2.4 COOL-ZUID
Location of Cool-Zuid and surrounding areas. Source – Stichting KOOL.
Cool-Zuid is a neighbourhood in the inner-city of Rotterdam. It is a culturally vibrant neighbourhood surrounded by important areas such as the Binnenstad, Museumkwartier, Maritiem district and Kop van Zuid. Schiedamse Vest divides the neighbourhood into two parts, the east and the west. The western part is a Pre-war neighbourhood that survived the bombardment of Rotterdam in 1940 and retains the city’s original street pattern. It is framed by vibrant streets such as the Schiedamsingel, the Kortenaerstraat and the Eendrachtsweg on the perimeter and has social housing in the core. In contrast, the eastern part is a Post-war neighbourhood with an alternate grid pattern. The western part has a relatively stable demographic with socially-engaged long-term residents. On the other hand, eastern part, or Baankwartier, is home to more temporary residents and is difficult to predict as future residents are still an unknown factor. There is a lack of social cohesion between the two parts and a new development at the Baankwartier threatens to further exaggerate the gap further (Van Dijk et al., 2017). The new development will expand the current housing stock from 1400 with the erection of three high-rise apartment buildings to add 280 apartments (V8 Architects, 2016). The new construction with a height of 150 meters, is expected to create a living environment more closely related to the developments of Kop van Zuid and the Maritiem district. But this new development cannot be seen in isolation. The additional housing and changes to living environment, greenery, traffic flow, art, culture and hospitality will potentially have direct impact on the older western part. A physical manifestation of this overflow will be seen in the public square ‘t Landje, that falls between the Baankwartier development and the older neighbourhood. Furthermore, the new inflow of residents will also drastically change the demographic of the neighbourhood (Van Dijk et al., 2017). These changes have triggered a group of active residents and local entrepreneurs to join forces and set up a City Lab with the objective of ensuring that the new developments take place in a manner that makes Cool-Zuid attractive for local surroundings and outsiders. In 2017, this initiative was
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Happy Pavillion, a pop intervention as a part of the Cool-Zuid City Lab. Source – Stichting KOOL.
Veldacademie
