Creating a Vision for Utrecht
Tjerk van Impelen
We are facing the old town which we want to protect because we find it is so beautiful and we have a very hisorical value for this area. On the other hand we have got a larger scale station area with a big bundle of railway tracks, the central station and bigger companies. How do we come up with the plan to use this area to take the pressure of the city area where the amount of visitors is growing? And how to come up with the plan that is also an interest of the companies already situated in here? How do we get the politicians ready to be willing to make the decisions that will change the way city actually looks and functions?
We thought that we need people of the city to start creating a vision and to make this idea happen. So we got some professionals, artists and map makers who tried to think about what type of functions do we need. We need shops, good positions for financial companies, good positions for public transport. We need to think about the position of pedestrians and cyclists, of the people living in the area, working in the area and moving through the area. So first we got the pieces of the puzzle of what we would need to change the area.
Then they thought that there are two general ways to change the area and to improve the situation of the city. One vision was based mainly on investments from companies and second was based on a mutual investments of both companies, local authorities and public domain. These two visions were presented to the people of Utrecht. On both visions we implemented the idea of water. Water was strenghtening the position of the companies. We were used to this piece of highway and all this concrete did not make the area very lively. It was not very beautiful area to stay, no green sites, no water sites, no good places to have a lunch, not a good place to have doors to outside world for your companies. Everything was invard focused. We had to walk inside the building to find a good enviroment because enviroment outside was only traffic.
It was in interest of companies to create an outside world that was pleasant to stay in. So this was the first motivation for companies. The city was willing to create the outside public domain around bigger companies that will make the companies feel comfortable to function towards the outside instead of focusing everything inside the buildings. We also asked the citizens throughout area what would they like. If they want to walk past very crowded busy road or to walk past a piece of water, have a lunch, walk a dog, have a walking route, or just have some free time on a terrace, drink some beer or drink some glass of wine? So this was to make things started. We started the motion. What do you want to experience around the buildings? Do you want a very traffic-crowded area? Or you want a very nice area with a bit of traffic because you need the traffic? You need buses, you need cars but also a place to relax alongside more quiet routes.
This was the first way to organize the area inbetween the central station with a bigger companies and the old town. The idea of water inbetween them to feel welcome in the area, to spend your time, work and live there. Then we had this vision for both projects the company focused or the local authority area focused together with companies. Which vision could you follow if you allow the citizens to have a say? And the citizens chose for the developement of public domain. So the local authorities themselves came up with plans together with companies to make better crossings, make water sites, implement cultre buildings like cinema, a library, a concert building alongside the bigger companies with shops and office buildings.
A sort of vision was created. We restored water, we created better crossings, cycling lanes, cultural buildings alongside the shops and offices. But then we needed to free up space to start constructing and that takes time. You need not only to organize things above ground but also under the ground. You have cables and sewage system. And when you start diging up water and basements for new buildings you need to relocate your cables and sewage system. You also need to think about what you find in the ground like pollution, old findings because the city is centuries old and what do you do with these old findings. And this takes time. Research of area takes time. So then you finally decide that we have a vision for the city, we restore water, we create new facilities for culture, for offices, for shops. But then you start freeing up space for such a construction site for a new project.
Then you need up to 3 or 4 years for research. What you find in a ground for cables, sewer, for pollution, for archeology findings. And all this time you have a big fence around your area and people can not see what is going on inside this area. And then you need to keep the vision alive. How do you keep the vision with your citizens, with your people, with your fellow users of the area by the traffic, by living there, by working there alive? So we came up with a plan that we are not building it for tommorrow but we are building it for next 20 years. For who are we building it? For children. So on our ceilings we have pictures of children growing up. Every two years we take new pictures of these children growing up. We also take pictures of construction work outside. So we can show to people how the things actually are growing into the new situation. And we keep on moving, working, travelling, living and in that sense we are also transforming.
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