b) Parking lots
Beneath the cultural heart of the city, the Museumplein Square is a project aimed to accommodate 1,150 cars and also one of the largest underground water reservoirs in the Netherlands. This structure is supposed to accommodate 12% of the entire water storage capacity needed for the city center.
Figure 1.5. Parking lot project. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/douay/transitions.zip
(source: Urban Green-Blue Grids 2011)
c) Multifunctional rooftop program
As a part of the climate adaptation strategies, the city of Rotterdam discovered that the surface area on the existing buildings is about 15,000,000 m2. This immediately meant that this area can potentially be used for providing extra public spaces for citizens and as a tool for further solutions with respect to other complexities such as congestion, densification and global warming. The future roof landscape in Rotterdam will consist of the so-called green, blue, red and yellow roofs. Each color represents a particular function as shown in the illustration below; yellow for solar energy, green for vegetation on roofs, blue for extra water storage and red roofs would have a social function.
The one square kilometer sustainable roofscape city center program offers to add value to dwellers by encouraging a combination of integrated solutions in rooftops, meaning more water storage, increased permeability of the urban area, energy generation, greater ecological value, food production, cleaner air, health and social cohesion amongst other benefits (Rotterdam Resilience Strategy 2016).
Figure 1.6. Rooftop Program, For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/douay/transitions.zip
(Source: Rotterdam Resilience Strategy & De Urbanisten; Edited by Munir Khader).
1.4. Conclusion
The resilient strategy adopted by the city of Rotterdam has, to a good extent, been able to address the different environmental, social, economic and political aspects of the city. After reading their experiences, goals and actions, we can claim that the whole strategy was well thought of and properly coordinated with the existing situation in terms of its methodology and comprehensiveness. It also dwelled on items at various scales and levels, as well as managed to preserve the city’s identity without neglecting its programs and actions.
However, after the brief assessment of Rotterdam’s Resilience Strategy, perhaps one important question that instantly comes to mind is whether they can actually make the changes they described. Execution of the strategy is probably the biggest challenge as it can be attested in many other global resilient strategies that only made it through the preparation stage but were never accomplished, mainly due to financial or political reasons.
After such a long, detailed and rigorous process of producing the strategy, it is only essential for the city to get the results and realize the goals within the coming years. It is fair to say that the city succeeded to formulate some strong goals and objectives linked with efficient “detailed actions”, which were derived from the real needs of the city that were addressed by the public and various stakeholders involved in the decision-making process and during the formulation of the strategy. Realizing this resilience strategy could make positive changes in the city at natural, economic and social levels.
1.4. References
100 Resilient Cities (2020a). Rotterdam – 100 Resilient Cities [Online]. Available: https://www.100resilientcities.org/strategies/rotterdam.
100 Resilient Cities (2020b). Strategy Resilient Rotterdam [Online]. Available: https://www.100resilientcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/strategy-resilient-rotterdam.pdf.
100 Resilient Citiies (2020c). Resilient Ramallah 2050 [Online]. Available: http://www.100resilientcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/171024_-Resilient-Ramallah_Spreads-High-res.pdf.
Citypopulation.de (2020). Rotterdam (municipality, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands) – Population statistics, charts, map and location [Online]. Available: https://www.citypopulation.de/php/netherlands-admin.php?adm2id=0599.
Docplayer.net (2020). Rotterdam. Ready for the 21st century [Online]. Available: https://docplayer.net/48504274-Rotterdam-ready-for-the-21-st-century.html.
Esther Wienese (2020). Rotterdam rooftops – Esther Wienese [Online]. Available: https://estherwienese.nl/rotterdam-rooftops.
Gnoinc.org (2020). The greater New Orleans urban water plan. Greater New Orleans, Inc. Regional Economic Development [Online]. Available: https://gnoinc.org/initiatives/the-greater-new-orleans-water-plan.
Pcbs.gov.ps (2020). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics [Online]. Available: http://www.pcbs.gov.ps.
PRIMO (2020). The urban resilience strategy of Rotterdam [Online]. Available: https://www.primo-europe.eu/the-urban-resilience-strategy-of-rotterdam.
Publicspace.org (2020). Works – Publicspace [Online]. Available: https://www.publicspace.org/works/-/project/h034-water-square-in-benthemplein.
Resilientrotterdam.nl (2020). Initiatives [Online]. Available: https://www.resilientrotterdam.nl/en/initiatives.
Rotterdam Centre for Resilient Delta Cities (2020). Rotterdam Centre For Resilient Delta Cities [Online]. Available: http://rdcrotterdam.com/about.
Urbanisten.nl (2020). DE URBANISTEN – Rotterdam roofscapes [Online]. Available: http://www.urbanisten.nl/wp/?portfolio=rotterdam-roofscapes.
Worldwateratlas.org (2020). Urban resilience in Rotterdam [Online]. Available: https://www.worldwateratlas.org/narratives/water-cities/urban-resilience-in-rotterdam/#examples-new-approach.
Chapter written by Munir KHADER.
Конец
