next few years. There is a public debate
about the redevelopment of a series of sheds at a
crucial spot along the canal in Anderlecht, the build-
ing volumes, the appearance and the programme.
If the exterior wall surrounding these sheds is pre-
served, the position and appearance of the new de-
3a
3b
velopment are fixed in advance. This permits a cer- 1 2 3c
tain freedom in the development of the interior. The
owner can, for example, experiment with temporary
volumes and programmes so that local residents can
get to know the complex in a more positive manner.
Insights from this interim phase can play a role in the
public debate and subsequently be incorporated in
the final development.
3a. Behind the walls, the ground floor
remains entirely available for a public
programme; high-rise apartment buildings
make the distinctive location visible from
far away.

1. The many different views on the future
of a crucial spot in the Canal Zone mean
that a special kind of process is needed to
create a transformation plan that enjoys
broad support.
2. By maintaining the walls around the 3b. Behind the walls, a combination of
complex and freeing up the space behind high-rise buildings and ground-level hous-
the walls, it is possible to experiment with ing does most justice to the conclusions
temporary functions. from the interim phase.

3c. A high-density development of ground-

level houses is built behind the walls.

64 65
Rural Acupuncture
From dilapidated village entry point to lively
meeting point
Rural areas suffering from population decline such
as the countryside in the Dutch province of Drenthe
are often riddled with centuries-old routes, both
roads and waterways. These long lines through the
landscape were not only a determining factor in the
region’s development, they also still form the heart
of the region in social, economic, cultural and spatial
terms.
Enhancing the sustainability of significant arte-
rial routes is a particularly promising strategy in a
shrinking region. The central location of the routes
66
3a
2 3b
3c
and the high visibility of the property along these 1
routes mean that even minor interventions, such
as the reuse of this abandoned petrol station on the
outskirts of the Drenthe village of Aalden, can have
a positive effect on the entire region’s sense of self-
confidence and competitive strength.
The return on investment is maximized by spend-
ing the limited resources available for transforma-
tions in shrinking village communities on the most 3a. The property is converted into a hotel,
economic activity spreads, both along the
visible and significant premises.
through road and elsewhere in the village.
1. Vacant property at the entry point to 2. Assigning a new use to the most visible 3b. The property is converted into a shop,
the village gives the village a desolate property first, perhaps temporarily, gives economic activity spreads to other
appearance . the village a more lively appearance. premises along the through road.
3c. The property remains available for
temporary programmes.
67
Public-Private Alliances
From road to broad cycle path
When the building density is increased in existing
urban districts, private gains for owners may lead to
an increased quality in the public space without the
public authorities having to invest much themselves.
The urban fabric of the Antwerp district De
Zwaantjes, located in the city’s twentieth-century
ring, offers various opportunities for densification.
Sint Bernhardsesteenweg, a through road from the
suburbs to the centre, has consequently become
even more important as a key element of public
space.
68
If the municipality allows the owners of the lower-
lying buildings on this street to add volume, this can 1 3a
create a continuous street profile. By creaming off 2 3b
a small proportion of the profits, the municipality is 3c
able to invest in the public domain. In this way, pri-
vate investments and public quality go hand in hand.
The street could be converted into a broad cycle
path, making the city as a whole more sustainable.
3a. Investments are made en masse in the
densification of the street, which enables
the municipality to completely redesign the
street as a broad cycle path.
1. The street has buildings of different 2. Private owners are allowed to build 3b. Volume is added to about half the
heights and is mainly geared to car traffic. upwards; the municipality creams off the buildings and the municipality gives the
profits and uses this money to invest in the street a different appearance with a few
public space. structural alterations.
3c. A few private investments result in
a slight improvement in the public space.
69
3. Instruments for a Flexible City

Different instruments are needed to enhance the sus­tain­

ability of our cities, towns and villages. These instruments
should offer more flexibility by focusing more on usage,
timing and the existing structures.

Together with experts in organizational and legal, finan­cial

and spatial affairs, we have com­piled a set of 36 instruments
that can give shape to the flexible city. These instruments
are presented in this chapter.

back to content
 3.1 The Key Factors Determining Spatial Development

FINANCIAL Spatial development is traditionally subject to four

limiting conditions, namely the process, the regu-
lations, the financing and the spatial design. There
are instruments for each of these limiting conditions.
Spatial development takes shape through the inter-
play of these different instruments. Specialists in
each of the four domains collaborate and coordinate
their own input with that of other specialists.
Now that spatial development needs to become
more sustainable, the conventional instruments
are being called into question. Are they helping
European cities to become more sustainable or are
they in fact hindering that process? Our analyses and
studies show that different instruments are required
– sometimes in the place of the usual instruments,
sometimes in combination with them – in order to ar-
LEGAL ORGANIZATIONAL rive at a more flexible kind of spatial development.
Together with experts in the process and legal, fi-
nancial and spatial affairs, we have drawn up a list of
the instruments that enable flexible spatial develop-
ment. In this chapter, we present nine flexible instru-
ments for each of the four domains.
Not all the instruments presented here are instru-
ments in the literal sense of the word. You could also
call the instruments described here conditions for
success. Some deal with the necessary change in at-
titudes or describe a generally applicable principle.
In line with the structure of the previous chapters, the
instruments relating to each domain are subdivided
SPATIAL
into instruments for local flexibility, use-driven flex-
ibility and time-based flexibility.

72 73
3.2 Organizational Flexibility 3.3 Organizational Instruments

The ‘process’ is the way in which the relevant par- Time-based Organizational Flexibility Local Organizational Flexibility ACTING LOCALLY
ties collaborate in the development of the space. Now that processes can be subject to big changes
Organizational instruments facilitate this collabora- in the conditions during the development period, re-
tion. sulting in new organizational dynamics, there is a MATCHMAKING
Creating a more sustainable living environment need to be able to make adjustments to the collabo-
requires forms of collaboration that involve more rative form and the decision-making model during
parties than perhaps was customary in decision- the process. SUPRALOCAL COORDINATION
making in the past. If this decision-making process
becomes continuous rather than a one-off event, a
neighbourhood, village, town or city becomes more
future-proof as a result. Parties should therefore be
enabled to continue to exercise influence in the long-
er term too.

Local Organizational Flexibility Use-driven Organizational Flexibility CO-CREATION

Because new developments tend to be located with-
in the existing urban fabric, many stakeholders are
already settled there, and many different interests OPEN SOURCING
play a role. It is better to get these local stakeholders
involved early on in the decision-making process in
order to ensure sufficient support. To achieve this, SOCIAL MEDIA
local processes need to be tailored to requirements.

Use-driven Organizational Flexibility

Getting users and other stakeholders more involved
in decision-making from an earlier stage ensures
that the supply of space is shaped by their actual
needs. This prevents vacancy – a form of space wast-
age – and does more justice to users’ requirements. Time-based Organizational Flexibility STORYTELLING
But it does demand a new, more flexible approach
from established players such as public authorities,
housing corporations and institutional developers
that are used to working top-down. EXPECTATION MANAGEMENT

IMPROVISING

74 75
ACTING LOCALLY
Local Organizational Flexibility
Making use of the energy in the local community
when redeveloping a site.
Why?
Unlike in new build projects in urban expansion sites,
the transformation of an existing building or area al-
ways affects the interests of the people who are al-
ready there. It is necessary to have an understand-
ing of these interests in order to be able to generate
enough local support for the intervention. However,
external consultants and investors often find local
interests difficult to assess. In contrast to exter-
nal parties, local stakeholders often have the best
picture of the situation in a locality. Moreover, they
themselves have a direct interest in the outcome and
are therefore prepared to do their utmost to get a
good result. Using local social capital has a proven
positive influence on economic capital. That is be-
cause a neighbourhood with a satisfied local com-
munity is a more attractive place for businesses and
is therefore worth more financially.
How does it work?
A local group takes the initiative to tackle a local
problem or capitalize on a local opportunity, based
on local requirements. A local coalition is formed,
creating critical mass and enabling complementary
skills to be mobilized. The architect at No. 3, the kin-
dergarten owner at No. 23 and the lawyer at No. 17
draw up a proposal for a neighbourhood park with
children’s playground, submit it to the other resi-
dents, modify it and then take it to the municipality.
Local communities depend crucially on the commit-
ment of the local network. Shared needs and values,
affinity, trust, good communication and a sense of
enjoyment are deciding factors here.
However in most parts of Europe there are no
natural safeguards for the important role of the lo-
cal community. Residents and local businesses
act mainly to defend their individual interests.
Municipalities tend to operate on a larger scale than
76
that of the neighbourhood. Acting locally requires
new networks and different forms of cooperation.
Example: Superlandsbyen (DK)
In the Danish municipality of Morsø, which consists
of various scattered villages, continuing popula-
tion decline forced the municipal authority to close
a number of amenities. It had a particular model in
mind: each village would retain one amenity and vil-
lagers would be able to make use of other villages’
amenities. Unhappy with this model, residents of
the parish villages of Karby, Redsted, Hvidbjerg,
Tæbring, Outrup, Rakkeby, Fjallerslev, Frøslev and
Mollerup (with about 200 to 400 inhabitants each)
took matters into their own hands. Using the name
‘super village’ (superlandsbyen), they drew up an al-
ternative plan that provided a better fit with local re-
quirements, in part because it made more of an al-
lowance for the work of volunteers. Their application
to the private fund Realdania for a grant based on the
plan was successful. This resulted in a precarious
situation as the initiators’ plan was different to the
plan adopted by the municipal authority. The resi-
dents lent force to their plan by setting up the school
they had planned anyway, making use of the Danish
civil right to set up your own school. Danish law stip-
ulates that the municipality then has to support such
an initiative for a new school.
MATCHMAKING
Local Organizational Flexibility
Bringing parties looking for space and parties of-
fering space together in order to find the optimum
solution for space usage.
Why?
Changing spatial requirements can cause buildings
to lose the function for which they were once de-
signed. Regardless of the economic or demographic
developments, it is not always easy for parties with
property on offer, such as property owners, estate
agents and developers, to find new users for vacant
premises. It is sometimes difficult to imagine a new
kind of use, particularly when the property has spe-
cific dimensions or characteristics geared to the ob-
solete function. As a result, buildings have perma-
nently high vacancy levels or are used for purposes
to which they are not suited.
At the same time, spatial requirements have be-
come more diverse in recent decades in terms of
their nature, extent and duration. It has therefore
become more difficult for users (who are often not
particularly familiar with the property market) to find
the property that fits their requirements using the
traditional routes. It can take the elderly, for exam-
ple, a long time before they find a living environment
with an appropriate level of comfort and the right
atmosphere. Small-scale craft businesses also have
difficulty finding space suited to their work.
The process of finding a match between specific
spatial demands and specific spaces is known as
matchmaking. Whereas traditional estate agents act
as a link between a generic demand for property and
a standard supply, the focus in matchmaking is on
tailored solutions. Matchmakers invest in a deep un-
derstanding of a location’s specific conditions and
the personal wishes of the applicant. They also in-
creasingly make /make increasing use of unconven-
tional methods. They organize drinks parties, trade
fairs, markets, TV programmes and excursions.
Social media play an increasingly important role too.
How does it work?
The successful matching of parties with a specific
spatial demand or offering requires an accessible
medium or platform where the parties in question
are on an equal footing and are able to obtain infor-
mation about one another’s motives. Transparency,
in which both sides state their expectations and
restrictions, is crucial for both parties if they are
to quickly get an impression of the likelihood of a
match’s success. Matchmaking is more effective if
parties that have found one another are given sup-
port in working out and documenting their specific
agreements.
Example: Municipality of Amsterdam’s Map of
Undeveloped Land (NL)
Far more land than usual was in an undeveloped
state in Amsterdam after 2008 due to the economic
crisis. However, it was in the interests of the munici-
pality (the owner of the land everywhere in the city
because of the ground-lease principle) and parties
with development holdings to play down the issue.
In April 2011, temp.architecture produced a map of
the undeveloped building sites in the city on its own
initiative. This showed that there was far more un-
developed land than was officially being acknowl-
edged. On 12 Apri 2011, the local newspaper Het
Parool printed this news on its front page, thereby
drawing attention to the unused land in the city. This
prompted the municipality of Amsterdam to come
up with its own map of undeveloped land, which it
placed online. The aim was to match temporary ini-
tiatives with longstanding undeveloped sites. The
website showed individual locations with the con-
tact details and specific preconditions such as avail-
ability, size and the subsoil type.
77
SUPRALOCAL COORDINATION
Local Organizational Flexibility
Taking decisions at the regional level rather than
the local or national level helps achieve optimum
cohesion between different regional strengths.
Why?
Key opportunities for enhancing sustainability are
to be found at the regional level – the level at which
economic networks usually operate and landscape
features manifest themselves. Yet the administrative
borders in Europe are often either at a smaller level
(the municipality) or a higher level (the province or
nation). This makes it difficult to reach sound agree-
ment, for example regarding the development of
business parks or housing, the strategy concerning
the countryside, the preservation of historical struc-
tures or the establishment or closure of amenities.
Decisions on these matters at the municipal level
can encourage inappropriate competition while de-
cisions at the provincial or national level may over-
look regional opportunities or disregard regional
sensitivities. Greater sustainability requires sound
regional coordination.
How does it work?
There is increasing acknowledgement of the impor-
tance of regional coordination in European coun-
tries. Everywhere, countries are searching for the
optimum unit size for decision-making, with admin-
istrative reorganizations, the reallocation of respon-
sibilities and the encouragement of collaboration.
In Denmark, provincial and municipal boundaries
were redrawn in 2007; municipalities now have at
least 50,000 inhabitants and they have more pow-
ers. The Greater Copenhagen metropolitan area
(Hovedstadsområdet) was given a separate legal
framework to enable the management of its dis-
tinctive finger plan. In Germany, the regional level
has traditionally been embedded in the administra-
tive structure through the use of the Landkreis (dis-
tricts covering rural areas and small towns). Each
Landkreis has a council with elected members that
makes decisions about regional issues such as hos-
pitals and the care for listed buildings. In Flanders,
78
the government encourages regional collaboration
through the Territorial Development Programme
(Territoriaal ontwikkelings programma, or T.OP). This
involves collaborative projects in which administra-
tive authorities and businesses discuss and coordi-
nate planned investments in a given region in order
to achieve greater social added value. In England,
where there have been various administrative reor-
ganisations since the 1970s, the unitary authorities
that were set up in the 1990s come closest to a re-
gional authority. The European Union also operates
special programmes aimed at encouraging coordi-
nation within regions that cross national borders.
Example: Aalborg Region (DK)
Although there have been some interesting initia-
tives in rural North Jutland aimed at maintaining the
quality of life there, in the end the villages were un-
able to cope with the sharp decline in the population.
These initiatives may have slowed down the popu-
lation exodus, but different conditions were needed
to stop or reverse it. It is therefore interesting to see
that the municipalities in North Jutland were pre-
pared to ‘broaden their horizon’ and join in invest-
ing in the new music centre, the Musikkens Hus,
in Aalborg, the region’s capital and the fifth largest
town in Denmark. In doing so, they were diverting
resources away from immediate local requirements
in return for a more invigorated region. The example
shows the positive effects of far-reaching regional
collaboration at the cost of local power. In this way, a
strong regional competitive position can be created
despite demographic shrinkage. When towns and
villages in the same region make use of each other’s
strengths, this is sometimes termed ‘borrowed size’.
CO-CREATION
Use-driven Organizational Flexibility
A form of collaboration in which all participants
have an equal say in the process and the result.
Why?
The initiative for the development of a space usu-
ally comes from professional development players
without any users being involved at this early stage.
These players develop the area on the basis of ficti-
tious assumptions; moreover, after the development
has been completed, they are not usually involved in
the use and running of the properties. It is important
to get users and other relevant parties such as local
residents involved in the creative process in order to
reach truly sustainable solutions. This benefits de-
velopers too. It reduces the risk of failure costs, costs
of legal proceedings, delays and vacancy. This ap-
plies equally to new buildings and transformation
projects.
Furthermore, users are increasingly starting
development projects themselves, without going
through professional development players, in a de-
sire to have more influence over the final result and
because they want more affordable homes. In doing
this, they opt for a co-creation process in which input
from users goes hand in hand with input from pro-
fessional advisors.
How does it work?
The party initiating the process is responsible for se-
lecting and initiating co-creation. This can be a de-
veloper or a municipality, but it could also be a resi-
dent or an architect. The distinctive characteristics
of co-creation are enthusiasm, a focus on results,
transparency, trust, the requirement that all partici-
pants are on an equal footing and the requirement
that shared interests are identified at an early stage.
The best guarantee of these characteristics is to
have the support of an independent consultant who
can ensure the right balance between creativity and
structure. In addition, all participants must be hon-
est in their dealings.
Organizing input from all the stakeholders and
achieving consensus is hard work. The more people
involved in a process, the slower co-creation can be-
come.
What is more, most users do not have a back-
ground in professional planning and it is in their
own interests for them to have plenty of assistance.
Support from specialists such as architects and con-
struction cost experts is therefore important.
Example: Vrijburcht, Amsterdam (NL)
In the Netherlands, where spatial development has
traditionally been highly institutionalized, Collective
Private Commissioning (Collectief particulier op-
drachtgeverschap, CPO) is a development approach
that enables users to fulfil their own wishes. In 2001,
the architect Hein de Haan submitted a proposal
to the municipality of Amsterdam for a residential
building through Collective Private Commissioning.
The municipality (and owner of the land) gave the
architect permission to execute the plan because
he had reached an agreement with the housing cor-
poration De Key that the latter would purchase any
unsold homes after the delivery, thus eliminating
the sales risk. A series of consultation sessions were
held with all the users to draw up a varied sched-
ule of requirements that met their wishes and fitted
their budget. In this way, Vrijburcht could become
a combined residential and working community
where residents feel at home and take responsibil-
ity for running the place. Vrijburcht is an asset to the
surrounding area too. The swimming jetty, the chil-
dren’s films, the trampoline and the sailing school
all attract a lot of children from the neighbourhood.
Thanks to the CPO concept, Vrijburcht was able to
develop a variety of housing types and some unu-
sual public amenities at cost price that would not
have been attainable or so visible using a different
approach.
79
OPEN SOURCING
Use-driven Organizational Flexibility
Making relevant knowledge and information avail-
able free of charge for the development of space.
Why?
It has traditionally mainly been governmental author-
ities, institutions and large commercial developers
that have taken the lead in the development process.
These days, players that are involved in the public
domain by their nature, such as waste processing
companies and maintenance service companies, are
also increasingly being given a role in the develop-
ment process. Private individuals are also increas-
ingly setting up their own energy company or de-
signing and building their own home. Furthermore,
multinationals such as IKEA and Google, which have
their roots in other sectors, are increasingly getting
the opportunity to use their know-how in planning.
If these new parties are indeed to give a boost to
our cities, towns and villages, they will need to have
the right expertise. This means knowledge of judi-
cial procedures, for examples, and business models,
but also information on the location-specific limit-
ing conditions such as the soil characteristics and
any active contracts. Open sourcing means remov-
ing the information asymmetry between established
players and new players, and sharing knowledge.
How does it work?
Information can only be released by the party that
possesses that information. Non-commercial par-
ties such as governmental authorities and NGOs are
generally prepared to do this. They often share their
knowledge via the internet. The internet has a wide
reach, is a low-threshold medium and allows interac-
tion. Even so, it is not always clear how reliable the
information is on the internet, and personal contact
with the source of the knowledge may be preferable
in some cases.
Commercial parties are generally less keen on
sharing their knowledge and will have to be enticed
to do so by interested parties. The chance of suc-
cess is greater if the provision of knowledge is not a
80
unilateral act, with information being shared by both
sides.
A special form of open sourcing occurs when
knowledge owners are hacked, with knowledge be-
ing obtained illegally through computer systems and
then made public.
Open sourcing implies disregarding property rights
and copyrights. This has disadvantages for creative
and innovative players. Knowledge is their most im-
portant form of capital because the creation of new
knowledge is their core business. Their business
model is undermined if knowledge is made available
to others with nothing being obtained in return.
Example: Irish Vernacular (IRL)
In Ireland, an average home costs 300,000 euros.
The Irish architect Dominic Stevens argues that this
price is much too high; after all, most of that money
ends up in the hands of government authorities, de-
velopers and builders. As a protest, he developed a
building plan for a self-build home that costs only
25,000 euros and can be completed in 50 days. He
has made this plan freely available via his website
www.irishvernacular.com/step-by-step.html, which
includes information about the necessary adminis-
trative procedures.
By publicizing his know-how free of charge, he
is reviving an Irish folk tradition whereby people
would share the knowledge and expertise for build-
ing houses within a community. This turns a house
back into an affordable object by and for the people
instead of a means of earning vast amounts of money.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Use-driven Organizational Flexibility
Collective term for interactive online platforms that
enable a better setup for complex development
processes.
Why?
Getting all the relevant parties closely involved in
the development process can involve a great deal
of work. Government officials have to guide a large
number of nonprofessional users through legal pro-
cedures, developers have to work with a large num-
ber of advisors to reach a consensus on solutions,
and local residents wish to be kept informed about
the situation. At the same time, there is often little
money available within projects for communications
and process support.
Now that increasing numbers of Europeans have
a smartphone and use interactive digital platforms,
such media offer the opportunity for a better setup
for development processes. Social media are rela-
tively cheap to use, are not dependent on time or
place, our interactive and fast and have a huge reach.
What is more, social media fit in with the trend of
the emerging network society with the associated
emancipation of users and weakening of hierarchies.
Social media can help in sharing information, ex-
ploring options, exchanging ideas, voting on propo-
sitions, taking decisions, concluding contracts, de-
veloping maintenance plans, sharing responsibilities
and so on.
How does it work?
Social media can be used by all the parties involved
to facilitate the process side of the project or to start
up new projects. The implementation of social me-
dia can take the form of an app for smartphones,
interactive websites, discussion forums, texting ser-
vices, and so on. A specific form or medium can be
chosen depending on the objective.
There are many proven formats, such as Facebook,
Dropbox, Instagram or LinkedIn. They are free to use
and their structure forces participants to be well or-
ganized. With little effort, a process can be set in
motion that then continues under its own steam. If
the project or objective in question is more specific,
such as finding potential users for a particular prop-
erty or agreeing on a design with multiple private cli-
ents, it is better to develop a project-specific medi-
um. An investment upfront (in the form of time and/
or money) enables all the parties involved to get just
the service they require.
Social media can also help create and maintain
a network in thinly populated areas where par-
ties have to cover relatively large physical distanc-
es in order to come into contact with one another.
Despite their isolated location, they can even have a
presence in far-off urban centres through the use of
social media.
Example: Instant Master Planning, Vollmose,
Odense (DK)
Vollmose, a suburb of the Danish town of Odense,
was struggling with a lack of social cohesion due to
an ageing population and an increasing number of
residents with non-Danish roots. Local residents in-
creasingly felt unsafe and complained to the munici-
pality about this. Rather than make a one-off spatial
modification based on the recommendations of ex-
perts, the municipality decided to tackle the problem
by using social media.
Not everyone had a smartphone by a long way in
this working-class district, so the action focused on
sending text messages. Residents could respond by
text message to a wide range of subjects concerning
the redevelopment of their district. These respons-
es were made visible to everyone via an interactive
webpage. The result was that the municipality had
a better idea of local sentiment and was able to take
this into account in drawing up its plans.
81
STORYTELLING
Time-based Organizational Flexibility
By making a location’s past or possible future
explicit, its unique qualities are highlighted and
new users are persuaded to settle there.
Why?
Unlike urban expansion projects where the place still
has to come to life, older parts of the city often have
streets, squares and buildings that have acquired a
particular significance over the years. People have
lived there, particular events have taken place there
or it was the site of a particular form of commercial
activity. Storytelling means making such a location’s
past explicit.
Although developers sometimes believe that
maintaining or reusing elements will make the re-
development project more expensive or more com-
plicated, experience shows that locations where the
past is in evidence are appreciated by more people.
How does it work?
Storytelling can be a literal exercise, with stories
about a site’s past being told by means of projected
texts or by a guide. Occasional or regular theatrical
performances are another way of reviving or keeping
alive a location’s past. A more interesting option is to
incorporate spatial elements from a site’s past in the
new form of spatial use. For example, if an old har-
bour is being transformed into a residential district,
the former cranes could be used for street lighting.
The retention of paving patterns in the public space
can also serve as a reminder of old routes or means
of transport.
In places where people would rather forget the
past because of the terrible things that happened
or because they wish to rid themselves of a negative
reputation, there is a tendency to demolish every-
thing and start afresh. However, even here the incor-
poration of old elements in new developments can
have a possible effect on the reputation or lead to a
different perspective on the past. In the Dutch min-
ing area, for instance, many people regret the fact
that so many distinctive buildings were demolished
when the mines closed, to be replaced by anony-
82
mous parks and offices. All trace of the Berlin Wall
has been eradicated in much of Berlin.
In places where people are attached to the past
and resistant to change, storytelling can help make
such changes more acceptable. The Australian de-
signer and scenario writer Leonie Sandercock says
storytelling should be seen as a proper instrument in
its own right for designers and as an important cata-
lyst for change processes.
Example: IBA (Internationale Bauausstellung)
Emscher Park (D)
After the mines were closed in Germany’s Ruhr re-
gion in the 1960s, the deserted factory buildings
and grounds epitomized the area’s faded glory and
current high unemployment. Residents left and
those who remained behind saw the buildings as a
reminder of their misery. Demolishing these build-
ings to make room for a new future seemed an ob-
vious choice. However, in the IBA Emscher Park, an
experimental urban programme designed to give
the area a boost, these buildings have been used to
create a new regional élan and revive the economy.
Factory grounds have been transformed into loca-
tions for leisure and sport, factories into museums
and railway lines into city parks. An open-air theatre
has been built on top of a waste heap. Because the
old elements have been reused in such a spectacular
fashion, this has put the new economy on the inter-
national map and changed the area’s reputation for
good.
EXPECTATION MANAGEMENT
Time-based Organizational Flexibility
The parties involved make clear what they can
expect from one another and when, and what not.
Why?
Urban transformation is a fragile process that is
subject to many limiting conditions and uncertain-
ties. Transformation projects involve numerous par-
ties, all with their own interests and expectations. If
the expectations of all those involved are made clear
from the start, this enhances the sense of realism in
the project and increases the support base. It also
makes sure that stakeholders are better prepared for
any associated inconvenience or risks from the de-
velopment. When expectation management is suc-
cessful, this leads to a greater basis of trust among
stakeholders, so that potential conflicts can be iden-
tified and discussed at an early stage.
How does it work?
Good expectation management is all about mutual
communication about people’s intentions and ex-
pectations. It involves forms of communication that
enable parties that are naturally on an unequal foot-
ing to still communicate on an equal footing. A neu-
tral intermediary such as a mediator and a neutral
environment where all the parties are guests can
help achieve that.
There will inevitably be distrust between parties
with different interests. These parties can specify
their intentions when they start talking to one an-
other, and expectations can be adjusted according-
ly. Aligning different expectations at an early stage
helps make a project successful. That is because a
project may not be seen as a success even when all
the objectives are achieved, simply because these
objectives did not reflect the expectations.
Expectation management is sometimes used as a
negotiation strategy. Municipalities or developers try
to make money by lowering the expectations of other
parties with respect to the quality or compensation
measures. Local residents try to drive a hard bargain
by threatening to take action or impose a boycott.
Expectation management can only be constructive
if the parties involved put their cards on the table
rather than bluffing, thus giving one another insight
in their real interests.
Example: Old Docks in Ghent (B)
The Old Docks are a former industrial harbour in
Ghent. The municipality saw opportunities there
for the creation of about 1500 new homes in com-
bination with offices, shops and public amenities.
However the area was dilapidated and had a poor
reputation among locals. The people of Ghent were
critical from the start about the transformation
plans; they could not imagine how it could become
a lively new district.
The municipality, realizing that creating trust
among local residents would help the project to suc-
ceed, started up an intensive communication pro-
cess and established a presence in the district by in-
stalling the SOGent project team there. It informed
local inhabitants of the plans for the coming 10 to 20
years via local media, at markets and via a local web-
site. Residents were invited to contribute ideas and
have a say in the plans through consultative groups
and dialogue cafes.
The trust between all the parties has since grown
enormously. Residents no longer talk about ‘the mu-
nicipality’s plans’ and the municipality’s staff no
longer refer to ‘those annoying residents’. The mu-
nicipality is helping residents to implement tempo-
rary initiatives that ensure that the district is already
a fully-fledged part of the city even though building
work has not yet started on the new homes.
83
IMPROVISING
Time-based Organizational Flexibility
Taking action without having a prior plan and
finding out ‘on the fly’ how it should be done.
Why?
Transformation processes are complex and there-
fore less predictable than new build projects outside
the city. There will inevitably be unexpected set-
backs, or indeed opportunities, that affect the result.
Assumptions about the characteristics of existing
buildings turn out to be wrong, neighbours have sec-
ond thoughts and lodge objections after all, archaeo-
logically valuable remains are discovered and users
or financers who had originally given undertakings
withdraw because of delays. At such times, the ca-
pacity for improvisation among various stakeholders
determines whether these unexpected events can
be exploited to the benefit of the project.
For a long time, (urban) buildings and structures
used to be the result of improvisation on the site it-
self, making use of the opportunities and possibili-
ties available at that moment. But after the emer-
gence of ‘hygienic’ modernity, buildings, streets and
districts were designed at a distance, in draughts-
men’s offices. The skill of contextual improvisation
fell into disuse. Now improvisation is enjoying a re-
vival due to the complexity and unpredictability of
today’s development projects.
In music, improvisation (from the Latin for ‘unfore-
seen’) is used to describe a spontaneous perfor-
mance by musicians rather than a performance
based on music written out in advance. The term
‘improvisation’ is used as the opposite to ‘composi-
tion’, whereby a piece of music is laid down in its en-
tirety or almost in its entirety. But improvisation is
not the same as doing ‘any old thing’. Musicians who
are good at improvising have mastered their instru-
ment and this enables them to come up with suitable
solutions spontaneously and on the spot. Similarly,
professional designers, costing specialists, gas and
electrical fitters and so on have such capacities in
the urban planning sector.
84
How does it work?
A proactive attitude is needed for improvisation, with
the right assessment being made quickly on the spot
and action then being taken. This requires pragma-
tism, an open mindset without preconceptions and
self-confidence, with conventions and generic solu-
tions being rejected in favour of a tailored solution.
Example: Darwin Eco-système, Bordeaux (F)
A railway yard and a number of military barracks
on the River Garonne, opposite the old city centre,
had been empty since 2005. In its bid to become
European Capital of Culture in 2013, the municipali-
ty of Bordeaux used this as the focus of its ambitions
for a revitalized sustainable city. Although Bordeaux
was not chosen as the Capital of Culture, the site re-
tained its association with the city’s sustainability
ambitions. The municipality allowed several local
entrepreneurs to implement their own strategy for
enhancing the sustainability of the area under the
banner ‘Darwin Eco-système’.
This strategy was inspired by natural ecosystems
in which unpredictable conditions, adaptive capac-
ity and inventiveness play a central role rather than
conventions and certainties. In an open process, a
request was made for as many local businesspeo-
ple as possible to set up businesses in the area and
use their specific expertise to make the place future-
proof. Although the parameters were clear, this ap-
proach did mean that it was not clear in advance
how the area would evolve. The specific expertise
and ambitions of the entrepreneurs determined the
course that the process of enhancing the area’s sus-
tainability would take.
3.4 Legal Flexibility 3.5 Legal Instruments

Regulations determine the legal framework within
which spatial development takes place. Legal instru-
ments enable initiatives to be executed within this
legal framework.
The current legal framework in most European
countries is insufficient for facilitating the process
of enhancing the sustainability of society. The reuse
of structures is sometimes made unnecessarily diffi-
cult, new initiatives face unintentional delays and fu-
ture opportunities are nipped in the bud. Enhancing
sustainability therefore demands a more flexible le-
gal framework.
It is difficult to give a detailed description of le-
gal instruments that could be used in all European
countries, as each country has its own specific legis-
lation. The instruments described in the pages that
follow are therefore chiefly general legal principles
that enable or foster the enhancement of sustain-
ability in various ways. Each section explains how
the principle works and then describes how this
translates into specific legal instruments in the case
of various European countries. The descriptions
can therefore serve partly as a manual, partly as a
source of inspiration for a modified legal framework
and partly as a plea for the further harmonization of
European regulations.
flexibility contributes to a more sustainable society Local Legal Flexibility LOCAL EXEMPTION
through its social impact. Use-driven legal flexibility
enables more space to be made available for initia-
tives and programmes that do not fit neatly within
generic legal frameworks. URBAN LAND REALLOCATION
Time-based Legal Flexibility
The increasing unpredictability of societal changes
requires more tailored solutions in the timing. A cer- ACQUIRED RIGHTS
tain legal provision may have an incentive effect now
but could inadvertently suddenly act as a disincen-
tive following an unforeseen change in the economic
circumstances or the national government’s policy.
In such cases, time-limited provisions or exemptions
can be a solution. Use-driven Legal Flexibility ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
FACILITATING
ILLEGALITY

Local Legal Flexibility

New developments mainly take place in an existing, Time-based Legal Flexibility TEMPORARY PERMIT
complex urban context. Each site in the existing city
has its own unique set of conditions. In some cases,
generic regulations can inadvertently hinder desir-
able new developments. Local flexibility can offer FOR RENT VACANT PROPERTY ACT
relief in such cases.

Use-driven Legal Flexibility

As users gain influence over the layout of their own GLOBAL ZONING PLAN
living environment and the supply of space, supply
and demand will become more aligned. Use-driven

86 87
LOCAL EXEMPTION
Local Legal Flexibility
To facilitate local customization, the competent
authority can make the legal framework for a cer-
tain area more restrictive or more flexible under
certain conditions.
Why?
Legislation is based on the principle of equal treat-
ment. The law treats parties, situations and places
equally in equal circumstances. This is a very work-
able principle in the case of new build projects. The
conditions in most expansion sites beyond the city
boundaries are quite similar. However a tailored so-
lution is required, including in the legal sense, when
transforming existing sites, as account has to be tak-
en of pre-existing legal regimes and specific exist-
ing buildings. Excessively rigid adherence to generic
regulations can cause delays or even make desirable
changes impossible.
More and more European countries are starting
to realize that the resulting delays have a negative
impact on society. That is why they are developing
ways of getting round these legal obstacles.
The competent authority can decide to introduce a
local exemption because society may benefit more
from fast redevelopment than from keeping to the
letter of the law. This usually involves speeding
up procedures rather than doing away with rules.
Buildings or areas that have been marked out for a
transformation or have high vacancy levels can be
made more attractive to businesses through loca-
tion-specific rules or exemptions.
How does it work?
When legislators allow exemptions, they give as pre-
cise a description as possible of the conditions under
which such exemptions are possible. This maintains
the principle of equal treatment as everyone who
satisfies these conditions is then eligible for the ex-
emption. The Flemish authorities, for example, have
the Decree on Complex Projects (decreet complexe
projecten), which enables faster procedures for all
projects designated by the Flemish government as
of exceptional importance to society. In England,
the authorities can boost the development of areas
88
that have been designated Urban Enterprise Zones.
Privileges such as tax allowances are available to
businesses that settle there for a long period. The
Netherlands has the Crisis and Recovery Act (Crisis-
en herstelwet), which started as a temporary experi-
ment during the financial crisis but has now been
made permanent. It enables the national govern-
ment to identify projects where local amendments
to the rules can result in cost savings or new oppor-
tunities. The room for local legal customization is
relatively great in Denmark because the central gov-
ernment has devolved many tasks relating to spatial
planning to local governmental authorities.
Example: De Peinder Mieden, Drachten (NL)
The provincial authority of Friesland feels a respon-
sibility for preserving the province’s historic land-
scape. That is why the provincial by-law ‘Romte
Fryslân’ (2011) states in Article 1.1.1 that no building
options or usage options for new urban functions
should be allowed in the open countryside. In 2014,
this by-law was comprehensively revised and an ex-
emption was introduced in Article 10.6.2, exclusively
for the area of narrow, tree-bordered fields around
Drachten.
This distinctive landscape where fields are en-
closed by rows of alders was in urgent need of up-
keep. There was no money for this however as the
land was unused – the farms had all but disappeared.
Allowing new housing on a limited scale (5% of the
total plan area) created sufficient financial capacity
for the maintenance of the landscape. The residents,
who are the new owners of the area, bear the costs
for the upkeep and also keep this countryside open
to the public.
URBAN LAND REALLOCATION
Local Legal Flexibility
By redrawing property boundaries in redevelopment
areas, qualities can be created in the public domain
that have a better fit with current requirements.
Why?
Property boundaries can make the desired redevel-
opment of an existing part of a city or area of land
more difficult or even impossible. If the option is cre-
ated of shifting these property boundaries and en-
couraging or forcing owners to participate in a new
development, this can lead to an urban area that is
more aligned with public requirements. This redraw-
ing of property boundaries is known as urban land
reallocation.
Urban land reallocation can result in higher grade
public infrastructure, better positioning of new
buildings and functions, better links to other parts of
the city or simply improved efficiency. An additional
advantage of urban land reallocation is that it be-
comes easier for parties with relatively small proper-
ties to participate in a redevelopment project so that
they do not need to be bought out.
How does it work?
Some countries have legal instruments for urban
land reallocation. There are possibilities for this
in Sweden with the Joint Land Development facil-
ity and in France through the Association Foncière
Urbaine. In Japan too, where land inheritance over
generations has resulted in fragmented land owner-
ship, there is the possibility of creating larger plots
through urban land reallocation.
In preparation for new legislation that would en-
able urban land reallocation in the Netherlands, the
lawyer Arjan Bregman investigated the instruments
for land reallocation in Spain (Reparcelación) and
Germany (Umlegung) 1 . In Spain, landowners can
make a proposal, either individually or jointly, for a
new plot layout in an area subject to a plan. Once
the municipality has approved this proposal, one of
the owners, an owners’ association or a new party
is given responsibility for implementing the land re-
allocation. Owners elsewhere in the plan area can
trade building rights to obtain a plot ready for devel-
opment, while compulsory purchases are possible if
the owner is unwilling. It is common in Spain for the
municipality to cream off 15 per cent and use this for
investing in public amenities.
In Germany, only governmental authorities can
initiate land reallocation. The authorities are able
to unilaterally change property boundaries, creat-
ing new plots and space for public amenities. The
old owners retain ownership, but the plot changes
shape. Financial compensation must be paid for
any possible advantages accruing to the owners
as a result of the land reallocation. Land realloca-
tion is used in Germany both for urban expansions
(Neuerschließungsumlegung) and city centre loca-
tions (Neuordnungsumlegung).
Example: Land reallocation in the Municipality
of Essen (D)
In order to improve the local infrastructure and en-
able the development of new housing, the mu-
nicipality proposed land reallocation involving five
owners. The municipality would itself become the
owner of a strip of land for the new access road and
some greenery. The owners were prepared to coop-
erate with this land reallocation as they would be
able to sell part of their gardens as building land,
which was financially advantageous. All of the own-
ers gained from the land reallocation (they enjoyed
Umlegungsvorteil). That included owner number 4,
which acquired access to the new road, even if this
was via a road through the adjoining plot. The parties
reached agreement on this plan under the leadership
of the Umlegungsausschuß, the municipal commit-
tee supervising the project.
1. See A. Bregman, H.W. de Wolff et al., Herverkaveling op
ontwikkelingslocaties, (Onderzoeksinstituut OTB TU Delft
& Instituut voor Bouwrecht, 2011).
89
ACQUIRED RIGHTS
Local Legal Flexibility
When the designated use of an existing property
changes, the quality requirements are determined
by the quality standards of the existing building
rather than the requirements for intended buildings
designed for the new function.
Why?
Most existing buildings received planning permis-
sion on the basis of outdated regulations. They no
longer satisfy the current standards for new build-
ings in all respects. The characteristics of existing
buildings that do not satisfy the latest standards con-
form to ‘the standards applicable at the time’. These
are acquired rights. ‘Acquired rights’ refers to rights
that are retained after a change in the legislation.
In some European countries, a change in the des-
ignated use of an existing building still implies adher-
ence to the quality standards for new buildings with
that new function. For example, converted proper-
ties have to satisfy the environmental standards for
new buildings. This often makes transformation pro-
jects unviable from a spatial and financial perspec-
tive. However desirable they may be, initiatives are
often nipped in the bud by such regulations. In most
European countries, governmental authorities now
recognize this problem and are looking for ways of
using legislation to encourage or facilitate reuse.
How does it work?
Legislation in most countries has long made a dis-
tinction between new buildings and the reuse of
listed buildings. If a property has listed-building sta-
tus, the owner is permitted to make alterations that
prioritize the extent to which the building’s original
state is preserved rather than the requirements for
new buildings. However listed buildings make up
only a small proportion of the total stock of existing
buildings.
In the Netherlands, the 2012 Buildings Decree
(Bouwbesluit) introduced the concept of rechtens
verkregen niveau, meaning ‘level achieved according
to regulations applicable at the time’, in order to en-
courage the reuse of existing buildings that are not
listed. This means that the characteristics of the ex-
isting building can be used as the minimum quality
90
level rather than the requirements for new buildings
with that function when there is a change of desig-
nated use. This makes it easier to change the desig-
nated use of existing properties. In general, an exist-
ing building will not have all the features appropriate
to the new function before the intended change in its
function. For example, an office building will gener-
ally have little outdoor space and the dividing walls
will not be suitable for party walls between flats. The
Buildings Decree 2012 offers an initiator wishing
to convert an office building into residential hous-
ing the freedom to determine their own new quality
standards and use that as the basis for the invest-
ment budget.
The Dutch legislators are assuming that market
forces will lead to the desired quality level. After all,
insufficient sound insulation in party walls would re-
sult in unsaleable homes. The decree covers trans-
formation projects in which existing buildings are
altered, extended or partly renovated.
Example: Milk Factory, Garyp (NL)
For many years, the Eendracht milk factory was a
central point in the village where farmers would
bring their milk every day. The building recently fell
vacant. Although it is not listed as of historical im-
portance, it is still a visually prominent building. A
local entrepreneur developed a plan for sheltered ac-
commodation, a health centre and a meeting place
in the former factory. These functions meet a grow-
ing demand for customized care in the region with
its ageing population.
The basic setup of the existing building with its
steep stairs and low ceilings did not satisfy the mini-
mum standards for new residential housing. Even so,
the transformation could still go ahead because of
the acquired rights principle in the Dutch Buildings
Decree 2012.
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
Use-driven Legal Flexibility
Agreements between a group of people or parties
that only apply to them.
Why?
Traditionally, major players such as governmental
authorities, commercial developers and institutions
have been in charge of the development and man-
agement of space. However, smaller parties such as
private users are now increasingly taking the initia-
tive. Such smaller parties are in a better position to
manage these complex processes when they organ-
ize themselves into larger groups. Smaller parties
can also conduct negotiations with larger players
more effectively if they organize themselves.
But this does require a sound organizational
structure with clear-cut agreements, for example
on the allocation of ownership, the costs and any in-
come, the advice to be obtained, the assignment of
responsibilities and so forth. There are various legal
structures available to formalize such a collabora-
tive venture, such as the society and the cooperative.
Both of these structures have a democratic organiza-
tional setup in which members are on an equal foot-
ing, have voting rights and can hold each other to ac-
count for their respective responsibilities. Collective
agreements between the members are documented
in the articles of association. These articles describe
the purpose of the collaborative organization, the
admission criteria, the rights and obligations of its
members, and so on. The articles of association can
be tailored to precisely fit the circumstances, which
means that they offer a location-specific, usage-spe-
cific or project-specific legal framework to a certain
extent.
How does it work?
All European countries have organizational struc-
tures in which individual legal entities can unite to
create a single legal entity. The organizational struc-
ture consisting of equal members operating on a non-
profit basis is called a Vereniging in the Netherlands
and Flanders, an Idealverein in Germany and Austria,
an Association in France, a Borger Forening in Den-
mark and an Association in the United Kingdom. In
some countries, such as Sweden, the government
gives citizens who set up an association start-up
capital so that they can satisfy the administrative re-
quirements.
A cooperative is a special kind of association that
does allow for a profit, with this profit then being di-
vided among the members. This structure also ex-
ists in all European countries. In the Netherlands and
Flanders it is called the coöperatie, in Germany and
Austria the Genossenschaft, in France the coopéra-
tive and in the United Kingdom the cooperative. The
United Kingdom also has the community benefit so-
ciety and Germany the gemeinnützige GmbH; these
are special structures in which the profit has to be
used for purposes that are demonstrably in the pub-
lic interest rather than being distributed among the
individual members.
Example: Portland Works, Sheffield (UK)
Portland Works, a listed factory complex from 1877,
was still being used in 2009 as a workshop for small
craft businesses when a project developer announced
that it wanted to buy the building and convert it into
flats. The plan met with local resistance. Many peo-
ple considered the building, which was where the fa-
mous stainless steel was invented in 1914, to be im-
portant symbol of the city’s industrial past.
To keep the building for the city as a place for
craftsmanship and innovative entrepreneurism, us-
ers set up a community benefit society. The purpose
of the society was to raise funds so that they would
be able to buy the building. In 2013, the community
of what was then 500 shareholders did manage to
buy the building. Renovation work was subsequently
carried out in phases, with costs covered by rental
income and with input from volunteers.
91
FACILITATING
Use-driven Legal Flexibility
The licensing authority helps an initiator to make
the initiative possible.
Why?
Rules and regulations are so complex that initiators
do not always realize what is possible within the spa-
tial planning parameters. It is a good idea for the
competent authority to give initiators active support
as this will help prevent the initiators from abandon-
ing their plans to implement an initiative that is de-
sirable in itself, or becoming stuck in a legal proce-
dure.
The combination of different rules, for example,
can make it difficult for an initiator to estimate in ad-
vance the chance of an initiative being successful.
In that case, a government official could carry out a
preliminary study of the legal process together with
the initiator, which would soon clarify whether the
initiative has a chance of success and if so, how. This
would help the initiator to make the right choices.
If an initiative does not fit exactly within the legal
parameters, licensing authorities can decide to ob-
serve the spirit of the law rather than the letter of
the law when reaching their decisions. The rules may
also sometimes give government officials the flex-
ibility to deviate from them under certain conditions.
The application of such a derogation clause depends
on the relevant official being prepared to point out
and apply this option. This requires courage from the
licensing authority. After all, if a license or permit
should cause problems after it has been granted, the
authorities may be held to account for this. That is
why officials tend towards a conservative interpreta-
tion of the rules.
How does it work?
Initiators can engage in a direct dialogue with the
official dealing with their case in order to find out
whether modifying their plans would make it easier
for them to obtain a permit and speed up the pro-
cess, and what modifications are required.
Initiators can also ask the enforcement authori-
92
ties, such as the municipal executive, to allow a cer-
tain situation on sufferance for a limited period. A
temporary exemption order can be agreed verbally
or in writing, enabling enforcement to be suspended.
Example: T.OP Limburg (B)
After the closure of Ford Genk, the largest employ-
er in the region, the Flemish province of Limburg
needed an economic transformation. To attract new
investors and create lasting employment opportuni-
ties, the Flemish authorities devised a multi-faceted
strategy that included what is termed a territorial
development programme (Territoriaal ontwikkelings-
programma, or T.OP). The aim of the T.OP is to co-
ordinate economic and spatial developments and
make optimum use of the specific features of the re-
gion. Linking up diverse forms of investment enables
social added value to be created at the area level.
One aspect of the T.OP involves facilitating initia-
tives from a legal perspective. Preliminary discus-
sions between government officials and initiators
play a key role here. At the start, government offi-
cials and initiators not only examine together how
the T.OP objectives can best be achieved, they also
consider how to work out the details of the plans in
such a way that the legal procedures are aligned at
the different levels, thus avoiding delays wherever
possible. Individual officials are then assigned a par-
ticular project, on behalf of which they proactively do
dealings within the government departments.
ILLEGALITY
Use-driven Legal Flexibility
Initiators deliberately break the rules as a way of
quickly and simply achieving their objectives.
Why?
Initiators can have many different motives when en-
gaging in spatial development. Institutional players
often claim that they are serving the public interest
while commercial parties are primarily interested in
financial returns. Some players want to satisfy their
own spatial requirements directly, without having to
make compromises. This can lead to a form of usage
that does not comply with the rules and is therefore
illegal. Illegal usage of space may be driven by impa-
tience if it takes too long for the rules to be amended
to allow the desired form of usage. Idealistic motives
may also lead to illegality if the initiator does not
agree with a certain rule or does not recognize the
competent authority. It is also possible for initiatives
directed at action to inadvertently violate rules be-
cause of the vast number of rules and the complexity
of their interaction.
Because there is always a power dimension to
spatial development (who is in charge in a city),
small-scale illegal initiatives are sometimes termed
guerrilla actions. The descriptor ‘guerrilla’ is used for
relatively small-scale initiatives that meet with little
resistance at the local level. Guerrilla originated as a
term in warfare. In the spatial context, it can be seen
as a game between initiators and law enforcement
agencies in which the initiators put their illegal plans
into practice in such a way that the law enforcers are
unable to reverse the initiative or impose fines.
How does it work?
In general, initiators who are considering an illegal
form of spatial use make an assessment of the en-
forcement policy. Illegality is easier if there is little
chance of the rules being enforced. They may also
weigh up their personal interests against the public
interest from an ethical perspective.
Law enforcement agencies have various means
of enforcing the rules. There are remedial sanctions
such as incremental penalties until the breach is
remedied, or administrative enforcement, which are
aimed at restoring the original situation. The focus
here is on reversing the breach of the rules. There are
also punitive sanctions such as fines. The enforce-
ment agency always has the power to impose these
sanctions.
Now that governmental authorities have to make
so many cutbacks, they do not have the same capac-
ity to track down illegal actions and take measures.
Nowadays the rules tend to be enforced only when
the authorities are held to account by others for the
illegal actions.
If the illegal use of space concerns another party’s
private land rather than the initiator’s own land or
public space, private law comes into play in addition
to administrative law. After all, the use or appropria-
tion of property belonging to another is forbidden.
Example: Guerrilla Gardening
The aim of guerrilla gardening is to create more
greenery in urban environments. Mini-gardens are
created in public spaces with little or no green-
ery without prior consultation with the authorities.
Guerrilla gardening is a widely used concept, with
organizations actively involved in this in various
countries. These organizations usually maintain the
gardens themselves too. There is little resistance
in society to guerrilla gardening. Government au-
thorities also rarely enforce the rules or take action
against illegal gardens in public spaces.
93

TEMPORARY PERMIT
Time-based Legal Flexibility
Permit that enables space to be used for a limited
period.
Why?
It is not always immediately clear in transforma-
tion processes what should be the new function of
a location that has become vacant or whether a new
form of commercial operation will work. The tem-
porary usage of space can help in such cases. Such
temporary usage of space enables experimenta-
tion with new functions in the existing urban fabric.
Short-lived events can also help publicize locations.
In addition, buildings with a temporary permit can
be used to satisfy peak demand, for example for stu-
dent accommodation, thereby avoiding the problem
of vacancy in the future.
Because the focus is often on the short term in
temporary use cases with less time to recoup in-
vestments, the temporary usage of space can ben-
efit from special legal conditions such as acceler-
ated procedures that enable initiatives to be realized
more quickly, and less stringent standards where
possible to make implementation cheaper.
How does it work?
There are several ways of enabling the temporary us-
age of space. If the temporary use is in line with the
legal designated use of the building or location, all
that is needed is permission from the owner. This is
possible with a contract specially drawn up for the
purpose, such as the ‘meanwhile use leases’ in the
United Kingdom. However, if the temporary use dif-
fers from the legal designated use of the building or
location, an occupancy permit has to be applied for;
the competent authority will then assess whether
the intended usage is safe and will not be a nuisance
to others. Such occupancy permits are not usually
limited to a particular period: the intended use is
simply either acceptable or not.
If a temporary structure has to be erected for a
specific temporary use, planning permission has to
be applied for. Some countries have the option of
94
temporary planning permission. In the Netherlands,
the maximum period for temporary planning permis-
sion was recently extended to ten years, in order to
make it easier to experiment with new functions. An
interesting aspect of this temporary planning per-
mission is that the standards that the building must
satisfy are not as strict, making construction cheaper.
An event permit can also be an option for the
temporary use of space in the form of an undevel-
oped building site, for example. Event permits are
granted for specific forms of brief usage of outdoor
space such as fairs, festivals and sports events. The
maximum usage period is very short. The United
Kingdom, for example, has a temporary permit for a
maximum of 28 days; this is fine for organizing an
event but not enough for temporary use in a form
that can act as a catalyst for urban development.
In many other European countries, a regular plan-
ning application has to be submitted for a temporary
building, which encourages a conventional approach
to redevelopment.
Example: 4th Gymnasium, School in Houthaven,
Amsterdam (NL)
The 4th Gymnasium secondary school is due to get
a new school building in 2016 in the new district of
Houthaven in Amsterdam. The premises elsewhere
in the city had however been too cramped for years
because of the growing numbers of pupils. In an-
ticipation of the new building, the school therefore
moved into temporary premises in 2008 at a location
close to the new site. The temporary premises were
originally built for a maximum usage period of five
years, but the temporary permit has now been ex-
tended until completion of the new school building.
FOR RENT
VACANCY REUSE INCENTIVES
Time-based Legal Flexibility
Legislation that encourages the occupancy of
property with systematically high vacancy levels.
Why?
Nobody benefits from property that remains vacant
– there is no income to offset the costs that are in-
curred for the upkeep, vacancy has a negative im-
pact on the surrounding area, and so on. Yet there
are countless reasons why property often remains
vacant even though there are potential users. For ex-
ample, the owners may feel that occupancy should
generate more money than users are willing to pay.
Property owners sometimes speculate on an im-
provement in the economic conditions, believing
that they will get more rent or a better sale price if
they wait. Owners are sometimes reluctant to take
on temporary occupants because of a fear of tenant
protection, whereby it can be difficult to remove oc-
cupants once they have settled in a property. Vacant
property with listed-building status may require
expensive modifications for new users that owners
would prefer not to carry out.
Various European countries have different legal
provisions aimed at encouraging the use of vacant
property.
How does it work?
The Netherlands, for example, has the Vacant Prop-
er ty Act (Leegstandswet), which enables restrictions
on tenant protection in the case of property with sys-
tematically high vacancy levels. Rental agreements
are temporary and can be unilaterally terminated.
What is more, since 1 October 2010 municipalities
can use the Vacant Property Act to establish a va-
cancy by-law obliging owners to report any vacancy.
Municipalities can then propose a user to the owner
and require the owner to let the user take occupan-
cy of the vacant property. In the United Kingdom,
the government has drawn up model contracts for
‘meanwhile use leases’ that enable owners and users
to arrange the temporary use of property more easily
without too much administrative bother.
Tax measures can also be used to discourage va-
cancy. The United Kingdom, for instance, offers a
tax break of 80 per cent when commercial premis-
es are let to charitable institutions whereas the full
business rates have to be paid on vacant property
after the first three months. Letting such property
to these organizations is therefore an attractive al-
ternative to leaving it vacant. In Flanders, too, the
governmental authorities have introduced levies on
vacant and/or run-down office space. Each year,
the Flemish authorities draw up a list of the vacant
and/or run-down office buildings in each municipal-
ity. If a specific building appears on this list in three
successive years, it is subject to a levy in the follow-
ing year. The proceeds from this levy are paid into
a Renewal Fund (Vernieuwingsfonds), that is used
to provide financial support for the acquisition and
refurbishing (demolition or dismantling work) of the
office space in the list.
Example: Monuments and Historic Buildings
Act (B)
In Flanders, vacancy among listed buildings is pre-
vented by allowing a broader range of usage options
for listed buildings compared with standard build-
ings. That is why the Flemish policy for heritage
property allows for exemptions when changing the
designated use of listed buildings. Listed buildings
can be given a function that is not in line with the
zoning plan. A vacant farmhouse, for instance, can
be assigned a residential function even if it is in an
agricultural area where the options for a residential
function are very limited due to stringent require-
ments.
95
FLEXIBLE ZONING PLAN
Time-based Legal Flexibility
Zoning plan that stipulates the building spaces and
designated use in broad terms only, leaving room for
manoeuvre in filling in the details.
Why?
Governmental authorities lay down the options for
the future development of areas in regulations. This
gives a prior guarantee that different developments
will not hinder one another, that the area budget will
be correct, that there will be compliance with rules
on air pollution and noise and that new programmes
will be aligned with programmes elsewhere in the
city.
Such regulations need a certain degree of flex-
ibility as it is often difficult to determine in advance
which future forms of designated use and planning
will be viable. The chance of potential initiatives ac-
tually being implemented is greater if, for example,
multiple forms of use are permitted in advance in a
particular location or area rather than just one form
of use.
How does it work?
There are big differences between European coun-
tries in the legislation providing the framework for
planning and the degree of flexibility in that frame-
work. In the Netherlands, where zoning plans are
notorious for their lack of flexibility and where the
situation fosters large-scale planning, preparations
are currently underway for a new Environment and
Planning Act (Omgevingswet). This act will offer
more flexibility because it will no longer be neces-
sary to exclude all possible conflicts beforehand;
only when a permit is being granted will it be nec-
essary to assess whether a specific initiative is in
conflict with the surrounding area. In Germany, the
land-use plan (Flächennutzungsplan) offers a loca-
tion-specific framework for planning. This can be a
broad outline or highly specific, depending on local
ambitions. In Flanders, the Spatial Implementation
Plan (Ruimtelijk uitvoeringsplan) determines the de-
velopment options in an area at three tiers – that
of the region, the province and the municipality. In
96
Denmark, the key spatial frameworks operate mainly
at the local level. Municipalities draw up a local plan
(Lokalplan). If an initiative is in conflict with this local
plan, the municipal council can grant an exemption
following a public hearing. In the United Kingdom,
the national Town and Country Planning Act 1990
lets local authorities grant development rights to ini-
tiators.
Whatever form they take, zoning plans are always
a balancing act between flexibility and the protec-
tion of legal interests. While legal certainty demands
clear-cut rules, an effective spatial plan needs to be
dynamic and flexible. A lack of flexibility makes the
spatial planning system too rigid but too much flex-
ibility can endanger the protection of legal interests.
Example: ZEMU (Zones d’Entreprise en Milieu
Urbain), Brussels (B)
The government in Brussels wished to prevent fur-
ther suburban development beyond the Brussels
regional borders by housing the projected increase
in the city’s population in the Canal Zone. The plan
was to transform this centrally located district with
its mono-functional office and industrial sites into
a mixed residential and working environment. To
achieve this, a new type of area was added to the re-
gional zoning plan (Gewestelijk bestemmingsplan):
the ZEMU, or enterprise zones in an urban environ-
ment (Zones d’Entreprises en Milieu Urbain). Within
a ZEMU, it is possible to combine residential housing
with manufacturing activity, functions that are nor-
mally incompatible within the Brussels zoning plan.
A location can be designated a ZEMU if it has good
access via public transport and is close to existing
residential districts. The manufacturing activities
are also subject to certain conditions: they must not
be on too large scale and they must not cause a nui-
sance for the residential side.
3.6 Financial Flexibility 3.7 Financial Instruments

Financial Instruments Time-based Financial Flexibility Local Financial Flexibility WRITE-DOWNS

In spatial development, the domain of financing con-
cerns property values, investments and revenue.
Financial instruments enable the right balance to be
found between investments and revenue so that an
initiative becomes financially viable.
Different financial models are needed when en-
hancing the sustainability of our villages, towns and
cities compared with the models for urban expan-
sion. These new models need to be better at dea-
ling with the existing tangible and intangible values,
they should not be too dependent on big players with
plenty of capital but should allow room for owner-
ship by smaller parties, and they need to be better at
coping with unpredictability. To achieve this, finan-
cial instruments need to be more flexible.
Long-term cash flows with substantial investments
up front have an increasingly high risk profile. The
risks can be reduced if there is not such a large gap
between the timing of the investments and the ti- URBAN MARKETING
ming of the revenue flows. If financial instruments
are more flexible, it becomes easier to respond to
changing circumstances.
SUBSIDY
Use-driven Financial Flexibility SOCIAL CURRENCY

Local Financial Flexibility

The increase in value following transformation and MICROFINANCING
densification of existing parts of a city is less than
when farmland on the outskirts of the city is develo-
ped. If there is population shrinkage, a surplus of pro-
perty and building land is more likely to lead to a loss CROWDFUNDING
in value rather than a significant increase. Flexible
instruments are needed to bring the accounting va-
lue and fair value of a location more in line with one
another. These are instruments that are not based
purely on generalizations but take into account a lo-
cation’s specific values and possibilities. Time-based Financial Flexibility CASHFLOW GUIDANCE

Use-driven Financial Flexibility

The far-reaching institutionalization of spatial de-
velopment has resulted in a huge gap between in- UPGRADING
vestors and users, and between the expected return
on investment and the actual revenue once the site is
in use. Use-driven financial flexibility enables invest-
ments to be brought in line with the actual income in LIFE-CYCLE FINANCE
use, thus avoiding the need to work on the basis of
speculative values.

98 99
WRITE-DOWNS
Local Financial Flexibility
Adjusting the accounting value to bring it in line
with the fair value.
Why?
Reuse becomes expensive if an existing property or
building site available for redevelopment is too ex-
pensive. When demand falls, the market price of
vacant properties and undeveloped land falls too
as both are a form of surplus supply. However, the
accounting value does not automatically fall to the
same extent. A write-down refers to the deduction
of the difference between the accounting value and
the market value of vacant property or undeveloped
building land. Transactions get a new impulse after
this has been done.
In Ireland, the market value of homes fell by 35
per cent between 2007 and 2010. According to the
financial consultancy Fitch, the value of property in
Spain is still 10 per cent too high after years of down-
ward value adjustments. The consultancy Arcadis
claims that surplus value in the Dutch office property
market totalling 37 billion euros should have been
written down in 2011. Yet write-downs do not take
place on a large scale despite the structural decline
in demand for these properties. Large mortgages
are attached to most properties and banks will not
allow the collateral to be written down for fear of a
new banking crisis.
Public authorities, which own a great deal of land
and property, are also reluctant to write down the
value of their assets as these represent public mon-
ey. Private parties such as construction companies
and developers that acquired landholdings in eco-
nomically more favourable times wait before reduc-
ing the book value of their assets for fear of going
into liquidation.
How does it work?
Only the owner of land or property can decide to
write down the value of the asset. They may do this
to reduce the continuing costs of vacancy (in the
form of maintenance costs or loss of interest). After
100
a one-off write-down, new income can be generated.
Some owners write down the value of their prop-
erty from a sense of social responsibility. They real-
ize that long-term vacancy has a damaging impact
on local living conditions. The lower value makes
cheaper types of usage possible or creates financial
room for a transformation.
The determination of the post write-down value
(by means of a new valuation) is crucial. This value is
determined by such factors as the regional building
stock and the extent to which the building or area is
future-proof. Ultimately, the best way of determining
the fair value is to look at what users actually pay.
Example: Statistics Netherlands Offices,
Heerlen (NL)
The Statistics Netherlands offices in Heerlen
(36,000 m2) have been largely unoccupied since
2009. After a market survey, the owner, the Dutch
Government Buildings Agency, decided that the
most promising option would be to change the des-
ignated use to market gardening. If the site were to
be reused for residential or office accommodation,
this would compete too much with other develop-
ments in the town.
However the rental income from urban agriculture
is lower than from office accommodation. To make
the intended change to the designated use viable, a
substantial write-down was performed on the build-
ing to bring the costs and income in line with one an-
other again, after which the building was sold to the
municipality of Heerlen. The municipality selected a
market gardener that was prepared to take over the
building for this lower price and operate it, and then
sold the building on. Owners of office blocks in the
neighbourhood protested about this write-down by
the government. They saw it as a distortion of the
market.
URBAN MARKETING
Local Financial Flexibility
Achieving urban development and redevelopment
with the help of private investments.
Why?
With the decline of the welfare state, national and
local governments throughout Europe are having
to make cutbacks. Now that governmental authori-
ties have less money for the construction and main-
tenance of amenities, it is important to find parties
that are able and willing to take on this responsibility.
Urban marketing can only succeed if governmen-
tal authorities, which have traditionally been respon-
sible for the public domain, are open to cooperation
with private parties. In many cases, these parties will
expect privileges in return for their contribution that
will enable them to increase their private returns on
their investment.
The motives that private parties have for investing
in urban development can be very diverse. They may
see it as an opportunity to raise their profile. In some
cases they may want to acquire the best locations
for the sale of their products. Companies that have
traditionally operated in the public domain such as
energy companies and waste processing business-
es may be able to improve the efficiency of their op-
erations by getting involved in urban development.
Private individuals can also be encouraged to invest
in the public domain. The Concertgebouw (a con-
cert hall) and Vondelpark (a city park) in Amsterdam
were funded by money from wealthy residents at the
end of the nineteenth century.
How does it work?
Governments often work with private parties on
major public projects, for example in infrastruc-
ture, through Public Private Partnerships. The pri-
mary goals are defined in DBFM or DBFMO con-
tracts (DBFMO stands for Design, Build, Finance,
Maintain, Operate) and the private parties are then
given the freedom to decide for themselves how
to achieve those goals. It is also common for pri-
vate parties to be involved in financing and running
these projects. This saves costs and reduces risks.
Government bodies are less enthusiastic about shar-
ing responsibilities with private parties on the small-
er scale, let alone giving them the initiative.
In countries such as Japan and the United States,
with a less prescriptive government than in most
European countries, companies build highways at
their own expense in return for the right to run the
properties adjoining these highways. Major multi-
nationals such as IBM, Cisco and Siemens also take
the initiative for new urban development under such
banners as ‘Smart Cities’, where they link a general
trend such as the enhancement of sustainability, for
example, to their own business model.
Example: Barclays Pedal Power, London (UK)
The British bank Barclays created a network of cycle
superhighways and docking stations (with bikes) for
the 2012 Olympic Games in London. This infrastruc-
ture helped make the sports accommodation more
accessible during the Olympic Games. Afterwards,
it ensured the large-scale introduction of bicycles in
a city not exactly known for being bicycle-friendly.
The public infrastructure, funded by the bank, has
resulted in the bank’s name and distinctive blue col-
ours being spread throughout the city.
101
SUBSIDY
Local Financial Flexibility
Project-based government contribution that facili-
tates spatial developments that serve the public
interest but are not sufficiently profitable.
Why?
Sometimes a spatial development does serve the
public interest but is not sufficiently profitable, too
big or simply too risky to be fully financed by the
market. Assistance in the form of a subsidy means
the development can still be realized.
If the investment required for a project is too large
for local investors or governments, governments one
scale up can facilitate or stimulate the development
through a subsidy. For example, the European Union’s
budget between 2014 and 2020 for structural funds
(ERDF, ESF, Cohesion Fund) amounts to more than
300 billion euros, which can be used in diff erent
countries to strengthen the position of regions.
Subsidies are also used to promote innovation.
Construction is traditionally an area that involves
large sums of money. The pursuit of risk control
means experimentation is avoided and innovation is
difficult, but new types of development are some-
times needed, developments with which there is still
little experience.
How does it work?
Most European countries have municipal, provincial,
national and European subsidies. To ensure that all
parties have an equal chance of being granted a sub-
sidy, applications are usually made using standard
forms and a standard procedure. Governments of-
ten appoint committees with independent experts
to evaluate applications. And governments impose
an important pre-condition for granting subsidies:
the expertise developed at the end of an experiment
must be broadly applicable to standard projects. The
recipients of a subsidy are therefore sometimes re-
quired to disseminate their results – symposiums
and the Internet are effective platforms. Subsidies
are also granted in the form of interest-free loans or
investment allowances.
102
Governments are being forced to economize, and
this is placing pressure on subsidies. As a result,
the use of subsidies for spatial developments can no
longer be taken for granted. To ensure that projects
requiring a subsidy meet a societal need, subsidy-
providers increasingly stipulate strict criteria for co-
financing.
Subsidies are usually project-based and are there-
fore granted only once, making them more suita-
ble for one-off investments such as constructing or
changing a building than for financing ongoing op-
erations.
Example: Charleroi District Créatif (B)
Following the upgrading of the lower city and the
left bank of the river Sambre, Charleroi received a
European Union ERDF (European Regional Develop-
ment Fund) subsidy amounting to 142 million euros
to make the upper city more attractive too. This is an
ambitious urban renewal project for the whole north-
western part of the city centre – an astonishing one-
quarter of the centre of Charleroi (40 hectares); it is
intended to generate sustainable economic develop-
ment in the whole region. This will be accomplished
by realizing a number of projects such as a university
center, a conference centre and cultural institutions
that will drive further development; the public spac-
es between these projects will also be improved.
SOCIAL CURRENCY
Use-driven Financial Flexibility
Investments and revenue are expressed in goods,
favours, services or social returns rather than
money.
Why? for the first phase of its development in return for
Area transformation can be a complex affair finan- a role in the follow-up process or a discount on the
cially. It is not always possible to get the right bal- land rent. If users take on the responsibility of clean-
ance between all values – of both existing and new ing and maintaining communal areas, this reduces
elements, and both tangible and intangible ele- maintenance costs. Numerous new investors can
ments. In that case, it can help not to express all become involved in developments in this way.
values in money. Some costs can then be financed
in an alternative manner, for example by means of Example: Time Bank, Ithaca, (USA)
time, knowledge or materials. Initiatives can then The first successful time bank was set up by Paul
still be implemented while at the same time new Glover in 1991 in the city of Ithaca in the United
groups that have traditionally had less financial clout States. The bank introduced a time-based currency
gain access to the domain of spatial development. known as the Ithaca Hours. Prompted by this ini-
Alternative investments are associated with alterna- tiative, more and more inhabitants started trading
tive types of revenue, for example in the form of dis- hours.
counts, rights of use or return favours. Even today, the Ithaca Hours are accepted as valid
Governmental authorities often use the finan- payment by local businesses. The value of one Hour
cial returns from planning to fund social amenities. is fixed at 10 US dollars but is subject to further ne-
Because such revenues are no longer a matter of gotiation in individual transactions.
course everywhere, non-financial investments and Time banking and the trading of services ‘with
revenue can be a good alternative option for achiev- closed exchanges’ has also spread to other areas.
ing these social objectives. Facilitating citizens’ in- Because the currencies are mainly based on local
itiatives or the input of volunteers can improve the agreements, the principle bolsters the local econo-
quality of life and social cohesion without this involv- my and its wealth remains within the community.
ing large sums of money.
In his book The Future of Money, the Belgian cur-
rency expert Bernard Lietaer advocates the intro-
duction of complementary currencies alongside
traditional money as one solution for the global fi-
nancial crisis. Valuable things that are not so easy
to express in euros or dollars, such as social capital
or the care for the environment, can then become a
fully-fledged part of the economy.
How does it work?
Payment in kind means that a trade takes place in
accordance with predefined agreements. Users of a
vacant building, for instance, may be allowed to pay
a lower rent if they do up the building themselves.
In the case of undeveloped land, initiators can pay
103
MICROFINANCE
Use-driven Financial Flexibility
Small loans are granted to businesses or individuals
who have little or no access to banks.
Why?
Boosting the investment capacity of private individ-
uals and small businesses leads to more initiatives in
the spatial domain. What is more, it helps reduce the
risk of new developments coming to a standstill as a
multitude of small investments are less sensitive to
the impact of fluctuations in the economic cycle than
one single large investment. The encouragement of
small-scale investments by the grant of small loans
at low interest rates is also termed microfinancing.
The target groups for microfinancing include people
looking for a small or affordable home or office such
as starters and small business owners.
However, standard credit institutions such as
bank will not necessarily provide loans to small play-
ers. Small-scale financing is hardly worth it for them
as they have high overheads but can only achieve a
low profit margin. Depending on the conditions and
the purpose of the loan, most banks are not prepared
to provide loans of less than about 75,000 euros.
Microfinance was originally a collective term for
small loans provided to individuals in developing
countries to help them set up their own businesses.
The aim was not just to help entrepreneurial individ-
uals who did not have sufficient resources but also to
help those who had too little proven collateral to be
eligible for a loan from a conventional bank. A cred-
it union is a special form of microfinance in which
businesspeople help one another achieve the neces-
sary financial capacity. Credit unions are coopera-
tive credit associations in which liability is excluded.
How does it work?
Microloans are provided by specialized compa-
nies. These are generally philanthropic companies
or companies supported by governments. When a
loan is extended, this is often subject to mandatory
coaching in order to ensure better safeguards for the
return on the loan.
104
The European Commission provides small-scale
support to businesses in the form of loans and co-
financing, via local financial institutions in the EU
countries. These institutions, which include banks
and local authorities, determine the detailed terms
such as the interest rate and the repayment schedule
on the basis of the local conditions and prospects.
Example: Hamburgischen Investions und
Förder Bank, Hamburg (D)
Most of Germany’s federal states have Landesförder-
institute, public credit institutions that advance re-
gional policy objectives by providing loans, grants
and advice. Although the Hamburgische Investi-
tions- und Förderbank has been called a bank since
2013, it too is one of these non-profit public credit
institutions. The purpose of the institution is to sup-
port the policy objectives of the Free and Hanseatic
City of Hamburg; these include enhancing the sus-
tainability of the building stock, encouraging inno-
vation in the energy supply and promoting private
home ownership. The institution is specialized in
the financial services that commercial players do not
provide.
For example, the institution provides loans to low-
income families who want to have their own home
in Hamburg. The amount that can be borrowed de-
pends more on the size of the household than its in-
come, although the interest rate does depend on the
income. There is an option to start the repayments
with an interest-free period. In some cases, the inter-
est rate is reduced temporarily on the birth of a child.
CROWDFUNDING
Use-driven Financial Flexibility
Providing the financial resources for an initiative
through group funding.
Why?
A large group of donors with a multitude of small
investments can make an initiative possible. This
means that ‘the general public’ decides which pro-
jects are worth implementing. Donors are motivated
by the initiator’s enthusiasm and the excitement of
working together to make something special hap-
pen. This is quite different to banks, which mainly
focus on the potential risks when faced with an ap-
plication for funding.
Crowdfunding is also gaining ground in the spa-
tial sector, for example in the conservation of his-
toric buildings and redevelopment of neighbour-
hoods. Now that government money is less readily
available, nature conservation organizations are also
experimenting with crowdfunding for the preserva-
tion of nature reserves. Social and local networks are
important here. They can help spread the buzz and
raise awareness of an initiative. What is more, pro-
jects are often mainly serving local interests.
A derived form of crowdfunding is collaborative
consumption, in which many people share the pur-
chase costs and use of a product. The principle here
is that users are no longer paying for ownership; they
are only paying for use. The product is used more in-
tensively as a result, which makes it more sustaina-
ble and cheaper. Furthermore, users get satisfaction
from the increased social interaction. Greenwheels
in the Netherlands (cars) and Vélib in Paris (bicycles)
are two examples of concepts in which the use of
underutilized products is shared. In the spatial do-
main, companies such as Betahaus in Germany also
operate according to the collaborative consumption
principle. They let office space by the hour instead
of for five to ten years. These companies are thereby
focussing on shared communal facilities.
How does it work?
Initiators look for a platform, such as a website, ex-
change or television programme, where they can
reach potential donors and get them enthusias-
tic about their initiative. Clear-cut communication
about the contributions of individual investors and
the total amount to date encourages further partici-
pation.
In collaborative consumption, it is important to
make sound agreements, for example about who
has access to which part of the space or product
and when. An intermediary can provide a platform
for these agreements and take responsibility for the
management. This incurs costs, but the more people
there are making use of a product or space, the lower
the costs per user.
Example: Vechtclub XL, Utrecht (NL)
Vechtclub XL is a multi-occupant building for busi-
nesses in a former warehouse in the Transwijk dis-
trict of Utrecht that was financed entirely by crowd-
funding. In 2011, a total of 65,000 euros was raised
from 171 investors via the website www.crowdabout-
now.com, with individual investments ranging from
10 to 6000 euros. In June 2015, all the investors re-
ceived the repayment of their initial investment plus
a return of 14 per cent over four years.
Vechtclub XL is an inspiring place with extensive
facilities where creative entrepreneurs in a variety
of fields can meet one another and grow further.
Stortplaats van Dromen, a design and construction
company, came up with the initiative.
105
CASH FLOW GUIDANCE
Time-based Financial Flexibility
Costs are only incurred when there is an immediate
prospect of revenue, thus limiting the risks.
Why?
Cash flow guidance reduces investment risks.
Rather than making large-scale investments, a step-
wise approach is taken for the investments based on
a realistic assessment of the liquidity position. The
risk per participant can also be reduced by involving
multiple parties in the investment.
Investors are generally not afraid to invest large
sums in planning in regions with healthy economic
prospects as they are convinced that they will be
able to recoup both the amount invested and the
foregone interest on the loan. However, investors are
less confident about making large investments up
front for long-term cash flows in regions where the
economic outlook is less promising or that are suf-
fering from a shrinking population. The risk associat-
ed with property investments is greater in this case.
Cash flow guidance is a way of avoiding lengthy in-
vestment periods in these areas and therefore re-
ducing uncertainty about the ability to earn back the
sums invested.
How does it work?
Cash flow guidance involves spreading the invest-
ments over time. The next investment is only made
when the previous investment has been recouped.
Should the investment unfortunately not be re-
couped, at least the damage has been limited. The
first step could simply be an advance investment in
the promotion and marketing of the area.
Cash flow guidance also involves bringing the rev-
enue from the area forward. This leads to forms of
organic development that start with temporary func-
tions, using the revenue from this to gradually pro-
gress towards more permanent functions.
Not all projects are suited to cash flow guidance.
Some (advance) investments have to be large, for ex-
ample in the case of infrastructure such as roads and
dykes.
106
Example: Havenkwartier, Assen (NL)
The redevelopment of the Havenkwartier, an aban-
doned business park in the heart of Assen, marked
an opportunity to consolidate the town’s regional
function as the capital of the province of Drenthe.
However, it was difficult for the municipality of
Assen, which had purchased part of the site, to find
parties willing to make large investments in the area
because of the uncertain economic climate. The
municipality therefore decided to breathe new life
into the site first through limited investments in the
short term in order to make it fully part of the town
again. Some improvements were made to the public
space and new programmes were started in a few
existing buildings. The Silo, for instance, was pro-
visionally converted into a workspace for start-ups.
A theatre company set up shop in a former garage.
There are plans for opening up the water purifica-
tion plant grounds with its plentiful water to the pub-
lic and making limited investments to transform it
into a themed city park. This stepwise development
in which each investment is potentially the starting
point for a following investment, is a form of cash
flow guidance.
UPGRADING
Time-based Financial Flexibility
There is a cheap basic minimum level, greater
comfort is available for an additional charge.
Why? Example: La Cité Manifeste, Mulhouse (F)
Redevelopment can be made more affordable by The Cité Manifeste district, built in 2005 and com-
starting with the creation of a basic minimum level missioned by the French housing corporation
of comfort. Additional comfort is then possible for SOMCO, is a laboratory for social housing in the
an extra charge. This enables each individual user twenty-first century. Five architects designed low-
to find the right balance for them between cost and budget homes with unusual qualities.
quality. The 14 homes designed by the French architects
In the aviation industry, companies such as easy- Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal are partly
Jet have long embraced the concept of upgrading. constructed from agricultural building materials.
They offer flights at rock-bottom prices, after which For instance, the top floor is a prefabricated polycar-
extras such as meals, more comfortable seats and bonate greenhouse and the floor below that consists
baggage can be obtained by upgrading the ticket at of empty, unfinished concrete shells with a simple
an additional charge. bathroom. As a result, the homes offer almost twice
IKEA also works according to this principle: it sells as much room as an average home built for that cost.
its products ready to assemble rather than ready to The occupants can then further develop and elabo-
install. This saves on transport and assembly costs. rate on the simple basis as they wish. They can for
Users pay less for the products as they take them instance decide on the number of rooms and their di-
home and put them together themselves. IKEA can mensions themselves. The homes’ energy consump-
deliver the products to the door and have one of their tion is low because the greenhouse roofs enable the
fitters assemble the products if wished for an addi- indoor climate to be regulated.
tional charge.
How does it work?
When there is a change to the designated use of va-
cant property, the upgrading concept enables both
suppliers and users to stay within budget. The party
offering the space can save on transformation costs
by providing the unaltered existing rooms at a low
price and inviting the users to make the alterations
at their own expense. Users can then decide for
themselves how far they wish to go in upgrading the
space to a new level of comfort.
The principle is also an attractive option in new
buildings. A home can evolve, for instance, by start-
ing small and gradually being upgraded to a larger
building as the family composition and income levels
change. This enables housing costs to be kept low to
start with. The mortgage can evolve in line with this
too.
107
LIFE-CYCLE FINANCE
Time-based Financial Flexibility
Linking the development accounts to the opera-
tional accounts.
Why?
Lasting cost savings can be achieved by consider-
ing the entire life cycle of the property as a single set
of accounts. If the desired maintenance or demoli-
tion costs are taken as the basis for looking at the de-
velopment or redevelopment phase, lasting returns
are possible instead of only short-term profits. Life-
cycle finance helps avoid early depreciation and va-
cancy. It is also known as ontwikkelend beheer (man-
agement while developing) in Dutch.
Property development, property management
and property demolition have traditionally been
dealt with in separate accounts, administered by
separate parties at separate points in time. Clients
delegate the development to other parties, with the
aim of getting a maximum return on the up-front
investment when the development is delivered and
the rental or sale contracts concluded. This quest for
quick returns means that preliminary investments
that would bring benefits during use, such as in the
use of materials, installation systems, adaptability or
depreciation period, do not get made.
Life-cycle finance is easier if the system of ac-
counts for the entire life cycle is in the hands of the
same party. If property is sold on by speculators or
responsibilities are delegated by remote investors,
for instance, this makes it very difficult to obtain a
clear picture of cash flows over a longer period.
How does it work?
Owners who have their property renovated or rede-
veloped can draw up a performance contract with
the delegated developers that includes performance
requirements in the management phase. This ena-
bles the objective of limiting the running costs to be
embedded in the process from an early stage. The
parties executing the project will then create build-
ings that are of a higher quality and more sustaina-
ble. In a performance contract, payment for the prod-
108
uct is made not at the start but only after delivery if
the required results have indeed been measured.
When homes are developed for private clients, the
owners are able to take decisions in the development
phase that affect energy consumption and mainte-
nance costs later on. In practice, these homes turn
out to be more sustainable than homes developed by
professional developers.
Example: BREEAM In-Use and BC2000,
Vilnius (LT)
A good BREEAM score is a guarantee of lower run-
ning costs. BREEAM (Building Research Establish-
ment Environmental Assessment Method) was de-
veloped by the British research group BRE and is a
popular method for determining the sustainability of
buildings. A property is given a score ranging from
‘Pass’ to ‘Outstanding’ based on an assessment of
nine sustainability aspects, including energy con-
sumption, material usage, waste production and
the extent to which the building benefits the health
of its users. Various European countries, includ-
ing Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany,
Sweden and Austria, have adapted the BREEAM
certificate for inclusion in their own legislation and
regulations. The method is often used to assess new
build projects but BREEAM In-Use also enables an
analysis of and subsequent improvements to the en-
ergy consumption and indoor environment of exist-
ing buildings.
Business Centre 2000 is a multi-functional build-
ing with almost 20,000 m2 in the centre of Vilnius,
the capital city of Lithuania. The building comprises
offices and a shopping arcade behind a renovated
historic nineteenth-century facade. After facilities
were installed recently to limit water consumption
and a switch was made to LED lighting, the build-
ing was certified as ‘Very Good’ according to the
BREEAM In-Use assessment.
3.8 Spatial Flexibility 3.9 Spatial Instruments

The spatial aspect concerns the physical elements of Time-based Spatial Flexibility Local Spatial Flexibility RESCALING
a development. Spatial instruments are used to give Spatial development without a blueprint requires
shape to the spatial structures and manifestations of flexible structures that are adaptable so that they
a development. can change over time. There are two extremes: ei-
In the quest for cost efficiency, the construction ther the structure has a very short life span and is CLOSE READING
industry has been working on the standardization of designed for a very specific function, fulfilling a
building products and methods for decades. How- temporary requirement, or the structure remains in
ever standardization is at odds with solutions tai- place for a long period and has functional neutrality,
lored to local requirements, user-friendliness and enabling it to be used for many different purposes. CITY DRESSING
adaptability.
If the building industry is to be successful in tack-
ling the challenge of sustainability, the set of instru-
ments available to architects, product suppliers and
builders will need to become more flexible to enable
more customization, allow more input from users Use-driven Spatial Flexibility ME APPROPRIATION
and building structures that can be adapted more
easily.

Local Spatial Flexibility ENHANCING SUSTAINABILITY

Unlike in new build projects, the pre-existing condi-
tions in redevelopment projects are multi-facetted,
complex and a key determining factor. This demands
a more flexible set of spatial instruments that enable UNBUILDING
location-specific customization.

Use-driven Spatial Flexibility

First and foremost, buildings and structures should
serve the interests of their users. This is not always
limited to the interests of individuals; a communal Time-based Spatial Flexibility PRECYCLING
interest can also be a determining factor. However
standardization tends to prioritize the interests of
abstract entities such as public authorities, banks
and developers at the expense of the actual users. FUNCTIONAL NEUTRALITY
Use-driven flexibility means that a careful balance is
achieved between the interests of users and institu-
tional interests on a project basis.
POP-UP

110 111
RESCALING
Local Spatial Flexibility
Adjusting the size of a project so that it matches the
natural dimensions of the location or programme.
Why?
The dimensions of the existing situation in the urban
fabric determine the limits for the project size. This
means that transformation projects on sites that
have become vacant and in existing buildings do not
always have the optimum size or proportions from
an economic perspective. In most cases, the project
is smaller than is customary in large-scale urban ex-
pansion projects.
In addition to better opportunities for contextual
customization, smaller scale project developments
result in a more diverse supply and less monotony.
Rescaling also fits with the trend towards a greater
focus on usage. The development process is more
malleable too when the scale is smaller, and it is eas-
ier to respond to unexpected events.
Small-scale development is not a cosmetic ex-
ercise. If the development unit is smaller, that also
means smaller development players, each working
at their own pace and with their specific funding
base. In Germany, for example, projects started by
’building groups’ (Baugruppen) tend to be on a small
scale as the actual wishes of the users united in the
building group determine the size of the project.
Back in the early 1960s, Jane Jacobs pointed to
the negative social effects of large-scale develop-
ment in her book Death and Life of Great American
Cities.
How does it work?
Careful analyses of the existing limiting conditions
such as the soil characteristics, the functions in the
surrounding area and the possibilities for building
site facilities determine the size of the project for the
redevelopment of a location that has become vacant.
The actual demand for space is also an important
factor for the scale of a development. The size re-
quirements of specific, known users are often on a
smaller scale than the size requirements of a large
112
group of users as determined in advance on the basis
of speculation.
Some players think that it is difficult to make ‘city-
centre building’ profitable because of the limited
scale, the need for a customized approach and the
lack of repetition. However, if the developing parties
adopt a different course with a focus on increasing
the quality of life rather than financial returns, this
can lead to new solutions. In such cases, local par-
ties are likely to be involved in the redevelopment
as they are the ones who will benefit directly from
the improved quality of life. A phased approach can
also help make city-centre redevelopment viable.
Furthermore, the advantages of a large scale can still
be achieved by grouping several smaller locations or
through smart energy management.
Example: Blokhuispoort, Leeuwarden (NL)
The historic city gate of Blokhuispoort in the centre
of Leeuwarden, the capital of the province of Fries-
land, served as a prison from 1580 to 2008. When
that ended, it proved impossible to find a single new
user for the 16,000 m2 vacant property. The listed
building, which has a structure with both large and
small rooms that has evolved organically, was made
available to local businesses such as designers, gal-
lery owners and eateries on a temporary basis.
A foundation bought the premises in 2014 with
the aim of renovating and managing the historic
building. Work was carried out to make it more suit-
able for letting to small-scale enterprises. The foun-
dation invested in further compartmentalization,
for instance, and a new kind of installation system,
creating numerous autonomous spaces available for
rent such as studios for artists and musicians, a pop
venue, an exhibition space and a library.
CLOSE READING
Local Spatial Flexibility
Discovering unforeseen usage options in existing
structures.
Why?
An unorthodox ‘reading’ of buildings or urban struc-
tures that are no longer being used can lead to the
discovery of new usage possibilities. This requires
an open attitude without preconceptions about the
kind of use, looking instead at the features of the ex-
isting structure. The aim of close reading is to arrive
at new kinds of use based on the qualities present
in the structure, thus avoiding the need for major in-
vestment or demolition.
After the Middle Ages, urban redevelopment
through the reinterpretation of existing structures
became increasingly uncommon. Especially after
the emergence of ‘hygienic’ modernity, buildings,
streets and districts were designed in draughts-
men’s offices rather than on site in an organic fashion.
Given the increasing amount of property in
Europe that is eligible for reuse, there is a new need
for close reading. In organic growth, a development
method that is becoming increasingly popular, urban
structures are developed on the basis of a reinterpre-
tation of the existing structure.
A modern example of close reading is Wunderland
Kalkar, an unused nuclear power plant in the German
town of Kalkar, which a businessman has turned into
an amusement park. The close reading of the empty
building resulted in a new, unexpected form of use.
Another unexpected form of use is the cultivation of
vegetables and fungi in empty offices. The condi-
tions required for cultivation these days – a constant
temperature and artificially regulated light – are rel-
atively easy to achieve in an office building.
How does it work?
In close reading, the focus is on specific knowledge
of an existing structure. Visits to the location are
essential in order to obtain a picture of new usage
options. Creativity and an open mindset are also
required, with an ability to disregard standard ap-
proaches and proven formulas. If the size of the new
investment can be kept low, reuse will be easier and
there will be a greater likelihood of a viable business
case.
Although the reinterpretation of existing struc-
tures can lead to interesting solutions, current leg-
islation is not always equipped to deal with this.
Legislative authorities sometimes make creative
solutions more difficult because they work on the
basis of the requirements for new buildings, where
detailed standards have to be satisfied.
Example: Cineroleum, London (UK)
There are many unused petrol stations in Britain. A
group of young artists, designers and architects in
London found one such derelict petrol station and
saw the potential for a cinema in its shelter. To ac-
tually create this cinema, they used waste materials
and leftovers, which they also reinterpreted.
They hung a curtain of reflective agricultural plas-
tic along the edges of the shelter to create an en-
closed, dark space in which films could be projected.
A stand was built under the shelter with folding seats
using ‘found’ materials such as planks, scaffolding
tubes and the cushions from old theatre seats. The
details were used to evoke a sense of decadent gran-
deur associated with the classic pre-war cinemas.
113

CITY DRESSING
Local Spatial Flexibility
Cosmetic interventions in an area or building create
new élan in the public domain.
Why?
Introducing new qualities in the public domain can
revive the popularity of parts of the city that have
been abandoned, consequently boosting reuse.
After all, if empty buildings are located in attractive
surroundings, it becomes easier to persuade new us-
ers to move in.
New usage options or opportunities for encoun-
ters in the public domain are created by means of
street furniture, for example. The interaction be-
tween the interior and the exterior can be reinforced
through modifications to facades, which helps make
the neighbourhood more lively. If property is vacant,
the external walls can be used to give the public
space a different look.
Upgrading the public domain can be a costly ex-
ercise so these interventions should preferably be
simple and cheap, and perhaps only temporary. City
dressing involves interventions that can also easily
be removed without leaving a trace if necessary. As a
result, special temporary interventions can be made
to give a location new meaning. A spectacular exam-
ple of this is the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin.
The artists Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude
wrapped this monument in fabric for two weeks in
1995. This gave the building and its surroundings a
completely new meaning. After the wrapping was
removed, the new Reichstag was installed in the his-
toric building.
How does it work?
City dressing consists of simple interventions such
as projections (light), greenery (plants), wrapping
(sheets) or colours (paint or pavement chalk). The
new ‘top layer’ can include functional elements such
as street furniture, balconies or loggias.
City dressing becomes more commercial if the
interventions are financed through advertising rev-
enue (for example with scaffolding advertising ban-
114
ners) but it can also be artistic in nature. This is the
case in São Paulo and Charleroi, where artists cover
the walls of vacant buildings with their artworks in
order to reach a wide audience. City dressing is used
for communication, such as advertising on scaf-
folding banners and on the fencing around building
sites.
City dressing is often financed through sponsor-
ship funds, grants and art budgets. Permission from
the owners of the building is essential for interven-
tions involving external walls.
Example: Graffiti, Mariestad (S)
For decades, the inhabitants of the industrial town of
Mariestad in Sweden had had a love-hate relation-
ship with a giant silo that was important to the local
economy but which dominated the town’s skyline.
When the company that used the silo left and it
was marked for demolition, the idea arose to cover
the structure with a huge painting as a farewell ges-
ture and use this to create a new image for the town.
Local residents and professional graffiti artists pro-
duced the painting. Residents could colour in the
lower reaches using a spray can while professional
artists worked on the silo’s upper reaches.
The project acquired a social dimension when
the site became a meeting point for young and old.
The entire silo was covered in paint, turning it into
the world’s largest work of graffiti art and giving the
town a new regional reputation. The artwork paved
the way for a new future.
ME
APPROPRIATION
Use-driven Spatial Flexibility
Users modify an existing structure to make it more
convenient for them or to express their own identity.
Why?
If there is a surplus of space, for example in areas
facing population decline, then transforming va-
cant properties is easier if the transformation is not
subject to too many conditions and new users can
decide for themselves what the transformed space
should look like. This is not just about the functions.
A vacant property will also appeal more to poten-
tial users if they have the freedom to put a personal
stamp on the place by imposing their own style or
ambience.
But there are often few opportunities for users
to have an influence on their surroundings, even in
shrinking regions. Individual expression – sending a
message to the outside world – is limited by legal re-
strictions aimed at large-scale uniformity in volumes
and appearance that prevent changes to the external
appearance of buildings. Sometimes the owners do
not want their tenants to make alterations to build-
ings from a fear that an overly idiosyncratic layout
or style will deter future tenants or potential buyers.
Although owners can afford to take such an attitude
when there is a big demand for space, with an exces-
sive supply of space there is a danger of demand and
supply becoming out of sync.
In an effort to attract new users under difficult
conditions, parties offering properties are now look-
ing at ways of allowing more user influence. One ex-
ample is the so-called ‘DIY home’ where the private
individuals themselves create a new interior in exist-
ing buildings. In new-build projects, plots suitable
for private commissioning or ‘building groups’ offer
opportunities for the appropriation of the building
plan by the future users.
How does it work?
It is important for the construction process to be set
up in such way that it allows for maximum influence
by the users. The greater the gap between the party
executing the development and the user, for example
because developers or estate agents are acting as
intermediaries, the less opportunity there is for ap-
propriation. The user’s influence is greatest when he
or she is the commissioning party, sets up the pro-
cess and decides on the follow-up steps. Some kind
of co-creation therefore becomes the most logical
solution, with other parties being involved in the pro-
cess to safeguard the user’s influence over the final
result.
Example: Vrieheide, Heerlen (NL)
The 840 homes in the district of Vrieheide in Heerlen
were built in the post-war reconstruction period in
accordance with Modernist principles: white hous-
es with plenty of light in open, green surroundings.
Experts see it as a particularly fine example of post-
war housing.
But the owner went into liquidation soon after
the project was completed. As a result, nearly all the
homes intended for the rental market were sold to
private individuals. These homeowners slowly but
surely appropriated and extended their homes, with
the grand design gradually becoming obscured by
individual expression.
A striking aspect is that very few permits were is-
sued for these modifications. Residents felt free to
alter the carefully coordinated blocks of buildings as
they saw fit. Some people feel that this has done ir-
reparable damage to the historic buildings.
115
ENHANCING SUSTAINABILITY
Use-driven Spatial Flexibility
Existing buildings, networks and structures are
altered in such a way that their useful life span is
extended.
Why?
The use of existing structures such as buildings,
infrastructural elements and public spaces can be
made more appealing by enhancing their sustain-
ability. Sustainability can be enhanced by optimizing
energy management, expanding the usage options
or increasing the level of comfort. Money has to be
invested to make the structure more sustainable, but
this results in greater returns over a longer period.
Energy consumption is reduced, the level of comfort
is increased and the value of the property or public
space is greater.
Enhancing sustainability saves on energy con-
sumption not just through better energy manage-
ment but also because it delays or avoids the need
for demolition and new construction. This reduces
the production of building waste. Enhancing sustain-
ability also bolsters local communities. Networks
of local residents remain intact, for example, when
residential housing is preserved. Improving the sus-
tainability of historic buildings strengthens the lo-
cal identity and keeps community memories alive.
Restricting motorized traffic in the public domain
also improves the ambience for pedestrians and cy-
clists and creates space for encounters.
How does it work?
The decision to enhance the sustainability of an ex-
isting property is taken by the owner. Owners who
do not have the skills required to take such deci-
sions can obtain advice from specialists. They carry
out an analysis and make recommendations that fit
with the owner’s ambitions. The owner can then de-
cide to improve the insulation, upgrade installation
systems or make use of sustainable energy sources
such as geothermal energy and solar power. If en-
hancing sustainability is accompanied by a change
in the designated use, a new layout or new facilities
can be added.
116
The return on an improvement in sustainability is not
always easy to estimate beforehand. The decision to
enhance sustainability is easier if non-financial as-
pects are also taken into account, such as social re-
turns or a better reputation, which have an indirect
rather than direct effect on financial returns.
Example: Car-free central avenues, Brussels (B)
An unusual example of enhancing sustainability
is the decision by the city of Brussels to make part
of the city centre pedestrianized. The creation of a
large pedestrian zone not only reduces the local con-
sumption of fossil fuels, it also reduces air pollution
in the centre and creates more room for bicycles and
meeting people – in short, it results in a more bal-
anced living environment and a more inviting am-
bience, making the centre as a whole more future-
proof.
The fully built-up Brussels city centre has almost
literally been suffocating for years as a result of the
vast numbers of cars driving in and out of the city
every day. A debate started in the 1990s about re-
ducing car traffic on the avenues. In 2012 a number
of street picnics were organized around the Stock
Exchange as a protest about the failure of politicians
to make a decision. On 29 June 2015, a new traffic
plan was introduced for the centre of Brussels, giv-
ing the city the largest contiguous pedestrianized
centre of any city in Europe apart from Venice.
The pedestrian zone will initially apply for a period
of eight months. A comprehensive refurbishment of
the central avenues is planned after the trial period
ends.
UNBUILDING
Use-driven Spatial Flexibility
The partial or complete demolition of permanently
vacant property in order to get a better match be-
tween supply and demand.
Why?
Permanently high vacancy levels means an excess
supply of property. By removing the properties with
the least potential, a better balance is created be-
tween supply and demand. Which buildings qualify
as having ‘high potential’ or ‘low potential’ is relative
and depends on such features of the building as the
structural shell, the facade structure and the ener-
gy efficiency compared with other buildings in the
same region. Location-specific features such as the
ease of access, environmental aspects and the pro-
grammatic context are also relevant.
New usage possibilities can also be created by de-
molishing part of a building rather than all of it. This
can reduce the scale of large buildings and improve
daylight access. In the 1970s, the American artist
Gordon Matta-Clark showed what unexpected qual-
ities could be created when parts of existing struc-
tures are removed.
How does it work?
A building analysis, operating study or market sur-
vey may show that partial unbuilding would produce
new operating opportunities.
Public authorities at various levels (municipali-
ties, provincial authorities and central government)
are considering the demolition of buildings with lit-
tle potential in an effort to reduce the large stocks
of property with systematically high vacancy levels.
The best assessment of the potential here is to make
a comparison with other buildings in the same re-
gion. At the local level, people are often too focused
on their ‘own’ building and lack a proper overview. At
the national level, people do not have a proper under-
standing of the regional situation.
Demolition is a costly exercise from the owner’s
perspective. The value of the premises marked for
demolition has to be written off completely. The
costs of demolishing the property also have to be
paid and that is difficult if no new building is being
constructed in its place. The land that becomes va-
cant needs a new designated use. This land is often
worth less because of the lack of new users.
Because the demolition of vacant property can
sometimes be desirable from the perspective of
the governmental authorities, some countries have
set up funds to compensate for the loss of capital
caused by demolition. Germany has the Stadtumbau
West and Stadtumbau Ost programmes, while in
Denmark the private fund Realdania helps revitalize
shrinking areas, in particular through demolition.
Example: Stadtumbau Ost in Leipzig Grünau (D)
In 2000, it turned out that there were about one mil-
lion empty homes in former East Germany – 13 per
cent of the total housing stock – as a result of pop-
ulation decline. A commission advised the German
government to demolish about 400,000 homes in
the next ten years in order to bring supply and de-
mand back in line in the housing market and improve
the quality of life in towns and cities. To achieve this,
the German government started the Stadtumbau
Ost programme. Together with Stadtumbau West, it
was allocated an overall budget of 2.5 billion euros
for demolition and improvements to the homes that
remained.
The Grünau district in Leipzig is full of the distinc-
tive Plattenbau flats from the GDR era. The popula-
tion has shrunk since the fall of the Berlin Wall and is
now only half of what it used to be. More than 5000
homes were demolished as part of the Stadtumbau
Ost programme, with greenery being planted in their
place. The remaining flats were renovated.
117
PRECYCLING
Time-based Spatial Flexibility
Precycling means anticipating the recycling of
building materials in the design phase.
Why?
Precycling is an approach to building that can pre-
vent vacancy and deterioration in the future. By de-
signing buildings in such a way that the components
can be reused for other purposes after the building
reaches the end of its life span, it becomes easier to
dismantle buildings that are no longer in use.
The precycling principle was popularized by the
2002 book Cradle to Cradle. Remaking the Way We
Make Things by William McDonough and Michael
Braungart. The book advocates designing not just
construction components but all products in such a
way that they form a step towards more and better
possibilities in the future.
If building components are precycled, future dem-
olition costs or operating shortfalls can be covered
by the proceeds from the building materials that
then become available for reuse. After all, raw mate-
rials are expected to become scarcer.
Society has been recycling paper, glass and clothes
for decades. There are now standards in place for
the demolition of buildings stipulating that construc-
tion waste has to be separated out before removal.
However these forms of recycling constitute ‘down-
cycling’: the value of the raw materials declines dur-
ing their life cycle until they end up as waste. Be-
cause most buildings that are demolished were not
designed for the reuse of the building materials, it
costs a great deal of energy to extract the materi-
als and not all the raw materials can be recovered.
Pre cycling on the other hand involves ‘upcycling’,
whereby the basic materials increase in value and do
not end up as waste.
How does it work?
Precycling requires constructions methods whereby
components can be dismantled without too much
difficulty and can be reused without too many in-
termediate steps. Building using ‘dry construction’
118
methods (such as prefab concrete rather than con-
crete cast on site) means that demolition will use up
less energy. The possibilities for reuse are greater
too if building materials are prefabricated in a fac-
tory rather than put together on the building site. In
a factory, construction components can be manu-
factured under optimum conditions, resulting in a
better quality, a longer life span and more consistent
dimensions.
At present, precycling requires a bigger invest-
ment up front than conventional building methods.
This higher advance investment is an obstacle to
precycling, despite the expectation that the addi-
tional investment costs will eventually be recouped.
Precycling leads to what is termed a ‘circular
economy’ and therefore requires different kinds of
processes, different business models and different
alliances. It is only logical, for example, if designers,
waste processing companies and builders collabo-
rate more intensively.
Example: Swiss Sound Box, Hanover, (D)
The temporary Swiss pavilion at the World Expo
2000 in Hanover consisted of huge stacks of pine-
wood planks. Food was served and live music
played in a setting reminiscent of Swiss pine forests.
Prompted by the Expo theme of sustainability, the
pavilion was constructed entirely in accordance with
the principle of precycling. The wooden planks, all
with standard trade dimensions, were kept in place
by steel straps rather than with glue, screws or nails.
This meant that after the Expo closed, all the build-
ing materials could be recovered from the building
without any damage or loss of volume through saw-
ing, and used again.
FUNCTIONAL NEUTRALITY
Time-based Spatial Flexibility
Creating a spatial structure that enables multiple
functions, either at the same time or sequentially.
Why?
Functionally neutral buildings are future-proof and
help prevent systematically high vacancy levels.
After all, the future demand for space can only be
predicted up to a point. If a building enables multiple
functions, the chance of reuse is greater.
Many buildings and urban structures from the re-
cent past were designed for one function only for
cost reasons. In some cases the modifications need-
ed to enable a change of designated function when
a building becomes vacant are so excessive that
changing the designated use no longer becomes
viable.
Functionally neutral buildings raise the quality of
life in an area because of their ability to accommo-
date several functions alongside one another. The
possibilities include a combination of residential and
work functions or residential and retail functions.
Undesirable combinations of functions can be ex-
cluded through regulations or contracts.
How does it work?
From the architectural perspective, functional neu-
trality is mainly determined by the facade and the
structure as these elements are relatively tricky to
change after the building has been completed. A
building has a flexible structure if it has a large span
and an open structure with columns. The facade
needs to be suitable for various different installation
systems. If the storey heights are greater than the re-
quired minimum, it becomes easier to add adaptable
and replaceable installation systems.
Functional neutrality from an urban planning per-
spective starts with public space that is of a good
basic quality so that a variety of target groups feel
at home in a particular area. The infrastructure and
plot dimensions should be suitable for buildings of
different types and sizes, and enable plots to be sub-
divided or merged later on.
Functional neutrality requires a larger up-front in-
vestment because all possible future functions have
to be taken into account, not just the usage require-
ments of the initial intended function. In concrete
terms this means a larger span, for instance, to al-
low more flexibility in the layout, and taller storeys.
Although this means a longer useful life and conse-
quently a longer period in which to earn back the in-
vestment, it is difficult to find suitable financing op-
tions. Financers assume shorter depreciation periods
whereas functionally neutral buildings last longer.
Another point for attention is the legal purpose of
the building, which determines the designated use in
an administrative sense. A broad rather than specific
designated use from an administrative perspective
is appropriate for a functionally neutral building.
Example: Solid 11, Amsterdam (NL)
The Solid 11 building in the Amsterdam-West dis-
trict was completed in 2010. A ‘Solid’ is a flexible
structure that deliberately enables different kinds of
use at the same time or consecutively. Solid 11 has a
flexible shell with large spans, many access points
and a substantial clear height. Robust materials with
an expected useful life of about 200 years were used
for the main load-bearing structure of this future-
proof building.
Users were able to specify their usage wishes
on a website. The building now houses 28 differ-
ent homes and about 3,000 m2 in hotel rooms. The
housing corporation Stadgenoot owns and manages
the building exterior while the tenants own and man-
age all the built-in units.
119
POP-UP
Time-based Spatial Flexibility
Intervention that provides space to satisfy
a temporary (or peak) demand.
Why?
The temporary utilization of vacant property or aban-
doned land is a way of managing locations that are in
danger of becoming derelict while at the same time
offering the opportunity of earning money. In addi-
tion, the temporary use of space can kick-start new
developments. New usage forms can be tried out
with little effort to test whether there is enough sup-
port for them. If the temporary utilization prompts
users to decide to stay, the usage that was originally
intended to be temporary may become more perma-
nent and attract new investment.
The term ‘pop-up’, used on the internet to denote
small advertising windows that suddenly appear on
the screen, is also used to describe the temporary
utilization of a space. Pop-up stores or restaurants
appear in empty retail premises while pop-up parks
transform derelict grounds.
How long such temporary utilization should last
is not clearly defined and it depends on the perspec-
tive. The difference between the temporary and per-
manent use of space is not always clear-cut.
How does it work?
When erecting temporary structures, building meth-
ods are required that enable facilities to be provid-
ed quickly and cheaply. Lightweight materials are
therefore an obvious choice as they require relatively
little energy for their transportation and erection.
Some examples are pneumatic (inflatable) build-
ing systems and structures using weather-resistant
canvas. Prefab building systems such as scaffolding
systems and prefab construction containers are also
suitable. These construction systems can often be
hired for a limited period, which keeps the construc-
tion costs relatively low.
Temporary spatial structures have a greater chance
of being built if the ground beneath the available
site is left intact. The time to complete the building
120
is shorter if there are no foundations, the costs are
lower and potential soil contamination problems are
avoided. Moreover, it is easier to hand the location
back ‘as new’ after it has been used.
Building systems for temporary utilization are of-
ten modular and therefore difficult to combine with
one another. That is also why they are often difficult
to integrate into the surrounding area. Temporary
structures remain alien elements, creating undesir-
able unused space around them. The careful incor-
poration of temporary structures is a challenge not
just for engineers and managers but even more so
for architects.
Most European countries do not have a separate
legal framework for temporary buildings, so the
costs and time required for procedures can be the
same as for permanent buildings. On the other hand,
the execution takes much less time.
Example: Glastonbury Festival (UK)
Every summer, a festival site between the villages of
Pilton and Pylle is turned into a temporary city for
about 150,000 visitors to the Glastonbury Festival
(Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing
Arts), the largest open-air music festival in the world.
The visitors spend three days in festival tents en-
joying music and culture, eating in temporary res-
taurants and sleeping on a campsite adjoining the
festival grounds. The pop-up city runs on mobile
emergency power generators and has temporary
bridges that ensure safe pedestrian flows. The tem-
porary buildings are made of lightweight building
materials with convenient modular formats. After
the temporary city has gone, the festival grounds are
completely empty again. There is no festival once
every five years to give the land a chance to recover.
4. Examples of a Flexible City

In this chapter we show how sustainability is taking shape

in Europe, using a number of completed projects as
examples: they are illustrative of a new way of working and
a new mentality, with a central emphasis on reuse, desired
end use and the time factor. A description is given of how
each project was realized using the flex­ible instruments
presented in earlier chapters.

back to content
Example Projects

Local Flexibility Dachausbauten

Vienna, Austria
Rückbau
Barkenberg, Germany
Byens Hegn
Copenhagen, Denmark
The White Meat City
Copenhagen, Denmark
Phénix
Charleroi, Belgium
Fra tomt til gront
Vestervig, Denmark

Use-driven Flexibility Südstadt

Tübingen, Germany
Sargfabrik
Vienna, Austria
Neighbourhood Contract Navez-Portaels
Brussels, Belgium
Hotel de Marne
De Marne, The Netherlands
Panorama West
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Made in Marxloh
Duisburg, Germany

Time-based Flexibility Open Lab Ebbinge

Groningen, The Netherlands
Park Hill
Sheffield, United Kingdom
Prinzesinnengarten
Berlin, Germany
Hummerhus
Klitmoller, Denmark
The Gerard Anton Buildings on Strijp-S
Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Grond en Pandenbeleid De Coninckplein
Antwerp, Belgium

125
Dachausbauten, Vienna, Austria Local Spatial Flexibility
From a history-oriented city to a future-oriented city
initiator: various private investors
delivery: various projects, from 1988 onwards
programme: diverse programmes including
housing, offices, hotels etc.
website: https://www.wien.gv.at/amtshelfer/
bauen-wohnen/stadtentwicklung/
baulicheanlagen/dachausbau.html
instruments: improvisation, local exception,
upgrading, improve sustainability
Although there is a growing convic-
tion in many European regions that
urban densification is a form of
sustainable development, existing
1. Vienna’s city centre is a Schutzzone (protected area): altering buildings is difficult here, despite the high
demand for new housing.
historic buildings continue to enjoy
an unassailable status as listed build-
ings. This impedes densification.
Vienna demonstrates that this need
not be the case: over recent decades
a second, completely new and con-
temporary city has been built on top
of the historic city.
Vienna is the second largest city in the German-
speaking world – only Berlin is larger. Since the fall
of the Iron Curtain, the city’s population has grown
2. A special rooftop extension demonstrates that it is possible to augment the housing stock in the city centre. continuously and there is a shortage of housing.
Despite the demographic pressure, the city coun-
cil wants to retain Vienna’s green and hilly setting.
This confronted the city with a dilemma in the early
1990s because densifying the existing city, in par-
ticular the popular city centre, was also difficult: leg-
islation hampered this densification, especially if it
involved adapting monumental buildings.
But in 1988 investors’ eyes had already been
opened by Coop Himmelblau’s spectacular rooftop
construction on a historic building in Falkestrasse:
this seemed to be a way of adding building volume to
the popular city centre that provided sufficient pri-
vacy, beautiful views and a certain air of exclusivity.
Against the backdrop of the densification issue, and
in order to accommodate the investors who had been
3. Changes to local laws and regulations make the addition of building volume on top of monumental lobbying since that first rooftop extension in 1988,
buildings a structural option. the city of Vienna changed the Wiener Bauordnung
126
(building regulations) in 1996: it was now structural-
ly possible to top up historic buildings. Following the
appointment of high-rise advocate Hans Hollein as
the Vorsitzender des Fachbeirates für Stadtplanung
und Stadtgestaltung (chairperson of the advisory
board for spatial planning and urban development)
in 1998, increasingly eccentric rooftop extensions
were approved, including trapezium-shaped cross-
sections.
Since 1972 the centre of the historic city has been
a Schutzzone where facades visible at street level
are considered a particularly important feature of
the protected cityscape. In principle, this protection
does not extend to these buildings’ interiors, which
are often entirely gutted and redesigned during the
construction of a rooftop extension. The 1996 legis-
lative change has meant that recessed roof sections
are now also excluded from this protection. Although
the rooftop constructions have been legal since the
legislative changes, they remain controversial: pur-
ists see the extensions as an encroachment on the
historic inner city, and many of the city’s inhabitants
find the rooftop extensions downright ugly. For those
living nearby, the rooftop extensions are a hindrance:
they obstruct the view and sunlight, and the many
construction sites at street level to build garages for
the rooftop dwellings are also a nuisance.
In spite of this, the city council encourages the
construction of rooftop dwellings: some 400 new
dwellings are built annually. Of the approximately
38,000 residential buildings in the centre of Vienna
dating from the nineteenth-century Gründerzeit,
some 50 per cent have now had their roofs extend-
ed. This means that approximately 20,000 roofs are
still available. If half of these are extended, and two
or three apartments are built on each roof, 30,000
new dwellings could potentially be built. This would
increase Vienna’s current housing stock by approxi-
mately 3.5 per cent, a considerable figure. This does
127
not mean an increase in the city’s stock of afforda-
ble social housing – the roof dwellings are the most
popular and therefore most expensive form of hous-
ing. However, the more efficient use of existing ser-
vices and infrastructure and sparing the city’s green
surroundings contribute to the sustainable develop-
ment of the city as a whole.
Process
The origin of rooftop extensions can be traced not so
much to the city council’s goals of densification or
greater sustainability but, rather, to the private gain
of building owners and developers: rooftop exten-
sions on existing buildings in the popular inner city
are a profitable business. In the early 1990s investors
argued that the city council should implement a less
restrictive legal framework for rooftop extensions.
Despite the council’s heeding their calls for a relaxa-
tion of the regulations, many rooftop extensions were
built illegally, without the required permits from the
MA19 Architektur und Stadtgestaltung, the author-
ity charged with protecting Vienna’s Schutzzonen.
Building owners and developers behaved opportun-
istically to see what they could get away with; build-
ing permits in Vienna can also be granted retrospec-
tively and in practice a demolition order has rarely if
ever been issued.
Legal
The Vienna city council encourages rooftop exten-
sions, emphasizing the relationship between these
extensions and its pursuit of sustainable develop-
ment and densification without the loss of green
areas. The council has therefore used a local build-
ing regulation to make rooftop extensions possi-
ble throughout the city of Vienna. To be precise,
Vienna’s 1996 Bauordnung makes the construction
of a two-storey rooftop extension possible by classi-
fying it as a ‘minor alteration of an existing building’
rather than as an ‘extension of an existing building’;
the edges of the planned extension must fall within a
45-degree angle of inclination. A permit for a ‘minor
alteration of an existing building’ is easier to obtain.
In addition, §69 provides for many deviations and
exceptions, and this provision is used so often that
most developers now consider the maximum build-
ing volume permitted by the Bauordnung as the min-
imum rather than the maximum.
Financial
Rooftop extensions to existing buildings are a lucra-
tive way of adding building volume to the city – af-
ter all, costly matters such as a building’s foundation,
128
lift shaft or fuse box no longer have to be built or in-
stalled: they are already in place. Moreover, the re-
lationship between the gross floor surface and nett
lettable surface is favourable: spaces that are more
difficult to let, such as an entrance hall or staircase,
are already present in the existing building. A build-
ing’s owner usually combines a rooftop extension
with long-term maintenance. Car parks for the roof-
top dwellings have to be constructed as well, thus
alleviating the city’s parking problems. All in all, the
profits from a rooftop extension benefit the sustain-
able development of the whole.
Spatial
After a hesitant start at the end of the 1980s, when a
few exceptional rooftop extensions were built, such
extensions of existing monumental buildings have
now become a part of the local building culture. The
results have generally been positive: the money that
is earned from rooftop extensions benefits the sus-
tainable development of the existing buildings; new,
well-off inhabitants settle in the centre; and the city
has been enriched with an entirely new architectur-
al vocabulary. Since 2009 European legislation has
imposed stricter construction standards on the ex-
tension of existing buildings in earthquake-prone ar-
eas. Local regulations were therefore also recently
changed to include more stringent requirements for
constructional sections of roof extensions.
Based on an interview with Robert Kniefacz (MA19
Architektur und Stadtgestaltung), Arkan Zeytinoglu
and Brigitte Löcker (Arkan Zeytinoglu Architects,
a Viennese architecture practice that has designed
several rooftop extensions in the city).
129
Rückbau, Barkenberg, Germany Local Flexibility
From growth core to shrinking city
initiator: Stadtumbau West (federal government),
Bundesland Nordrhein-Westfalen,
LEG NRW GmbH
delivery: 2006–2014
programme: (partial) demolition of blocks of flats,
facilities and infrastructure
website: www.stadtumbau-barkenberg.de
instruments: regional coordination, vacancy reuse
incentive, devaluation (subsidy), unbuilding
As the population dwindled, flats
and shops became vacant on a
large scale, resulting in neglected
streets and social problems among
1. In Barkenberg large blocks of flats were structurally vacant.
the remaining inhabitants. To put a
halt to this, Barkenberg decided on
the large-scale demolition of vacant
blocks of flats and shops, adjusting
the city so that it was once again in
proportion to the number of its in-
habitants and the demand for space.
This approach, in itself a loss-making
one, was made possible by a con-
tribution from the German federal
Stadtumbau West (Urban Restruc-
2. Under the motto Rückbau (building reduction), partial demolition of sections of these buildings reduced turing in West Germany) fund.
their size.
In the 1960s a new city for 60,000 inhabitants was
planned near the old city of Wulfen, in the Ruhr in-
dustrial area. This city was to provide housing near
a new mine for 8,000 miners and their families.
However, the mine never provided more than 450
jobs. As a reaction to the disappointing employment
opportunities, the original plans were adjusted even
as they were being carried out, and in the end they
were only partly implemented. In 1995 Barkenberg,
as it was known by then, reached its peak with only
12,500 inhabitants; that number has now dropped
below 10,000. Because of the limited job opportuni-
ties in the area families and young people continue to
3. The streets between the downsized blocks of flats were laid out anew, improving the quality of life. leave and the city has an aging population. The con-
tinuation of facilities such as the community centre,
132
FOR RENT
swimming pool, library, school, medical centre and
shops is therefore increasingly doubtful. In addition,
from the time the city was delivered up, many flats
in Mietgeschosswohnungsbau (blocks of rental flats)
stood empty; the supply of these types of dwellings
(80 per cent of the dwellings in Barkenberg) was
never in line with demand. Eventually, they were oc-
cupied by socially at-risk groups, who were attracted
by the low rents: an urban-planning ‘enclave’ de-
veloped, which, especially in the 1990s, had many
problems besides unemployment: vandalism, crime,
drug-dealing and prostitution.
In 2005 11.4 million euros was made available by
the federal Stadtumbau West programme for the
Abbruch (complete demolition) or Rückbau (reduc-
tion) of high-rise blocks of flats in Barkenberg. A
plan area was delineated, one of the 16 pilot projects
in this federal programme that mainly concentrates
on villages and cities in the former West Germany
(Stadtumbau Ost focuses on the former East
Germany). Of the 1,400 flats in the delineated area,
300 were demolished; a number of tall, eight-floor
blocks of flats were also reduced to four floors, and
the flats on the remaining floors were sometimes
merged to meet current housing standards. Besides
this demolition, flats were modernized and sold off
by the owner, LEG NRW GmbH. Once the flats had
been adapted, it was time to embark on improving
the public space: new paving and more green were
used to reinforce the street profile, for example.
Downscaling has been an issue in Neu Wulfen
since its foundation in the 1960s, and dealing with
oversize has remained an important question to this
day: the government is assisting in efforts to down-
scale by investing in the demolition of flats. Although
this is a hugely loss-making exercise, it is a sustain-
able solution for areas with structural population de-
cline – after all, dilapidation can best be prevented by
clearing buildings that do not have a future. It is ex-
133
pected that in the future yet more flats in Barkenberg
will need to be demolished.
Process
Large-scale demolition as a result of population de-
cline is difficult to implement with parties that act
only at a local level. These parties often do not have
sufficient means at their disposal to cope with such
a large-scale loss of capital; moreover, they are not
objective enough about the local situation to make
the appropriate decisions. A large-scale demolition
assignment such as Barkenberg requires the as-
sistance of parties on a higher level that have the
financial resources required, such as the state of
Nordrhein-Westfalen and the federal government
with its Stadtumbau West programme. These par-
ties are not only needed because of the funds at their
disposal but also because they view matters from
a higher level. Determining which objects are to be
withdrawn from the market is done most success-
fully on a higher level: ultimately, rebalancing the
relationship between supply and demand, which is
what demolition essentially is, is not a local but a re-
gional task.
In Barkenberg there was widespread support
among both the inhabitants and the parties con-
cerned for proposals to radically transform the area.
This provided the basis for a close collaboration
between the city, the buildings’ owner, the state of
Nordrhein-Westfalen and the federal government,
which was crucial for the success of the operation.
Legal
The implementation of the project took place within
the framework of §171 of the Bundesbaugesetz (fed-
eral building law), which deals with urban-planning
measures for redevelopment areas. It provides for a
quick reduction in the oversupply of housing if this
serves the general public good. Partly thanks to §171,
there were no significant legal obstacles to demoli-
tion proposals in the shrinking city of Barkenberg.
Because all the parties involved (the buildings’ own-
er, the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen and the federal
government) wanted the project to move forward
quickly, they joined forces to achieve this: once the
legal procedures had been completed, it was possi-
ble to move on to rapid implementation.
Financial
Demolishing buildings is inevitably a loss-making
exercise: the demolished buildings must be devalued
by the owner; moreover, the demolition costs and, in
the case of total demolition, costs of redevelopment,
134
have to be paid. In the case of Rückbau (reduction),
new income sometimes balances these expenses
because the supply of modernized flats is in balance
with current demand: this is, of course, income that
the owner did not have when the building was va-
cant.
The total costs of the project in Barkenberg
amounted to more than 11 million euros. The federal
government and the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen
financed 88 per cent of the project using govern-
ment funds. The remaining 12 per cent of the costs
were borne by the city. LEG NRW GmbH., the owner
of the buildings, did not contribute to the costs of
demolition but did bear the losses entailed by the
disappearance of its buildings; LEG also invested in
modernizing the dwellings in the remaining building
volume.
Spatial
Two methods of unbuilding were implemented
in Barkenberg: on the one hand, Abbruch, the to-
tal demolition of buildings, and on the other hand,
Rückbau, reducing a building’s size by removing some
of its top floors. The Abbruch operation involved the
demolition of several blocks of flats, a school, kinder-
garten and bridge; the Rückbau operation saw sev-
eral eight-floor buildings reduced to four floors.
In order to disturb nearby residents as little as
possible, the Abbruch operations were carried out
with conventional demolition balls and excavators
rather than explosives. The Rückbau buildings were
partially demolished with long-front excavators, af-
ter which builders completed the demolition activi-
ties by hand.
Based on an interview with Volker Deutsch
(Stadt Dorsten).
135
Byens Hegn, Copenhagen, Denmark Local Flexibility
From introverted construction site to an interactive artwork
initiator: Metroselskabet
delivery: 2011–2018
extent: more than six kilometres of building-site
fencing in the centre of Copenhagen
programme: visual arts, meeting places,
interactive graphics, games
website: www.m.dk/coolconstruction
instruments: expectation management,
temporary permit, urban marketing, pop-up
Transforming existing urban fabrics
inevitably disrupts life for residents
in the affected areas, and public sup-
port for desirable or necessary trans-
1. Following the announcement of the construction of a new underground railway line, work that was
predicted to last for many years, residents in affected areas were concerned about the impact this might
formations is therefore often limited.
have on the quality of life in their streets and squares. In Copenhagen, where for years the
construction of new underground
stations has caused disruption at
crucial locations, an attempt has
been made to use these construction
sites to enhance the neighbourhoods
where they are located: Byens Hegn
is an example of how this approach
has succeeded in improving the
neighbourhood’s quality of life.
2. Because the fencing around the building sites is interactive, the streets and squares did not die out but in
fact became even more vibrant. Copenhagen’s underground railway network is being
extended with the construction of several new lines.
At any point during the construction period from
2011 until 2019, between 21 and 27 construction
sites are scattered across the centre of Copenhagen,
surrounded by, on average, six kilometres of fencing.
This causes long-term disruption and road closures,
especially around the new underground stations
because the building activities at these sites take
up considerable space and last a long time. These
stations are being built on the squares and inter-
sections that form the natural heart of a neighbour-
hood. There was a risk that whole neighbourhoods
might be without their centres for long stretches
of time, with businesses going bankrupt, residents
3. The underground railway stops are located at places that have retained their dynamism while construction leaving, and pollution dirtying the air/spoiling the
took place. atmosphere. To limit the negative impact the build-
136
ing sites have on residents, businesses and passers-
by, Metroselskabet, the operator of Copenhagen’s
underground railway network, looked for ways to
ensure the construction-site fences contributed to
these neighbourhoods in a positive way: decorating
the fences with art projects and making them inter-
active has made them more interesting to look at,
added street furniture to public spaces and created
new meeting places. The use of art is intended to
enhance the urban spaces around the construction
sites and create a positive atmosphere at locations
that would otherwise be dominated by the noise
and pollution caused by construction activities. The
fencing displays more than 100 artworks and exhibi-
tions a year. The art projects differ greatly in scale,
expression and duration, and both professional and
amateur artists are allowed to submit proposals to a
selection committee.
Byens Hegn is an initiative of Metroselskabet,
Copenhagen’s underground railway operator, which
has three objectives for the fence projects: first, lim-
iting disruption in affected neighbourhoods and,
where possible, making a positive contribution to the
quality of life in these neighbourhoods; second, en-
suring the workspaces behind the fencing are large
enough to guarantee the rapid pace and efficiency of
building activities; third, the projects must reinforce
the Metroselskabet brand and enhance the populari-
ty of the future underground railway lines. The Byens
Hegn project has an additional objective: to make
art more democratic by making it accessible to eve-
ryone in the city, regardless of income, background
or education. The overall aim is for everyone to have
good memories of the construction period.
In Byens Hegn the outdoor cafes next to the art-
works, such as the popular Wheel of Fortune, where
passers-by can turn a big wheel that issues com-
mands such as ‘Shout!’ or ‘Smile!’, have now become
very popular: day-trippers make a point of walking
137
past the building sites so they can see all the art-
works, which provide memorable moments and
sometimes attract more visitors than the shopkeep-
ers in the dug-up streets are accustomed to. The
project is financed using the revenue generated by
advertisements on the fencing.
emanating from the building site. The fences are
usually green but the artists can obtain permission
to change them as they see fit.
Just like the fencing around the construction sites,
the Byens Hegn artworks are temporary: when con-
struction has been completed, they will be removed.

Process Based on an interview with Mimi Larsson

The initiator of the project, Metroselskabet, is owned (Metroselskabet).
by the city of Copenhagen, the municipality of Fre-
deriksberg and the Ministry of Transport and Build-
ing. The project took shape in close consultation
with local stakeholders such as neighbourhood coun-
cils, business associations and other organizations
that showed a particular interest in the project. The
project organizers’ call for contributions from the
public makes it clear that they are always open to
new ideas and initiatives from artists and others who
have plans for a work of art. Alterations to the length
or position of the fences as a result of the building
activities mean artworks are sometimes relocated or
discontinued.

Legal
The expropriation of the building sites for the dura-
tion of the construction period means they are tem-
porarily owned by Metroselskabet. The company
can therefore affix artworks and advertisements to
the fencing as it pleases. To support the project, the
Copenhagen city council has waived the fee it nor-
mally charges advertisers for advertising in public
spaces. The standard safety regulations are a chal-
lenge for many of the artists who propose an art-
work; the company, too, must take the safety regula-
tions into account when positioning advertisements
in drivers’ and cyclists’ line of vision.

Financial
Byens Hegn is financed by the sale of advertising
space on dedicated sections of the fencing, that is,
the sections of the fencing that are most conspicu-
ous for drivers and cyclists; artworks can be applied
to the remaining sections of the fence. The adver-
tising revenues are used to finance the project’s or-
ganization and purchase materials. The initiators of
the selected proposals must pay for their implemen-
tation themselves. An initial extra investment was
used to kick-start the project.

Spatial
The fences are made of five-centimetre-thick, insu-
lated wooden panels; they are between two and five
metres high so they can effectively reduce the noise

138 139
The White Meat City, Copenhagen, Denmark Local Flexibility
From walled-off abattoir premises to a popular entertainment district
initiator: city of Copenhagen
delivery: 2007
programme: restaurants and cafes,
creative companies, shops, galleries, etc.
website: http://www.koedbyen.kk.dk/english/
the-white-meat-city-of-copenhagen/
instruments: storytelling, local exception,
cash flow guidance, functional neutrality
Industrial parks and office blocks
are often isolated, mono-functional
islands that are not really involved
with the city. Kødbyen shows how
1. The walled-off abattoir premises were for the most part vacant.
such a closed-off area can be turned
into a popular part of the city in a
short period of time. By opening the
gates, other companies and restau-
rants have gradually established
themselves among the original meat-
processing companies.
The premises of the Kødbyen abattoir are located on
the edge of Copenhagen’s historic city centre. The
premises consist of the older Den brune Kødby, or
The Brown Meat City, its dark brick buildings dat-
ing from 1879, and the newer Den hvide Kødby, or
2. Restaurants and creative companies have established themselves among the meat-processing companies The White Meat City, so called because of its white
still operating on the premises. buildings dating from 1931. The White Meat City is a
modern, functionalist concrete building with meat-
processing halls and market areas where meat is
sold. Because of the building’s functional design, the
admission of abundant natural light into the work ar-
eas and its refined architectural lines, experts now
consider it the highlight of Danish functionalist ar-
chitecture. The design of the production line for meat
processing was inspired by the conveyor belt used in
the American car industry at the time: the cattle, ini-
tially transported by train and later by lorries, were
led in on one side; neatly weighed and packaged cuts
of meat left the complex on the other side. The entire
design was dominated by the requirements of effi-
ciency and hygiene.
3. Plans have been drawn up to construct new building developments on the abattoir premises. The complex is still used by the meat industry, but
recently, just as in New York’s Meatpacking district
142
and Smithfield Market in London, many restaurants,
cafes, galleries, creative companies and nightclubs
have established themselves in some of the vacant
buildings, turning Kødbyen into one of Copenhagen’s
trendiest districts within a short period of time.
The influx of these new functions is the result of
a deliberate choice made by the city council, which
owns the premises. At the end of the twentieth cen-
tury most of the meat-processing companies left
and the neighbourhood became increasingly bleak,
partly because it became a streetwalkers’ district. In
2005 the city council decided to stimulate a creative,
24-hour economy in the area, permitting functions
such as bars, restaurants and clubs. The underly-
ing idea was that if Kødbyen were open 24 hours a
day, people leaving bars and nightclubs in the early
hours would meet the butchers who were on their
way to work. Because the premises were walled off,
it was easier to stimulate a 24-hour economy here
than elsewhere in the city – after all, there were no
residents who might complain about the noise.
In 2007, after the city council had made the prem-
ises available for other functions, the Danish Agency
for Culture designated the complex as part of the
nation’s cultural heritage. The Copenhagen-based
architectural firm Mutopia developed the K-Plan,
a masterplan that made the structural mix of func-
tions possible. This K-Plan, commissioned by the
Municipality of Copenhagen, was the blueprint
that initiated and supported the transformation fol-
lowing its approval by the City Council. One of the
first bars to open was Karriere, where the Icelandic
artist Olafur Eliasson created a light installation in
2008. This artwork contributed to the creation of a
new reputation for the premises, and many bars and
restaurants followed Eliasson to the abattoir. The
area now has a surreal mix of clubbers, artists and
butchers, the latter clearly visible through the large
windows as they work through the night. The former
143
shunting yard between the buildings functions as a
large, open square, hosting markets and activities
such as races and carpentry workshops that are less
welcome in other parts of the city. The result is an
attractively mixed district with a unique combination
of bars, restaurants, galleries, creative companies,
cafes and meat-processing companies, all cheek by
jowl. MUTOPIA recently put forward Kødbyen 2025,
a proposal for the future development of the area that
would add a mix of functions to the area, including a
residential programme, shops and greenhouses.
Process
Although the former abattoir premises have now ac-
quired a variety of new functions, its meat-industry
past is still clearly visible. The Danish Agency for
Culture has prohibited any changes to the build-
ings’ interior or exterior – even the interior’s stand-
ard white tiles must be preserved and remain visible.
This creates an obstacle for some new functions but
ensures that the district retains a strong, unambigu-
ous atmosphere with a clear message: this area has
a unique history. This type of place-making, with
characteristic features that literally point to the past
and at the same time invite the location’s story to be
handed on, is a form of storytelling.
Legal
Located on the city’s edge for decades, the abattoir
premises were always walled off, meaning business
could carry on undisturbed. City residents who did
not work directly for the meat industry only knew
the area from the outside. This history of self-con-
tainment now creates a certain freedom of use for
the premises: partying and noise can continue here
24 hours a day without anyone being disturbed –
noise-sensitive functions such as housing are lo-
cated outside the walled-off premises. Permitting
programmes here that can easily cause a nuisance
means other parts of the city retain their peace and
quiet.
certainly lead to higher, market-driven rents. One
way to ensure the rents remain affordable might be
to permit the construction of new buildings on the
site: the profits made from this new development
could then be used to finance the maintenance of the
historic parts of the abattoir.
Spatial
The city council’s masterplan facilitates a mix of
functions on the premises while retaining their origi-
nal meat-industry functions. This creates an at times
surrealist mix of clubbers, artists, and butchers,
who can be clearly seen through the large windows
as they work through the night. The neutral, empty
white spaces with their huge windows that were for-
merly occupied by meat-processing companies are
perfectly suited to galleries, restaurants and bars.
This mix makes the district particularly popular with
young city residents. It is currently unclear whether
the Danish Agency for Culture will agree to the con-
struction of new building volume on or next to the
existing buildings, something that would be a logical
next step, since the district has become extremely
popular in such a short period of time.
Based on an interview with: Serban Cornea
(MUTOPIA architects)

Financial
In order to give the redevelopment of the premises
a boost, the city council initially permitted creative
companies to operate here for low rents. Currently,
however, the costs of maintaining the historic com-
plex are high, and the council recently raised the
rents, causing many of the original meat companies
to leave: only eight of the original 50 meat compa-
nies remain. The smaller creative companies are also
facing difficulties. In the long term the city council
is considering selling the complex, which will almost

144 145
Phénix, a new city image for Charleroi, Belgium Local Flexibility
From a derelict city centre to a lively city centre initiator: the city of Charleroi
delivery: 2007–2013
public programme (Phénix) : public space, cultural
centre, logistics infrastructure, which
attracted private programmes such as a shopping
mall, housing, offices, hotels, etc.
website: http://www.charleroi-bouwmeester.be/
instruments: matchmaking, local exception,
subsidy, city dressing
To prevent further suburbanization,
city centres must become more
popular. Until recently, Charleroi
struggled with a deserted city centre
1. The public space in the centre of Charleroi was dominated by parking facilities; the river Sambre played
no role in this space.
because all the well-off inhabitants
had moved to the suburbs. What was
once the city’s vibrant centre had be-
come a backwater. With the aid of an
ERDF (European Regional Develop-
ment Fund) subsidy Charleroi has
greatly improved the city centre’s at-
tractiveness for newcomers within a
short space of time. The river Sambre,
which had disappeared from view
over the years, has been made visible
2. By making it possible to experience the river again and moving parking facilities below street level, the again. New investors are currently
centre of Charleroi has become more attractive to newcomers.
implementing ambitious projects at
different locations in the city centre.
Charleroi, the largest municipality in Wallonia and
once an important industrial centre with coal mines
and a successful steel industry, became a city of by-
gone glory following the closure of the mines in the
1970s. Impinging on the visitor are omnipresent re-
minders of the past, from the characteristic terrils
(spoil tips) to large, vacant factories – the Charleroi
metropolitan area is still called le Pays Noir (the
black land) because, despite its industries having
vanished, it is still associated with mines and soot.
Social problems such as high rates of unemploy-
3. Public investments have attracted new private investments. ment and crime are gradually increasing. Recently,
however, the municipality of Charleroi has started to
146
grow again, after decades of demographic decline.
This growth is being driven by the large supply of af-
fordable housing and the municipality’s proximity to
the capital, Brussels. The growth is occurring in the
suburbs and village and town centres that did not be-
came part of the municipality of Charleroi until 1977,
when local council boundaries were redrawn. The
city centre, the original Charleroi, is still shrinking:
the population has dwindled from 35,000 inhab-
itants in 1901 to just 17,500 now. While the middle
class settles in the suburbs, it is mainly the under-
privileged who remain behind in the city centre.
To make the city centre more attractive to new-
comers and halt the further suburbanization of
housing and growth of huge shopping facilities, the
municipality applied to the European Union for an
ERDF subsidy, which was granted in 2007.With the
aid of this subsidy, amounting to 55 million euros for
2007 until 2013, the municipality of Charleroi first
dealt with the Ville Basse (lower city). The city cen-
tre consists of two parts: the lower-lying, commer-
cial Ville Basse, situated along the river Sambre, and
the higher Ville Haute, where the fort once stood and
the city’s institutions are still located. Recently, the
municipality was granted a second ERDF subsidy
amounting to 142 million euros for 2014 until 2020.
The municipality intends to use this money to im-
prove the Ville Haute (the Charleroi District Créatif
projects) and further upgrade parts of the lower city,
where a naval port is planned.
The Phénix project was realized with the first
ERDF subsidy. It focused on the economic and ur-
ban-planning transformation of the entire Ville Basse
and consisted of a number of subsidiary projects. In
the first place, the pedestrian routes from the Gare
du Sud station to the city centre were reinforced.
Second, the Place de la Digue, located in the centre
of the Ville Basse, was transformed into a car-free
public space for pedestrians; cars were consigned to
147
a large underground car park. Finally, it was possible
to experience the river Sambre in the city again, and
the river banks were turned into attractive places to
relax: the public spaces on one side of the river were
redesigned, and a few buildings along the banks that
affected the view were transformed. The river’s re-
profiled, sloping banks and a number of new bridges
make it possible to see the river again, and it now
also has a recreational function. The dimensions of
one of these bridges is such that a bridge-square
has been created, where open-air concerts and oth-
er cultural events can take place. With the help of
the ERDF subsidy the vacant Banque nationale de
Belgique building, situated between the station and
the river, has been transformed into the new Quai
10 cultural centre, with four cinemas, an exhibition
space, studio apartments and a large multifunction-
al brasserie, where concerts and other events can be
held.
The investments in public spaces and services
have provided an impetus, leading to several pri-
vate-sector projects such as a new shopping centre,
residential development and business park. The Ibis
hotel, located on the river bank, has also been reno-
vated and extended. All in all, the entrance to the city
from the station has been greatly enhanced and the
city centre as a whole has become much more vi-
brant.
Process
Following the success of Phénix, the municipal
council of Charleroi appointed a city architect, one
of whose tasks is to direct the further development
of the ERDF projects (Charleroi District Créatif) and
assess how the increasing private investment can
best benefit the transformation project as a whole.
Where possible he alerts investors to the locations
that best suit their goals and the future development
plans for the city centre. At the same time, he ex-
plores collaborations with existing local parties such
as centres of expertise, and all sorts of bottom-up
parties that, in their own way, are discovering a new
future for Charleroi – the city is well known to graf-
fiti and other visual artists, urban adventurers and
photographers, who are attracted to the opportuni-
ties created by the city’s vacant spaces. Thanks to
the Rockerill music centre, the city also enjoys a na-
tional reputation among music lovers. The city archi-
tect therefore acts as a matchmaker between private
initiators on the one hand and local assignments and
available locations on the other. To further improve
the reputation of Charleroi beyond the city’s limits,
the city architect also advocated a new graphic iden-
148
tity for the city, making it easier for Charleroi to pro-
mote itself through city branding on the Internet and
in publications.
Legal
Unlike other Belgian cities such as Namur, Charleroi
does not have a Schéma de Structure Communal
(structural urban plan). This means that the Plan
de Secteur (a regional plan) and its defined land-
use designations apply. These designations have
not been defined in detail for each building and, as
a result, Charleroi enjoys a unique position among
Belgian cities, benefiting from a greater degree of
freedom and expediency.
Financial
Although the contributions of more than 55 mil-
lion euros from the ERDF (European Regional
Development Fund) for the Ville Basse and 142 mil-
lion euros for the Ville Haute are considerable, these
subsidies have mainly acted as an impetus: they
must ensure that ultimately even greater sums will
be invested in the city centre. This seems to be work-
ing: until now the public and private sectors have
agreed to invest one billion euros in the city centre
and another one billion in the suburbs. Investments
in the city centre include two residential towers con-
taining 200 apartments (River Towers) and a new
business park (Left Side Business Park), both along
the river Sambre. A one-off subsidy has led to the
sustainable redevelopment of the entire city centre.
Spatial
In recent decades, Charleroi acquired a negative im-
age throughout Belgium. Its inhabitants preferred to
say they came from suburbs such as Marcinelle or
Monceau than from Charleroi, and even the weather
forecast avoided mentioning it by name. Through the
large-scale urban transformation, improvements to
public spaces and the development of a new graphic
identity Charleroi is implementing all sorts of cos-
metic and surgical interventions to create a new im-
age for the city.
Based on an interview with: Georgios Maïllis
(city architect/Bouwmeester of Charleroi) and
Géraldine Lacasse (architect urbanist at Charleroi
Bouwmeester).
149
Fra tomt til grønt, Vestervig, Denmark Local Spatial Flexibility
From a vacant neighbourhood to a green neighbourhood
initiator: Vestervig’s inhabitants
delivery: 2007–present
dimensions: demolition of 17 houses
programme: collective and public gardens
website: www.realdania.dk/filantropiske-
programmer/samlet-projektliste/
fra-tomt-til-gr%C3%B8nt-i-vestervig
instruments: local action, vacancy legislation,
subsidy, dilution
In shrinking cities and villages the
quality of life can be improved by
demolishing vacant buildings.
The Danish village of Vestervig, for
1. The main road of the Danish village of Vestervig included a number of buildings that were crucial to the
village’s appearance but that were vacant as a result of demographic shrinkage.
example, struggled with the effects
of demographic shrinkage such as
the withdrawal of services and run-
down properties but through demoli-
tion it has managed to turn the tide:
by buying and demolishing vacant
buildings that were once crucial to
the appearance of the village, space
has been created for new qualities
such as small public parks and im-
proved contact with the surrounding
2. Vacant premises were demolished. landscape.
Rural municipalities in North Jutland are affected
by population shrinkage, with migration from small
to larger villages and from villages to cities. As a re-
sult, a number of the smallest villages will ultimately
disappear, something that is preceded by the clo-
sure of public services. It is not possible to predict
which services and which villages will be affected.
Inhabitants who unite in time and formulate an ac-
tion plan can apply for financial assistance from
municipal councils or the private Real Dania fund,
whose aim is to improve the quality of life in rural
districts. However, their limited resources mean they
cannot assist all villages and therefore give priority
to villages whose local communities come up with
3. Public gardens were laid out in the spaces that thus became available, making the surrounding landscape viable initiatives themselves.
more visible and the village more attractive. The medieval village of Vestervig (700 inhabit-
152
FOR RENT
ants), which enjoys some fame because it is home
to the largest village church in Denmark, presented
one such convincing initiative in 2004. Two of the
village’s inhabitants drew up a plan to get to grips
with the negative effects of the demographic shrink-
age, such as the dilapidated vacant buildings and
the decline in value of adjacent properties. While
the village has extensions dating from the 1970s and
1980s, most of the inhabitants consider the old main
road to be the village centre. It was precisely on this
road, along which the village originally developed,
that many buildings were vacant. A number of these
vacant buildings provided services in the past, such
as shops; more recently the Tinghus (court), music
school, library, local historical archive and the reha-
bilitation centre were also closed, and no new us-
ers were found for these buildings. As a result, the
street with its fine historic buildings, once crucial to
the appearance of Vestervig, now exuded an air of
decline and bygone glory. Moreover, the accompa-
nying drop in property prices attracted speculators,
who bought buildings for rock-bottom prices in the
hope that they would increase in value at some point;
in the meantime, these properties remained vacant
and hardly, if any, money was invested in maintain-
ing them.
The inhabitants’ initiative involved collecting pri-
vate capital that would be topped up with money
from funds from the municipality of Thisted and the
private Realdania fund, enabling them to buy and de-
molish the ‘rotten teeth’ on the main street. Buildings
that were dilapidated and not crucial to the village’s
appearance have now disappeared – since 2007 17
houses have already been demolished and replaced
with collective gardens and views of the surrounding
countryside, under the motto ‘from a vacant neigh-
bourhood to a green neighbourhood’.
For several years, Verstevig has been developing
positively, and it now has a completely different as-
153
pect from a few years ago: in 2011 ten houses were
sold to families with children; volunteers restored a
dilapidated house that greatly affected the village’s
appearance and it was then sold to a family; the old
Tinghus is now used as an exhibition centre for lo-
cal artists and the former hospital houses a Refugee
Centre for Unaccompanied Youngsters. Apart from
demolition and reuse, new buildings are sometimes
even constructed if existing buildings cannot meet
a new need, such as a kindergarten. And a ‘house of
possibilities’, a flexible building, was recently deliv-
ered up: it is being used as an exhibition centre for
the ‘from vacant neighbourhood to green neighbour-
hood’ project until a new user is found who can com-
plete the frame according to his own tastes.
Process
Compared with other villages in the region,
Vestervig has an unusually high level of citizen en-
gagement. After the first ideas were born in 2004,
they were quickly adopted by several local organi-
zations, including the Vestervig Handsvaerker og
Borgerforening, which functions as a mouthpiece,
consultative body and formal initiator. It organized
meetings and garnered widespread support from
the local inhabitants for the initiative. They then
convinced the municipality of Thisted, a large mu-
nicipality consisting of more than 20 villages, of the
plan’s viability. In 2005 a number of young archi-
tects, in consultation with the Borgerforening, drew
up a plan that was discussed with the village inhabit-
ants. In 2008 the Borgerforening submitted an ap-
plication for a subsidy to the Mulighedernes Land, a
partnership between the municipality of Thisted and
Realdania. This application was successful, partly
because the village inhabitants had already collect-
ed starting capital.
administer the starting capital. This investment fund
is in fact a limited liability company that is jointly
owned by 140 inhabitants. In addition to the inhab-
itants’ private capital, the municipality of Thisted,
the national government and the private Realdania
fund also provide financial assistance. The private
Realdania fund was created after the sale in 2001 of
Realkredit Danmark to the Danske Bank, which cre-
ated a reserve of 2.7 billion euros. The fund makes
this money available for the preservation of cultural
heritage, the continued viability of rural areas and
the deployment of architecture to that end. In collab-
oration with local governments, the fund draws up
programmes, from which it selects projects.
Spatial
At the locations in the village where the structurally
vacant and dilapidated buildings have been removed,
the green of the surrounding landscape has become
part of the village. The visual impact is considerable.
The sites that have become vacant have been devel-
oped on the basis of the inhabitants’ concrete needs
and initiatives: a new playground for the school, an
open-air theatre in the park, several cycle paths,
and even new, sustainable and flexible low-energy
‘houses of possibilities’. The inhabitants themselves
maintain the green areas, either by deploying volun-
teers or paying for maintenance themselves.
Based on an interview with Otto Lægaard of
the Thisted Kommune municipal council.

Legal
The Danish Act of Urban Renewal makes it legally
and financially possible for Danish municipalities to
designate buildings that must be demolished if they
have been neglected, contain very dated fittings, or
might pose a danger. The law also makes it possible
to compel owners to sell their houses; to date, the
courts have expropriated seven houses on the basis
of this provision. This legislation made it possible to
demolish the dilapidated buildings in Vestervig with-
in the time span envisaged by the villagers’ plan.

Financial
To finance the project, the local inhabitants set up
the Vestervig Regeneration Aps investment fund to

154 155
Südstadt, Tübingen, Germany
From abandoned military barracks to organically developed town
1. The barracks on the military terrain were left unoccupied after the French army left.
2. The barracks were put back to use and events were held on the grounds.
3. Groups of resident built small-scale housing between the barracks.
156
Use-driven Flexibility
initiator: Tübingen municipality
delivery: 2004
programme: homes, offices, cafes and restaurants,
shops, etc.
website: http://www.werkstatt-stadt.de/en/
projects/74/
instruments: co-creation, general zoning plan,
life-cycle finance, appropriation
Professionals sometimes claim a
dominant, determining role because
the transformation of an area is a
complex, expensive affair. The Fran-
zössisches Viertel (French Quarter)
and Lorettoareaal (Loretto District) in
Tübingen demonstrate that users can
have an influential role even in more
complicated planning processes.
Here, residents were able to work
with the municipality and designers
in an organic construction process
to create a densely populated district
with an unusually high diversity of
programmes and types of building.
Tübingen, a southern German university town in the
federal state of Baden-Württemberg, faced a short-
age of affordable housing in the early 1990s, but the
municipality was reluctant to allow building beyond
the city limits, as it wanted to protect the country-
side surrounding the city. Instead it looked for areas
within the existing city that were suitable for reuse
or infill.
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the French
army withdrew from the city in 1991, leaving be-
hind a large military terrain, with a row of barracks,
in the heart of the city. The French returned the site
to the German government, which sold it on to the
municipality of Tübingen for a relatively modest
amount. The municipality saw this as an opportuni-
ty to combine its aim of increasing building density
and its wish to create affordable housing. It therefore
ME
designated the site for residential use. First the old
barracks and stables were converted. The soldiers’
quarters, which already had a residential function,
could be turned into homes with only a few modi-
fications and plenty of opportunity for DIY by the
future occupants. Studentenwerk Tübingen (the
Tübingen student service organization), for example,
converted the Hindenburg barracks – a group of six
buildings – into 500 student accommodation units.
The basements were set up as communal areas. The
former stables were turned into artists’ accommo-
dation with attached studios and commercial units
for small and medium-sized craft businesses. The
grounds between the barracks were initially used
to hold a variety of events. Then the municipality or-
ganized a competition for the design of new residen-
tial buildings on the spacious grounds.
To encourage the construction of affordable
homes, the municipality stipulated in the compe-
tition rules that the plots available for building on
would only be given to private construction coopera-
tives. By excluding professional development com-
panies, the municipality hoped that it could keep the
costs of the housing down. In the end, the construc-
tion price for the homes was indeed 15 per cent to 20
per cent less. This was because there was no inter-
mediary involved that had to make a profit on their
part in the development, because residents were
able to make adjustments to the plans – and the pric-
es – during the project and because residents could
save on costs by carrying out some tasks them-
selves. The decision to go for construction coopera-
tives also ensured that everything in the future resi-
dential district was kept to a reasonably small scale.
Each construction cooperative was unique and was
responsible for only one building. The future resi-
dents also made good use of the requirement in the
competition rules that the residential buildings had
to incorporate other functions. The lowest floors of
157
the buildings house small businesses, offices, corner
shops, cafes, neighbourhood centres, communal ar-
eas, saunas, pavement seating and workshops. This
carefully constructed mix, designed to meet the real
needs of residents rather than being based on ficti-
tious assumptions, ensures a lively atmosphere day
and night. Eventually, the city acquired about 6500
new homes and 2000 new jobs in these new dis-
tricts of Französsisches Viertel and Lorettoareaal. A
very high housing density was achieved too of 150 to
200 residents per hectare.
The new residents were involved not just in the
construction of the buildings through the private
construction cooperatives but also in the layout of
the public spaces. This involvement has assured a
greater acceptance of the final result and a readi-
ness to contribute towards the upkeep of the public
spaces. The district has restricted car access: there
are hardly any parking spaces (indeed, the city did
not make parking a requirement for the construc-
tion cooperatives). There are three ‘district garages’
on the edge of the area where people can park their
cars. After the area was completed, it was soon dis-
covered by other municipalities in north-western
Europe who are also considering an alternative,
more user-oriented approach to planning.
Process
The municipality tackled the redevelopment of the
site and the barracks in co-creation with private
construction cooperatives. Any future resident, ar-
chitect or process manager could join forces with
others and set up such a construction cooperative.
To reserve a plot, the construction cooperatives had
to draw up an action plan. Next, the schedule of re-
quirements was drawn up as a co-creative effort
with the municipality. Because the group members
took on their own roles during the development pro-
cess, the buildings fitted better with the users’ re-
quirements. Moreover, considerable savings could
be achieved this way.
Legal
In order to promote variety in this part of the city, the
municipality drew up a rather general zoning plan
that allowed a mix of functions and plots that varied
considerably in size throughout the area. The zoning
plan enabled a flexible structure with an emphasis
on enhancing public spaces and integrating exist-
ing buildings. A number of preconditions were set
for new buildings. For example, the ground floor had
to incorporate commercial functions. The individual
construction cooperatives could decide what form
158
this should take. The final allocation and subdivision
of the plots was carried out in consultation with the
construction cooperatives.
Conflicts between the different users and func-
tions could not be ruled out as the whole area had
been designated a mixed zone. But the legal frame-
work was designed to maximize the residents’ col-
lective identification with the district. In practice, the
sense of collective responsibility has turned out to be
so strong that nearly all conflicts are resolved infor-
mally.
Financial
A deliberate attempt was made in the development
to encourage local businesses as a way of avoiding
the area turning into a ghost town during the day. As
a result, the planning led to 2000 extra jobs in ad-
dition to the 6500 new homes. These were in small
workshops, offices, shops, cafes and other facilities
housed in the first two storeys of the buildings, ad-
joining the public space. Additional advantages of
this approach are that money remains in the commu-
nity, residents can work close to home and it is easy
to build up and maintain a local network.
Spatial
The construction cooperatives were the key deter-
mining factor in the area’s success through the dis-
tinctive way in which they elaborated on the plans.
Giving the future residents the freedom to design
and give shape to the buildings in their own way ena-
bled them to develop a strong sense of ownership of
the projects. A striking element is the fine use of ma-
terials and the finishing in the buildings. None of the
buildings looks like its neighbours. Because the resi-
dents were able to make their own decisions, they
now have a great sense of responsibility for what
goes on in the area.
Based on an interview with Cord Soehlke
(town architect of Tübingen)
159
Sargfabrik, Vienna Use-driven Flexibility
From a supply-driven housing market to a demand-driven one initiator: Verein für Integrative Lebensgestaltung
delivery: 1996
programme: homes, studios, theatre,
public baths, kindergartens, cafe-restaurant
http://www.sargfabrik.at/
instruments: co-creation, local exception,
crowdfunding, appropriation
While the demand for space is
increasingly differentiated, major
developers are still inclined to of-
fer standard, uniform solutions for
1. The site of the Sargfabrik (coffin factory), in the heart of the city, was unoccupied.
residential housing and office space.
The Sargfabrik in Vienna shows how
a group of users was able not just to
build a more diverse range of housing
but also to add a more finely honed
range of amenities and public spaces
that the rest of the neighbourhood
could also benefit from.
In 1987, a group of Viennese idealists who were dis-
satisfied with the high prices in the housing market
and its focus on traditional family homes founded
2. The Verein für Integrative Lebensgestaltung (association for integrated lifestyles) created a wide range of the Verein für Integrative Lebensgestaltung (associa-
different homes and facilities on the vacant plot. tion for integrated lifestyles). The aim of this asso-
ciation was to create a residential community where
people with different lifestyles and cultural back-
grounds could live alongside one another in housing
that they could afford. After ten years spent look-
ing for a suitable site and making preparations, the
Sargfabrik (literally ‘coffin factory’) was completed
in 1996. It was the largest self-developed residential
housing project in Austria at the time. The complex
was built on the site of a former coffin factory in the
heart of Vienna and consists of a rich, finely meshed
mix of homes and public amenities. The more than
100 accommodation units include homes for the dis-
abled and elderly and units for short-term lets. It was
possible to design the complex with a parking ratio
3. The Verein für Integrative Lebensgestaltung also built unusual forms of residential housing outside the of one parking space for every ten homes, which
Sarg site. avoided the need for an expensive underground car
162
ME
park and freed up money for other public ameni-
ties. There is an events zone that can be used for
concerts, dance, theatre, lectures and festivals for
children. There is also a Finnish sauna, a swimming
pool, a kindergarten, a restaurant, a pub, a library,
roof gardens, a communal kitchen, office units, etc.
These communal amenities are also open to resi-
dents in the neighbourhood around the complex.
The long preparation period of ten years con-
firmed the initiators’ suspicions that the residential
construction market in Austria was still very tradi-
tional. Developers showed little willingness to devi-
ate from the norm and respond to the specific de-
mands of the users. The initiators had to use all their
powers of persuasion and overcome resistance in
order to get the complex built. Now that the project
has been completed, it is contributing to the diversi-
fication of the housing supply and thereby also to a
change in the mindset, which was one of the asso-
ciation’s aims when it was set up.
In 2000, Miss Sargfabrik was built as a logical
extension to the complex on an adjacent plot that
had become available. This extension means that
the Sargfabrik now covers an area of 5,500 m2 in
the city. The Verein itself calls the complex a village
within the city because of the strong social cohe-
sion and the diversity of homes and other functions,
organized in a communal fashion. The Sargfabrik
stands out not just because of its programmatic di-
versity and idealistic slant; it also has a striking de-
sign through the use of orange and the wide balco-
nies. The integrated communal gardens also make
it very green despite the high density. It did not take
long to find occupants for the homes after the com-
plex was completed and there are now long waiting
lists for people who are interested in moving there.
The cultural events and above-mentioned public
amenities in the Sargfabrik are very popular in the
neighbourhood and are revitalising the area. The
163
complex serves as an inspiring reference for many
people for innovative forms of residential accommo-
dation and collective development.
Process
The Verein für Integrative Lebensgestaltung is a not-
for-profit association with members and articles
of association. The association owns the land, the
apartments and all the amenities. It is the commis-
sioning party for construction work and the landlord.
During the design phase, the members could decide
what the floorplan and layout for their future home
would look like. As a result, no two homes look the
same. The members are made up of the occupants
of the apartments. Each member makes an initial
deposit and pays a monthly contribution, part of
which goes towards the public amenities. Another
part goes towards a social fund that is used to help
any residents that are in financial trouble. If mem-
bers move out, the deposit is repaid and the apart-
ment once again becomes the property of the as-
sociation. The members’ rights and obligations are
set out in the articles of association. The members
vote on key decisions in the general meetings held by
the association. The management board, made up
of volunteers, is also chosen in the general meeting.
The management board makes sure that the annual
programme of work is carried out in a professional
manner and that the individual parts of the complex
are properly maintained. The association currently
has about 20 employees. The voluntary efforts of
residents also enable various events to be put on in
the neighbourhood.
Legal
The desired residential programme turned out to be
difficult to achieve because of the city’s legal restric-
tions. The complex was eventually formally desig-
nated a Wohnheim (dormitory/hostel) as this was
the only way of achieving the desired finely meshed
programmatic mix of public and private spaces with-
in the available budget. That provided the legal basis
for the construction of small, linked accommodation
units with shared sanitary facilities, the deviation
from the standard parking ratio (to only one parking
space per ten homes) and the addition of functions
such as a swimming pool and a school. The unusual
designation also made it possible for the association
to obtain aid from special funds operated by the mu-
nicipallity of Vienna.
They also got round the minimum clear height of
2.5 metres as stipulated by the Buildings Decree by
calling the 2.25 metre-high bedrooms, toilets and
164
bathrooms ‘storage space’. The living rooms on the
other hand are much higher (at 5 metres) than the
stipulated minimum.
Financial
The Verein für Integrative Lebensgestaltung owns the
land, developed the complex, runs it and owns it. The
association is a not-for-profit organizion. This means
in practice that the entire complex is in the hands
of the members. In order to qualify for a home, they
buy a share in the association’s fixed capital, which
is refunded when they stop using that apartment.
Special functions such as the swimming pool, the
communal kitchen and the roof gardens are there-
fore owned collectively and are shared between the
residents. The collective use of amenities is also
termed collaborative consumption.
Spatial
The Sargfabrik has explicitly been designed as a col-
lective residential community, a village within the
city. The orange facades clearly delineate this com-
munity. The routes through the complex are open to
the public; the city is welcome. There are meeting
points along the external walkways too. There is a
communal kitchen and the connectable residential
units also boost the collective nature of the complex.
Remains of the old Sargfabrik, such as the old chim-
ney, keep the building’s unusual past alive. Evidence
of the success in creating a strongly cohesive com-
munity can be found in the very limited turnover in
occupants, with some residential units now even
home to a second generation of residents.
This text is based on various sources.
165
Neighbourhood contract Navez-Portaels, Brussels, Belgium Use-driven Flexibility
From an underprivileged urban area to a neighbourhood of pioneers
initiators: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest,
RenovaS (municipality of Schaarbeek), individual
neighbourhood residents and associations
delivery: 2008–2014
programme: construction and renovation of houses,
restoration of public spaces, construction of new in-
frastructure, projects to improve social cohesion, etc.
design pedestrian bridge: MSA–Ney & Partners
design school- and housing building: Atelier Collectif
Architecture
When wealthy residents and com-
panies leave older parts of the city,
these areas become vulnerable:
buildings are vacant, the public space
1. The public space around Verboekhovenplein, a square in the municipality of Schaarbeek, was dominated
by motorized traffic (cars, trains, trams, buses), which negatively affected the quality of life in the vicinity.
deteriorates, and it is mainly the
disadvantaged who remain behind.
Restoring the quality of life in these
at-risk neighbourhoods is not easy.
The Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest
devised a scheme of neighbourhood
contracts to address this issue: these
contracts, and joint efforts with resi-
dents, have proven to be an effective
means of ensuring a neighbourhood’s
spatial, social and dynamic future.
2. The Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (Brussels-Capital Region), municipality of Schaarbeek and neigh-
bourhood residents signed a neighbourhood contract that, among other matters, provided for the construc- In parts of Brussels, the quality of life deteriorated
tion of a remarkable bridge in the middle of the square, over the sunken railway line. dramatically during the 1970s and 1980s. The exo-
dus of well-off residents, followed by the relocation
of more and more companies to locations outside
the city’s limits, eroded investment in the city. Due to
the construction of mono-functional office areas to
facilitate the expansion of the European Union, parts
of the city centre became the domain of the disad-
vantaged.
When the Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest be-
came autonomous in 1989 it had the opportunity
to establish a new agenda. One of its spearheads
addressed the quality of life in existing city neigh-
bourhoods, focusing on three issues: improving the
quality of housing; improving the quality of public
3. Improvements to strategic locations in the neighbourhood drew it into a positive spiral again. spaces; and strengthening social networks. From
1993 onwards, this led to a programme that was
166
website: http://www.quartiers.irisnet.be/
fr/quartiers/contrat/52
http://www.wijken.irisnet.be/nl/wijken/
contract/52
instruments: co-creation, facilitation, subsidy,
enhancing sustainability
integral rather than sectoral, each time putting a
city neighbourhood with its many facets centre
stage – hence the programme’s name: Wijkcontract
(neighbourhood contract). Governments emphati-
cally work with residents to resolve specific prob-
lems in a neighbourhood. By 2009, 56 programmes
had been implemented; since 2010 the neighbour-
hood contracts have included a strong emphasis on
sustainability – 22 programmes have already been
implemented within the framework of these new
Duurzame Wijkcontracten (sustainable neighbour-
hood contracts).
Located between the station and the town hall in
the municipality of Schaarbeek, the streets around
Verboekhovenplein are important links in the capi-
tal’s road and rail network, the busy traffic determin-
ing the design of the public space here. This has had
an increasingly negative effect on the quality of life.
For this reason, in 2008 the Hoofdstedelijk Gewest
together with the municipality of Schaarbeek initi-
ated a sustainable neighbourhood contract for this
part of the city: the Wijkcontract Navez-Portaels,
named after the area between two streets, François-
Joseph Navezstraat and Portaelsstraat. The most
important goal of the neighbourhood contract, which
was drawn up together with the residents, was the
restoration of the public space to enhance the qual-
ity of life: more room was created for slow traffic (pe-
destrians, cyclists, prams, wheelchair-users), and a
subsidiary project saw the construction of a striking,
wide pedestrian bridge over the square’s sunken rail-
way line. This bridge shortened the routes through
the neighbourhood for slow traffic and improved the
recreational quality of the centrally located square.
Besides improvements to the public space, ex-
isting housing was renovated or modernized; the
Navez community centre was renovated; and social
projects were launched that, for example, saw un-
employed people helping the elderly who were still
167
living at home. By investing in strategic locations
in both the physical open space and the neighbour-
hood’s social network, the Hoofdstedelijk Gewest
and the municipality attempted to improve social co-
hesion, increase the residents’ sense of responsibil-
ity for the neighbourhood, and attract new, external
private investment.
Process
Supported by experts, the governments’ representa-
tives, together with residents, first made a detailed
diagnosis of the neighbourhood through so-called
‘diagnostic walks’: officials and administrators ac-
companied by/ residents and businessmen walked
through the neighbourhood and then drew up a tar-
geted plan. This included issues such as the habit-
ability of the housing, population density, the layout
of the public space, cultural diversity and the local
unemployment rate. Residents and neighbourhood
associations were then invited to draw up a plan
for the neighbourhood together with the govern-
ments. All of the parties involved – including the
residents – were then involved in implementing this
plan: a Plaatselijke Commissie voor Geïntegreerde
Ontwikkeling, or PCGO (local committee for inte-
grated development) was established during the
first general neighbourhood meeting. This PCGO
organized the debate between the neighbourhood
residents, the representatives of local associations
and clubs, and the different levels of government.
Feedback sessions took place several times a year,
when the PCGO committee reviewed and if neces-
sary adjusted the plans that had been implemented.
The neighbourhood was kept informed of develop-
ments during general meetings.
Legal
The Navez-Portaels neighbourhood contract was
an agreement between the Brussels Hoofdstedelijk
Gewest, RenovaS (the municipality of Schaarbeek’s
delegated representative) and various neighbour-
hood associations. It established the budget, plan-
ning and programme. The residents were repre-
sented by a democratically elected Plaatselijke
Commissie (PCGO), which included at least eight
residents who were as representative of the neigh-
bourhood’s population mix as possible and were
nominated and appointed by other residents. The
contract stipulated a seven-year period: in the first
year the programme was established, in the follow-
ing four years the plans were drawn up and elabo-
rated, and the last two years were solely dedicated
to implementation. At the end of the programme, a
168
network was to be in place that was capable of inde-
pendently maintaining the course of action that had
been initiated.
Financial
Convinced that investing in the quality of life now
will limit higher costs in the long term, various gov-
ernments have made funds available for the im-
plementation of neighbourhood contracts: with a
total regional budget of 44 million euros, four pro-
jects a year had received support by 2015; from
2015 onwards, these figures and budgets were
halved. The money is made available by the Brussels
Hoofdstedelijk Gewest and the municipalities con-
cerned, which contribute at least five per cent to a
project’s budget. The Belgian federal government
supplements this budget and, where possible, it is
supplemented further by wealthy local players such
as private investors or property owners.
Spatial
The most striking aspect of the Wijkcontract Navez-
Portaels is a wide pedestrian bridge over the sunk-
en railway line on Verboekhovenplein, which was
opened in September 2014. The bridge is 25 me-
tres long and 15 metres wide, and adds another 300
square metres to the public space. It is suitable for
slow traffic (pedestrians, cyclists, prams etc.), and
its slight, four-metre elevation provides a splendid
view of the old city between the town hall and the
station. The steps function as a sort of stepped plat-
form, connecting both sides of Verboekhovenplein.
The bridge fulfils several functions: it is a waiting
room, meeting place and an intersection. To enhance
security, an integrated lighting system switches on
at twilight.
Based on an interview with Françoise Deville
of RenovaS (RenovaS has been the Gemeente
Schaarbeek’s delegated project manager for the
neighbourhood contracts since 1996).
169
Hotel De Marne, the Netherlands Use-driven Flexibility
From isolated and shrinking villages to a dynamic urban network
initiators: Erik Wong, Anne Wine Jansen, Joke Kops
delivery: from 2012
programme: website, bed and breakfast, cafe,
restaurants, shops, etc.
extent: Hotel De Marne consists of some 60 local
entrepreneurs; Wongema covers a surface area
of 500 m2 and receives 1,000 visitors a year
website: www.openlabebbinge.nl
instruments: regional coordination, articles
of association, crowdfunding, close reading
When remote regions struggling with
demographic or economic decline
present themselves differently, new
1. The old village cafe in Hornhuizen was empty and dilapidated. perspectives can open up, partly
thanks to the Internet. Take Hotel
De Marne: this platform is used by a
number of small-scale entrepreneurs
in the sparsely populated north of the
Netherlands to present themselves
collectively; they realized that acting
as a united front they would be more
effective than operating individually.
Hotel De Marne has little to do with
the traditional picture of rural life;
2. Students and lecturers from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie for art in Amsterdam used the vacant building
it might, instead, be a new form of
for a workshop, breathing new life into the village. urbanism.
The De Marne region is situated in the north-west of
the province of Groningen. It could be described as
the ‘wild west’ of the Netherlands, with its wide open
spaces and very affordable property prices, certainly
compared with the crowded Randstad conurbation.
This attracted entrepreneurs with an alternative vi-
sion, many of them in the hospitality business: a bed
and breakfast, gallery, an ice-cream parlour. Tourists
visited De Marne, but in small numbers: the many
hospitality businesses and low prices in the north
meant that the margins were limited, and these en-
trepreneurs had their work cut out. These stubborn
individualists were not born collaborators: they all
3. When one of the lecturers bought the building, it was saved from demolition; he altered it and turned it into created, made or cooked their own worlds and did
a ‘work bed and breakfast’, making the village centre livelier. not look beyond that. The De Bende van Acht (the
gang of eight) project for small businesses gradu-
172
ally changed this. The idea was simple: local entre-
preneurs in the tourist sector visited each other and
exchanged experiences. The project did not have
a political agenda and there was no membership,
just a visit to a different company every two weeks.
It turned out that everyone loved the area and their
particular spot, and everyone was struggling to
make ends meet. These observations led to the birth
of Hotel De Marne: why not join up all these attrac-
tive, small-scale businesses and turn them into a
single hotel, with countless rooms and restaurants,
all surrounded by a huge garden? That way all these
small businesses could act as a collective ‘voice-
over’ for the region. Hotel De Marne is an introduc-
tion, a trendsetter, a digital information magazine
with insiders’ tips. Visitors search the site and when
they find what they are looking for, they click through
to the company’s website and the owner takes the
matter over. Hotel De Marne is ambitious: its aim is
to appeal to consumers in the Randstad conurbation
and tempt them into visiting the region.
Sixty entrepreneurs involved in the hospitality in-
dustry in this region have now joined forces in Hotel
De Marne, presenting their bed and breakfasts,
camping sites, restaurants, galleries and regional
products via a well-presented website. They offer
their services and share their knowledge about the
region in order to attract more tourists and generate
more income; their hospitality and personal atten-
tion are central. Hotel De Marne is a cooperative: the
digital hotel is owned by all of the participating en-
trepreneurs. The first year online was difficult: it was
not clear how the platform could be efficiently main-
tained and made easier to find. The development
fund (subsidies from the province, municipality, EU
LEADER money, and Rabobank) had been used up,
and everything now had to be financed from the
modest members’ contributions. The site has been
online since October 2014: the first reactions ‘from
173
the field’ have been positive, and bookings via Hotel
De Marne are gradually increasing.
The Hotel De Marne initiatives include Wongema:
an old, vacant village cafe in Hornhuizen (approxi-
mately 200 inhabitants) has been turned into tem-
porary accommodation for groups or individuals to
work or study. Wongema was established by Erik
Wong, one of the initiators of Hotel De Marne: he be-
came a weekend resident in the village in 2008, living
in a small house opposite the cafe. He borrowed the
vacant cafe for a workshop organized by the Gerrit
Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, which led to en-
thusiastic reactions from both the village inhabitants
and the students. This, combined with the owner’s
demolition plans, made Wong spring into action: the
Stichting DBF, a non-profit property developer, was
the ideal partner, and the premises were purchased
in 2010 and rebuilt as a ‘work bed and breakfast’,
where it is possible to spend several days at a time
working, meeting, and developing concepts. Two
work/sleep areas were built on the ground floor,
and bedrooms and box-beds were built on the first
floor; Wongema can accommodate between 20 and
30 guests. The facility opened in 2012 and has wel-
comed a wide range of workers and students, from
hairdressers to doctoral students to amateur choirs.
The village association uses Wongema as a meeting
place during the winter; in exchange, Wong is per-
mitted to use the church free of charge as an extra
(work) location. The cafe caters for farmers’ birthday
parties and the occasional funeral. Wongema is now
a structural part of the region’s cultural agenda, with
its annual plant-cuttings market, the HENK village
festival, a series of meet-ups for the Dutch VPRO
Tegenlicht television programme, the Beamclub
Wongema and the Aardappelfeest (potato festival).
Process
Joining forces in an area that was not easily locat-
ed and combining 60 initiatives that were, until re-
cently, disconnected has created a sum that is great-
er than its parts. The participants were driven by a
shared love for the region and the desire to ensure
their businesses’ future viability. They understood
that, united, they were stronger than as individuals
and therefore better placed to appeal to a larger tar-
get group.
Legal
Hotel De Marne is a cooperative with articles of as-
sociation. A cooperative form was chosen because
that way, the concept would be the property of all
of the members and everyone would have the right
174
to vote. Moreover, a cooperative is a trusted struc-
ture in this traditionally agricultural region. Together,
all the participants keep the platform running. They
also organize themselves into task-specific work
groups. The average turnout for the members’ meet-
ings is 70 per cent. In principle, the cooperative is a
non-profit organization but it must cover its costs,
and the aim is for the network to generate income for
the members in the form of bookings. All members
are allocated the same amount of space to display
their initiative. There is no advertising and no fees
are paid for information.
Financial
Hotel De Marne is financed entirely from the annu-
al 200-euro fee paid by its members. This low fee
was expressly chosen so that the businesses with
the fewest resources could still contribute the same
amount as the wealthier ones. Friends of Hotel De
Marne can also make a donation in exchange for a
mention on the site. A deliberate decision was made
not to charge booking fees, as is usual on booking
sites, because the platform includes not only beds
but also regional products and gardens. The annual
members’ fees are sufficient to keep the platform
running and cover the administrative costs; besides
this, the members also contribute in kind by mak-
ing some of their time available. The relatively high
start-up costs such as making the site and hiring a
photographer could not be covered by the members’
fees and applications for one-off subsidies were
therefore submitted.
Spatial
To see a hotel in a number of rooms dotted randomly
across a region is a form of close reading by its ini-
tiators. Of course Hotel De Marne is not actually a
hotel, yet is a digital building with rooms and beds,
activities, (vegetable) gardens, art and culture. The
word ‘hotel’ was chosen because hospitality is cen-
tral: ‘Welcome in De Marne, we are going to pam-
per you’. And there was a deliberate play on the con-
fusion that the word ‘hotel’ caused: a construction
site notice was erected in a potato field next to the
N361 secondary road, creating a considerable fuss
and speculation—and, thus, publicity: What? A hotel
here? Surely not? Within an hour of the sign’s ap-
pearance, the first passer-by had applied for a job at
the hotel.
Based on an interview with Erik Wong and
Anne Wine Jansen (initiators of Hotel De Marne)
175
Panorama West, Amsterdam Use-driven Flexibility
From vacant office space to a lively collective of entrepreneurs
surface area: 800 m2 available floor surface
delivery: September 2014
initiator/developer: temp.architecture
owner and client: Cocon Vastgoed Management
implementation: various entrepreneurs
from the neighbourhood
website: www.panorama-west.nl
instruments: social media, articles of association,
local currency, downscaling
Owners of office buildings are strug-
gling: valuable tenants are leaving
and demand for office space is still
falling. To keep their properties well
1. The former borough council office was partly vacant.
filled, these building owners must
experiment with new partnerships
and earning models. Panorama West,
a collective of entrepreneurs located
in a former borough council office in
Amsterdam, is an example of how
such an experiment can succeed.
In the original Dutch version of this book, De flexibele
stad – oplossingen voor leegstand en krimp, which
appeared in September 2013, temp.architecture de-
scribed concrete strategies and tips for dealing with
vacant properties. The book also included a map
2. The building’s owner decided to work together with a firm of architects on an experiment that would turn that provided an overview of under-used and vacant
one floor of the building into a co-workplace for entrepreneurs in the neighbourhood. properties in Amsterdam. After the book’s publica-
tion, the firm was looking for new premises, and it
approached a number of the owners of buildings in-
cluded in the vacancy map. In Amsterdam West the
owner of the De Admiraal office building, which was
partly vacant following the departure of the borough
council, invited temp.architecture to temporarily
move into the vacant floor. Following a period of ori-
entation, the owner and the architects agreed that
the firm would be allowed to develop a strategy to
attract more activity to the vacant parts of the build-
ing: this involved determining a target group, a pro-
grammatic set-up, a spatial design and an alterna-
tive earnings model. For the building’s owner, the
collaboration with the architecture firm was an ex-
3. The co-workplace was a success; the formula breathed new life into other parts of the building. periment: it was therefore prepared to invest in the
project but wanted to keep costs as low as possible.
176
In the past, the building had been occupied by sizable
tenants such as the Stadsdeel de Baarsjes borough
council, the Veiligheidshuis (a security coordination
body) and Bureau Slachtofferhulp (a victim support
organization). Turning the fifth floor into a collective
space for small, innovative, socially oriented com-
panies and freelancers resulted in a profile that had
added value for both the sizable and the small ten-
ants: the freelancers did freelance work for the large
companies, who in turn benefited from the freelanc-
ers’ flexibility and innovative ideas. To create a posi-
tive work environment for the small companies the
existing, compartmentalized office was transformed
into an open-plan office, divided up by collective fa-
cilities such as conference rooms, silence areas, two
pantries and a large multifunctional space. This co-
workplace has a splendid view of Amsterdam, hence
its name: Panorama West. An abstract image of the
view appears on the interior walls and in public-re-
lations material (folders, the website, a Facebook
page and the like). Entrepreneurs can use not only
their own company name but also promote them-
selves using the name of the entrepreneurs’ collec-
tive, Panorama West.
The relatively simple structural alterations meant
that, apart from the architecture firm, no other con-
sultants needed to be engaged for matters such as
construction and fittings. Temp.architecture, which
continued working on the fifth floor while altera-
tions were carried out, coordinated all activities on
the spot with the subcontractors. They did work in-
tensively with the artists who created the murals,
the cabinet-makers who made the mobile furniture
blocks, and the client. Potential tenants also provid-
ed feedback about the plans, making more targeted
decisions possible. The building’s owner used the
project to experiment with new formulas for office-
space use: if the experiment was a success the own-
er would implement it at other locations.
177
Process ible contracts (one-off or part-time use), which are
Cocon Vastgoed, the building’s owner, believed that too complicated for the building’s owner to include
temp.architecture could promote the concept more in the tenancy administration, are transferred in full
persuasively than Cocon itself, and therefore asked to the collective, making it possible to organize the
the architecture firm to find tenants and deal with occasional cocktail party or other special event on
public relations. Right from the start, temp.archi- the fifth floor.
tecture has communicated actively about Panorama
West using a variety of social media, including a spe- Spatial
cial website and a Facebook page where potential In view of the limited budget, materials were reused
tenants can quickly find out about Panorama West, wherever possible: the existing interior walls were
current tenants can present themselves, and events moved and sections of the ceiling and carpet were
such as cocktail parties and exhibitions can be an- retained. The furniture that is used collectively in the
nounced. Nearly all of the floor’s workspaces are cur- conference room came from one of the large ten-
rently let. ants elsewhere in the building that had downsized.
To forge the collection of reused items into a harmo-
Legal nious whole, all of the collective areas such as con-
At the start of the project, the tenants reached mu- ference rooms, pantries and lavatories were painted
tual agreements about not only the use of the col- red, creating a clear ‘corporate identity’ among the
lective spaces but also the collective acquirement of multitude of users.
assignments. Tenant meetings take place regularly, Together with a cabinet-maker, playful, interac-
with the general terms and conditions being dis- tive blocks were designed that can be used as seats,
cussed and new items being placed on the agenda, tables, sofas and decorative towers. The blocks are
ensuring that the house rules remain a living and covered with orange and white felt and have han-
also widely supported document. dles, making them easy to move. They add to the in-
formal atmosphere in this open-space office.
Financial
The owner was willing to experiment but did not This text is based on own experiences of the writers.
want to expend too much money on the initiative.
Remuneration for drawing up designs, directing con-
struction work, acquiring tenants and hospitality
was therefore expressed in forms other than money
wherever possible: temp.architecture was partly re-
munerated for the design drawings and managing
the construction work in the form of workspaces; re-
muneration for the remainder of the firm’s fee was
made dependant on the success of the initiative:
temp.architecture automatically receives a broker’s
fee for every tenant that signs a full contract: this en-
sures that the owner only incurs costs when they are
counterbalanced by income and, at the same time, it
ensures that temp.architecture feels responsible for
the experiment’s success. If temp.architecture man-
ages to let all of the workspaces, the remuneration
for its efforts will be higher than in the original ten-
der submitted to the building’s owner.
Artists and cabinet-makers from the neighbour-
hood were asked to make the murals and furniture
blocks in exchange for a workspace: the initiative
thus reinforced the network in the neighbourhood
and stimulated the local economy.
An innovative formula was also devised to cover
the costs of maintenance, organizing social events
and the Panorama West inventory: income from flex-

178 179
Made in Marxloh, Duisburg, Germany Use-driven Flexibility
From shopping street full of vacant properties to the most initiators: Halil Özet, Rainer Kzonsek,
romantic street in Europe Mustafa Tazeoglu
delivery: 2008 - present
programme: PR campaign with a major bridal event
as the high point in 2010: 100 brides paraded along
the A40 motorway, which was closed to traffic.
The Ruhr Metropolis was the cultural capital
of Europe that year.
website: http://madeinmarxloh.com/
instruments: storytelling, illegality, contribution
in kind, city dressing
Many European towns and villages
are struggling with a changing de-
mographic composition, also known
as a qualitative demographic transi-
1. After the factories closed, the shops on the Weseler Straße in Marxloh also started to close down.
tion. This often leads to negative
reactions from the original residents.
That was the case in Marxloh, a
traditional German shopping district
in Duisburg that is now dominated by
entrepreneurial Turkish families. An
artists’ collective known as Made in
Marxloh has been taking action since
2008 to improve the image of this
multicultural district.
2. Local businesspeople of Turkish origin opened shops specialising in bridal wear. The old village of Marxloh was absorbed by the fast-
growing industrial city of Duisburg in about 1900.
The former village was a dynamic city district up to
the mid-1970s. But then the population started to
decline substantially following the large-scale loss
of jobs in heavy industry. That meant fewer cus-
tomers in the shops and more vacant retail prop-
erties. Property values fell in the area’s main shop-
ping street, the Weseler Straße. As the population
fell, so the proportion of immigrants in the district
grew (from 19 per cent in 1975 to 42 per cent in
2012). Many Turkish immigrants in particular settled
there, attracted by the relatively low housing costs.
Turkish businesspeople moved into the vacant re-
tail properties on Weseler Straße. The bridal wear
shops in particular flourished on this thoroughfare;
3. The Weseler Straße gained a new reputation as the most romantic street in Europe. after all, marriage is perennially popular in the tradi-
tional Turkish culture and Turkish couples spend an
182
average of 10,000 euros on their wedding. Helped by
the low rents, low staff costs and the availability of
sufficient start-up capital, more and more business-
people started to specialize in bridal wear, evening
wear and jewellery in the 1990s. The street devel-
oped an increasingly distinctive profile. At present
there are more than 70 specialist shops in Marxloh,
ranging from bridal wear to jewellers, from hair-
dressers to wedding photographers. The shop rents
increased considerably. Thanks to the efforts of the
artists’ collective Made in Marxloh, the Weseler
Straße acquired a number of nicknames such as
Hochzeitsmeile Deutschlands (Germany’s wedding
mile) and Romantischste Straße Europas (Europe’s
most romantic street). Young Turkish immigrants in
particular come from all over northwestern Europe
to make preparations for their wedding. These days,
it is difficult to obtain retail premises on the Weseler
Straße and rents are rising again. Many jewellers
and clothing companies in Turkey see Marxloh as the
gateway to the West European market. After dec-
ades of decline, the population is also slowly growing
again. Even so, the district was considered to be a
no-go area until very recently.
Made in Marxloh started in 2008, when the open-
ing of the new Merkez mosque in Marxloh was ac-
companied by a wave of negative publicity. To dem-
onstrate the positive contribution that the Turkish
community makes to the city of Duisburg, initiator
Halil Özet and a couple of volunteers printed the
self-invented label Made in Marxloh on some card-
board signs on the day of the official opening. They
handed out the placards at the mosque, which led
to a spontaneous Made in Marxloh demonstration,
although it was not really clear what they were actu-
ally demonstrating for or against. The demonstration
– and therefore the label Made in Marxloh – made
the front page of the Frankfurter Rundschau news-
paper. This effectively marked the start of the cam-
183
paign for more positive reporting about Marxloh. In
2010, when the far-right NPD and Pro NRW parties
called for an anti-immigrant demonstration in front
of Marxloh’s mosque, the artists’ collective provoca-
tively sought media attention once again. They made
concentration-camp prisoners’ clothing. A flash
mob was organized wearing these clothes. In ‘Stern
View’, the picture ended up ranked 7 in the list of
most printed pictures of the month.
The most mediagenic action so far, entitled 100
Bräute für Marxloh (100 brides for Marxloh), exploit-
ed the area’s status as Cultural Capital 2010 and the
temporary closure to traffic of the A40 motorway,
with 100 brides parading down the road. This action
resulted in images that have become imprinted in
many people’s memory. The Made in Marxloh cam-
paign has therefore turned out to be a success and
has helped give this part of town a more positive rep-
utation, enjoying broad support.
Process
Whereas professionals such as municipal officials
concentrate on solving problems through social work
and aid for those in need, Made in Marxloh focuses
explicitly on the positive aspects of the neighbour-
hood in an effort to change the district’s reputation.
All the actions undertaken by the artists’ collective
are deliberately geared to telling a new, different
story about the district and consequently to chang-
ing its image. The collective does not try to deny the
downsides to the multicultural society but it does
want to emphasize the benefits. The idea behind the
name Made in Marxloh is to give local residents and
businesspeople an upbeat brand that they can use
with pride. Made in Marxloh is explicitly intended for
everyone who was born in Marxloh and lives there. It
does not matter what your cultural background is, if
you live in Marxloh you are a Marxloher.
Legal
Special permission was not requested for the gath-
erings and actions: they were spontaneous events,
without advance notice. The authorities would have
been hard pressed anyway to prevent the self-organ-
ized pop-up events and flash mobs because of the
element of surprise and because they lasted such a
short time. The law-enforcement organizations tol-
erated the actions because their impact on the area
was generally more positive than negative.
Financial
The first projects, like the artistic advertising cam-
paign for the longest bridal-wear street in Europe
184
cost little, mainly thanks to the initiators’ ability to
keep costs down through creative solutions. They of-
ten cleverly timed actions to tie in with other local
events or occasions, which increased the momen-
tum and helped maximize media exposure. In prin-
ciple, the main sources of costs were the hours and
effort put in by the members of Made in Marxloh,
who are professional photographers and filmmak-
ers. In practice these costs are zero because the
members do this work on a voluntary basis. In 2012,
the ’Soziale Stadt’public fund helped other com-
munication projects to be carried out in the district.
For example, money from this fund enabled a photo
calendar to be published that deals with the antag-
onisms and contrasts in the district in a humorous
way. Besides that, other ‘takeaway’ products with
the ‘Made in Marxloh’ label, like cups and balls, were
produced and given free of charge to interested peo-
ple in the district, in order to consolidate the strength
of the new-found self-confidence and identity.
Spatial
Made in Marxloh shows how an area can acquire
new élan through cosmetic interventions in the pub-
lic domain, also known as city dressing. In the case
of Made in Marxloh, these cosmetic interventions
were mostly temporary rather than permanent and
consisted of actions and events rather than physical
changes to public spaces. Despite their short-lived
nature, the flash mobs and advertising campaign
have changed the neighbourhood for good. This is
partly because these occasions have been caught
well on camera and become part of the district’s col-
lective memory. The labels with their consistent use
of the signature colours yellow and black are so rec-
ognizable and striking and the iconographic images
of all the women in wedding dresses are so power-
ful that they are hard to forget. In order to sustain
the efforts that started with the image campaign, a
website was established that informs customers and
visitors about the district’s offerings.The collective
is currrently trying to establish a market hall togeth-
er with the architect Karl-Heinz Petzinka of the art
academy in Düsseldorf. ‘We are no longer worrying
about the “Brautmodenmeile”’, one of the members
of the collective says. ‘What we need now is a land-
mark for the people living in Marxloh. A place where
they can come together and that improves their daily
lives.’
Based on an interview with Nina Kradepohl and
Halil Özet.
185
Open Lab Ebbinge, Groningen
From vacant site to a temporary village
1. The vacant Ebbinge quarter near Groningen’s city centre had a negative impact on the area.
2. Local shopkeepers took the initiative to develop a temporary village on the vacant site.
3. A dynamic mix of temporary and permanent spatial uses developed.
186
Time-based Flexibility
initiator: Wilma Naaijer, Ebbinge quarter’s
association of entrepreneurs
delivery: 2011–2016
programme: field to host events and temporary
pavilions housing crèches, information centre,
restaurants and cafes, galleries, etc.
website: www.openlabebbinge.nl
instruments: acting locally, temporary permit,
innovation subsidy, precycling
Open Lab Ebbinge shows that those
living and working nearest a vacant
site often know best which (tempo-
rary) use is most likely to succeed.
As a temporary village that has been
realized, the project is an important
reference point for alternative forms
of urban transformation.
At the end of the twentieth century the former fac-
tories on the Ebbinge site were demolished, one
by one, giving Groningen a messy urban edge. The
redevelopment plans, which were drawn up by the
British architect Will Alsop in 1998, ran into prob-
lems in the early stages of their implementation and
ground to a halt in 2003; between 2003 and 2007
the site turned into a free parking area. When the
houses on the side of the site next to the Boterdiep
main road were demolished in the autumn of 2008,
the area’s negative atmosphere deteriorated further.
It was clear that due to the stagnating proper-
ty market, a result of the 2008 financial crisis, the
Ebbinge site would remain vacant for the time being.
Shopkeepers in the neighbourhood were worried
that this could negatively affect their businesses,
with fewer shoppers visiting the area and rundown
buildings. The Ebbinge quarter’s association of en-
trepreneurs proposed the construction of a tempo-
rary village on the large, vacant site on the Boterdiep
road. At the end of 2009 the municipal council gave
permission for the construction of the temporary
Open Lab Ebbinge village,. At the end of 2011 the
first temporary pavilions were delivered on the con-
dition that the site would be vacated five years later
(in 2016) in a ‘clean’ state so that the planned rede-
velopment could still proceed.
The temporary village turned out to be a great suc-
cess: the area became popular again and new busi-
nesses opened in the empty shops in the direct vi-
cinity; in December 2011 Ebbingestraat was voted
Groningen’s friendliest shopping street. Even before
the expiry of the temporary five-year term, new in-
vestors expressed interest in building on or near the
site with its temporary constructions. It remains
to be seen whether the pavilions will actually close
when the permits expire.
Process
In the spring of 2008 the municipal council desig-
nated the Ebbinge quarter as an economic focal
point for the creative sector. During the first Ebbinge
Gist (Ebbinge fermentation) meeting the proposal
put forward by the Ebbinge quarter’s association
of entrepreneurs for a temporary village to counter
the vacant site’s negative image received the most
support. The OLE (Open Lab Ebbinge) foundation,
which was commissioned to develop the concept
into a concrete plan, was very well informed about
the local forces at play: through smart alliances with
the municipal council, property owners, subsidizing
bodies and market parties, it raised the required fi-
nancing by the end of 2009 and obtained permission
for the temporary use of the site. It was always made
clear that OLE would end in 2016, but the recurring
question is whether it would not be better to use the
bottom-up energy created by the pavilions so that
the Ebbinge quarter’s future can develop organically.
Legal
After the first Ebbinge Gist meeting the plan for a
temporary container village on the Boterdiep road
quickly won widespread support: from a legal point
of view it was thought that the plan, with its tem-
porary building permits, would probably be easier
to implement than other plans. And the municipal
187
council’s preparedness to indeed cleverly manoeu-
vre its way through the maze of existing legislation
was crucial to the project’s success. An application
was then made for a temporary five-year building
permit for all of the pavilions at the same time. The
application procedure also envisaged a temporary
exemption from the zoning plan.
In practice, the construction of the temporary
buildings was more difficult than anticipated. To pre-
vent any suggestion of unlawful state support, the
users had to complete a so-called de minimis decla-
ration. To guarantee the temporary nature of the max-
imum five-year rental period, the municipal council
required the landlord and tenant to submit a request
to the local magistrate stating their reasons for re-
questing a tenancy agreement for this limited period.
Initially, the municipal council did not want to be
liable for the maintenance of and safety in the area
and therefore stipulated that a fence with a barrier
be erected. In the end, this was not put in place be-
cause the foundation considered the area to be part
of the city and argued that it should therefore be
publicly accessible. The municipal council placed
responsibility for law and order in the foundation’s
hands, but the foundation was never given a man-
date for such matters.
Financial
After the first Ebbinge Gist meeting the association
of entrepreneurs, which had come up with the idea
for a temporary village, received 6,000 euros from
the municipal council to make a quick-scan, which
was to provide an insight into the financial feasibil-
ity of the project. A period of cutting and trimming
followed, in an attempt to see how the project could
be made viable: this was a difficult time for all the
parties involved because they were hardly financial-
ly compensated for their efforts, and for a long time
it was unclear whether the project was viable. The
parameters were also vague: the municipal council
was cutting costs and the effects of the global fi-
nancial crisis were still unclear. Thanks to the per-
sistent efforts of the inspired initiators, assisted by a
few highly motivated municipal council officials, the
project received substantial subsidies from the then
VROM, (the Ministry of Spatial Planning and the
Environment) as part of its Mooi Nederland (beau-
tiful Netherlands) programme, and the European
Union’s Regional Development Fund. The municipal
council agreed to give the site on loan for free for a
five-year period in a ‘clean’ state. A solid basis was
created for entrepreneurs to invest in the temporary
pavilions.
188
The municipality used the revenue derived from the
exploitation of its future development site to finance
cycle lanes, footpaths, cables, pipes, asphalting
and paving at the site: it viewed these (pre-) invest-
ments as an anti-crisis strategy and assumed that
this strategy would attract private investors. The
OLE foundation acted as a mediator, bringing initia-
tors with a business plan in contact with financially
sound parties such as the Nijestee housing corpo-
ration, Gasunie and the University of Groningen.
Initiatives for the short five-year period balanced
their budgets with considerable creativity, using mu-
nicipal and provincial subsidies, adjusting user-qual-
ity downwards, reassessing residual values, and, ul-
timately accepting the occasional loss.
Spatial
‘You can join in and build’, announced one public-
ity folder. This approach meant that for a long time
it was unclear what exactly the temporary village
would look like. It became obvious that the plan was
not definite when, just before its implementation, a
drastic change was introduced: the pavilions would
not be positioned along Ebbingestraat but, rather,
next to the new cycle lane. The first images of the
pavilions were not displayed until the second match-
making meeting; to make these pavilions technically
and financially feasible, these plans, too, were still
being altered up to the last minute.
The plan’s spatial carrier, the cycle path, was as-
phalted and thus immediately given its permanent
shape. The other parts of the public space have a
much more temporary character: the events field
was sown with grass and surrounded with cement
blocks that prevent illegal parking and can be used
as benches. Another part was paved with Stelcon
plates, which were also used for the foundations of
the pavilions. A number of underground connection
points were installed for utilities (water and electric-
ity). Although the plans for the pavilions were initially
quite ambitious, they ultimately consisted mostly of
prefabricated (shipping) containers that could be
put in place quickly. Innovative building materials
such as starch-based panels (MOBi) were not used
because the required financing or guarantees could
not be obtained in time. Limited investments result-
ed in a tight budget, and comfort was sometimes
sacrificed; occasionally, this went too far – in one in-
stance, an additional climate-control system had to
be installed in a pavilion after delivery.
Based on an interview with, among others,
David Inden and Gerrit Schuurhuis of the Open Lab
Ebbinge foundation.
189
Park Hill, Sheffield Time-based Flexibility
From marked for demolition to the largest listed building in Europe
initiator: Sheffield City Council and the develop-
ment company Urban Splash, English Heritage
delivery: 2013 (first phase)
website: http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/
residential/park-hill
programme: 874 accommodation units
and 10,000 m2 of commercial space
instruments: social media, facilitating,
subsidy, close reading
A vacant property can look in such
a poor state and have such a bad
reputation that you cannot imagine it
being redeveloped. Park Hill shows
1. Park Hill was partly empty and struggling with social problems.
that even when you least expect it,
buildings can offer surprising oppor-
tunities for a new lease of life.
The complex had a poor reputation
and it epitomized the decline of the
industrial city of Sheffield. But the
building was given a new life by strip-
ping it down to the shell and making
good use of its unusual features such
as the wide ‘streets in the sky’. Now
Park Hill
it epitomizes Sheffield’s revival.
2. The most visible part of the building was redeveloped and turned into private flats that were soon sold out.
The Park Hill housing estate is a highly visible ele-
ment in Sheffield, in a central location atop a hill and
directly opposite the main station on the other side of
the railway. Before Park Hill was built in 1959-1961,
this was a district with poor quality back-to-back
houses (terraced housing with party walls at the rear
as well). In accordance with the views at that time,
these dark, cramped and poorly ventilated houses
were replaced by a Modernist council housing estate
with 998 1, 2 and 3 bedroomed flats for approximate-
ly 3,000 residents. The design by the urban archi-
Über
Salles
office
tects Lynn & Smith was inspired by Le Corbusier’s
Unité d’Habitation and the Smithsons’ Golden Lane
Park Hill
plans. The latter project, which was never actually
built, was the inspiration for the ‘streets in the sky’,
3. The rest of the building was redeveloped and Park Hill became a popular location again. broad decks running past the flats on the residen-
tial storeys, which was a revolutionary idea at the
192
time. The decks, onto which most doors opened,
were three metres wide, broad enough for children
to play, for families to congregate and even for milk
floats to drive along. They were literally streets in the
sky. Because the estate is on a hill where the ground
slopes upwards, all except the top deck ended up
at ground level and were open to the general pub-
lic, making them like real streets. The estate also
housed a shopping centre and a primary school. The
Brutalist building with its visible concrete frame was
finished with red, yellow and orange brick curtain
walls. But these colours soon faded due to weather-
ing and soot from the passing trains.
To promote a sense of community among the Park
Hill residents, people who had been neighbours in
the back-to-back houses were placed next to one an-
other in the new estate while the decks were named
after the streets in the old district. At first the revo-
lutionary estate was popular and celebrated, but it
soon became run down and people became increas-
ingly irritated by the building’s shortcomings such
as the poor sound insulation. The fact that the decks
were accessible to the general public caused securi-
ty problems and increased the risk of burglaries. The
flats gained a poor reputation and it became increas-
ingly difficult to find new tenants and in the 1980s
there were even plans to demolish the entire estate.
In 1998, English Heritage declared the estate to
be a Grade II* listed building, instantly making it the
largest listed complex in Europe. In the UK, Grade
II* buildings are ‘particularly important buildings of
more than special interest’. It is the second highest
grade and only 5.5% of listed buildings in the UK
are Grade II*. This move was controversial as now it
would not be possible to demolish the complex while
many people could not imagine how the dilapidated
buildings with their bad reputation could ever be-
come a positive element in the city.
Following a procurement process, Urban Splash
193
were appointed as the development partner. Part of
that strategy was to have part of the estate for private
occupants; it had originally consisted exclusively of
council housing. The estate now has flats and com-
mercial units with a total area of 40,000 square feet.
The renovation has highlighted the original key de-
sign features such as the robust concrete frame, the
broad decks and the colourful facade, but has done
so in a new way. In 2013, the estate was one of the six
projects nominated for the RIBA Stirling Prize. The
developer now plans to start on the second phase.
To support the redevelopment, Sheffield City
Council has created a new public park between Park
Hill and the station, called South Street Open Space.
Process
In its search for future residents and occupants,
Urban Splash, a modern, unconventional developer
specialising in problematic transformations, makes
extensive use of easy-to-use websites and smart
communication via social media. It created a fantas-
tic website for Park Hill with all kinds of background
information. The clever publicity campaign resulted
in a huge turnout of 1,100 visitors for the first open
day when the show apartments were available for
viewing. In the first two weeks, sales and rental con-
tracts were concluded totalling more than one mil-
lion pounds.
Spatial
The redevelopment not only shows respect for the
building’s structure and design, it also incorporates
improvements. Former residents were asked what
aspects of the building did not work well so that this
could be taken into account in the renovation. The
original red, orange and yellow colours have now
been reintroduced using aluminium panels, which
are less susceptible to fading and easier to keep
clean than the original brick. The streets in the sky
have been kept but there are now more windows
overlooking them from the flats as this promotes
social safety. The original flats and floorplans have
been retained wherever possible in order to keep the
character of the existing building. The close read-
ing of the original building has been so successful
that one of the original architects, Ivor Smith, was
prompted to say, “Park Hill has not just been re-
paired, it’s been reinvented. It’s wonderful.”
This text is based on various sources.

Legal
There are a suite of Legal Agreements that cover Park
Hill. There is a Development Agreement between
Urban Splash and Sheffield City Council. There is
a Funding Agreement between Urban Splash and
the HCA (Homes and Communities Agency) and
a Nominations Agreement between Sheffield City
Council and Great Places HA (Housing Association).
Great Places HA manage the social housing tenan-
cies and affordable tenancies at Park Hill. The aim of
all the agreements is to ensure that the development
delivery meets the agreed standards and deadlines.

Financial
Urban Splash bought the estate from the council for
the symbolic sum of one pound. The redevelopment
was financed with the help of contributions from the
Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Transform
South Yorkshire and English Partnerships, English
Heritage and the council, various grants and so on.
The aim was to sell or let the homes after the renova-
tion for affordable prices. A mix of different kinds of
residents is being obtained through variation in own-
er-occupied and rental accommodation.

194 195
Prinzesinnengarten, Berlin, Germany Time-based Flexibility
From vacant site to urban gardens
initiator: Nomadisches Grün
delivery: from 2009
programme: urban gardens, nursery, restaurants
and cafes, events location
website: www.prinzessinnengarten.net
instruments: open sourcing, vacancy reuse
incentive, crowdfunding, pop-up
Vacant sites and buildings have a
negative impact on the social cohe-
sion of a neighbourhood. The Prin-
zessinnengarten project in Berlin
1. A large site at Berlin’s Moritzplatz, an area with many social problems, was vacant for a long time.
shows how opening up a vacant
site can actually contribute to social
cohesion in a neighbourhood: the
residents near a site that had been in
disuse for a long time turned it into
a publicly accessible urban garden.
The goal of the initiative was to use
gardening as a means of introducing
neighbourhood residents to each
other and enabling them to work
together.
2. Neighbourhood residents rented the site for a year, cleaned it up and started an urban garden here.
The Prinzesinnengarten is situated in Berlin-
Kreuzberg’s Moritzplatz and it covers a surface area
of some 6,000 square metres. The site was inac-
cessible to the public for many years and was used
as an illegal rubbish dump. In 2009 neighbourhood
residents Marco Clausen and Robert Shaw set up
Nomadisches Grün, aiming to turn vacant sites in
the city into social gardens. They established the
Prinzessinnengarten in 2009. The site was first
cleaned up by more than 100 volunteers, who cleared
more than two tonnes of rubbish from the area. The
first 100 Beeten (beds), in crates and rice sacks, were
planted in August 2009.
The vacant site now hosts an urban garden with
many different types of organically grown herbs and
3. The tenancy agreement was tacitly renewed, and the business climate in the neighbourhood improved vegetables. There are no individual gardens: they
because of the garden – initiatives such as the Betahaus established themselves here. are all collective, and everyone is welcome to join
196
FOR RENT
in and work together to create a green location. The
site now also has a Gartencafé (garden cafe) and
Gartenküche (garden kitchen). Activities in the gar-
den range from sowing, planting and harvesting to
collecting seeds, processing produce, preserving
vegetables, beekeeping, creating worm compost
and even developing new cultivation techniques.
The garden and activities are open to everyone dur-
ing regular opening hours; at night the garden is
closed off from the publicly accessible street side:
the garden is private property and only open to the
public during the day.
The garden is situated in an area with little green,
many social problems and a mixed population, in-
cluding many people with a Turkish background.
Creating and tending the garden increased contacts
among residents, enhancing the neighbourhood’s
social cohesion. People can experiment here collec-
tively, and learn from each other: this experimenta-
tion and exchange of experiences and knowledge
mean that, besides learning traditional cultivation
techniques, residents also learn a great deal about
biological diversity, urban ecology, climate adapta-
tion, recycling, sustainable consumption and new
ways of living in the city.
The Prinzessinnengarten’s income is derived from
its collaboration with schools and crèches. A book
has also been published to disseminate the idea be-
hind the gardens, in the hope that others will follow
suit. Fellow professionals such as urban planners,
architects, biologists but also administrators from all
over the world come to Berlin to see the project, as
do many tourists.
Around Moritzplatz the development of the
Prinzessinnengarten has, step by step, led to the de-
velopment of a whole new urban area. All sorts of
creative initiatives have sprung up as a semi-spon-
taneous cluster in the neighbourhood, including the
Betahaus, the ‘mother’ of all co-workplaces in Berlin.
197
The Conceptstore for sustainable design (Schöner
wär’s, wenn’s schöner wär) has also opened here;
Planet Modular was developed opposite the gar-
den, selling materials to the creative and hosting
a variety of activities (a sewing workshop, mosaic
studio, 3D-printing, woodworking, a sound studio);
the building also accommodates a cafe, a rooftop
crèche, and a club in the cellar. All these initiatives
have enhanced the neighbourhood’s image.
In 2010 the Prinzessinnengarten project won the
Utopia Award, and in November 2012 it was award-
ed the Zukunftspreis in the Urban/Social Gardening
category by the Akademie für Nachhältige
Entwicklung Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Process
Marco Clausen and Robert Shaw, the garden’s crea-
tors, established the non-profit Nomadisches Grün
in July 2009. Their idea was: ‘We don’t know any-
thing about gardening but we want to create the con-
ditions that make it possible for people to learn how
to tend a garden.’ They devised a financial formula,
making it possible to use the participants’ contribu-
tions to pay for a professional gardener. This gar-
dener – the organization’s only paid employee – held
a weekly gardening hour: gardening expertise was
thus paid for collectively and disseminated quickly.
The organization now consists of a core group of ten
volunteers who attend the weekly meetings.
Social media were hardly used because the tar-
get group, which included immigrant women, did not
really use social media. The project’s site is used to
disseminate up-to-date information.
Legal
The site is owned by the city of Berlin’s Liegen-
schafts fund, which manages all the land and build-
ings that are owned by the city itself. The non-profit
Nomadisches Grün organization rents the parcel
of land from the Liegenschafts fund. The Prinzess-
innengarten has repeatedly been granted a tenancy
agreement for temporary use for one year: if a seri-
ous investor shows interest in the site it is possible
that the garden will have to close, and this uncertain-
ty must be borne in mind.
The Prinzessinnengarten has managed to put the
spotlight on the Liegenschafts fund’s tenancy policy:
the fund treats all tenants equally – a ‘social’ project
such as this garden pays just as much rent as a ‘com-
mercial’ circus or one-off event such as introducing
a new Volkswagen model. This has led to heated po-
litical discussions.
In October and November 2012 a protest action
198
collected 30,000 signatures for a petition against
closure of the garden and for its retention. On 14
December 2012 the Liegenschafts fund’s supervi-
sory board granted the Kreuzberg borough council’s
application for a reversal of its decision: the parcel of
land would not be privatized for the moment and the
Prinzessinnengarten could remain as it was.
Financial
The Prinzesinnengarten does not receive any sub-
sidies, and its maintenance therefore depends on
the involvement of residents and donors. Income
generated by the garden cafe and the sale of herbs
and vegetables is used to pay for renting the land
and the Straßenreinigungsgebühr (waste collection
charge). It is also possible to lease a plot of land for
a single season; these plots are known as Beetpaten-
Schaften: for 55 euros, people have the rights over a
one-square-metre garden for a year; for 275 euros
they have the rights over a five-square-metre plot.
This income flows straight back into the project, but
these plots do not actually belong to the lease-hold-
ers; the land remains accessible for everyone.
Spatial
Because of the uncertainty about the continued use
of the garden (the one-year tenancy agreements), the
founders developed a movable garden: the ‘buildings’
are converted shipping containers and the plants are
grown in bakers’ crates, rice sacks and cardboard
boxes: the garden is mobile and herbs and vegeta-
bles can also be grown on stony or paved surfaces.
In 2010 the HAU theatre hosted an urban-farming
festival, when the crates were temporarily placed in
the theatre; some of the crates were also placed in
nearby market halls during the winter.
Based on an interview with Margit Cevaal BEng
(Master’s student Stadt- und Regionalplanung at the
Technische Universität Berlin) and Vincent Kompier
(researcher and publicist in Amsterdam and Berlin,
blogger about Berlin on www.vincentkompier.de)
199
Hummerhus, Klitmøller, Denmark Time-based Flexibility
From a shrinking fishing village to a surf hub
initiator: Cold Hawaii
delivery: 2012
programme: Hummerhus, Path of reconciliation
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klitm%C3%B8ller
instruments: improvisation, facilitation, subsidy,
close reading
Now that blueprint planning as
a development method no longer
works everywhere, coincidence and
serendipity are becoming increas-
1. The fishing village became famous when surfers discovered the special wave action on the coast.
ingly decisive in regional develop-
ments. In Klitmøller the chance
discovery of a particular type of wave
action by a surf fanatic eventually
led to a new future for the shrinking
fishing village.
The construction of a modern port in the better lo-
cated Hanstholm in 1967 sounded the death knell
for the remote fishing village of Klitmøller, which
is part of the municipality of Thisted in Denmark’s
North Jutland. A considerable part of the fishing
fleet moved to the larger fishing port. To support the
2. With assistance from different funding organizations, the surfers built their own accommodation. negatively affected local economy, the municipal-
ity took over the ownership of the boathouses along
the beach and let them to the Klitmøller Fishing
Association, which consisted of the local fishermen
who stayed behind. They used small boats to catch
lobster, lobster claws being a local delicacy, but this
niche market was too small to pull the local economy
out of the doldrums. Many of the younger inhabit-
ants moved to the large cities in the east of the coun-
try, where there were more job opportunities. The
exodus of these young people, along with their eco-
nomic innovation and entrepreneurship, meant that
the future of the local economy became increasingly
threatened.
In the autumn of 1981, the German windsurfer
Christian Dach was on his way to the ferry that was
3. More and more surfers settled in the village, halting the demographic decline; the population started to to take him from Hanstholm to Norway when he dis-
grow again. covered a particular type of wave action on the coast
202
at Klitmøller. A year later a well-known German surf-
ing magazine wrote about this surfers’ Walhalla,
with its year-round powerful and consistent surf –
exceptional in northern Europe. Surfers came from
far and wide, parking their cars and caravans hap-
hazardly in the dunes.
This part of the coast is now known around the
world as Cold Hawaii and a number of surfers have
settled in vacant buildings in the village. About ten
per cent of Klitmøller’s 800 inhabitants came to live
there specifically because of the good surfing con-
ditions. These ‘stayers’ set up the Cold Hawaii as-
sociation and brought the World Cup surfing cham-
pionships to Klitmøller in 2010 and 2011. This event
initially aroused scepticism among the local inhabit-
ants until they realized that it was also an opportu-
nity for them to earn money, for example, by renting
out fields for parking. The surfers, who include pro-
fessionals such as graphic designers, website devel-
opers and communications specialists, started a co-
working location in a vacant building.
Together with the private Danish Realdania fund,
the municipality of Thisted aimed to use the Land
of Opportunities project programme to enhance the
quality of life in rural areas. Inhabitants were asked
to submit ideas to improve facilities and reinforce
the landscape and infrastructure.
A combination of suggestions from nature-lovers,
fishermen and the local surfing association was se-
lected, and the Hummerhus (lobster house) was
born: it combines facilities for surfers with a res-
taurant for the popular local lobster-claw delicacy.
A 400-metre-long concrete path was later built to
make the beach more accessible. This ‘path of rec-
onciliation’ made it easier for both surfers and fisher-
men to carry out their activities on the beach, lead-
ing to more interaction between the two and greatly
improving relations between the surfers and the
original inhabitants and fishermen. The path has
203
made the coast at Klitmøller one of the few places in
Denmark that can be accessed with wheelchairs or
prams, and it has been designed so that it can also
be used by skaters.
The demographic shrinkage in Klitmøller began
with the decline of the fishing industry. The govern-
ment tried to help the local population with the sec-
tor’s recovery, contributing to the costs associated
with the boathouses, for example. Its efforts were
in vain, and when the economy failed to recover, the
population became even more focused on better
conditions for the fishing industry; newcomers were
seen as a threat to the fragile local economy. The
Land of Opportunities programme reduced the ten-
sions between the original inhabitants and the new-
comers by combining initiatives in the Hummerhus.
Process
The Klitmøller example shows that new life can
come from a completely unexpected source: in the
1980s no one had thought that the marginal devel-
opment by free spirits, holiday-makers and surfers
might lead to a new future. Yet marginal events in
shrinking regions can point to important new poten-
tial. If we want to protect the future of our shrink-
ing regions, we must keep our eyes open for what is
known as serendipity. In shrinking regions opportu-
nities might first appear as problems.
Now that the surfing community has established
itself in Klitmøller, new facilities and a new profile
are being developed step by step, with a strong em-
phasis by the initiators on serendipity: a matching
zone has been introduced consisting of the Cowork
Klitmøller co-workplace, a website, and the path of
reconciliation, which has been designed to be suit-
able for fishermen, surfers, wheelchair-users, prams,
skaters and cyclists, making spontaneous meetings
easy.
Legal
Because the Land of Opportunities programme was
partly organized by the municipality of Thisted, it
assisted the initiators when their applications had
been approved: the subsidiary groups received pro-
cedural advice to help them draw up and implement
their plans, and local legislative parameters were
changed so that building could take place very near
the coastline. Moreover, the municipality of Thisted
owned most of the sites where the plans were imple-
mented, and its positive response to the plans made
it easier to build there.
204
Financial
Both the Hummerhus and the path of reconcilia-
tion were financed using subsidies: the Hummerhus
through the Land of Opportunities programme, and
the path of reconciliation by the Good Life at the
Coast programme. Both programmes consist of
contributions from both the private Realdania fund
and the municipality of Thisted. Part of the cost of
the Hummerhus was also covered by external funds.
The subsidies led to new private investments in
the village. Cowork Klitmøller, an association formed
by the village’s freelancers, raised money to leave
its then premises and build its own accommoda-
tion that better suited its members’ needs in terms
of matchmaking. The developments increased de-
mand for housing in the village: although there were
enough houses for sale, there was a shortage of rent-
al accommodation – surfers who considered settling
in the village but did not want to buy a house yet pre-
ferred to move into temporary, rental accommoda-
tion.
Spatial
Close reading implies the reinterpretation of a loca-
tion’s characteristics so that new opportunities for
use can develop. The village’s success is in fact also
based on close reading: in the 1980s the first surfers
discovered a latent quality in the landscape, a unique
wave action that at that moment was not actually ex-
perienced as a positive quality by anyone – the fish-
ermen even considered this wave action a hindrance
and had lobbied for years for the construction of a
wave-breaker on the coast so that their boats could
sail out to sea more easily.
Based on an interview with Rasmus Johnsen (Cold
Hawaii) and Gerd Dam (municipality of Thisted).
205
The GERARD and ANTON buildings on Strijp-S,
Eindhoven, the Netherlands
From vacant factory buildings to loft apartments
1. The former Philips radio factories on Strijp-S had been vacant since 2004.
2. The factories were initially transformed into flexible loft apartments for starters.
3. Their structural functional neutrality makes them suitable for other uses in the long run.
206
Time-based Flexibility
initiator: Woningbouwvereniging Trudo
delivery: 2011–2013
programme: 277 loft apartments;
2,100 m2 studio space; 4,200 m2 public functions;
2,000 m2 roof gardens
website: www.lofthuren.nl , www.driehoekstrijps.nl
instruments: co-creation, local exemption, lifecycle
financing, functional neutrality
Buildings that are oversized and have
a functionally neutral and flexible
shell are better able to withstand the
test of time than buildings whose de-
sign and measurements are tailored
to fulfil a particular function. The
former factory buildings on Strijp-S
show how oversize and a flexible,
functionally neutral shell were used
to give them a worthwhile ‘second
life’ as residential-work buildings
with considerable freedom of use.
Strijp-S is a former Philips factory site situated within
the ring of the Dutch city of Eindhoven, in the Strijp
part of the city. In 2004 this 27-hectare site was sold,
the intention being to transform it into a vibrant, up-
market area: 45 hectares of real estate were to be
created and developed. The Trudo housing asso-
ciation was one of the four developers that was in-
volved in these plans, focusing mainly on affordable
housing concepts and work spaces for starters. In
2009 Trudo bought the former SAN and SBP radio
factories, which were zoned for housing and public
functions. Trudo renamed these listed buildings as
GERARD and ANTON, paying tribute to Gerard and
Anton Philips, the co-founders of Philips.
The shell of the buildings provided considerable
flexibility, with its 2,500 square metres of open floor
spaces, 4.2-metre column grid, 4.5-metre floor-to-
ceiling height, and high windows. Trudo therefore
developed a housing concept centred on sustain-
ability, free layout and future flexibility. To make the
free layout in the high spaces possible, a flexible
concept for wiring and fittings was installed; a pre-
fabricated wooden unit containing sanitary facilities
and a cooking island can be connected to these fa-
cilities, leaving residents free to design their ideal
loft. Besides this, it is possible to change functions
in the course of use thanks to a permit that allows
both habitation and work. Moreover, the design took
into account mergers between adjacent lofts in the
long run, and their size was therefore also flexible.
The lofts were very popular, with more than 1,400
applicants. A selection was made based on individ-
ual motivations, and the future residents were then
allowed to choose a loft. The people who chose to
live here made a conscious choice for the dynamic
Strijp-S and its unique housing concept. The future
loft residents formed a community via Facebook: fu-
ture neighbours could get to know each other quickly
and easily, many events were organized and, for ex-
ample, bulk purchases of poured flooring were ar-
ranged.
Trudo expects an appreciation in value that out-
strips inflation during the first ten to fifteen years af-
ter delivery. It wants to use this appreciation in value
in the future when it starts the phased sale of individ-
ual units in the complex. The tenants naturally enjoy
tenancy protection but it is expected that the mostly
young tenants (students, starters) will at some point
leave because they want larger houses. The vacant
apartments will then be put on the market. It will be
possible to merge lofts, or change the use of the va-
cated premises, such as residential-work combina-
tions, offices or studios. These first apartments on
Strijp-S are thus an important first step in this area’s
transformation into the vibrant, high-quality, upmar-
ket development referred to above.
Process
From the very first design drawings in 2008, Trudo
invited interested parties to join in discussions and
207
brainstorming sessions to improve the plans through
co-creation and forging a collective right from the
start. This group initially consisted of entrepreneurs
from the area and potential residents who were at-
tracted by the concept first promoted by Trudo, ‘Stad
in een gebouw’ (‘city in a building’). On Facebook,
they organized themselves into a platform consist-
ing of some 400 people and partly determined the
direction of the project by thinking with Trudo about
the use of the buildings from an early stage.
Legal
The development of Strijp-S gained considerable
momentum when the Crisis- en herstelwet (cri-
sis and recovery law) was introduced in 2010: this
Dutch legislation provided for local exemptions from
nationally applicable laws. In Strijp-S it was clear
that the buildings’ use would change – this fitted in
with the flexibility that characterized this area. The
Crisis- en herstelwet made it possible to change the
designated use of premises within eight weeks in-
stead of the usual six months. The legislation also
made it possible for a listed building to be given a
different use for a period of fifteen years, instead of
the usual five-year period. This measure attracted
many investors to the area.
The soil of the former factory premises was bad-
ly contaminated. The Crisis- en herstelwet made it
possible to devise and implement smart solutions to
this problem, for example, by combining thermal en-
ergy storage with the use of micro-organisms to de-
contaminate the soil: soil decontamination was thus
transformed into environmental gain.
Because it concerned listed buildings, the per-
mit application was preceded by intensive consul-
tations with the Cultural Heritage Agency of the
Netherlands, the municipal listed buildings com-
mittee, the supervisor and the committee for spatial
quality. By ensuring that these consultations took
place jointly and regularly, the application was suc-
cessful – the fact that the parties were represent-
ed by the same individuals throughout the process
played an important role.
Financial
The project mainly consisted of social rental accom-
modation and was financed by the so-called sector
banks (De Nederlandse Waterschapsbank and the
Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten), with assistance
from the Waarborgfonds Sociale Woningbouw
(WSW). The Province of Noord-Brabant also made a
subsidy available for the project as part of its Samen
investeren in Brabantstad (investing in Brabant to-
208
gether) programme. Trudo expects an appreciation
in value that outstrips inflation during the first ten
years following delivery, and will use this apprecia-
tion in the future when the phased sale of individual
apartments in the complex starts.
Making the building functionally neutral required
a large pre-investment; this ensured that the entire
building met the critical requirements for different
uses: the noise limitation measures comply with
the norms for housing, and the ventilation meas-
ures comply with the norms for office buildings.
Moreover, investments were made in a flexible wir-
ing and fittings concept: each loft has two ‘floor
pods’ that house all of the infrastructure; the kitchen
and sanitary facilities can be flexibly and economi-
cally connected to these points. When a new user
moves in, the floorplan can be adapted cheaply and
easily; the metal stud walls used to separate the
apartments can also be moved easily.
Spatial
The oversized structure of the buildings makes flex-
ible and functionally neutral redesignation possible.
Measures were, however, taken to enhance the sus-
tainability of the buildings: the listed buildings were
fitted with floor heating and cooling, and connected
to the sustainable Sanergy system that combined
soil decontamination with energy generation for the
first time in the Netherlands. The flooring system in-
stalled in the shell was guaranteed to comply with
the sound insulation norms for newly built houses, as
did the walls separating the apartments. The listed
windows were fitted with double glazing that was
specially developed for restoration projects. Special
constructional measures such as reinforcing various
columns made the realization of the roof gardens
possible.
Based on an interview with Tom ter Bekke (Trudo)
209
Property and Building Policy De Coninckplein, Antwerp
From dilapidated buildings to neighbourhood trendsetters
1. The area around the railway station had many dilapidated buildings.
2. AG VESPA bought conspicuously located buildings and modernized them.
3. Other building owners also modernized their premises.
212
Time-based Flexibility
initiator: AG Vespa
delivery: 2011
programme: owner-occupied and rental housing
website: http://www.agvespa.be/
instruments: storytelling, facilitation, lifecycle
finance, city dressing
Although projects for a village or city
can be crucial links along the way to
improving the quality of life and sus-
tainability, they might be too small,
too complex or insufficiently profit-
able to be picked up by the market.
The municipal council’s autonomous
company AG VESPA acts in the
interests of the city of Antwerp, using
its property and building policy in
cases where market parties cannot
or do not want to invest. In recent
years, for example, AG VESPA has
bought a number of neglected build-
ings on De Coninckplein, a square
near the central station, with the aim
of demolishing them and replacing
them with high-quality housing
projects. These acquisitions are part
of a carefully thought-out urban
renewal strategy.
Until recently, Antwerp’s Chinatown, located around
De Coninckplein, was a rundown neighbourhood
right next to Antwerp’s central station. Following the
renovation of the station, the city of Antwerp also
pressed for the enhancement of this neighbourhood
by, for example, locating the new public library here.
This attracted a new and more diverse public to the
neighbourhood. To kick-start interest in the many di-
lapidated buildings that were too small, too complex
or simply not interesting for the market, the city of
Antwerp used its autonomous company, AG VESPA,
to buy a number of crucially located ‘rotten teeth’,
which were then either renovated or demolished and
replaced by high-quality housing.
AG VESPA is the city of Antwerp’s autonomous
municipal company for property management and
urban projects in the city. The company was estab-
lished in 2003, and its mission was to manage and
above all sell the city’s buildings. AG VESPA has
now developed into a full-fledged daughter company
operating on the property market. From a commer-
cial point of view, the organization, as a public com-
pany owned by the city of Antwerp, contributes to
the high quality of life in the city and supports its ur-
ban development strategy.
The aim of the company’s property and build-
ings policy is to visibly intervene in residential are-
as struggling with deterioration and vacancy. In re-
cent years, the policy has focused on locations in the
nineteenth-century residential areas where the pri-
vate sector was not prepared to invest. AG VESPA
bought vacant and dilapidated buildings or unused
parcels of land: the buildings were then completely
renovated or demolished and replaced by new hous-
ing; AG VESPA then sold the new housing units to
private individuals – preferably families – at their
market value. The profits from the sales were placed
in a so-called rolling fund, which was reinvested in
the property and building policy.
So far, some 272 housing units at 85 locations
have been delivered as part of the property and
building policy. A further 28 projects are in progress,
providing 147 additional housing units. This is an
important stimulus for these neighbourhoods and
supports affordable housing for young families in
Antwerp.
Besides implementing the property and buildings
policy, AG VESPA also plays an important role in
213
strategic urban projects: by acquiring rights in stra-
tegic projects and aiming for high-quality, strong ar-
chitecture and sustainability in its property develop-
ment projects, AG VESPA is an important link for the
city’s administrators in urban development matters.
On behalf of the city, the company directs all urban
projects that rely on public-private partnerships or
aim to be commercially viable.
Until recently, AG VESPA also managed differ-
ent supra-local funds for the city of Antwerp. Before
2012 the city could reckon on funds such as the
Vlaams Stedenfonds (Flemish urban fund) for 59
million euros and the Federaal Grootstedenbeleid
(federal metropolitan policy) for 15 million euros; to
fulfil the European Union’s ERDF Objective 2, 52
million euros was received between 2007 and 2012.
Besides these sums, the city received more than four
million euros in additional subsidies. Over the com-
ing years, AG VESPA aims to consolidate its posi-
tion, becoming a strong organization that, commis-
sioned by the city, can play an important role as an
expert and a commercial operator in property, build-
ing and urban projects.
Process
It was precisely by modernizing buildings situated
at conspicuous locations such as street corners that
relatively simple interventions could give an entire
neighbourhood a new reputation: the instant vis-
ibility of the high-quality projects placed the neigh-
bourhood in a completely different light, persuading
owners of buildings in less visible locations to ren-
ovate or modernize their properties, too, and con-
vincing external investors to invest in the neighbour-
hood. Buying up hovels at strategic locations gave
the whole neighbourhood a positive stimulus.
Financial
AG VESPA can count on subsidies from the Flemish
urban fund and the federal government’s metropoli-
tan policy for the implementation of its property and
buildings policy. The new or renovated housing units
are sold at market prices and the profits are placed
in a rolling fund and thus reserved in their entirety
for new projects, ensuring that the fund remains sus-
tainable.
Spatial
AG VESPA scrupulously selects architects, and
those it selects – often the young and talented –
design high-quality housing where light, air and
space are central. Architecture is expressly used as
a means to persuade other actors to cooperate on
large-scale developments or improvements: rela-
tively small interventions thus have a positive, cata-
lytic effect. The architectural quality enhances the
general streetscape in the residential areas, attract-
ing new residents and private investment. Buildings
on corners are often deliberately selected for the
projects as they have a greater impact on a street’s
appearance.
Based on an interview with Ilse Pelemans
(AG VESPA) and Isabelle Verhaert (Stad Antwerpen)

Legal
AG VESPA manages a property portfolio that ben-
efits the city financially and socially. Its independent
position ultimately enables it to serve the city better.
The rental, sale and maintenance of properties gen-
erates profits that are then used by the city to imple-
ment policies and by AG VESPA to finance its own
operations. As a company operating on the market,
AG Vespa is a legal entity. Its legal status enables
the company to act expediently and provides certain
financial advantages, for example, by paying some
European spatial planning subsidies directly to AG
VESPA, the city of Antwerp does not have to deal
with the strict deadlines these involve: even if a sub-
sidized project runs into delays, the money has for-
mally already been spent.

214 215
 DAYS WEEKS MONTHS YEARS DECADES CENTURIES

LIVING LIVING

camping tent camper beach house student dormitories terraced houses canal house

WORKING WORKING

research tent television truck construction site office building office building factory building

RECREATION RECREATION

fairground floating garden skating rink playground sports park

STORAGE STORAGE

temporary parking storage silage bicycle tower parking warehouse

CULTURE CULTURE

outdoor concert ‘Enjoy the Night’ festival museum theatre theatre

open lucht concert amphitheatre

SOCIAL SOCIAL

breast cancer research day nursery school school cathedral

sanitair

COMMERCE COMMERCE

holland heineken house winter market shop shopping centre shopping arcade
market
markt

€ €€ €€€ €€€€ €€€€€ €€€€€€

216 217

Gallery House, Amsterdam
Visitors’ Centre Schovenhorst, Putten
Tom Bergevoet (1972) is an architect, a publicist,
researcher and guest lecturer at the Faculty of Ar-
chitecture and the Built Environment at the Delft
University of Technology and the Academy of Archi-
tecture at the Amsterdam University of the Arts. In
2014 Tom was a member of Atelier ZZ, which makes
recommendations concerning the Dutch Om ge-
vingswet (legislation for spatial projects) based on
actual design experiences in the field. After complet-
ing his architecture degree at the Delft University
of Technology, Tom moved to Japan, where he re-
searched the capacity of Japanese cities to adapt
at lightning speed. Tom worked for SANAA (Tokyo),
OMA, Architectenbureau Koen van Velsen, and Ar-
chi tectuurstudio Herman Hertzberger, where he
helped design the multifunctional Tivoli Vredenburg
music centre in Utrecht. Since founding Tom Berge-
voet Architecture in 2003, he has won several com-
petitions and realized a number of projects, ranging
from smallscale to large-scale, including a number of
private residences and care institutions.
Temp.architecture
Tom Bergevoet & Maarten van Tuijl
In 2011 Maarten van Tuijl and Tom Bergevoet found-
ed temp.architecture, focusing on design and re-
search. The name is based on the concept of time:
the firm works from the conviction that time is a cru-
cial factor for reaching sustainable design solutions.
Maarten and Tom had worked together on projects
before 2011, including the winning design for the
Stadskantoor in Rotterdam (2002) and the tempo-
rary extension of the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam
(2005–2008); in 2009 they wrote ‘Pleidooi voor
Improvisatie’ (‘a plea for improvisation’), an article in
which they denounced the way spatial development
usually takes place in the Netherlands.
National Lifeboat Museum Dorus Rijkers, Den Helder
Maarten van Tuijl (1972) is an architect, publicist,
researcher and a visiting guest lecturer at the Delft
University of Technology and a number of acad-
emies. Maarten is also a member of the Dutch Her-
bestemmings-team (National Redevelopment Team)
and Lead Expert for the European Urbact programme
Growth by Reconversion. A network of ten Euro-
pean cities that is looking for sustainable ways to
densify their post war urban areas instead of ex-
panding more. After graduating in architecture at
the Delft University of technology, Maarten com-
pleted his post-graduate Master of Science degree
in Advanced Architectural Design at Columbia
University in New York. After working for Rafael
Vinoly, Atelier Zeinstra van der Pol and UN Studio,
he co-founded na-ma architecture with the Japanese
architect Naoko Hikami in 2002. This multidiscipli-
nary firm’s projects include offices for the Public
Prosecution Service (OM) in Groningen, the visitors’
centre at the Schovenhorst estate and various hous-
ing projects.
Temp.architecture researches and designs spatial
assignments for the future, with re-use, unpredict-
ability and the user’s input playing a central role.
The firm’s designs have included the alteration and
renovation of the National Lifeboat Museum Dorus
Rijkers in Den Helder and, as part of an international
design team, the transformation of a glass factory in
Shenzhen, China. In 2011 temp.architecture partici-
pated in the Bienal de São Paulo, formulating pro-
posals with Brazilian architects to combat vacancy
in the city’s centre. Besides these projects, the firm
actively puts new spatial issues on the agenda by
organizing debates and publishing essays. Temp.ar-
chitecture attaches great importance to working to-
gether with professionals from related sectors, such
as financial advisers, process experts and social-me-
dia experts.
For more information, please visit the firm’s site:
www.temparchitecture.com
219
Acknowledgements This book could not have been written without contributions The book is partly based on the authors’ active participation Credits for the photographs
from the following: in the following conferences:
This book was made possible thanks to financial support Piotr Majchnak, Ogótnopotski Proieft Fotograficzny
from the following: Belgium: Bauen im Bestand, ‘Polska Pofabryczna’, www.potskapofabryczna.pl:
Sven De Bruycker Cologne, April 2012 50 (middle left), 58 (base) 59
Dutch Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations Géraldine Lacasse Creative City Challenge, Interreg Final Conference, Gemeente Amsterdam: 63, 77
Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment Jeroen Van Looy Groningen, September 2012 Hein de Haan: 79
Ruimte Vlaanderen, Georgios Maïllis Stadslab 2050, Samen duurzaam wonen en verbouwen, Ros Kavanagh: 80
Spatial Development Department Flanders Isabelle Verhaert Antwerp, December 2013 Lasse Andersson: 81
Brussels Urban Development, Lab XX, Opting for the Twentieth-century Belt, Michiel Devijver: 83
Ministry of Brussels-Capital Region Denmark: Antwerp, 2014 Eddy Joustra, gemeente Smallingerland: 88
Province of Groningen Jørgen Abildgaard Forum Interrégional de L’Aménagement du Territoire, Gemeinde Essen: 89
Province of Friesland Bettina Lamm Brussels, July 2014 Anne de Boer: 90
Province of Drenthe Danish Ministry of the Environment (Information Centre) Landelijke conferentie bevolkingsdaling, Portland Works: 91
Province of Utrecht Utrecht, October 2014 Leonie Hogervorst: 92
City of Charleroi, Charleroi Bouwmeester France: Platform woningbouw provincie Utrecht, JL Marshall: 94
City of Antwerp Caroline Druon Utrecht, February 2015 Fred Vondenhoff: 100
Duco Stadig & Leon Ramakers Pilootprojecten Terug in omloop, Charleroi Bouwmeester: 102
temp.architecture Poland: Brussels, March 2015 IFB Hamburg: 104
Coal Diamonds co-operation: SEEDS Innovation through Temporary Use, Jet van Zwieten: 105
Magdalena Cakala Interreg Final Conference, Ondernemers Fabriek Drenthe: 106
Iwona Neupauer Sheffield, April 2015 Pit Brothers: 112
Slawomir Nosal Die Flexible Stadt – Nachhaltige Strategien Morley von Sternberg: 113
Henryk Sturski für ein Europa im Wandel, Herta Hurnaus (spread): 130
Paulo Tiago de Sousa Neves Kassel, June 2015 Guido Bludau: 135
Marek Tomaszewski Isocarp 2015, How to rework the productive city, Metroselskabet: 139, 140
Antwerp, October 2015 Karen Kristine Persoe: 145 (above)
Germany: ProjeCt City Jens Larsen: 145 (under)
Roland Günter Lille, October 2015 Christophe Vandercam: 149 (above)
Hans Jungerius Urbact, Growth by Reconversion, Maxime Delvaux: 149 (under)
Thomas Lecke-Lopatta October 2015 Pam & Jenny graphic design agency: 150
Christof Nolda Manfred Grohe: 160
Daniel Schnier Several publications by the authors preceded this book: Katja Effting: 179 (above), 180, 218 (left above)
Rainer Kzonsek: 185
The Netherlands: Time Based Interventions (September 2012) RenovaS: 169 (above)
Sandra van Assen De Flexibele Stad – oplossingen voor leegstand en krimp RenovaS and Georges De Kinder (Atelier Collectif Architecture
Bas Dijkema (September 2013) designed the building) : 169 (under)
Platform 31 Een internationale vergelijking tussen krimpregio’s – www.sergebrison.com: 170
Hero Havenga-de Poel voorbij het Nederlands voorstellingsvermogen Mark Sekuur: 189, 190
Stephanie van Schaik (October 2014) Marco Clausen / Prinzessinnengarten: 199, 200
Dorine Sibbes De flexibele stad – naar een duurzame stadsregio Thisted Municipality: 205
Hiltje van der Wal (February 2015) Igor Vermeer / Trudo: 209
Karin Wierda Schrumpfregionen im internationalen Vergleich Boudewijn Bollmann: 210
(June 2015) AG VESPA, Bart Gosselin: 215
United Kingdom: Martin Wengelaar: 218 (right above)
Department for Communities and Local Government We would like to thank our colleagues at temp.architecture Michiel Poodt: 218 (right under)
Matthew Hayman who assisted in the production of this book: Marcel Van Coile: 218 (left under)
John Henneberry
Simon Paris Maider Amerrabano
Jakub Dreszler
We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of many others Ilze Neidere
who are not named here, especially those who contributed to Amaia Oiarbide
our previous book De Flexibele Stad, which was the base for Mikel Ormazabal
this book. Paulina Szuba
Pim Terhorst
We would also like to thank those who helped us describe Mikel Angulo Lazpita
the example projects described in Chapter 4.

220 221
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Credits nai010 publishers is an internationally
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Printed and bound in the Netherlands
ISBN 978-94-6208-287-8
Also available as e-book
The Flexible City e-book (pdf)
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222
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In Europe, the period of great economic and demographic growth is
largely over. Unlike in Latin America, Asia or Africa, the boundaries of
most European cities are therefore no longer moving away, but have come
to a halt. The spatial assignment of future European villages, towns
and cities will be fundamentally different. Building new space outside
the city boundaries is no longer necessary. Instead, what exists should
be made sustainable. The new spatial assignment involves maintaining,
restructuring, densifying or diluting the existing city.

In this publication the authors Tom Bergevoet and Maarten van Tuijl widen
their methodological analysis from their successful Dutch publication
De flexibele stad to the European scale. They present a toolbox that is able
to turn the new assignment into a success. European cities are
compared, similarities and trends are identified and concrete examples
are described in detail. This creates an inspiring handbook for anyone
working on the future of the European city: from administrators and
policymakers to developers, designers, builders and users.

At temp.architecture.urbanism, Tom Bergevoet and Maarten van Tuijl work

on architecture, urbanism and research with a focus on transformations.

Toolbox for new urban planning in Europe.

European edition of the successful Dutch publication.

Dit eBook is voorzien van een watermerk met identificatiescode :

VBcNQl1MUgJXNgNqBDYMOA0xUn4PUAtGUk4IfAMpB3EGJgglXSlVelch
654fab168ea24

Het eBook is voorzien van een watermerk.

Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd of openbaar gemaakt,
in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij electronisch, mechanisch, door kopieen of fotokopieen,
opnamen, of op enig andere manier, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de uitgever.