Changing public space

Table 6.5 Timeline of developments at the Grote Markt
Year
Developments
1960s Creation of the Grote Markt as result of the demolition of residences, the weighing house, and
synagogue. The Grote Markt was created to function as parking and market space.
1970s New housing was built on the west side of the square
1982 Creation of Waagpassage between the Scheffersplein and Grote Markt to make the Grote Markt more
intimate and to restore the historic fine-grained structure of the city
2001 Move of the market from the Grote Markt/Scheffersplein to the new Statenplein
2002 Selection of landscape architect Rein Geurtsen to develop new plan for Grote Markt.
2003 Presentation of Geurtsen’s plans
2004 Cancellation of Geurtsen’s plans due to fiscal problems. The local government decided in cooperation
with the local population to temporarily redevelop the Grote Markt.
2005 Redevelopment and opening of the new Grote Markt
2007 The fiscal problems are solved, enabling new discussions about the Grote Markt’s future
Source: based on Interviews (2006)
after functioning as market place for decades. The Scheffersplein was repaved and designated as
new café square of Dordrecht. A new function for the Grote Markt was less obvious.
The municipality decided to retain an external planning agency to brainstorm about the
potential function and design of the Grote Markt and selected Rein Geurtsen & Partners to
make a new plan. The architect’s main advice was to restore the fine-grained structure that
existed in the area prior to the demolitions by reducing the square’s size. This would turn it
from a market place and parking square into a residential square, and make it a more attractive
route from the shopping district to the harbour area (Rein Geurtsen & Partners, 2003). The
development of extra residential units supported the city plan of 2000 (Stadsplan Dordrecht) to
create more housing in the city centre. Geurtsen’s plans looked promising, but soon appeared
to be unfeasible. Fortis Bank owned the 1970s housing complex on the west side of the square,
which was planned to be demolished. However, the local government could not acquire Fortis’
property, nor was the bank capable to arrange for the demolition. The reason was that the
property was built by means of a sale-and-lease back construction, implying that it was partially
financed by a so-called developer subsidy. According to the fiscal arrangements, Fortis ran the
risk of a 30 million euro penalty if it violated the agreements made before the expiration of forty
years. This meant that no demolition works or sales of the property were allowed until 2015,
unless the fiscal regulations would be eased earlier.
After this became clear, the local government decided to temporarily redevelop the
Grote Markt. The municipality made a new design in co-operation with local residents. The
redevelopment started in January 2005 and was limited to repaving the square with bricks,
planting new trees, creating a more efficient use of parking spaces, adapting lighting, and
placing benches and garbage cans (Figure 6.7). The total costs for the redesign were 2,1 million
euro, including prior archaeological research. The new Grote Markt was opened in June 2005.
Despite of the new design of the square, a number of the surrounding shops have closed down,
leaving vacant units on the ground floors. According to interviewed representatives of the local
government, the vacancies were anticipated since improving one part of the city can negatively
affect another part. However, the situation on the Grote Markt might improve in the near
future. The fiscal problems that have hampered the redevelopment have recently been solved. It
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