The Rampart, The Traffic Artery, and the Park; Designing for the city regions of Antwerp

4.2
A densification strategy
for the ring zone
On the role of the green ring as a densifying strategy for
Antwerp's ring zone
This chapter set out to analyse the composition of the defensive structure of
the inner-city and Linkeroever and its remnants. It subsequently analysed the
spatial response of the area adjacent to the ring inner-city and suburban region.
And continued with a morphological analysis of the basic morphological
characteristics of the city districts along the ring, including Linkeroever. It did so
to answer the following three sub-questions:
1. What was the composition of the defensive structure of the inner-city and
Linkeroever?
2. What is the spatial response of the area adjacent to the ring in the inner-city
and suburban region?
3. What are the basic morphological characteristics of the city districts along
the ring?
The following pages will present the main findings of these analyses as an
answer to the sub-questions, and subsequently design a plan that gives conceptual
direction to the green city ring and the densification of the city and
suburban districts along the ring, and Linkeroever as part of the inner-city of
Antwerp. While designing the plan, this chapter will lean on the findings of
the polycentric strategy of the previous chapter in which the ring park made
a connection to the water element of the Grote Omwalling of the right side
of the Scheldt and the inundation area on the left, to establish a historical,
ecological, and climatic link. This chapter also positioned Linkeroever’s diverse
recreational activities as its main economic carrier, which will be extended to
attract other amenities to the district, and give shape to Linkeroever as part of
Antwerp’s inner city.
Defensive structure of the inner-city and Linkeroever
The defence system consisted out of the Grote Omwalling on the right side of
the Scheldt, and an inundation that encompassed the north of the Omwalling
and Linkeroever. The inundation had large effect on the fortification of
the Omwalling, as the only major defence structure here was Noordkasteel,
a structure built for the purposes of defending the bent of the Scheldt river,
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