Yet more innovative projects are coming out of the Netherlands (surprise, surprise). This time UNStudio, an architectural practice has created a brand new urban vision for the City of the Future in the Hague. This is a Central Innovation District (CID) test site. It is a 1 square km area in the center of the city and well, it’s looking pretty awesome!
The project started in January 2018, when 10 multidisciplinary design teams were tasked with investigating new ways of city-making using five test locations in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven. So there are a lot of people working together to make this happen.
What is the vision for the future?
The vision incorporates two of the largest issues which cities will face – sustainability and urbanisation. How will they do this? Well, they aim to create something that is both energy-neutral, yet also self-sufficient. The CID is triangulated by the Hague Central Station and 2 other nearby stations. It will be a double-layered, self-sufficient and energy-neutral area, with green public spaces, housing and office space. With the ease of transport so good, it really could become a Metropolitan Superhub, which is their goal.
The creation of ‘gateways’ will help with major issues in our time – food production, water management, energy, climate adaption, mobility and circularity. These architectural interventions will work to solve many of these issues. Power for high-rise buildings will be solar, water will be reused for drinking and water features, low rise houses will be supplied with geothermal energy – it all just makes sense.
These gateways will also have a social function too, by acting as bridges for people to navigate around the area, connecting houses, gardens, farms and other shared spaces. The key to all of this is the connection of sustainability, with a good quality of life all round. This is basically and living and breathing innovation space, which will encourage more innovative projects within it.
In DutchReview terminology: it looks f’ing awesome!
What do you think about this new innovative project? Let us know in the comments!
This a joint initiative by BNA Research (the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects), the Delft University of Technology, the Delta Metropolis Association, the municipalities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven, the Directorates-General for Mobility and Transport, the Environment and Water, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Interior.
