Column by Eduard Voorn

© Ralf Emmerich

Eduard Voorn is a freelance journalist with a focus on economics, and first and foremost a Rotterdammer. He lives in the villagey outskirts of Rotterdam Central District, breakfasts at Op Het Dak, eats his pizza at Bird, raises a pint at Biergarten or Weena, gets his caffeine fix at Lebkov and catches the latest flicks in Pathé Schouwburgplein. His kids were born in the now-famous Mecanoo architectural firm’s first project on Kruisplein.

TREE CRUSADERS

IN THE HOFPLEIN FOUNTAIN

Here’s an idea. Let’s try to preserve the six great big plane trees outside Central Station. The ground where these old-timers are now rooted will soon be occupied by a high-rise built partly from wood, brilliantly named the Tree House, with a spectacular design that beautifully complements the concrete and glass façades of Rotterdam Central District.

I know just the spot for these gnarly mastodons: Hofplein, around the fountain. Now, I can already hear Coolsingel 40 (City Hall), De Rotterdam (010 bureaucratic HQ) and Laan op Zuid (RET HQ) protesting it can’t be done. No doubt there are all kinds of excellent excuses to be found or invented to consign my idea to the dustbin.

The climate summit in Glasgow recently came and went and by now we all know darn well that we need to spare no effort to stop climate change. Its effects are regularly evident in RCD.

In summer we wrestle with heat stress. And in spring all the paved surfaces leave rain almost nowhere to go when heavy downpours roll through. Trees can help to cool our streets and lap up some of that water.

But back to why we need more green in RCD. Combating urban heat is one reason; attracting insects and birds is another. And then there are all the apartments being built here in the decades ahead. Families will be moving in. Children should be able to play under a lovely leafy canopy. Trees enhance the quality of outdoor space – or, as the landscape architect Willemijn van Manen says it elsewhere in this issue: “Trees make an impact”.

Which brings me back to Hofplein and that fountain. A lot of money has been thrown around to “do something with it”. The Hofplein project ranks among the seven major urban projects to make the city greener, healthier and above all more pleasant. I say “do something with it”, because I am not convinced much of anything will be accomplished if there are going to be trams clanging through every other minute and all the cars are still speeding by. If we don’t make choices, this is not going to be any kind of tranquil space where people want to linger. Hence my plan with the trees. In fact, we’ll have to rethink our whole design approach. Because, as Glasgow proved, papering over the cracks won’t solve anything.

BEAUTIFUL SUNSET OVER THE ROTTERDAM SKYLINE

PHOTOGRAPHY Pascal Striebel