Making Space for Light Industry

Abstract

The presence of industry within the urban environment is gaining significant traction in a number of cities around the world. It’s growth and importance is fuelled by technology advancements that support both traditional local industry and advanced manufacturing. However, there is a lack of a vision and clear approach regarding industry in cities as well as competing interests for available space in urban environments. Since industry is typically considered as a weak land use, strategic efforts and strong interventions are required to ensure its presence in cities is retained and promoted within the urban fabric (Hill, 2020). This study focuses on examining the conditions that can influence the feasibility of integrating light industry when transforming industrial estates (bedrijventerreinen in Dutch) into new urban mixed-use districts in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. NDSM-Werf, a former shipyard situated on the northern banks of the IJ, is the chosen case study site. In this research, the scope of light industry covers a broad range of industrial and supporting activities that in theory can be incorporated in an urban mixed-use setting. The research methodology includes an extensive literature review, followed by empirical research that is made up of three main components: the Planning & Policy Dimension, the Stakeholder Dimension and the Spatial Dimension. The data collection methods used include documentation analysis in which a range of governmental and non-governmental documents were reviewed; semi-structured interviews with public, private, and third party stakeholders as well as experts;  and additional desktop research where applicable. Outputs include the review of planning and policy processes, stakeholder mapping and a spatial analysis that involved the identification of City of Making (CoM) patterns derived from the Foundries of the Future book (Hill, 2020) using the case study site of NDSM-Werf. Main findings include the identification of six key conditions that were found critical to consider to integrating light industry in urban mixed-use developments of transformation areas in Amsterdam. Recommendations are provided at both the city level of Amsterdam and for the NDSM-Werf site in particular, directed at key stakeholders identified in the research. In addition, suggestions for further research into relevant topical areas are presented.