Changing public space

Table 6.3 Timeline of developments at the Beurstraverse
Year
Developments
1940 Bombardment of the city centre of Rotterdam
1940s-1960s Reconstruction of the Beursplein and Van Oldebarneveltplaats
1984 C&A contacts Multivastgoed to redevelop its department store. Multi sees opportunities to turn
the upgrading of the store into a large redevelopment project and contacts the municipality to
talk about possible redevelopment plans.
1992 First official indication of the Beursplein project in policy document (dS+V et al., 1993)
1993 Agreement between the local government, investor Nationale Nederlanden and Multi
Development Corporation to set up a joint consortium (Gemeente Rotterdam, 1993)
1994 Start construction work
1996 Opening of the Beurstraverse
Source: based on Interviews (2006)
the retail floor space. Besides, the core shopping centre suffered from being dissected by a busy
traffic artery, the Coolsingel. To get around these problems, the Beurstraverse was laid out as
a 300-metre-long sunken underpass connecting two existing retail squares – the Beursplein
and Van Oldenbarneveltplaats – which were previously separated by the Coolsingel. As such,
it was nicknamed the Koopgoot (‘Shopping trench’). The construction of the Beurstraverse
created 60.000m 2 retail space divided among 95 shops; in addition 450 parking spaces and 106
apartments were added. Because it provides access to the metro station, the Beurstraverse cannot
be closed off at night. Lying below grade, it is visually separated from the adjacent public spaces.
But the passage also differs from its surroundings in another sense. It is owned and operated by
a consortium that includes the ING Bank and a pension fund, along with the local government
(Bergenhenegouwen & Van Weesep, 2003). The daily maintenance and supervision is contractedout
to Actys (formerly known as Dynamis), a private management company. In contrast, most of
the adjacent area is entirely in the public domain, so it is operated and maintained by municipal
services. The consortium subjects the users to tight restrictions: no alcoholic beverages, no street
vendors, no bicycles, no loitering, and so on. The rules are clearly posted on signs at the entrances;
numerous cameras and private security guards are in place to enforce them.
The initiative to redevelop the Beursplein and Van Oldenbarneveltplaats did not come from the
municipality, but from the side of the private sector. The C&A, a retail conglomerate of Dutch
origin, owned a major store at the Beursplein. By 1984 it did not meet C&A’s requirements
anymore, although the building was constructed only after the Second World War. Therefore, the
board of directors contacted developer Multi to upgrade the store. However, Multi envisioned
that the upgrading of C&A’s property could be extended to the surrounding areas, turning the
reconstruction of a single building into a large redevelopment project. At the same time, the
local government was still in the midst of redeveloping the Schouwburgplein and Museumpark.
In addition, it was focussing on the redevelopment of the Lijnbaan to improve the city’s
retail function. However, the municipal authorities became interested in Multi’s plans for the
Beurstraverse when the negotiation with the property owners of the Lijnbaan deadlocked. They
reasoned that if the property owners of the Lijnbaan could not be enticed directly to improve
their property, perhaps increased competition of a new shopping street could trigger them. In
addition, the local government acknowledged that strengthening the city centre’s retail function
109