Living on Crunchy Street

Abstract

A design was made for the Calve/DSM site in Delft. It is a factory site which is being abandoned by its users, leaving 16 ha to be developed in the coming future. The aim is to develop a socially sustainable creative district through means of self-organisation. The project is restricted to the borders of the design location and takes the open urban system, in which it is set, as context. Dealing with self-organisation in process and design is what distinguishes this project. It is necessary to create a successful knowledge district and to make it socially sustainable. The method chosen for this design study uses a matrix as a testing and selection instrument. This Matrix method is used to streamline the organisation of urban space by its stakeholders. The basic assumption of this approach is that "urban planners can play a pivotal role [in urban processes] by mapping out the existing situation, reconnoitring the various starting-points, assessing the margin for potential solutions, and then translating the outcomes of this process into a clear-cut plan." (Veldhuis, 2003). Research in the thesis plan (Van der Kooij, 2008a) and two papers (Van der Kooij, 2008b; Van der Kooij 2008c) has led to formulate fourteen characteristics for the design of the district. Five of these design criteria are spatial preconditions to enable successful self-organisation of an urban district. The five rules imply creating recognisable territories, as these provide a readable privacy-zoning. This enables every individual -resident, visitor or passer-by- to regulate their own social contacts. This should not lead to a social network, but it does make the resident jointly-responsible for their physical and social surroundings. (Van Dorst, 2005: 257)