Sweco Belgium
Renewed urban planning ready for implementation
Strategic Spatial Plan Antwerp officially approved
The starting signal has been given. After a public consultation in which the residents of the city were able to submit their comments and request adjustments, the municipal council definitively approved the Strategic Spatial Plan Antwerp (SRA) on 21 May 2024. The plan will enter into force at the end of July. With the Strategic Spatial Plan Antwerp, the city tells its vision for the future in one clear narrative. And that vision is highly ambitious: Antwerp aims to become the most liveable city, with a high quality of life in strong neighbourhoods.
A new sustainable and future-oriented urban vision
Kathleen De Beukelaer, Project Manager Strategic Planning: “Building on the Spatial Structure Plan Antwerp from about twenty years ago, the Strategic Spatial Plan Antwerp marks the start of a new, sustainable and future-oriented urban vision for the next twenty years.”
It is clear that such a strong future vision is needed today: we want to live in a city with more high-quality and affordable housing, with good cycling, bus and tram connections, and where it is pleasant to spend time in numerous open spaces and green squares. A city where water features capture rain during prolonged spring rainfall and where large and small parks offer cooling during periods of heat.
Three layers for a resilient city
With the Strategic Spatial Plan Antwerp, to which we contributed as urbanists and spatial planners for the city administration, Sweco focuses on three layers:
- Resilient landscape: We green neighbourhoods and make them more resilient to climate change.
- Smart network city: We strengthen the economic system and mobility through multimodal hubs.
- Vibrant residential city: We improve living quality for Antwerp residents, with the Ring City and Ring Parks as catalysts for greater liveability.
Photo Credit: LUCID
Kathleen De Beukelaer, Project Manager Strategic Planning: “The strength of this plan lies in the holistic perspective with which we look at the city together with the administration. For the first time, residential densification, mobility and green-blue networks are interwoven and written into one clear narrative.”
Kathleen De Beukelaer, Project Manager Strategic Planning: “The strength of this plan lies in the holistic perspective with which we look at the city together with the administration. For the first time, residential densification, mobility and green-blue networks are interwoven and written into one clear narrative.”
Urban shift through smart densification
The plan introduces what could be called an Antwerp urban shift: a strategy of smart densification that takes into account the specific characteristics of each neighbourhood and the expected population growth. And therefore the additional demand for quality housing. By focusing, for example, on the edges of building blocks, inner areas will gain more space and greenery.
Kathleen: “The strength of this plan lies in the holistic perspective with which we look at the city together with the administration. Three crucial themes – residential densification, mobility and green-blue networks – are interwoven and written into one clear narrative. Moreover, attention is not only given to large urban redevelopment projects, but also to small neighbourhood green spaces and strong local communities. We are very pleased that the city dares to use a broad range of planning instruments to implement policy at all levels.”
Room for innovation and flexibility
The Strategic Spatial Plan Antwerp is the result of a balanced approach that combines ambition with room for innovation. The city invites partners and investors to contribute to this vision. The Strategic Spatial Plan is also a flexible framework that can respond to the trends of tomorrow. Within this framework, other policy instruments such as the building code and the transformation guideline will further steer developments in the coming years. To implement the Strategic Spatial Plan Antwerp in practice, additional plans such as Spatial Implementation Plans (RUP) and the housing policy plan will be developed.
This plan is not merely a vision of the future, it is a promise to every resident of Antwerp. The Strategic Spatial Plan Antwerp forms the basis for a city ready for the challenges of tomorrow, with attention to people and their environment. Together we are building a city full of life, where innovation and tradition go hand in hand, and where everyone who lives, works or spends time there feels at home.
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