Changing public space

This suggests that the private sector is mainly interested in participating in the redevelopment
of public space when the total project involves new (preferably retail) constructions rather than
the mere beautification of public space. Therefore, it is not surprising that the four PPP squares
all show an increase of retail in the surrounding property (i.e., the construction of shops in the
Beurstraverse, the Nieuwe Blok at the Statenplein, the Arena and Stoa at the Loeffplein, and the
Bijenkorf and upgrading of the V&D and Klanderij at the Van Heekplein). Some informants
stressed that there are examples where the private sector is willing to invest in non-retail squares,
but this mainly concerns housing associations involved in the upgrading of residential squares
located outside the city centre rather than, for example, cultural squares:
That’s logical [that the private sector is not involved in cultural squares], because it has
no control over what will happen in those ‘temples of culture’ and thus the return is
unpredictable. However, there are examples of places you can redevelop with support
of associations that own the surrounding property. In that case, control and financial
advantages are more predictable. For example the Mercatorplein in Amsterdam, where
associations could obtain capital from the bank to co-finance the design of public space
based on the expected increase in value of the association’s property. (Designer II)
However, co-financing public space is often limited to large investors. Individual shop-owners are
usually not very eager to participate in urban redevelopment, because they feel that they would
be performing a task of the local government. Table 8.3 shows the role of the private sector in the
redevelopment of the PPP squares. The private actors seem particularly involved in the finance
and design of public space, which is elaborated in Section 8.3.1 and 8.3.3. In contrast, developers
Table 8.3 Role of the private sector in the redevelopment of the PPP squares
Initiative
Design
Beurstraverse Statenplein Van Heekplein Loeffplein
Developer Multi took
initiative to expand
C&A’s upgrading
plans to surrounding
area
Consortium incl.
Nationale Nederlanden
selected
architects to design
public space
Multi (and
VendexKBB)
came with final
redevelopment
plan
Achmea and
Multi selected
Vandenhove to
design Nieuwe Blok
- -
Several investors
selected architects to
design their property
(Table 8.1)
Multi (and the local
government) selected
Galí to design public
space and Tusquets to
design Arena
Process - - - -
Finance Investor Nationale
Nederlanden (later
ING) financed 7/8 of
total costs
Insurance
company Achmea
contributed by
purchasing land for
Several investors
contributed by
purchasing land for
Bijenkorf, V&D, and
Nationale Nederlanden
contributed by
purchasing land for
Arena
Nieuwe Blok Klanderij (Table 8.1)
Maintenance Carried out by
Actys on behest of
consortium incl.
investors ING and
Focas
- - -
Source: Interviews (2006)
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