Over Morgen has been asked to assist the municipality of Gouda in the transformation of their railway area. This two-kilometre-long tract is the link that connects the station and its surroundings with the historical city centre. This initiative has been made possible thanks to the budget of the Vliegende Brigade (literally: Flying Brigade) of the province of South Holland, a task-force set up to help municipalities and other organisations accelerate their housing and inner-city development projects. This project has the goal to accelerate the construction of housing in the inner city. Thousands of new homes must be built in the railway area by 2025 to create a mixed urban area. Over Morgen has been asked to draft an integrated development perspective plan. This perspective plan sets the start of the housing development in the railway area and invites local market players to participate.
Our solution
In cooperation with the municipal project team and the relevant policy officers, Over Morgen is drafting an integrated development perspective plan for the railway area. Together, we determine what the building blocks will be, based on themes such as housing, the economy, the social domain, sustainable mobility, heat, energy, greenery, climate adaptation, circular material use and cultural history. For our development perspective plan, we assess the building blocks and translate them into an integrated vision and strategy, with the goal of making this area future-proof.
Innovative approach
This development perspective plan constitutes a clear starting point for the development of the area. It helps the municipality facilitate new initiatives in an agile, transparent way. In addition to the potential locations to be redeveloped in the railway area, we also map the relationship with the existing functions and with the surrounding neighbourhoods. An innovative approach on topics such as sustainable (partial) mobility and renewable heat offers great opportunities that can benefit the rest of the city and make it more sustainable.
Calculations and drawings
For the sub-locations which are scheduled for redevelopment in the short term, we start a process of co-creation with local homeowners and players to issue plot passports based on our development perspective plan. The plot passport includes all practical details for the redevelopment of the site. However, the co-existence of goals and requirements should not jeopardize the feasibility of the project. Therefore, calculations and drawings go hand in hand. The market players are invited to start their own design process parallel to the issue of the plot passports. In this way, we are able to identify any possible breakpoints in collaboration at an early stage and achieve the desired acceleration.