From Parking to Place

Abstract

This research investigates how car-dominated woonerven in Houtwijk, The Hague, can be architecturally transformed into healthier public spaces while maintaining essential car access and parking. Although Houtwijk contains substantial green space and retains the spatial structure of a post-war bloemkoolwijk, many of its woonerven no longer perform as collective residential environments. Parking pressure, vehicular circulation, fragmented green space and inactive residential edges limit everyday movement, outdoor use and informal social contact.

The study adopts a research-by-design methodology. Literature research establishes how public space can support health through walking, staying and social interaction, while field observations, photographic documentation, spatial measurements and archival analysis examine how these conditions are currently limited in one courtyard woonerf along the Dr. J. Presserstraat. The research findings show that the main issue is not simply the presence of cars or the absence of green space, but the way collective space is organised: cars dominate the spatial layout, green areas remain residual or inaccessible, and the relationship between dwellings and public space is weak.

These findings are translated into three design principles. First, mobility should be reorganised towards walking-first access without excluding residents who depend on the car. Second, residual and parking-dominated space should be transformed into usable outdoor rooms that invite everyday activity, rest and encounter. Third, hard residential edges should be replaced by layered threshold zones that create a more active relationship between private dwellings and collective public life.
The design proposal demonstrates how these principles can be applied spatially. The Dr. J. Presserstraat is transformed into a pedestrian-priority axis, while car circulation and parking are subordinated through mobility hubs and underground parking. Within the courtyard, released surface space is redesigned as a sequence of outdoor rooms for sitting, play, sport, gardening and communal use, supported by green-blue interventions that improve microclimatic comfort. At the architectural scale, verandas, planted buffers, active ground-floor rooms, increased façade transparency and greater dwelling diversity strengthen everyday use around the courtyard.

The research concludes that the health-supporting potential of the woonerf lies in the interaction between movement, staying and social contact. By reducing car dominance without denying car dependency, existing post-war residential environments can be transformed from parking-oriented spaces into everyday places for healthier public life.