Schie Quarter

In the coming years the area around the central Koemarkt square and the Schie canal will transform into a meeting place with living, working and leisure. The strategy is an elaboration of the winning entries from the Europan 12 competition in 2013 and has been made in collaboration with Studio Komma and Felixx. The city council of Schiedam has approved the development strategy for the Schie Quarter.

Schiedam has a particular urban configuration with the historical center and the port industry right next to each other. The Schie Quarter, being situated at the border of both areas, will connect them spatially and functionally into a new urban entity. The objective of the development strategy is the transformation of the area into a vivid district around the Schie canal. A new vital and authentic downtown entrance.

 

 

The central Koemarkt square will be simplified and connected to the water. The renewed square will become a link between the industrial area and the historic center. The adjacent and currently vacant VROM location offers place to a new program in the future that fits both the historic city and the industrial area.

The development strategy proposes an incremental transformation. It is a flexible strategy that steers the spatial, social and economic development potential of the project area. The entire planning area is thereby divided into a number of subprojects. This subdivision makes it possible to develop the entire planning area in several steps with their own pace and priority. This allows the project to respond to the dynamics of contemporary urban development.

To achieve a feasible plan that is being carried by multiple stakeholders, the strategy has been made within an open planning process. It has been a comprehensive cooperation between the municipality, consultants and public, which has conducted in an open dialogue. Also in the future this cooperation will play a continuous role with the development of the subprojects.