Changing public space

and investors hardly contribute to directing the redevelopment process and maintaining the
public space after it has been redeveloped. The Beurstraverse is the exception.
8.2.3 Role of the stakeholders
The potential role of other stakeholders has been described in Section 4.3.3, which focused
on retailers, local residents, and preservation groups. The motive of retailers to be involved in
redevelopment stems from the expected increase in sales after the upgrading. However, they
might also fear increased competition and a loss of income during the reconstruction period.
The retailers have not been explicitily interviewed as a group of actors in the research, because
they are mainly regarded as stakeholders rather than active actors. Nevertheless, some remarks
can be made on their role and objectives regarding the redevelopment of the PPP squares. The
examples of the Beurstraverse and Statenplein show that retailers, such as the owners of the
retail conglomerate C&A and department store V&D, can sometimes initiate the redevelopment
process rather than the local government or a developer (Table 8.4).
In Rotterdam, the intended demolition and rebuilding of the C&A store generated the idea
to also redevelop the store’s immediate surrounding, which eventually led to the development
of the Beurstraverse as sunken underpass. In case of the Statenplein, the owner of V&D
(VendexKBB) and developer Multi jointly induced a breakthrough in the seemingly endless
discussion about the square’s redevelopment. In both projects, the redevelopment of public space
was closely linked to the upgrading of the department stores. However, while the owners of
C&A desired to expand (in the 1980s), the owners of the V&D were interested in reducing the
floor space of their department store (in the 1990s). This difference is related to the fact that not
only the V&D, but department stores in general are going through difficult times in the last
decade (see text box). They have to deal with increasing competition of other shops. The sales
of large products such as furniture have declined due to the competition of so-called ‘furniture
Table 8.4 Role of the stakeholders in the redevelopment of the PPP squares
Initiative
Beurstraverse Statenplein Van Heekplein Loeffplein
C&A’s plans to
upgrade its store
triggered Multi’s
proposal to also
redevelop its
surroudings
VendexKBB (and
Multi) came with
final redevelopment
plan
Design - - VendexKBB was
highly involved
in brainstorm
concerning design
of public space
- Association of local
entrepreneurs (Hartje
’s-Hertogenbosch)
triggered decisionmaking
process
Hartje ’s-Hertogenbosch
was involved in the
selection process of the
designers
Process - - - Hartje ’s-Hertogenbosch
was responsible to settle
the objections to the
redevelopment plan
Finance - - - -
Maintenance - - - -
Source: Interviews (2006)
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