Changing public space

The Spuiboulevard was the first project completed within the framework of the business plan.
The idea behind this sequence was that the accessibility of the city centre needed to be improved
in an aesthetical manner before the centre was upgraded. Landscape architecture agency MTD
was selected to make the new design for the Spuiboulevard. Because MTD’s design was well
evaluated, the agency was later also selected to design the Statenplein and surroundings. The
redevelopment of the Spuiboulevard included the excavation of the earlier filled-in port, the
construction of five bridges over the water, narrowing the boulevard, and planting an avenue
of trees as spatial element between the small-scale historical centre and the large office
constructions south of the boulevard. The redevelopment was finished in 2001.
The second step in the improvement of Dordrecht’s city centre was the redevelopment of
the Statenplein in 2002 (Section 6.3.3) and the building block bounded by the streets Achterom
and Bagijnhof. The block includes two large shops (i.e., C&A and Hema) and is rather derelict.
The plan was to redevelop it shortly after the completion of the Statenplein, but the project is
still unfinished. The reconstruction stagnated due to problems with high concentrations of fine
particles. Recently, legislation has become stricter on air quality in the Netherlands, enabling
opponents to stop construction projects until the effect of the project on the air quality is
measured and found acceptable. In case of Dordrecht, this implied the suspension of two crucial
construction licences for the planned indoor parking garage. The Council of State reviewed the
objection and decided in 2007 that the project could be continued. The plans are to redevelop
the Achterom/Bagijnhof quickly, as it currently forms an unattractive barrier between the train
station and the city centre.
The third theme of the business plan – improving squares and creating a circuit of restaurants
and pavement cafés – has been implemented. The Grote Markt and Scheffersplein have been
redesigned after the weekly market was transferred from these squares to the redeveloped
Statenplein. The Grote Markt is discussed in more detail in the next section. The Scheffersplein
is an example of a vault square, a broad bridge over a canal functioning as square. The square was
upgraded with minor changes in its design. The façade of department store V&D was renovated
and new licences were provided to café and restaurant owners to expand outdoors. The square
has transformed into a typical café square with many sidewalk cafés.
The 1996 business plan is by far the most influential document for the reconstruction of
Dordrechts’s city centre in general and the Grote Markt and Statenplein in particular. Since
then, a number of other policy plans regarding the city centre have been formulated (see Table
6.4). A new City Plan (Stadsplan Dordrecht) was presented in 2000, which – similar to Rotterdam
– lobbied for strengthening the housing function of the city centre. A new traffic circulation plan
(Verkeersplan Binnenstad) was set up in 2002, in which traffic flows and parking facilities in the
core of the city were reduced. Recently, the mayor and aldermen presented a new city centre
map (Programmakaart binnenstad 2008-2012), which forms a bridge between the 1996 business
plan, the current situation, and the future of the city centre. The main aim is to make the city
centre more appealing by improving its access routes, increasing opening hours of shops and
other facilities, and adding new facilities such as a cinema or new museum. The map still needs
to be approved by the city council (AD, 2007b).
The redevelopment of Dordrecht’s city centre is not yet completed, as the Achterom/
Bagijnhof project still needs to be executed. The same applies to the train station square, which
will be redeveloped in 2008. The local government could not redevelop this square earlier, because
it needed the co-operation of the Dutch railway company NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen), which
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