Meerstad Groningen

A new residential landscape is being developed northeast of the city of Groningen for city folk who still want to be surrounded by plenty of space, water and countryside. The basic ingredients of this new residential landscape, which is to be implemented in the course of the next twenty-five years, are some 6,000 dwellings, new nature, and a new 600 ha lake. Building will take place on no more than one-third of the total planning area.

Between 2006 and 2012 we contributed to the planning of Meerstad-Midden, drew up subsidiary plans, compiled a manual for the public space, designed a new waterway link, contributed to the new development and temporary nature strategies, and devised plans for the layout of the public space. Berno Strootman, with the assistance of Jurjen van der Meer, was supervisor and later 'foreman on the job'.

Meerstad has been developed according to a flexible strategy so far. Every small and larger step in the development of Meerstad is implemented in such a way that it has value in itself. In separate plans for parts of the area to be developed, we no longer work backwards from final visions to decide what has to be done today or tomorrow. Substantial investments are being made in the main structure of Meerstad to link up with existing waterway routes, to implement a good and attractive connection with the city, and to create one of the unique elements of Meerstad: green living in a rural environment. In short, securing and building on the essential qualities while at the same time leaving open what does not have to be determined in order to facilitate optimal anticipation of future developments.

Our design for the public space is reticent, informal, with the character of a rural village. There are residential islands with free plots of land surrounded by reeds with alders and willows dotted here and there. Lakeside dwellings with a fantastic view are built beside the school route: a safe and attractive route for pedestrians and cyclists leading from the neighbourhood to the school. The main village road is the green backbone of the public space in subsidiary plan 1. This road forms part of the main access route and has a wide street profile with an asymmetrical structure. The sunny north-eastern side of this road is the location of a few public waterside gardens with beech hedges and containing fruit trees, play areas and benches.