Roelof Koudenburg

DAAR WAAR STAD, LEEM EN BEEK VERSMELTEN

THERE WHERE CITY, LOAM AND CREEK MERGE
An alternative for Assen

In recent decades, there has been inadequate focus on the opportunities, threats and acceptance of soil, water and nature (structures) in urban planning. This has often led to developments that have a parasitic or sub-optimal relationship with the landscape, pay scant regard to soil, and exacerbate drought or flooding. In addition, the lobby for urban area expansions remains undiminished. This often leads to the loss of scenic beauty and ecosystem services. At odds with this, is the knowledge that investing in the existing city gives a qualitative impulse to urban facilities, increases support for public transport and improves the quality of life.  

Assen is developing towards 100,000 inhabitants and thus faces a fundamental choice: , will it opt (under increasing (political) pressure) for the familiar practice of expansion or will it opt radically for infill development and transformation? This study demonstrates the advantages of such a radical shift in thinking about the future of the city. Starting points are the preservation of the green character around and in the city as well as investing in the existing city by densification and transformation. However, in this urbanization strategy, the soil-water system plays a decisive role. This makes the urban area more resistant to climate change and increased pressure on biodiversity. 

The graduation project starts by defining the identity of Assen. This research develops a development strategy that is both rooted in the historical landscape and considers the new reality, namely the formulated tasks and opportunities towards 2070. In the future perspective it is crucial to start from water, soil and nature and then show the spatial consequences for economy, social and energy. 

The future perspective provides the starting points for a development strategy at the urban level that indicates what kind of infill and transformation is possible and where. An adaptive trajectory of densification and transformation in Assen is drawn up that offers a sustainable alternative for the current approach.  

This graduation project has the ambition of demonstrating the need for a radical change in the way cities, in this case Assen, can and must be developed. But above all it shows how the city can make better use of its growth by developing a symbiotic relationship with soil and water, thus making the city more liveable and future-proof. A city where creek, loam and city merge

 

Graduation date: 27 May 2024
Graduation committee: Martin Aarts (mentor), Henk van Blerck, Marieke van der Heide
Additional members for the exam: Koen Hezemans, Huub Juurlink