Wijk aan Zee
Co-creating a place for young and old
Together with residents, entrepreneurs, stakeholders of Wijk aan Zee, and the City of Beverwijk Space&Matter explored and created a spatial vision that would strengthen this Dutch coastal town for many years to come. In a series of participatory design workshops, locals showed up to share and discuss their hopes, concerns and, eventually, collective vision for the future of the place they call home. Based on their input, we developed five distinct scenarios with nature inclusive design, multifunctional spaces and bottom-up development as the guiding principles. In the last workshop, residents expressed their preferences for a spatial plan in which educational, civic and care facilities, a change that creates new, much-needed space for housing and makes the town more resilient overall. The study was enabled by subsidy from Creative Industries Fund NL.
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Tjeerd Haccou, Marta Lachowska, Giulia Azaria, Aga Biedalak
Dorpsraad, Heliomare, Stichting Dorpshuis, De Hartekamp Groep, SaWaZ, de Participatieraad, Werkgroep Dorpsplan, Gemeente Beverwijk, Annabel Thomas, Stimuleringsfonds
Joining forces
Nestled in between the North Sea, Tata Steel Factory and the Noord hollands Duinreservaat, Wijk aan Zee is defined by a wonderful dune landscape and is home to roughly 2,400 people. Local organisations, some of which have to renovate their buildings in the near future, asked us to help them explore and draw up an inclusive and future-proof vision for the upcoming transformations. How might they collaborate and join forces, and how could they use this moment as an opportunity to improve the town for all its residents?
In five workshops, we, together with more than 50 participants of all ages and backgrounds, analysed Wijk aan Zee and its unique challenges. We spoke about development opportunities and threats, about how health, well-being, recreation and housing could be brought together in multifunctional buildings. These elements and more were brought to life in a scale model, giving residents the opportunity to experience and interact with the different scenarios from up close.
Opportunities for the future
"Wijk aan Zee is facing a ‘now or never’ chance to redevelop a large part of the town and lift itself up to a level that it has not seen for decades. Space & Matter carefully mapped all the wishes and possibilities, but also the values that are embedded in the community. They then gave us the view of an outsider to see what is possible, what must be preserved and where we need to improve. It was utterly satisfying to see how this melted away the resistance to change and we are now joining forces to materialize a future dream for our community." according to Hans Dellevoet, workgroup spatial planning, village council Wijk aan Zee.
