Antwerp, on the river Scheldt, is a port city and the most important city of Flanders and Belgium in economic terms.

Like most European cities, this city is faced, in a number of areas, with the typical features of a large city.

Antwerp and its districts have a surface area of 22,076 ha and the population is approximately 450.000 inhabitants.

Railway yard North in Antwerp is situated between the northern part of the 19^th century ring, the central residential area of the city, the port area. It is an elongated site (24 ha, 1.6 km long and an average width of 160 m).

This former shunting yard of the NMBS (Belgian Rail) with repair and maintenance depots, forms a kind of no-man’s land, an enormous break between the surrounding areas. The NMBS moved its activities to the port. The site became available for new uses.

The development of the railway yard offers a unique chance to upgrade adjacent districts.

In the north this is the ‘Dam’ district, which can best be described as the outskirts. Gigantic (traffic) infrastructures dominate the area. Until the beginning of the 20^th century this was a flourishing neighbourhood, but the northbound move of the port activities emptied the area: in about 70 years time 70% of the residents moved away.

The ‘Stuivenberg’ and ‘Seefhoek’ districts to the south of the site are part of a larger residential area within the 19^th century ring. The living density is four times higher than in the rest of the city.

The houses in the entire area are strikingly outdated and do often not meet the minimum requirements of comfort and utilities. The number of inhabitants is exceptionally stable (for the city) in this area, but the share of Belgians is decreasing faster than elsewhere in the city. Social problems, deprivation and social isolation are the order of the day.

The locals are dying for light, air, green and open space and there are hardly any cultural or sporting facilities. The figures speak for themselves: local residents only have 1/30 of the city average of public open spaces within reach, not including any green spaces, only 1 in 8 houses has a garden or patio, the entire area only has three squares worthy of mention, and there is only 1 suitable square per 1,000 children.

The traffic situation in the entire area is chaotic. The lack of hierarchy in the network causes a lot of rat-run traffic. The most important junction, De Schijnpoort, a bottleneck, forms an important barrier for smooth traffic flow from and to the city. Public transport is not very available there. The slow traffic only counts with 3 difficult connections between north and south, which are very unsafe for weak road users.

In 2000 the federal government decided to release € 4.1million from the Large City Policy fund for the redevelopment of the area. For the three consecutive project years (2001, 2002, 2003) investment amounts of € 3million are put aside. In addition the city can also count on subsidies from the European funds Objective 2 and the Flemish Fund of Cities.

Due to its situation and scope the railway yard is important for the whole city. It will become an important link between the core city, the Eilandje (Little Island), the port, the Luchtbal district and the tows of Merksem and Deurne. It can bridge the gap between the surrounding neighbourhoods and involve the northern part of the city more with what is happening in the city, without losing its value as a buffer zone.

From a real estate point of view the project was not profitable for the government. In this respect the City investigated its position in cooperation with the NMBS and private entrepreneurs.

The leisure, sports and cultural needs in Antwerp North are significant and can be filled in at the railway yard.

Three interesting buildings at the railway yard are being assessed in terms of their engineering, architectonic and historic qualities. The results should provide a decisive answer about the feasibility of different uses (culture and sports).

Both locally and at the European macro scale this is a fantastically located area: there is a connection with a Pan-European network of motorways at less than a five-minute drive. A workgroup on Mobility is investigating the required traffic structure.

New economic activities, interwoven with other functions, will blow a wind of change through the different areas. A possible economic theme for the project is cultural event productions. Set builders and several cultural production houses are already establishing themselves in the area. The yard can offer more space for this kind of initiatives.

Right from the start the City opted for a unique cooperation with the locals, the NMBS, the higher authorities, private entrepreneurs, project bureau Eilandje, several research institutions, schools for higher education, design studios,…

In a query about the redevelopment of the railway yard in October and November 2000, the local residents unanimously opted for more green areas in the district. New companies, houses and supra local East-West connecting road on the site, were not favoured by the local residents.

An initial memo (March 2001) outlined the existing situation after a 6-month exploration. After that a planning group elaborated a provisional start vision on the basis of that memo, in which a few zoning proposals were formulated for the site and the environment.

On the basis of recommendations of locals, the initial memo and the provisional start vision, the City organised in June 2001 three intensive brainstorming days with experts. The desired urban development and the role of the railway yard in all this, the need for green areas, the financial feasibility and the way the developments would be achieved were all topics of conversation.

All these initiatives resulted in a consensus memo. It expresses a uniform and strategic vision about the desired development of the railway yard. The college of the Burgomaster and aldermen approved the memo on 12 September 2002 and is using it as a thread for further discussions about the development of the site.
According to the consensus memo the entire surface area of the railway yard will become an urban park landscape which will be the backbone for all other developments at the railway yard. The function of the yard is a green function with room for active sports and passive forms of recreation. On the other hand the different uses should also become the driving force behind the redevelopment of the surrounding areas Dam, Stuivenberg and Seefhoek.

Then the City convinced the owner of the site (N.M.B.S.- E.I.S.) of its vision. All parties involved signed a policy agreement on December 3^rd 2001.

For drawing the actual plans for the site the City of Antwerp opted for the formula of an international limited call for tender for urban developers. 25 teams participated in the first stage (June 2002). A professional jury selected five candidates on the basis of their CV and their vision on the development of the railway yard. The five applicants drew a design in the second phase. The professional jury had to deliberate a few days before picking a winner on 27^th January 2003 from the wide range of interesting designs: the design of the group studio 02, Meertens & Steffen, Buro Kromwijk and Iris Consulting.

In the meantime the City is engaging in specific investments in the area. It is preparing for the reuse and renovation of the buildings at the site, soil remediation (together with NMBS), the opening of some parts of the site. For the project development the council is also looking for good cooperation between the city, the NMBS and private enterprises, which is not so evident due to regulations in Belgium.

The realisation of the project will taken place between 2004-2008, in which the NMBS, EIS and the City will all account for some areas.

Since 1999 the City of Antwerp disposes of a team in charge of project development in the context of the incentive programmes.

The team set off with 6 people in 1999 and has now grown into a solid and multidisciplinary team of 18 staff members: architects, urban developers, landscaping architects, a social-economic geographer, a sociologist-urban developer, a topographer, a surveyor and administrative staff.

The strength of this team lies in the flexibility and dynamism of strongly motivated and devoted people who are continuously inspiring and motivating each other, driven by the passion for their profession. Members of different disciplines devoting themselves together and complementing each other. The result is an innovative approach for the City of Antwerp: the planning cell works thematically under the motto of being ‘dedicated to excellence’.

The core tasks of this team are situated in the development of field-oriented visions, preparing, executing and following up of renovation programmes, preparing and guiding core projects.

The team:

Agnieszka Zajac, Dries Willems, Ellen Lamberts, Filip Pittillion, Gabriëla Racanel, Gert De Keyser, Gert Van Oost, Hardwin De Wever, Heidi Vandenbroecke, Inneke Van Couteren, Jeffry Van Waeyenberghe, Johan Pieraerts, Kitty Haine, Koen Heyvaert, Kristof Boving, Lu D’hont, Nadia Van Aken & Tinka Baert

Besides the elaboration of this project (redevelopment De Coninckplein and surroundings), they are in charge in Antwerp of the planning process & vision development of:

• Spoorwegemplacement Noord (North Raiway Yard)

• Lobroekdok (Lobroek dock)
• Petroleum Instellingen Zuid (Oil Institutions South)
• Schipperskwartier (Seamen’s quarter)
• Bouwblokprojecten (Building block project)