The Dutch spirit of place. Bringing spirit of place to cities in The Netherlands
The Dutch spirit of place. Bringing spirit of place to cities in The Netherlands

Summary/Abstract: For several centuries, the issue of urban development in The Netherlands was mainly left to private initiative. By the end of the 19th century, with industrialisation and the growth of the working classes, these ideas changed. Slowly the state government built up a framework to ensure reasonable housing for the entire population, later on widening into a legal framework for spatial planning as a whole. Around the same time, the concern for the protection of cultural and natural history started to increase as well. Legislation on the subject of monument care developed in the 20th century into a firm legal protection system, ensuring the protection of valuable cultural and natural historical sites. However, as the legal framework is quite thoroughly written down, no law can bring spirit to a place. The beginning of the 21st century shows a development towards the inclusion of the existing cultural historic values of an area into the design for new developments. Three examples of this approach are given, each representing an approach to the creation of a spirit of place to a newly developed urban area. The first example is the Waalfront project in the city of Nijmegen. In the urban plan of the new neighbourhood several historic layers are being made visible. The second example is located in the town of Almere. This new town, situated on the bottom of the former Zuiderzee, is only a few decades old. One of the main points in the design for a large new neighbourhood are the many archaeological sites which are dotted around the area. The last example is a project in the city of Rotterdam. One of many recent developments is the building of the Market Hall, a large indoor market where the walls and roof consist of commercial shops and apartments.

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