Luc Spee

De samensmelting: Verbinden, verdichten en verclusteren van Utrecht & de Uithof

De Uithof is a cluster of universities located on the eastern edge of Utrecht. The campus was created at the beginning of the 1950s due to a lack of space in the city centre. There are only a few university buildings located in the centre of Utrecht. However, de Uithof is still expanding: companies are moving into offices there and faculties are being relocated from the city. De Uithof has grown to 170 hectares, which is equal to the size of the city centre.

The city of Utrecht currently has a housing commission of 40,000 homes, of which they are building 30,000 in the Vinex districts (areas designated by the Dutch government for future urban development). This commission is, however, actually a chance to further consolidate the city centre. Living in the city centre is becoming increasingly popular: residents find it fine to live so close to the city centre where there is a high concentration of facilities and parks.

On a daily basis, 50,000 students and 20,000 employees pass through the Utrecht Oost area in the direction of de Uithof. De Uithof has a very strong appeal and that has consequences for the road network, public transport and bicycle network. Due to an increasing amount of faculties leaving the city for de Uithof, the campus is losing its connection with the city.

Mixing university campuses with the city gives a positive boost to the quality of life in Utrecht Oost. The aim of this project is, therefore, to interweave the urban city with the university campuses in Utrecht Oost.

In order to interweave these two areas, a new vision is needed for Utrecht Oost. The focus herein is connecting, consolidating and clustering (moving campus functions towards the city), making use thereby of the river de Kromme Rijn.

Through strategic interventions in the profile and programme, the landscape will be joined to the city - campus connection. Important tools for this are shifting and adding to the programme, removing barriers, narrowing the profile and adjusting the roads structure.

Part of this strategy is a gradual transformation of an intermediary zone to an urban area where the strong qualities of city, campus and landscape are utilised.

By rolling out the lively interaction environment of the city centre across the route to de Uithof and, at the same time, extending the Uithof cluster towards the city, a connection will be created in Utrecht Oost on an urban level. Together with the meandering Kromme Rijn river, a lively area with an interesting mix of living, working, studying and free time will be created.

Commision members: Pieter Jannink (mentor), Jos Gadet, Franz Ziegler. Additional members for the examination: Ellen Marcusse, Jaap Brouwer.