Articles

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  Development without plans and regulations: The spatial layout of the Zaanstreek region from the fifteenth to the twenty-first centuries

  Over the course of six hundred years, a cultural landscape has appeared in the Zaanstreek region that can genuinely be called entirely unique. At first sight, it gives a rather ‘messy’ impression, without a real centre and with residential, com-mercial and recreational areas intermixed. That is not something that we find to quite the same extent anywhere else in the Netherlands. How did this unusual landscape evolve as time progressed? What socioeconomic and administrative factors have contributed to its development? And what remains now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, of that typical Zaan cultural landscape? These questions and others can be answered by following the development of the spatial layout of the Zaanstreek over those six centuries step by step, comparing it with the structure imposed on other regions in the Netherlands.

  Over the course of six hundred years, a cultural landscape has appeared in the Zaanstreek region that can genuinely be called entirely unique. At first sight, it gives a rather ‘messy’ impression, without a real centre and with residential, com-mercial and recreational areas intermixed. That is not something that we find to quite the same extent anywhere else in the Netherlands. How did this unusual landscape evolve as time progressed? What socioeconomic and administrative factors have contributed to its development? And what remains now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, of that typical Zaan cultural landscape? These questions and others can be answered by following the development of the spatial layout of the Zaanstreek over those six centuries step by step, comparing it with the structure imposed on other regions in the Netherlands.

  Over the course of six hundred years, a cultural landscape has appeared in the Zaanstreek region that can genuinely be called entirely unique. At first sight, it gives a rather ‘messy’ impression, without a real centre and with residential, com-mercial and recreational areas intermixed....

  Reinout Rutte

  7-37

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  Drawings and calculations for the Zaan Corridor

  In its Ontwerp Structuurvisie [Draft Structural |Con-cept], the Dutch State produced a sketch in 2011 of its ‘ambitions through to 2040 and the objec-tives, interests and tasks through to 2028’. In that context, studies have now been carried out into the implementation of the Programma Hoogfre­quent Spoorvervoer (High-frequency Rail Transport Programme, PHS). Its aim is to offer passengers a service between the key destinations from 2020 onwards at such high frequencies that a train timetable would be redundant. On the busiest routes, including the Amsterdam-Heerhugowaard line, there should then be six intercity trains and six local trains per hour.2 The study by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment focused initially on the question of whether the introduction of this kind of subway-like or metro-like scheduling is sensible and what modifications would be needed to the track and the stations to achieve it. The Province of Noord-Holland has commissioned various studies into the rail network that is currently present. The province and Vereniging Deltametropool presented the results in October 2013 under the title Maak Plaats! Werken aan knooppuntontwikke­ling in Noord Holland [Make Room: working on hub development in Noord-Holland]. This states that the redevelopment of public transport nodes will be a key priority in the province’s spatial development policy. Encouraging the use of public trans-port is the main objective for the coming years.

  In its Ontwerp Structuurvisie [Draft Structural |Con-cept], the Dutch State produced a sketch in 2011 of its ‘ambitions through to 2040 and the objec-tives, interests and tasks through to 2028’. In that context, studies have now been carried out into the implementation of the Programma Hoogfre­quent Spoorvervoer (High-frequency Rail Transport Programme, PHS). Its aim is to offer passengers a service between the key destinations from 2020 onwards at such high frequencies that a train timetable would be redundant. On the busiest routes, including the Amsterdam-Heerhugowaard line, there should then be six intercity trains and six local trains per hour.2 The study by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment focused initially on the question of whether the introduction of this kind of subway-like or metro-like scheduling is sensible and what modifications would be needed to the track and the stations to achieve it. The Province of Noord-Holland has...

  In its Ontwerp Structuurvisie [Draft Structural |Con-cept], the Dutch State produced a sketch in 2011 of its ‘ambitions through to 2040 and the objec-tives, interests and tasks through to 2028’. In that context, studies have now been carried out into the implementation of the...

  Henk Engel

  39-75

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  The cross-section: four designs for the Zaan Corridor

  The Province of Noord-Holland’s spatial policy will in the decades to come be focused on encouraging public transport. Following on from Maak Plaats! Werken aan knooppuntontwikkeling in Noord Holland [Make Room: working on hub development in Noord-Holland], which sets out the principles guiding that policy, the Province has worked with the research section of the BNA (Federation of Dutch Architects) and Deltas, Infrastructures & Mobility Initaitive (TU Delft) to set up a design study project for the Amsterdam-Heerhugowaard railway line. Ten professional design teams and five student teams from TU Delft took part in this. The results have been published under the title Onderweg! Vijftien ontwerpen voor Transit Oriented Development aan de Zaancorridor [Under way! Fifteen designs for transitoriented development in the Zaan Corridor]. Four of the designs that were produced by the students are presented here. For the work with the students, we adopted a strictly architectural and structural perspective and examined what contribution could be made from that perspective to the investigative design.

  The Province of Noord-Holland’s spatial policy will in the decades to come be focused on encouraging public transport. Following on from Maak Plaats! Werken aan knooppuntontwikkeling in Noord Holland [Make Room: working on hub development in Noord-Holland], which sets out the principles guiding that policy, the Province has worked with the research section of the BNA (Federation of Dutch Architects) and Deltas, Infrastructures & Mobility Initaitive (TU Delft) to set up a design study project for the Amsterdam-Heerhugowaard railway line. Ten professional design teams and five student teams from TU Delft took part in this. The results have been published under the title Onderweg! Vijftien ontwerpen voor Transit Oriented Development aan de Zaancorridor [Under way! Fifteen designs for transitoriented development in the Zaan Corridor]. Four of the designs that were produced by the students are presented here. For the work with the students, we adopted a strictly...

  The Province of Noord-Holland’s spatial policy will in the decades to come be focused on encouraging public transport. Following on from Maak Plaats! Werken aan knooppuntontwikkeling in Noord Holland [Make Room: working on hub development in Noord-Holland], which sets out the...

  Filip Geerts, Michiel Riedijk

  77-109

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  Euralille twenty years on

  For the last twenty years, many European cities have used the construction of high-speed lines  (HSL) and the associated intermodal railway stations as a catalyst for urban renewal projects. This phenomenon started with the ‘Euralille’ project, designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas at the end of the eighties and built in 1995.The project is part of a group of major French projects such as the central business districts: La Défense in Paris and La Part­Dieu in Lyon, which are characterised by infrastructural interventions as the basis for urban renewal. France was the first country in Europe – back in the seventies – to invest in developing highs-peed lines; their TGV (train à grande vitesse) became the role model for comparable developments in other countries. The Euralille Metropole grand projet (as these major projects were known) provided a context for upgrading the Lille-Flandres terminal (with regional railways and TGV services to Paris), constructing Lille-Europe (with international HSL services) and the provision of car parking, links to the metro network and urban amenities.

  For the last twenty years, many European cities have used the construction of high-speed lines  (HSL) and the associated intermodal railway stations as a catalyst for urban renewal projects. This phenomenon started with the ‘Euralille’ project, designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas at the end of the eighties and built in 1995.The project is part of a group of major French projects such as the central business districts: La Défense in Paris and La Part­Dieu in Lyon, which are characterised by infrastructural interventions as the basis for urban renewal. France was the first country in Europe – back in the seventies – to invest in developing highs-peed lines; their TGV (train à grande vitesse) became the role model for comparable developments in other countries. The Euralille Metropole grand projet (as these major projects were known) provided a context for upgrading the Lille-Flandres terminal (with regional railways and TGV services to Paris),...

  For the last twenty years, many European cities have used the construction of high-speed lines  (HSL) and the associated intermodal railway stations as a catalyst for urban renewal projects. This phenomenon started with the ‘Euralille’ project, designed by the Dutch...

  Manuela Triggianese

  111-139

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  Towns and ports on Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland between 1500 and 2000: a historical sketch

  In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Flemish towns were connected to the North Sea via the ports of Oostburg, Aardenburg, Axel and Hulst in the area now known as Zeeuws­Vlaanderen (Zeeland Flanders). This access became impossible in the fourteenth century as the area became silted up. As a result, the easily accessible town of Antwerp was able to grow and water transport in the delta area shifted to the Eastern Scheldt estuary. Old towns such as Middelburg and Zierikzee profited from this, but so did newer towns such as Vlissingen (or Flushing, as it became known to the English), Veere and Brouwershaven, followed later by Goes, Reimerswaal, Sint-Maartensdijk and Tholen. When parts of the Eastern Scheldt also started to silt up in the sixteenth century, the Western Scheldt regained its importance, with Vlissingen and Middelburg benefiting from this development. Changing trade flows led to the creation, growth and decline of ports and port towns depending on what gave best access to the Flemish hinterland towns. In the layout of the Zeeland towns, this resulted in a continually changing relationship between the town and its harbour. Whereas originally the harbour tended to be located next to or behind the town, in the newer towns it became the central spatial element. This is broadly the picture given by Reinout Rutte in his article about the growth of the towns around the Scheldt Estuary in OverHolland 12/13.

  In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Flemish towns were connected to the North Sea via the ports of Oostburg, Aardenburg, Axel and Hulst in the area now known as Zeeuws­Vlaanderen (Zeeland Flanders). This access became impossible in the fourteenth century as the area became silted up. As a result, the easily accessible town of Antwerp was able to grow and water transport in the delta area shifted to the Eastern Scheldt estuary. Old towns such as Middelburg and Zierikzee profited from this, but so did newer towns such as Vlissingen (or Flushing, as it became known to the English), Veere and Brouwershaven, followed later by Goes, Reimerswaal, Sint-Maartensdijk and Tholen. When parts of the Eastern Scheldt also started to silt up in the sixteenth century, the Western Scheldt regained its importance, with Vlissingen and Middelburg benefiting from this development. Changing trade flows led to the creation, growth and decline of ports and port towns depending on...

  In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Flemish towns were connected to the North Sea via the ports of Oostburg, Aardenburg, Axel and Hulst in the area now known as Zeeuws­Vlaanderen (Zeeland Flanders). This access became impossible in the fourteenth century as the area became...

  Leo van den Burg

  141-165

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