Location

Doetinchem

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Client

Municipality of Doetinchem

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Period

2015

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Team

Marco Broekman, Alexandra Kern, Anna Sosin

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Assignment 

Integral vision on the vacancy of the “High Streets” Doetinchem

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Status

Vision finished

The center of Doetinchem is increasingly facing vacancy problems. In the spatial study “Aanloopstraten Centrum Doetinchem" BURA (formerly known as marco.broekman) is revealing the main causes of this development and investigates the options for dealing with the situation. Vacancy in “shrinking areas” requires new urban strategies, because it concerns a “replacement market” (vervangingsmarkt) instead of a growth market. There are simply too many buildings and there is not enough programme. This project uses new analysis techniques to understand such an urban situation and provides insights to the choices to be made.

 

The goal is not to solve vacancy, but to develop instruments for dealing with vacancy as well as to prioritise programme on city level. Besides this, another role of the authorities is addressed. On the one hand this includes more steering, while at the same time there needs to be more options for experimentation. Doetinchem is prioritising on this issue. In order to keep the inner city of Doetinchem vital and lively, available urban programme needs to be located in and around the city centre. This requires a programmatic strategy on city scale and a ‘re-allotment of functions’ towards the inner city. The quality and coherence of the city centre and the “High Streets” of Doetinchem can be increased by a strategy of acupunctural interventions including demolition, reprogramming, rebuilding, public space investments and reparation of the urban fabric with new small scale buildings.