The Rampart, The Traffic Artery, and the Park; Designing for the city regions of Antwerp
Through a close reading of Antwerp’s current spatial and socio-economic composition, and the introduction of the interplay between the city’s three defining paradigms – abstracted to ‘The Rampart, the Traffic Artery, and the Park’ – this study tries to sketch a unifying strategy for Antwerp’s metropole. A strategy that embeds residential, economic, cultural, recreational, climatic, and historical motives within the different city regions. Thereby improving the connection between the left and right side of the river; transitioning the suburban region to a more polycentric structure while maintaining a spatial relation to the city; and explicitly manages the horizontal growth of the periphery. But that most importantly, captures the metropole in a single narrative from its inner-city to its outer edges. Graduation thesis prepared for the master’s degree in urban design at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
Through a close reading of Antwerp’s current spatial and socio-economic composition, and the introduction of the interplay between the city’s three defining paradigms – abstracted to ‘The Rampart, the Traffic Artery, and the Park’ – this study tries to sketch a unifying strategy for Antwerp’s metropole. A strategy that embeds residential, economic, cultural, recreational, climatic, and historical motives within the different city regions. Thereby improving the connection between the left and right side of the river; transitioning the suburban region to a more polycentric structure while maintaining a spatial relation to the city; and explicitly manages the horizontal growth of the periphery. But that most importantly, captures the metropole in a single narrative from its inner-city to its outer edges.
Graduation thesis prepared for the master’s degree in urban design at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
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Much of this system has survived till this day. The peripheral forts, the belt on
the left bank and the Brialmont belt are, with a few exceptions, all preserved;
this then also holds up for the observed fortification spiral. Going into Linkeroever
and the city, we see that almost all of the historic defence structure has
disappeared; effectively breaking the spiral.
Relationship between the defence system and Antwerp’s
major structures
In terms of ecology we see that almost all forts have been marked as ecologically
valuable for flora and fauna, and that the historic inundation areas
coincide with the current flood areas, which are also marked as ecologically
valuable. We can establish a system of radial and concentric ecological zones
that run from the periphery to the inner-city. Extending the defining aspect of
the future ring park we can establish two more potential green rings that can
define a city region: the Brialmont belt, and the semicircle of that the river valleys
of the Scheldt’s tributaries (concentric) and the Northern Parks (concentric)
describe.
Regarding morphology we have seen that the fortification spiral has a certain
structuring quality; while spiraling toward the periphery it encompasses
the three elements of Antwerp’s metropole: the inner-city, the suburbs, and
the low-density villages surround Antwerp. It concludes with Antwerp’s three
neighbouring cities: Lier, Mechelen, and Sint-Niklaas. This combined with the
ecological findings could provide a defining structure and connection in the
region. However, this also adds some difficulty, as the remnants of the National
Redoubt span 23 municipalities and 2 provinces.
In relation to infrastructure we see that Antwerp is based predominantly on a
radial system of highways, railways, and waterways, with two main concentric
connections, the Krijgsbaan in the suburban region, and the highway, railway,
and waterway connection on the periphery. This also roughly outlines the dominant
industrial radial in the metropole; the Albert Canal, the A12 to Brussels,
and the Scheldt to the Harbour, and the concentric link between Sint-Niklaas
and the canal on the periphery. The Krijgsbaan and chaussee to Ghent show
potential as a concentric and radial economical link, respectively.
Regarding reachability of the forts, we see the forts near the city are
more easily reached than the forts at the periphery. A combination of radial
and concentric connections can be used to reach the forts in the suburban
region. Radials become more important toward the periphery; concentric connections
are present but not continuous. This also means the fortification spiral
can at the moment not be fully used for recreational purposes.
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