Tom Lodder - Lovely Liege, TOWARDS A POST CAR CITY

LOVELY LOVELY LIÈGE LIÈGE TOWARDS A POST CAR CITY

Tom Lodder Master in urbanism August 2021

Lovely Liège

Rue Grétry, 1900

2

Rue Grétry, 2021

3

SUMMARY

WHY? (ADAPT )

The city of Liège is suffocating because of extreme car hospitality. Public space has been stripped down to traffic space, serving the singular purpose of moving and parking polluting, dangerous and space inefficient cars. Global challenges concerning pandemics, climate change and sub-urbanization can no longer be denied their spatial claim within the city. The question becomes how to combine these new claims within a resilient and multifunctional public space? Belgium is trying to battle urban sprawl and the ongoing consumption of its landscape. Opposing low density and fully car dependant ribbon developments makes the transformation and adaptation of Liège into an attractive, denser and greener city a necessity, ensuring a resilient and sustainable future.

CITY AGENDA (AMAZE )

Liège will be introduced to a radical new mobility system, allowing for a solid green-blue framework, covering the whole city. Therefore, trough- and non-local traffic will be diverted around the city, restoring the city’s waterfront as public space and its relation with the Meuse. The green-blue framework ensures that green space is within at least 3 minutes walking distance of every inhabitant. A car free valley pushes trough motorized traffic outwards from the urban core maintaining a maximum speed of 30 km/h. Pedestrians, instead of private cars, have priority within this area. A network of slowlanes is provided to facilitate cycling, light electrical vehicles and even the allowance of autonomous city pods. Collective mobility hubs are within 300 meters distance of every inhabitant. By implementing the car-free valley, comparable or even better qualities concerning both real estate and public space will be created in order to compete with Belgiums urban sprawl.

RIBBON QUALITY - URBAN TYPOLOGY (ATTRACT )

Lovely Liège

The cluttered Longdoz city district will be transformed into a dense and attractive urban neighbourhood by adding a variety of much needed green public spaces.

The N30 city motorway will be transformed into a green boulevard, leaving cars underground and solving the missing green link between Parc de la Boverie and Parc de la Chartreuse as a continuous gateway to the outdoors. A new Longdoz trainstation and a new tramline, connecting Angleur via Longdoz with the city center will serve as the catalyst to transform the former industrial sites along the N30 road into green and dense city districts. Two variations of a newly introduced Longdoz superblock present how suburban ribbon qualities can be stacked into urban solutions, providing intimate private gardens and spacious collective climate courtyards within the city, giving sub-urbanites a run for their money and restoring the Belgian landscape.

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LOVELY LIÈGE

Stationary 0.5 m2

Walking 2.0 m2

Parked bike 4.0 m2

Cycling 5.0 m2 15 km/h

TOWARDS A POST CAR CITY

GOAL INCREASE LIVEABILITY AND ATTRACTION OF LIÈGE PEOPLE PER HOUR Car lane

Bike lane

Sidewalk Transitway

PROBLEM (WHY) CAR DOMINATION

LACKING GREEN ACCESS

The city of Liège is suffocating because of extreme car hospitality. The vast majority of public space is in exclusive service of the private automobile, drastically supressing quality of life for its inhabitants

SPRAWL AND DRAIN Wealthier people leave the city in favour of sub-urban living along the ribbon, leaving vulnerable groups in the urban core. On a national scale the continous sprawl is eating away the remaining Belgian landscape at a rapid pace.

Green space and the distance to green areas is unequally 600 - 1600Especially 7500 9000the 10.000 - 25.000 divided within the city. eastern banks have to deal with a lack of nearby and qualitative green.

Car la

600 - 1

AMBITION (AGENDA) 15

STREETS FOR PEOPLE

30

15

GREEN SPACE WITHIN 3 MINUTES

Reclaimation of public space for people. creating walkable, cyclable and playable streets for people and for children will make a better city for all inhabitants to live in.

SOCIAL-ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY In order to stop national urban sprawl and to reverse an urban segregation within the urban center, Liège has to reinvent itself re-attracting those who left the city in favour of a sub-urban lifestyle.

To ensure a healthy, pleasant and more climate resilient city, every inhabitant should be able to reach qaulity green spaces within at least 3 minutes walking distance.

MOBILITY TRANSITION

PEDESTRIANS CYCLISTS CYCLISTS + LIGHT ELECTRIC VEHICLES PEDESTRIAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT + AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES PUBLIC TRANSPORT PRIVATE MOTORIZED VEHICLES

150

190

PRIVATE MOTORIZED VEHICLES

230

SPACE EATER

KIDS + CARREER

90

50

MOTORWAY A25 20TH CENTURY THINKING HOW MANY CARS CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET?

STRATEGY (HOW) CAR FREE VALLEY PARADIGM SHIFT

Invest in mobility hubs, clean and space efficiënt modalities and prioritize high quality public spaces to be fundamentally designed for pedestrians (people) first, then cyclists and than other modalities.

ADAPT

21TH CENTURY THINKING HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET?

MOBILITY TRANSITION

GREEN-BLUE FRAMEWORK

DENSIFY CLOGGED URBAN DISTRICTS Brownfields and clogged urban districts within the city provide opportunities to create denser, greener and car-free city districts wich are able to compete with the sub-urban way of living along the ribbon.

50 A robust green-blue framework covering the whole city, will create new green spaces, solve missing green links to the outdoors and prepare the city for climate change.

TRAVEL MODE

110

ENSITY (people per hectare)

PEDESTRIANS

CYCLISTS

MEUSE QUAY

AMAZE

0

40

80

110

150

190

CYCLISTS + LIGHT ELECTRIC VEHICLES

PEDESTRIAN

PUBLIC TRANSPORT + AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

230

ATTRACT

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

PRIVATE MOTORIZED VEHICLES PRIVATE MOTORIZED VEHICLES

DENSITY (people per hectare)

MOTORWAY A25

30 20TH CENTURY THINKING HOW MANY CARS CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET?

RUE PUITS-EN-SOCK N3

2030

LY

P

P

PARADIGM SHIFT MATERIAL USE MOBILITY MEUSE QUAY

2030

P

PARKING GARAGE

PARKING ON STREET

FULL

HEALTHY, SMART, SENSIBLE, SUSTAINABLE, NICE, URBANISM COMPETITION WITHIN URBAN PUBLIC SPACE

P

21TH CENTURY THINKING DENSIFICATION HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET? MOBILITY

P

P

CLIMATE

WATER

P

Drought

CURRENT

P P

Flooding, drainage and storage Water management (Infiltration + storage)

P

P P

RUE PUITS-EN-SOCK N3

P P

P USER & SPATIAL QUALITY

FLORA & FAUNA 2030

P

Heath stress

missing link

ALLEY

P

PARKING GARAGE

5

MOBILITY-HUB

Roofgarden / solarenergy

HUB

water harvesting

Roofsports 2030

Robomart

P

Olli PT

Teleretail Delivery bot

PARKING GARAG FULL

HUB

CAR FREE KIDNEY

Shared / autonomous cars

HUB

Light electric vehicles

Package Hub / café

(E) Bikes

P

LOVELY LIÈGE

Towards a post-car city Master in Urbanism Academy of Architecture Amsterdam Author Tom Lodder Committee members Jaap Brouwer Jerryt Krombeen John Westrik Added committee members Herman Zonderland Hein Coumou

Lovely Liège

Date of publication 26 august 2021 Contact tom.lodder@live.nl

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INDEX 01

AUTOMOBILE URBANISM - INTRO P. 8

1.1 1.2 1.3

Fascination (Global) challenges Competition within public space

02

LOVELY LIÈGE - CITY VISION P. 26

2.1 2.2 2.3

The fiery city - location Mobility transition Urban landscape

03

LONGDOZ - URBAN CASESTUDY P. 84

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6

Location and analysis Longdoz masterplan Longdoz typologies Usage Strategy and adaptation Conclusion and recommendations

P. 146

Le sortie de l’opéra en l’an 2000 by Albert Robida 7

01.

AUTOMOBILE URBANISM

Lovely Liège

FA S C I N AT I O N A N D C H A L L E N G E ( S )

8

READING MANUAL

Starting off with fascination, chapter 1 will give insight to the global and more specific challenges being adressed in this report.

Chapter 2 begins with a brief introduction to the city.

Thereafter the vision for city will be explained addressing a mobility transition and a novel green-blue framework.

Chapter 3 holds an urban case study implementing the design principles of a post-car city to the district of Longdoz. Conclusion and recommendations concerning both the city and Longdoz are to be found at last.

Plan jokinen Amsterdam 9

10

Lovely Liège

compilation of news paper clips, adressing car-free cities 11

VW Golf 1 (1974)

163 cm VW Golf 7 (2015)

180 cm

1.

2.

Lovely Liège

3.

1.

2.

3.

manual to survival In case of nuclear attack. American urban sprawl as a cold war defensive strategy (source: Ohio memory) car sizes have been increasing every modal iteration the arrogance of space (source: colvilleandersen) 12

22.800 EUROPEAN TRAFFIC FATALITIES PER YEAR (2019)

4.

5.

6.

7.

4.

5.

6.

7.

lethal traffic accidents per million inhabitants (source: ETSC) social interaction related to amount of traffic (source: Donald Appleyard) transport energy efficiency (source: David Bannister) air pollution health risk (source: AQLI Air Quality Life Index) 13

1.1 FASCINATION CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT

Lovely Liège

My fascination is based on the changing nature of this world. When new insights or inventions (such as the car) are embraced by the masses, everything seems important to offer this new movement as much space as possible. In the beginning only for an elite, not much later for everyone. Existing qualities are conveniently ‘forgotten’ or suddenly become of secondary importance to the speed of peoples and ‘progress’. You could compare it with the demolition of the Utrecht, a characteristic Art Nouveau building which, due to the construction of the modern Hoog Catharijne, had to make way for dated architecture. However, as quickly as the car has become a determining factor in the street scene, it can also be taken over by new insights and developments. If there is a positive effect of the corona crisis, it must be the revaluation of public space. In a short time, many cities have come to see that outdoor space is too valuable to be dominated by cars and to be seen only as space to move from A to B. Pleasant living space, greenery and healthy forms of mobility suddenly became more important than ever. The corona crisis seems to be the perfect stepping stone to completely rethink urban space and the associated mobility in a progressive and provocative vision.

the right of the fastest, how traffic has become increasingly antisocial

The arrogance of space, Moscow (source: covilleanderson)

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1.2 GLOBAL CHALLENGES FOSSIL MOBILITY IMPACT

CAR FREE CITIES

The rise of the automobile, together with cheap gasoline has drastically changed cities worldwide after the second world war. Generous and flexible public space was stripped down to make way for as many car-lanes as possible, exclusively for the automobile. Beautiful and lively city squares turned into parking facilities for the massively embraced new form of mobility, the car. Today, much of our urban space is still exclusively reserved for the car with all the negative consequences including noise pollution, collisions and an enormous pressure on urban space. At the same time, the urgency (COVID-19 pandemic) and awareness for usable and high-quality public space in increasingly dense populated cities is greater than ever. It is therefore about time for an urban transition. A transition in which the car as a (spatially) dominant mode of transport is said to be farewell.

Having the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst, currently cities around the world are starting to work on carfree transitions. This transition is in full swing in many European cities. Parking spaces are making way for green zones. Super-fast bicycle paths replace motorways and smart public transport takes you everywhere you want to go. Next to known car-free cities like Pontevedra and Venice, cities like Oslo, Barcelona, Madrid, Brussels, Copenhagen and Paris are making big advancements to becoming car-free.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Heat, drought and flooding. These are three increasingly common issues that the world will have to prepare for.

It is important to include this in an integrated manner in the urban transformation of both public space and private property. Cooling spots (such as city parks) are playing an increasingly important role in urban areas.

How do we make these places easily accessible for everyone in the densifying city? And how do we ensure that daily life in the city remains bearable when heat waves become more and more normal?

COVID-19 19 ‘‘Accelerator’’

BL

PU SU S

E AC SP

TA IN

AB

LE

UR

IC

URBANISATION ‘‘Global challenge’’

Active mobility (walking / cycling)

BA N IS M

MOBILITY TRANSITION ‘‘Catalyst’’

ENERGY TRANSITION ‘‘Global challenge’’

15

CLIMATE CHANGE ‘‘Global challenge’’

16

Lovely Liège

The arrogance of space applied to Quai de la Goffe in Liège

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DUTCH CONTEXT AUTOMOBILE FOR THE MASSES

At the start of the 20th century, bikes far outnumbered cars in Dutch cities and the bicycle was considered a respectable mode of transport for men and women. When the Dutch economy began to boom in the post-war era, more and more people were able to afford cars, and urban policymakers came to view the car as the travel mode of the future. Entire Amsterdam neighborhoods were destroyed to make way for motorized traffic. The use of bikes decreased by 6% every year, and the general idea was that bicycles would eventually disappear altogether.

All that growing traffic took its toll. The number of traffic casualties rose to a peak of 3,300 deaths in 1971. More than 400 children were killed in traffic accidents that year. This staggering loss led to protests by different action groups, the most memorable of which was Stop de Kindermoord (“stop the child murder”).

THE STREETS NO LONGER BELONGED TO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED THERE, BUT TO HUGE TRAFFIC FLOWS INSTEAD Maartje van Putten, former Dutch politician

Lovely Liège

Starting Car domination

The share of trips made by bicycle in Amsterdam plunged from 80% to 20% between the 1950s and 70s.

(Source: Bruheze and Veraart) 18

Poster to stop the child murder designed by Charles Boost 1973.

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BELGIAN CONTEXT URBAN SPRAWL

Belgium, and especially Flanders, has a very high degree of urbanization in comparison with the rest of Europe. Rising population growth leads to a growing demand for housing, infrastructure and mobility, among other things. To this day, this causes an additional space requirement of six hectares per day. This is problematic for many services such as water storage, food supply and carbon storage. This intensive growth in land occupation puts Belgium at the forefront of urban sprawl, based on a report by the European Environment Agency. Urban sprawl refers to a low, monofunctional density urbanization process, in which the population is highly car dependent due to the growing commute distance. Belgium experiences the negative consequences on a daily basis in the form of everyday traffic jams and traffic accidents. Another downside of urban sprawl is costs. Public services in sub-urban areas cost about 2,5 times more than compact urban areas. Spreading of housing, in the end leads to more infrastructure (water, sewerage, electricity, roads) for less homes to be reached, making maintenance very costly. A quick comparison of the built area’s in The Netherlands and Belgium show two contrasting ways of urban planning.

Where the Netherlands has had specific urban planning policies over the past decades, In Belgium people were stimulated to go out and built a house somewhere along the ribbon, dating form the sixties onwards.

“THE COUNTRYSIDE WE DREAM OF NO LONGER EXISTS. WE HAVE BECOME ONE BIG SUBURBAN TOWN’’ Head of monitoring of the environment department

Lovely Liège

built area per country (source: Engelen 2016)

everyday 12 football fields of open space is consumed in Belgium

typical Belgian development along the road/ribbon 20

source: Sustainable Prosperity

PUBLIC SERVICES FOR SUBURBAN DEVELOPMENT COST MORE THAN DOUBLE THE SERVICES FOR URBAN AREAS

comparison between built area in the Netherlands and Belgium 21

MATERIAL USE

HEALTHY, SMART, SENSIBLE, SUSTAINABLE, 1.3 COMPETITION WITHIN PUBLIC SPACENICE, MOBILITY

URBANISM

COMPETITION WITHIN URBAN PUBLIC SPACE

DENSIFICATION

CLIMATE

HEALTHY, SMART, SENSIBLE, SUSTAINABLE, NICE, URBANISM MOBILITY WATER COMPETITION WITHIN URBAN PUBLIC SPACE

P DENSIFICATION

CLIMATE

MOBILITY

Water

Droug

WATER

Water

P

Droug

Mobility is the most determining and dominant aspect within public space today and mostly comes at the cost of other functions within public space. The facilitation of motorized vehicles (cars) within cities USER & SPATIAL QUALITY has come with a massive spatial claim, divided in road space (moving) and parking space (stationary).

Nowadays mobility should not be seen as one of the aspects concerning public space, instead of being the only factor.

As climate changes, heavy rainfalls will increase and become more frequent, having a direct effect on the way sewerage and public space must be re-designed to don’tFLORA get wet feet.

Cities have to be redesigned as & FAUNA sponges, having permeable public spaces to infiltrate and store water for increased periods of drought.

USER & SPATIAL QUALITY

Heath

FLORA & FAUNA

Lovely Liège

Heath

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new and wider perspective to people that scarce urban public space should foremost facilitate for pleasant spaces to meet, play and enjoy within short distances of home. Spatial and user quality are generally suppressed by the priority of mobility however.

In dense cities with lots of people, green spaces and trees serve an important role in facilitating a healthy and livable urban environment. In compact city streets however, trees take up a lot of underground space creating conflict with sewerage and underground cables.

22

P

r 20.0 m2

SPATIAL CLAIM OF MOBILITY

P

Stationary 0.5 m2

Walking 2.0 m2

Parked bike 4.0 m2

Cycling 5.0 m2 15 km/h

Driving 240.0 m2 20 tot 40 reizigers

Appartments

Cars are true space consumers within the city compared with other modalities. Apart from driving, cars are parked about 90% of the time, claiming a lot of space to wherever you could go by car.

A car driving 50 km/h needs a staggering amount of about 140m2 of space in comparison to a cyclist needing just 5 square meters to drive safely trough the city.

Driving car 140.0 m2 50 km/h

PEOPLE PER HOUR Car lane

Bike lane

600 - 1600

7500

23

Sidewalk Transitway

9000

10.000 - 25.000

Parked car 20.0 m2

0

PRIVATE MOTORIZED VEHICLES

230

CHANGE THE QUESTION DEMOCRATIZATION OF PUBLIC SPACE

Since the embracement of the car in the 1950’s by the masses, car infrastructure grew enormously with the creation of motorways, parkings etcetera.

For a long period of time public space design has all been about the facilitation of cars, effectively creating traffic space, designed by traffic engineers.

20TH CENTURY THINKING HOW MANY CARS CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET?

The question within street design has long been about, (and even today) how many cars can we move down the street? More lanes means more cars, and the more people will make use of that kind of infrastructure. The other way around works aswell. Make safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure and people will make use of it.

PARADIGM SHIFT

However on average, four people can fit into a car, the reality is that car drivers mainly drive single.

Translating cars into road capacity and comparing a car lane with a bikelane, a sidewalk and transit-way learns that the carlane only facilitates 600 to 1600 people per hour. This sits in large contrast with a bikelane, facilitating 7500 people per hour and even more with sidewalks and transit-ways.

These numbers show the space inefficiency car facilitation comes with. And so, the question concerning urban mobility should not be about how many cars we can move down the street, but rather how many people we can move down the street? Within the same space, a combination of modalities ensures a significantly higher capacity of people, next to having a more democratized space, supporting those who can’t afford a private car, by making equal as big sidewalks and bikelanes.

21TH CENTURY THINKING HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET?

PEOPLE PER HOUR Car lane

Bike lane

Sidewalk Transitway

BENELUX MODAL SPLITS

Comparing Belgian and Dutch modal splits against one another shows significant differences. Where in a medium city like Groningen, 39% of all movement is made by bike, other Dutch cities show a more balanced modal split, some still heavily relying on cars. Belgium shows a clear difference between the Walloon and Flanders territories. Where the capital is benefiting from a decent public transport network. The Walloon cities, being Liège, Namur and Charleroi all show a high dependency of car usage, having a modal splits wich are about 80% based on cars, leaving few travels to be done walking, by bicycle or by public transport.

2030

P

P

Lovely Liège

600 - 1600

7500

9000

10.000 - 25.000

2030

24

P

MODAL SPLIT IN NEDERLAND EN BELGIË Aandeel vervoerswijzen in steden

27% Wandelstad Rotterdam

39%

Groningen

Fietsstad Groningen Emmen

48% Openbaarvervoerstad Brussel

Amsterdam

Almere Enschede

84%

Utrecht

Den Haag Rotterdam

Nijmegen

Den Bosch

Autostad Charleroi

Eindhoven Antwerpen

Brugge Gent

Maastricht

Brussel

Luik Namen

VERVOERSMETHODEN

Charleroi

Auto Openbaar Vervoer Fiets Te voet

MAGAZINE VOOR SOCIAALRUIMTELIJKE VRAAGSTUKKEN

Modal split in the Netherlands and Belgium (source: agora) 25

CITY VISION

Lovely Liège

02.

L O V E LY L I È G E

26

27

Lovely Liège

2.1 THE FIERY CITY

28

la cite ardente - Liège 1649, Blaeu

29

POSITION

Lovely Liège

The city is located in the area where the higher Ardennes merge into the hilly Hesbaye and where the river Ourthe flows into the Meuse. Two river arms of the Meuse now flow through the city, the Meuse itself and the partly artificial Dérivation.

The historic center used to have another river arm, which was closed off in the 19th century and still can be seen in the meandering course of the Boulevard d’Avroy and the Boulevard de la Sauvenière. The city is surrounded by hills that are in fact part of the Ardennes plateau, in which the Meuse and other waterways have carved out the valleys.

1km

2km

30

31

MEUSE ORIGIN

Lovely Liège

As a Meuse city, Liège thanks a lot of its historical and current prosperity to its river.

The port of Liège is among the largest inland harbours in Europe. The Ourthe river coming in from the Ardennes forms an important side branch of the Meuse river which flows over in the man-made Meuse Dérivation.

32

INTERNATIONAL NODE With train station Liège-Guillemins, being one of the most important hubs within Belgium, the city of Liège has a strategic position within the European High-speed railway network. Brussels can be reached within 45 minutes travel time, having a solid connection to the surrounding European capitals like London, Paris and Amsterdam. The eastern side gives access to the Ruhr gebiet (DE), whereas a normal train connects The Netherlands and fellow Meuse city of Maastricht with Liège.

high-speed railway network and station Liège-Guillemins

Infrastructural coverage Belgium 33

ECONOMY INDUSTRIAL PAST

Liège has known a successful industrial past specializing in coal, steelworks, weaponry and glass. With the closing of the coal-mines after the second world war recession struck the city leading to a decline of inhabitants.

As of now the city of Liège is developing it’s hub function especially connecting the germanic- with the french spoken world.

AIRPORT

Liège Airport nowadays is the largest freight airport and the third largest passenger airport after Brussels Airport and Brussels South Charleroi Airport in Belgium.

PORT

The port of Liège, is the first inland port in Belgium and the third inland port in Europe (21.8 million tons in 2008).

UNIVERSITY

Lovely Liège

The Liège University lies remote from the urban city center, effectively blocking out a lot of students who would otherwise participate in creating a more lively and interesting urban core.

34

35

LOVELY LIÈGE - CITY VISION CITY VISION

Lovely Liège adresses three complementary aspects which propose a complete city agenda to ensure a sustainable, resilient and attractive future for Liège.

1. MOBILITY TRANSITION AS CATALYST

A radical mobility transition forms the critical base for making Liège, Lovely again. It’s extreme car domination can no longer be ignored from a sustainability and livability point of view.

2. GREEN-BLUE FRAMEWORK

Once car facilitation has lost its priority, public space will be transformed ensuring a solid green-blue framework connecting the waterfront and the green islands of the city and ensuring that a variety of green spaces is in reach within at least 300 meters distance of every inhabitant.

3. URBAN HOUSING, SUB-URBAN QUALITY

Lovely Liège

Last but not least, clogged urban brownfields will see a transformation to dense urban districts which are able to compete with a suburban style of housing and living.

250

500

100om

36

37

2.2 MOBILITY TRANSITION REVERSE LIÈGE PYRAMID mobility transition is a combination of stimulating desirable behaviour by making alternatives, like bicycling more attractive on the one hand, and 1 wagen per 16 huishoudens punishing, prohibiting or otherwise discouraging undesirable behaviour on the other. For example the removal of parking places.

CAR CITY TYPOLOGY

The city of Liège is a perfect example of a typical European car city, having a notably large focus on cars as the most important means of traffic. Public transport sits second leaving walking and cycling the lowest priority. Although the city of Liège has a car-free center and it is investing in cleaner and more sustainable modalities with the realization of a tramline and the extension of cycling routes the car is by far still the most dominant in the city.

MATERIAL USE MOBILITY

HEALTHY, SMART, SENSIBLE, SUSTAINABLE, NICE, URBANISM

MOBILITY TRANSITION

COMPETITION WITHIN URBAN PUBLIC SPACE

DENSIFICATION MOBILITY

The urban mobility transition can roughly be CLIMATE summarized as being a shift from individual and fossil WATER mobility to a social and clean variant. The general Water management (Infiltration + storage)

P

REVERSE MOBILITY PYRAMID

Reversing the known pyramid shows how mobility priorities should be set to steer towards a sustainable and healthy urban environment. Private cars will have the lowest priority, then comes autonomous vehicles, then public transport. Active mobility (walking and cycling) are on top, ensuring CO2 neutral, healthy Flooding, drainage and storage and space=efficient mobility in the city.

+

MOBILITY TRANSITION

FLORA & FAUNA Heath stress

PEDESTRIANS CYCLISTS CYCLISTS + LIGHT ELECTRIC VEHICLES PEDESTRIAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT + AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES PUBLIC TRANSPORT PRIVATE MOTORIZED VEHICLES

190

PRIVATE MOTORIZED VEHICLES

230

reverse mobility pyramid Liège 20TH CENTURY THINKING HOW MANY CARS CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET?

21TH C - METROPOLITAN STATION

19TH C - HOMOGENEOUS FABRIC

19TH C - INDUSTRIAL INNER BLOCK

20TH C - MODERNIST HIGHRISE

20TH C - MOTORWAY QUAY

PARADIGM SHIFT

500m

Lovely Liège

+

Mobility as a service

Drought

USER & SPATIAL QUALITY

Private car ownership

21TH CENTURY THINKING HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET?

38

city in between railway and motorway quay

A25

Liège

N610

route du soleil via Liège

A25 takes both meuse quays

E313

E25

E40

E42

E42

E25

A25

N610 N3

E25

motorway network surrounding the city of Liège 39

40

Lovely Liège

everyday trough traffic along the Meuse Derivation quays, part of route de soleil

41

SUFFOCATING CITY MOTORWAYS CURRENT SITUATION

CURRENT SITUATION Car domination in Liège is best to be noticed along its river. The motorway quays have solely been designed from a driver’s perspective, claiming all the waterfront space to maintain a constant flow of traffic.

The transformation of the city’s waterfront into motorways from the 1950’s onwards is basically a result of following the path of least resistance since the quays provided an open and continuous space, just having to remove trees.

Nowadays, the A25 motorway (direction Maastricht) splits up in the north claiming the quays of both the whole eastern bank and the city district of Outremeuse. Since one quay would not be enough to facilitate a 50km/h speed and parking space within the already compact quays. The medieval urban fabric of Outremeuse, Rui Puits en Sock forces traffic to be split up since the compact streets do not provide enough space for two-way traffic to work once again claiming most of the space in an important and commercial east-west connection for the city.

A25

By having transformed the waterfront into a motorway, the entire population of Liège is denied proper access and usage of the city’s most important public space, the Meuse waterfront. Instead, the motorway quays bring noise and fume pollution from ongoing traffic, passing the city on their Route du Soleil, having no interest in being in Liège itself.

Lovely Liège

This monofunctional traffic engineering legacy can be witnessed in every public space Liège has to offer. From waterfront to neighbourhood street, the spaces are mainly designed to facilitate either the driving or parking of an automobile, rendering the space into an unwelcoming and impermeable surface of tarmac or stone.

250

500

100om

42

MOBILITY TRANSITION

PEDESTRIANS CYCLISTS CYCLISTS + LIGHT ELECTRIC VEHICLES PEDESTRIAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT + AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES PUBLIC TRANSPORT PRIVATE MOTORIZED VEHICLES PRIVATE MOTORIZED VEHICLES

SPACE EATER 90 MOTORWAY A25 20TH CENTURY THINKING HOW MANY CARS CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET?

PARADIGM SHIFT 50 MEUSE QUAY

21TH CENTURY THINKING HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET?

30 RUE PUITS-EN-SOCK N3

2030

P

P

2030

P

PARKING GARAGE

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Rue Grétry, a traffic heavy city street in Longdoz district

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CAR-FREE VALLEY

MOBILITY IN SERVICE OF URBAN LIFE

The main goal of the car-free valley proposal is to reset priorities within the urban realm and public space. Having been overly and solely focused on facilitating private car mobility anywhere and anytime, it is time to democratize public space, putting people and life in the first place.

MULTI APPLICABLE

Lovely Liège

This car-free valley system has been designed specifically within the context of Liège. However the same approach and design principles can easily be implemented to create similar visions to transform any European car infested city into a car-free and pro-life city.

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PEOPLES PU

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PACE BECOMES

UBLIC SPACE

Stationary 0.5 m2

Walking 2.0 m2

Parked bike 4.0 m2

Cycling 5.0 m2 15 km/h

Rue Grétry / Commercial city street

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Driving 240.0 m2 20 tot 40 reizigers

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CAR FREE VALLEY CAR INFESTATION

CAR FREE VALLEY

21TH CENTURY THINKING Apart from an already car-free city center, the HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET?

current road network of Liège is heavily focused towards facilitating cars in its mostly compact public spaces.

Together with the facilitation of free and cheap CAR FREE on- street or commercial parking garages and the KIDNEY lack of safe and fast alternatives, like proper cycling infrastructure or public transport coverage, the private car will remain the easiest and fastest way to get around for inhabitants. This results in a relatively high car ownership and causes an infestation of automobiles within public space.

The proposed mobility transformation effectively PARADIGM SHIFT blocks out ongoing and non-local traffic from passing through the city. National and regional traffic will HUB be pushed back to the E25 motorway instead of having to cut through the city. Instead of an urban HUB core dominated by cars, pedestrians will once again be king within the car-free valley. The car-free valley will substantially improve quality of life by removing cars as the main modality and facilitating walking, cycling, (active mobility) public transport and light ONE WAY LOOP electric vehicles as the common and space-efficient modalities in the urban core.

HUB

21TH CENTURY THINKING HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN WE MOVE DOWN THE STREET? 2030

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HUB HUB HUB HUB

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CAR INFESTATION

CAR FREE VALLEY

WITHIN THE CAR FREE VALLEY ONE-WAY LOOP

DEAD END ROOT

The one-way loop routing allows for one-way car traffic within the car-free valley, preventing ongoing and non-local traffic in the first place. These routes are connected to neighbourhood mobility hubs serving local inhabitants who need to go outside of the city and therefore could be in need of a shared car.

The dead end root allows for two-way car traffic ending in a cul de sac or dead end, transforming the road for local usage only and preventing non-local traffic passing through the streets. Instead of street parking, the dead-end root serves as the backbone to reach the neighbourhood mobility hubs.

ONE WAY LOOP

DEAD END ROOT

HUB

HUB

HUB HUB HUB HUB

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EXISTING PARKING SITES AND GARAGES EXISTING PARKING POLICY

PLENTY OF PARKING OPPORTUNITIES

The city’s parking policy is split between the western bank with the old center, which partly has restricted and paid street parking, and the eastern bank, including Outremeuse and Longdoz, which has next to none regulations and street parking is basically everywhere.

There is a decent spread of built parking facilities and garages throughout the city. Few of the parking garages reach their full capacity since street parking is either free within walking distance of the destination or a nearby parking spot is cheaper (roughly 1,50 euro per hour) than one of the built facilities (average 2,00 euro per hour). Free existing P+R facilities like Jemeppe and d’Angleur at the edges of the city at 15 to 25 minutes by bus from the city center are thus competing with nearby free parking or cheap parking facilities within the center.

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2200 parkingplaces existing parking facilities in Liège excluding regular on street parking 52

NEIGHBOURHOOD MOBILITY HUBS MOBILITY HUB COVERAGE

THE FUTURE IS SHARED

A coverage of neighbourhood mobility hubs, which are to be reached within acceptable distances of in between 200 to 300 meters (3 to 4 minute walk) will be an enormous boost towards cheaper, cleaner and space-efficient shared mobility. Gradually, street parking can be removed almost completely in favour of better usage and design for the city’s inhabitants.

Since inner city mobility has shifted towards active mobility (cycling and walking), public transport and light electric vehicles, the mobility hubs serve the purpose of going outside of the city, to places which will be hard to reach without a car. Having the right infrastructure within the city and having a shared car at a distance, active mobility will be stimulated massively, since it is directly available and it is the quickest way to get around.

The city coverage of existing parking garages with abundant capacity poses an opportunity to be transformed into multifunctional mobility hubs. The transformation from parking garage to mobility hub will be an important link in the transition towards a circular and shared economy, boosting shared mobility and mobility as a service. Since private cars are parked 90% of the time, there is a huge spatial claim of stationary cars just consuming valuable space on the street or in an expensively built facility.

proposal for neighbourhood mobility hubs within 200-300m distance 53

P

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GARAGE TO HUB

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PARKING GARAGE

AVERAGE PARKING GARAGE

The traditional parking garage is monofunctional in usage and in layout.

Since a parking space and especially a built one is costly, a parking lot has to be as efficient as possible, creating as many as possible parking spaces considering the complete built area. Most of the time, plinths and roofs are underused, although these sections in particular can have added value within the city.

NEIGHBORHOOD MOBILITY HUBS

In contrast to the parking garage, the neighbourhood mobility hub offers an important combination of functions serving a social purpose within the PARKING GARAGE neighbourhood community. Existing mostly out of multi-story buildings, the ground floor (plinth) can be a shared meeting space to work, meet or have a drink boosting social cohesion. In order to save a lot of distribution time and traffic from address to address, the integration of a package delivery hub will empower the social aspect of people getting their deliveries. The roof space in an already dense city can be used for functions like urban farming, greening, solar energy, sports or the harvesting of water. The inbetween stories remain for storing spaceefficient mobility like e-cargo bikes first and shared cars that are parked at higher stories

MOBILITY-HUB Roofgarden / solarenergy

water harvesting

Roofsports

Shared / autonomous cars

Light electric vehicles

(E) Bikes

Package Hub / café

RETROFIT PARKING TOWER TO DEMAND

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EDEVELOP / DENSIFY

plinth transformation of a city parkinggarage 54

SLOWLANE NETWORK ACTIVE MOBILITY FIRST

A new network of slow lanes will replace the former car roads within the car-free valley. The slow lanes facilitate active mobility, light electric vehicles and are prepared to host autonomously driving city pods in the future. The Meuse quays provide for excellent continuous cycling routes, which are reinforced by a series of longer eastwest connections ensuring a decent coverage over the city.

MODALITY- TO SPEED BASED LAYOUT

Within the already compact streets of Liège and with a variety of new modalities being introduced to the city, it is of utmost importance that traffic space doesn’t grow to the amount that cars used to claim. Instead, combining modalities on the same road should make for a spaceefficient approach, leaving enough space to green up the streets and leave room for other types of use next to traffic.

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cycling infrastructure transitions to slowlanes within the car free-valley 55

SPACE EATER

SLOWLANE

water storage and retention embedded within public space design 1. run off 2. infiltrate 3. store 4. drain

Stone tile paving

From a noisy and car dominated city street to a lively and attractive commercial street to stroll and shop on broad sidewalks.

An avenue of trees accentuate the axis whereas unpaved planters deal with water run-off. The central slowlane mixes cyclists with light electric vehicles and autonomous transportation pods

Planter + functional space

Slowlane cyclists + l.e.v. + autonomous pod

Planter + functional space

Stone tile paving

Functional space bike storage / terrace / drop off

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city pod (Masdar city)

Olli city pod

autonomous driving vehicle

(e)-scooter

light electric vehicle

(e)-bike / speedpedelec

autonomous delivery vehicle

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CARS ALLOWED

facade garden

Cobblestone paving

Cars allowed

Cobblestone facade paving garden

bollards prevent car parking A mobility street where cars will remain but have less space and the maximum speed will be 30 km/h, parking spots will be removed making the street more suitable for walking.

Facade gardens ensure for a smoother transition between the street and private properties

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drop off zone (unlockable for inhabitants)

facade gardens soften the transition between public and private

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blocks prevent car parking, Parvis Saint Antoine (Brussels)

slim bollards channel car traffic over Place de la République (Lyon)

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MOBILITY POVERTY EASTERN BANK RAILWAY COVERAGE

Although Liège seems properly connected considering multiple railway stations, a high-speed railway station (Liège-Guillemins) and a new tramline under construction, the mobility coverage is heavily focused on the western Meuse bank, where the center and the largest train stations exist.

The bus network is at peak capacity, which leaves Outremeuse and especially the eastern banks (Longdoz, Vennes, Amercouer, Bressoux, Fetinne, Chartreuse and Vennes) with few options and thus having to resort to the car faster, because there is a lack of properly facilitated alternatives.

railwaynetwork Liège

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height map: railways follow the Meuse valley

Current public transport coverage including planned tramline 60

PUBLIC TRANSPORT IMPULSE TRAM CATALYST: ANGLEUR - LONGDOZ - CENTRE

GARE DE LONGDOZ

To deal with the mobility poverty on the eastern bank and to give alternatives for car mobility concerning shopping mall Mediacité. the formerly demolished Gare de Longdoz will be recreated at the crossing of the N30 road. As part of the Longdoz transformation case study, Gare de Longdoz will be an important mobility hub for the eastern bank of Liège. Making use of already existing infrastructure, the new station will be installed with a middle platform and have entrances from both Rue Bonne Femme and Bd Raymond Poincaré, which will also be attached to the main station square.

The N30 motorway, once a former side branch of the Ourthe river, poses a strong potential to be transformed into Liège’s next tramline, connecting the southern train station of Angleur with Longdoz station and the city center and Liège Guillemins. The brownfields and former industrial sites along this road have the potential to be transformed into the next car-free urban neighbourhoods of the city. The tramline will serve as sustainable mobility and as a catalyst for the redevelopment along this line.

Potential transformation of (former) industrial sites along proposed tramline 61

GARE DE L

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A NEW MOB

past (demolished in 1975)

present 62

LONGDOZ

BILITY HUB

Stationary 0.5 m2

Walking 2.0 m2

Parked bike 4.0 m2

Cycling 5.0 m2 15 km/h

Station square / Gare de Longdoz

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Driving 240.0 m2 20 tot 40 reizigers

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2.3 URBAN LANDSCAPE

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SYMBIOSYS BETWEEN L

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LANDSCAPE AND CITY

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MEUSE VALLEY EXTREME CONTRAST

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The landscape around Liège can be roughly divided in two sections as seen from the Meuse valley. The flat north-western section mainly consists of agricultural grounds, whereas the south-eastern part opens up towards the Condroz and Ardennes landscape which consist of hills, rivers like the Ourthe and forests, offering a rich package of natural and recreational value. Right now, the contrast between landscape and city couldn’t be larger comparing how the river banks of the Ourthe are shaped within the landscape and having them them as stone vertical walls in the city.

The city of Liège should exploit its position as a gateway to the surrounding landscape by extending green structures within the city and improving cycling infrastructure out of the city into the green surroundings.

contrast of natural L’Ourthe and urban Meuse derivation quays 66

POTENTIAL GATEWAY TO THE OUTDOORS

Meuse

Derivation

L’Ourthe

Meuse

Vesdre L’Ourthe

Landscape Liège municipality 67

GREEN POVERTY CURRENT SITUATION

The effect of having made car driving and car parking a number one priority comes with a major impact on public space.

In a city that was originally designed to facilitate pedestrians and potentially horsepulled carriages, streets of about 12 meters in width are plenty to accommodate both at the same time. These same streets have all been transformed to facilitate driving, generally having a centered road of about 6 meters which should be enough to cross two SUV’s in two directions safely. The second issue is storage, or parking, which has to be accommodated in the same street mostly.

Parking on both sides needs about twice two meters, leaving some residual space along the facades that are called sidewalks, of just about one meter at each side. Claiming about 80% of public space for cars results mostly in tarmac and impermeable public space design without the placement of even a single tree.

The stripped-down streets do not facilitate any kind of green environment, making the distance to one of the city’s parks or green squares feel far away. A solid green-blue framework is missing chaining together the larger green parks, the Meuse quays and public squares or pocket parks.

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Especially the eastern bank, the old center and Outremeuse have few green spaces in close proximity leading to a low amount of green square meters per inhabitant.

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the street as a playground, typical street layout in Liège

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Quai Mozart traffic node

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GREEN-BLUE FRAMEWORK URBAN GREEN SPACE AS A RIGHT

By treating nearby and easily accessible green space as a right for every inhabitant in the city of Liège is in need of a green transformation.

FRONTDOOR TO LANDSCAPE

The proposed green-blue framework ensures that even in areas where green public space is heavily lacking the framework quality green space is accessible within 300 meters walking distance. The green transformation starts in the neighborhood street, transforming parking space to green space. The framework ensures continuous and uninterrupted connections from the city center all the way along the Meuse quays into the surrounding landscape.

PEOPLES QUAYS

Lovely Liège

With the removal of the Meuse motorways, the city’s waterfront emerges as the largest and most important public space in the city, stretching all the way from north (Coronmeuse) to south (Angleur). Car roads will be transformed into slow lanes, facilitating cycling next to pleasant and green pedestrian boulevards creating opportunities to recreate and exercise along the waterfront.

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CITY AND LANDSCAPE IN SYMBIOSIS

1. Ardennes / Condroz landscape

2. Meuse river waterfront 76

3. Green finger / gateway

4. Intimate public square / pocket park

5. Collective climate courtyard 77

6. Private garden / scaffolding

MOTORWAY Q

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PEOPLES

past (1900)

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present

UAYS BECOME

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Stationary 0.5 m2

Walking 2.0 m2

Parked bike 4.0 m2

Cycling 5.0 m2 15 km/h

Quai Mozart / Car-free waterfront

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WATERFRONT QUAI MOZART

comme plinth

Improved relation with water

seating elements

Easy slope trees provide shades

Luxurious stone paving riverbank

Slowlane cyclists + l.e.v. + autonomous pod

Planter + seating edge

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From a continuous city motorway to a scenic waterfront, restoring the relation of Liège with it’s origin at the Meuse river. Long lines of cycling infrastructure connect the city’s waterfront to the outdoor landscapes, effectively banning cars to reach the rivers quays.

integrated flooding measures

accessible waterfront

13.5m

Transformation of compact car-quays to life sized quays (pont de Huy)

pont de bressoux

27m

pont de bressoux Transformation of spacious quays from car-space to green and life-sized space (pont de Bressoux)

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LONGDOZ BANKS

GRADUAL TRANSFORMATION CURRENT

Car-infested Meuse quays hosting continuous and non-local traffic pollute and effectively detach the city from it’s valuable waterfront.

YEAR 2023

La Meuse

Since both sides of the Meuse and Derivation quays are almost exclusively used for traffic purposes, both eastern quays will firstly be transformed into car-free and attractive public waterfronts. The eastern bank area will see a massive livability increase since the current amount and accessibility of green public spaces is far below average.

50

YEAR 2030

With the removal of parking places and the transition to a shared economy and shared mobility, private cars have become a rarity in the city.

Garages have been transformed into neighbourhood mobility hubs and the car-free valley is in full use making all quays car-free for an attractive and sustainable urban climate

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U R B A N C A S E S T U DY

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L I V E LY L O N G D O Z

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3.1 LOCATION AND ANALYSIS DEVELOPMENT ON THE EASTERN BANK

Formerly a collection of crops and hop fields, it was decided in 1834 to realise the Rue Grétry to allow the connection between the center of Liège and the suburbs of Grivegnée, through the Bonne Femme district. It was one of the first development projects on the eastern bank. The construction of the LiègeLongdoz station in 1851 further accentuated this growth and several factories were set up in the district, such as Taf en Jubilé, Englebert tires, and the steel producer Espérance-Longdoz.

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Mediacité Shopping mall replaced the former Longdoz station

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Longdoz case study area (source: google earth)

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HYBRID URBAN TISSUE CLUTTERED CONTEXT

The focus area can be described as a cluttered area combining small grain 19th century urban tissue with larger commercial plots like garages and warehouses.

Most of the 19th century street pattern is still recognizable within the hybrid urban context. Former industrial sites have largely been transformed and the former railway station (Gare de Longdoz) including its railway tracks has been partly erased with the arrival of Mediacité shopping center.

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Longdoz urban tissue (source: google earth)

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1. mediacité opposing 19th centurt urban tissue

2. corner block rue Natalis

3. N30 car boulevard

4. inside usage of Longdoz building perimeter

5. railway museum inbetween stores

6. old church

7. Rue Grétry

8. parc de la Chartreuse space efficient ways of transportation 89

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A PRO CAR DISTRICT

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URBAN FABRIC

Triangular urban fabric fragmented blocks with sharp angles

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Public space follows morphology Fringed by monumental trees

Triangular square embedded by monumental trees 92

SQUARES

Diagonal crossroads Orthogonal square 90x90m

monumental square central fountain

terrace space bulging out from corner 93

BUILDING

diverse building widths 5m to 7m to 15m

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unfinished corners, flanked by blind facades

accentuated crossroads chamfered corners 94

INSIDE WORLD ALLEYS

alley dwellings hidden within building block

alley dwellings (Clos) 1,5m width

Incidental set back from strict building line 95

INSIDE WORLD FUNCTIONS

gardens vs expansions 100m depth allows for adaptation

Lovely Liège

cluttered inner worlds left over garden voids

supermarket commercial occupation within block 96

INSIDE WORLD AMENITIES

large Stores consuming inner building block

swimming pool rigidly cut through morfology

school cornering building block 97

INFRASTRUCTURAL LEGACY

junction underpassings traffic must flow on, car space only

Lovely Liège

infrastructural nomansland road spaghetti neutralizes space

underutilized spaces corners rendered to parking spaces 98

infrastructural spaghetti linking tunnels and underpassings for trough traffic

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3.2 LONGDOZ MASTERPLAN

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A PEDESTRIAN PARADISE LEGEND New buildings

Public square

Existing buildings

Sports facilities

Highrise

Waterfront boardwalk

Smart parking

Skatepark

Collective garden

Trainstation platform

Private garden

Tram platform

Private platform

Slowlane

Public green space

Car ring

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GREEN POVERTY CURRENT DENSITY

The hybrid urban area of Longdoz is characterized by a mixture of large scale and low-rise warehouses and companies, often located within the building blocks combined with large patches of unbuilt but private space. The contrasting fine grain 19th century housing, consisting mostly out of 1 to 3 storeys have an overall density 0,7 up to 1,0 expressed in floor space index (FSI). Private gardens , if not totally built are on the enclosed inside of the perimeter blocks, having characteristic sharp edges.

‘‘EVERY CITY IS RECOMMENDED TO PROVIDE A MINIMUM OF 9 SQUARE METRES OF URBAN GREEN SPACE FOR EACH PERSON’’

GREEN SPACE PER INHABITANT

The compact street profiles of 12 meters on average together with very few green amenities, trees or parks within the neighbourhood lead to a very low amount of safe, accessible and functional green space per inhabitant. Without the surrounding parks (La Boverie and de La Chartreuse) the remaining green space per inhabitant is close to zero and thus far below the 9m2 per inhabitant, which is recommended by the world health organization.

World health organization (WHO)

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triangular Longdoz block, FSI: 0,7 FSI (floor space index) = grossfloor area / planarea 104

DENSER AND GREENER DENSER

SHARED MOBILITY

The case study accounts for a total amount of 2000 added dwellings share 200 cars, having a ratio approximately 2000 dwellings, consisting out of of 10 dwellings making use of 1 car for destinations maisonettes and apartment typologies. Having to be reached out of the city. Additionally to free up about 115 dwellings per hectare, the floor space street parking in the surroundings, the development index covering the plan area is at least doubled will make use of stacked parking solutions which will going from 0,7-1,0 up to 2,0-2,6 FSI. By building be transformed into either, housing, offices or other 21TH C - METROPOLITAN STATION 19TH C - HOMOGENEOUS FABRIC 19TH C - INDUSTRIAL INNER BLOCK 20TH C - MODERNIST HIGHRISE 20TH C - MOTORWAY QUAY higher than before the increase in density doesn’t amenities when the amount of private cars decrease in take up more space on ground level. Instead more the future. open and public space is created adding about.

GREENER

To add much needed publicly accessible green space within the area, about 2,5 football pitches of public space will be added next to 3,5 football pitches of collective space, forming the collective500m climate courtyards within the Longdoz super blocks.

Instead of few, every street will have trees, allowing for an increased spatial quality, a cooler and more climate resistant public space. A minimum of 500 new trees will be added within the project area.

Same density / different typologies (source: Andrew Wright Associates)

LONGDOZ CURRENT

LONGDOZ FUTURE + 3,5 FOOTBALL PITCHES COLLECTIVE SPACE

FSI: 0,7-1,0

FSI: 2,0-2,6

+ 2,5 FOOTBALL PITCHES PUBLIC SPACE Public space: 79000 m2 Collective space: 24000 m2

Public space: 61500 m2

2000 ADDED DWELLINGS 40.000M2 COMMERCIAL SPACE 15.000M2 COMMUNAL SPACE

+ 500 NEW TREES

200 SHARED CARS

60%

25%

P 75%

400 TEMPORARILY PARKING

25% IMPROVED AIR QUALITY REDUCED NOISE POLLUTION 15%

case study Longdoz in numbers 105

TO BE TRANSFORMED BROWNFIELD

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The marked site and (dark) buildings consisting out of parking places, warehouses and redundant former industrial buildings will mostly serve as the study area for this masterplan case study.

layout of the former station in 1880 106

MORFOLOGY INTERVENTION green boulevard which connects to the waterfront and Parc de la Boverie. The southern green route extends Avenue Francisco Ferrer and merges with the station square, creating an immediate and visible access from park entry to station.

FINE GRAIN PEDESTRIAN NETWORK

A fine finegrain network will be introduced by slicing up the largest central site in multiple smaller building blocks. The northern green gateway makes use of the former railway track (Rue Ansiaux), making a new connection between the Parc de la Chatreuse and the

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MISSING LINK BETWEEN PARKS SOLID GREEN STRUCTURE

With the transformation of Boulevard Raymond Poincaré into a green gateway, a solid green connection between the waterfront, Parc de la Boverie and the isolated Parc de la Chartreuse will be restored, providing a missing green link within the city.

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parc de la Boverie

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BLUE - GREY - GREEN FORMER RIVER BRANCH

From 1840 onwards, Liège started to correct the course of the Meuse. The aim was to combat frequent flooding and to clean up the old diversion, which had become more of a sewer than a watercourse. The old river branch was transformed into Boulevard Raymond Poincaré which as of today is known as the N30 motorway.

TRANSFORM EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE

By clever usage of existing infrastructure, the existing N30 tunnel can be extended for cars, leaving the ground floor as an urban and green gateway, giving Longdoz a solid green connecting to the rest of the city and the outdoor landscape.

river in the year 1777

current day

Liège 1777 Ferraris map (source: Walonmap)

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City motorway, boulevard Raymond Poincare

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CITY MOTORW

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AN URBAN GR

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WAY BECOMES

REEN GATEWAY

Stationary 0.5 m2

Walking 2.0 m2

Parked bike 4.0 m2

Cycling 5.0 m2 15 km/h

Boulevard Raymond Poincaré as seen from the station platform

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Driving 240.0 m2 20 tot 40 reizigers

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GREEN GATEWAY From a car-dominated boulevard made out of tarmac and underpasses to a green city boulevard to stroll along sunny terraces, to comfortably and safely cycle from the outdoors to the city center, supported by an urban mix of working, living and leisure.

Stone tile paving

Seating edge

Green central carpet providing shadow managing water

Tramline

Slowlane cyclists + l.e.v. + autonomous pod

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Wandering route

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ACTIVE MOBILITY FIRST NEW MOBILITY

N30 LANDTUNNEL

Prioritizing active mobility over the rest, the N30 and Rue Grétry see the largest change in facilitating active mobility instead of cars. Gare de Longdoz serves as a mobility node reinforcing the coming together of four continuous line structures.

The N30 which is partly tunneled and partly an underpassing already will be slightly extended about 500 meters. By doing so, the missing green link between two parks can be solved. The tunnel gives acces to the parking garage of mediacité, gare de Longdoz hub and further to reach Outremeuse.

city street (commercial) Rue Grétry park axis cundergound car tunnel

car loop

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VARIETY IN SPACE AND PLACE improving accessibility of an otherwise isolated Parc de la Chartreuse. The riverfront park facilitates recreation and urban sports, whereas the station square provides for a large pedestrian square, grabbing a coffee and transitioning from train to tram or autonomous vehicle. The amorphous eat+relax square provides for a more intimate space, being able to enjoy one of the restaurants. Within the building blocks, inhabitants find central green squares suited for children to play within their own neighbourhood.

A greater diversity of urban spaces will be added to Longdoz with the realization of the proposed urban plan. Next to the already vibrant city street (Rue Grétry), green corridors connected to Parc de la Chartreuse facilitate an inviting pedestrian and wandering climate between green and thus cool places. To strengthen the local green-blue network of wandering routes, the former railway track (Rue Ansiaux) will facilitate a new green connection between Parc de la Boverie and Parc de la Chartreuse, strengthening the city’s green-blue framework and

parc de la Chartreuse park axis / green boulevard

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parc de la Boverie

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TREE LANGUAGE structures have a seemingly more random placement of trees. Inspired by existing squares in Liège, known tree setups are reused, thereby referring to traditional squares in the city.

Each street or spatial typology is supported by a particular placement or use of varying types of trees and greening. The two axes (Rue Grétry and green boulevard) use a formal rhythm of trees, whereas other

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climate:

SPONGE CITY HILLS TO RIVER storing and absorption. Together with green roofs, Longdoz will act as a sponge, storing water in periods of drought and cooling down the area in warmer periods.

Longdoz will see a massive increase in permeable spaces, focusing on storing water instead of directly letting water run off to the river through sewerage.

The addition of patches of green public space and collective climate courtyards will be focused on

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CLIMATE STREET A central green carpet with shadow-casting trees provides for a pleasant neighbourhood strolling climate. Compact front gardens, balconies and hybrid loggia’s ensure eyes on the streets for enough social control. The lowered carpet integrates seating benches and ensures run-off water to infiltrate into the soil.

Front garden with seating

Stone tile paving

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WADI SYSTEM CONNECTS HILLS TO MEUSE SEATING EDGE PLANTING BORDER TRANSITION PUBLIC / PRIVATE

INTEGRATED BIKE STORAGE STIMULATE BIKING

FACADE SEATING TRANSITION INSIDE / OUTSIDE

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Stone tile paving

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PROGRAM retail facilities, museums and cafés and bakeries at corners of crossing streets. A double plinth of up to 7,5 meters allows for an open and urban relation to the street and pedestrians crossing by. The railway museum will remain and be outfitted with a new inviting entrance towards the green axis. The superblock inside is designed so it can host a school with plenty of outside playing facilities.

The commercial program follows two main axes (Rue Grétry and the green axis, Boulevard Raymond Poincaré) coming together at Gare de Longdoz as the a new hotspot of Longdoz, where working space, commercial space and dwellings form a dense and mixed urban area. The Rue Grétry serves local and daily amenities, facilitating space for retail, barbers and take away restaurants having a plinth of minimal 4 meters height. The green axis accommodates larger

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hidden away Musee du tram (A) 120

CITY AT EYE LEVEL STATION SQUARE (A )

The station square is recognizable by means of a large open square adjacent to the green gateway. High rise accents up to 70 meters mark the station area to be seen from further away.

panoramic view over the Meuse Dérivation and Parc de la Boverie.

INTIMATE SQUARE (B )

The triangular square is designed with narrowed openings to the surrounding streets, creating a more intimate setting at the distance from the vibrant city streets surrounding the area.

PANORAMA

The green gateway / Boulevard Raymond Poincaré opens up at the waterfront offering a scenic

(B)

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intimate square with cooling capacity of full grown trees, Plaza gabriel miro Alicante 121

3.3 LONGDOZ TYPOLOGIES LONGDOZ SUPER BLOCK RIGID OUTSIDE

The Longdoz super block follows the existing morphology of the surrounding streets to be closed of by a new climate street, connecting Rue Ansiaux with the Green Boulevard. Entrances to get within the super block are situated out of the fastest walking routes allowing for a more quit inside world with busy surrounding streets.

RIBBON QUALITY OF INSIDE OASIS

The inside is divided within smaller and lower building blocks consisting out of maisonette, for young families and apartments. The block layout allows for in between collective climate courtyards, full of trees playing facilities and other types of use, mimicking the qualities of sub-urban ribbon developments where people have large gardens.

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integrated playground, Overhoeks Amsterdam

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3. SHARED ELEVATOR SHAFTS

Variety in widths allows for attractive streetscapes and mixed typologies

Fine grain buildings share elevator and stairs with 4. FLEXIBLE PLINTHS

Plinths from 4,5m to 7,5m allow for flexible usage and future transformations. (regulated extensions possible)

2. SETBACKS

Formal streets generally maintain 1:1 building height to street width ratio. higher buildings are allowed using setbacks

Longdoz superblock layout 123

LONGDOZ FLOWER BLOCK URBAN ALLEYS

The Longdoz flower block, drawn up front he contours of the Barvaux terrain is a variant of the Longdoz superblock. Inspired by local alleys which are folded within the bigger block, this layout allows for an urban density combined with an inside super space of attached collective gardens and a centralized square. The alleys serve as access to the inside space, although as an outsider looking inwards to the beginning of the alley the public access is not to be seen, leaving people with no desire to come within the gardens out of them.

Existing Longdoz inside alley

PRIVATE / COLLECTIVE TRANSITION

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The collective courtyards on the inside are attached to compact front gardens, designed as slightly elevated platforms. The elevation forms a subtle transition between private and collective space whilst at the same time, collective space is framed by way of contrasting wooden platforms and plateau’s.

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LONGDOZ ALLEY

planting area

Permeable walking path

Front garden with seating

Car-free neighbourhood streets allowing children to explore and play, green encroachment zones and varying trees allow for a pleasant staying climate.

Stacked maisonettes allow for spacious family dwellings.

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inner courtyard used as parking

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PRIVATE PARK

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COURTYARD

Stationary 0.5 m2

Walking 2.0 m2

Parked bike 4.0 m2

Cycling 5.0 m2 15 km/h

collective climate courtyard inside Longdoz superblock

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Driving 240.0 m2 20 tot 40 reizigers

Appartments

Chat and drink coffee with neighbour

COLLECTIVE CLIMATE COURTYARD

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A two-storey high pergola construction at the back of each dwelling lays focus to the central climate forest, softening the transition between indoor and outdoor space. A raised terrace connects the building blocks with each other. Stairs from the second story connect to the courtyard itself, making it easy for children to descend into the climate forest

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3.4 USAGE PARENT AND CHILD walk, generating social interactions on the street and a sense of social safety. Within 5 minutes, the parent continuous their walk to the gym, gets breakfast and cycles off to work in the city center.

A car-free neighbourhood ensures a child-friendly environment, meaning kids can either walk or cycle to school instead of having to be brought by cars because the same cars spoil a safe public space. A parent brings their young child to school by having a

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routing from home to work by walking and cycling

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STUDENT To boost diversity and activity, Longdoz will benefit from a university lab to activate the neighbourhood with activities students bring with them. After lectures, the waterfront is an ideal spot to hang out and have a drink at the bar.

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EMPLOYEE employee is able to grab a coffee and a quick lunch while enjoying a walk to the park together with his colleague. His lunch walk takes 20 minutes to get back at the desk.

Gare de Longdoz facilitates a dense urban mixture of working, mobility and amenities. An office worker makes use of a (shared) car, which he parks within the mobility hub that has an underground entrance.

During the lunch break, the

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routing to working environment by car and smart parking in mobility hub

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MALL VISITOR Instead of choosing the car, a mall visitor has the option to take a train to Gare de Longdoz.

The mall visitor enjoys the freedom to walk through a pleasant area full of urban retail and amenities. If distances are too long, the city pod public transport provides an excellent option to skip longer distances.

Routing to the mall by train and autonomous pod

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3.5 STRATEGY AND ADAPTABILITY THE FUTURE IS SHARED SHARED ECONOMY

Globally, car ownership under young people is decreasing. Instead of owning goods, young people are more comfortable with sharing them.

Technology has been the biggest driver behind the sharing economy’s growth.

Considering that most private automobiles are parked about 90% of the time, sharing mobility would battle the spatial issue cars have on the public realm. current ways of parking in Liège based on housing typology

“PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY YOUNG PEOPLE, ARE MORE COMFORTABLE WITH ACCESSING GOODS THAN OWNING THEM,” Christoph Lutz, professor of communication and culture

PHASE 1 REORGANIZING PARKING SPACE

PHASE 2 SHARED MOBILITY

PHASE 3 MOBILITY AS A SERVICE

TEMPORARILY DEALING WITH PRIVATE CAR OWNERSHIP

PRIVATE CAR OWNERSHIP DECREASES

PRIVATE CAR OWNERSHIP IS OBSOLETE

PARKING STORING STACKING

ACTIVE MOBILITY FIRST SPACE EFFICIENT MODALITIES SECOND SHARED CARS LAST

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES: ARE MOVING NON-STOP MAKE LESS NEED FOR PARKING SPACE FORMER PARKING SPACE WILL BE TRANSFORMED

‘‘CREATING AWARENESS OF SPATIAL CLAIM AND PUBLIC SPACE’’

SHARED MOBILITY (MAAS)

CAR OWNERSHIP

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1. REORGANIZING PARKING SPACE

Phase 1 is about temporarily using more efficient ways of parking to make room for other types of use in public space. Making a temporarily new hub with the redevelopment of Longdoz clears out surrounding streets from parking places whilst people can keep still access their private car at a small distance.

2. SHARED MOBILITY

Considering that most private automobiles are parked about 90% of the time, sharing mobility will have an impact on the spatial issue cars have on the public realm. In phase 2, private car ownership will decrease drastically.

3. MOBILITY AS A SERVICE

The mobility as a service (MaaS) concept is a shift away from privately-owned modes of transportation and towards mobility provided as a service. The key concept behind MaaS is to offer travellers mobility solutions based on their travel needs at the desired place and time. A shift towards MaaS would mean that vehicles can drive continuously from user to user without having to be parked 90% of the time.

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Parking tower in Chicago, 1937 Automatic car parking in London, 1935 Stacked car parking in U.S.A. 3.

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Teleretail Delivery bot FedEx roxo Refraction REV-1 Starship robot

ADAPT AND TRANSFORM REDEVELOPMENT AS CATALYST

RETROFIT TO DEMAND

To transform the surrounding streets into green and car-free public spaces a direct relief of car parking is needed. Therefore, stacked and thus space efficient ways of parking, next to the use of existing garages having an overcapacity will be integrated within the transformation of Longdoz. At the same time, people still relying on their cars will be able to keep them, at a walking distance from their homes.

Since it is hard to exactly predict the future, Urbanism must hold a certain flexibility, allowing for transformation of use and function. Stacked parking is also meant to be transformed towards a decrease in private car ownership. Storey heights of 3 meter allow for a floor to be easily transformed into dwellings, allowing for change and an even denser city.

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stacked parking hub to relief area street parking

transform existing streets

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stages of an area transformation

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dwelling tower adapt and transform

dwelling storey

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PARKING TOWER STACKED CONFRONTATION

The parking tower will serve two roles, firstly being used as a mobility hub for the neighborhood.

Secondly, the tower situated at the waterfront will serve as a notable and confronting landmark. The visible stacking of cars will serve as a reminder as to when the public space in Longdoz was dominated by private cars driving and parking anywhere.

PREPARE NOW ADJUST LATER

MODULAIR STOREYS 1 STOREY = 16 PLACES = 4 DWELLINGS

The dimensions of the parking tower allow for transformation to apartments considering demand for parking will decline in the city. An elevator shaft in the backbone dwellings will serve as the entrance for the to be transformed storeys. The transformation of a parking storey to a dwelling storey will go gradually go from top to bottom leaving the car elevator in place.

TEMPORARILY SPACE EFFICIENT SOLUTION

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STOREY HEIGHT 3M

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PARKING ROTARY SYSTEM SPACE EFFICIENCY

Integration of the parking rotary system within the new fabric allows for efficient use of space. Based on the footprint of two regular parking spots, up to sixteen cars can be stored in one tower, being eight times more space efficient. The minimal footprint of 25 square meters even allows multiple towers to be fitted within an urban block, even combining parking with other urban functions.

PREPARE NOW ADJUST LATER

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The rotary towers are easy to take down considering a decline in private vehicles and thus a decrease in the demand for parking space. The dimensions of the building allow for a phased transformation where parking space gradually becomes new floor space.

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16 cars can be stored based on two regular parkingplaces 143

LONGDOZ STATION HUB MULTI MODAL HUB

Station Longdoz will serve as a multimodal hub combining a new trainstation (Liège-Guillemins to Maastricht) with easy access parking space for bikes and an underground entry to the parking hub which will connect to the hidden parking core of the building.

The plinths around the station are activated with additional stores and a gym complementary to the station hall. The roof, which can be reached via outside stairs serves as a green garden inviting to move interact and play.

PREPARE NOW ADJUST LATER

The inside parking space with predesigned storey heights of three meters allow for transformation to office space at the edges. The middle space, concerning double floor height van be transformed into sports functions.

SPACE EFFICIENT AUTOMATED PARKING SOLUTION

PUBLIC STAIRS FACILITATTING MOVEMENT

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UNDERGROUND CAR ACCES

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ACTIVATED ROOFSPACE

TRANSFORM TO SPORTS / OFFICE SPACE

CAR ELEVATOR

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3.6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS mobility as a service (MaaS) and the use of mobility hubs has grown adult, a full car-free valley can be introduced allowing for a very attractive, clean, green and child friendly urban environment which is attractive for young families preferring an urban lifestyle with great and car-free public spaces whilst not having to depend on a car.

NATIONAL URGENCY

Floodings in Wallonia, ongoing urban sprawl at the expense of landscape and a still growing cardependency.

Recent events, especially addressing the floodings of past July 2021 in Wallonia, show that the way we live is no longer holding up towards the change of climate, having to cope with increasingly heavier and more frequent types of extreme weather.

LONGDOZ AS AN EUROPEAN EXAMPLE

The Longdoz district as a car dominated brownfield area, situated at the rightern banks holds grand opportunities to be transformed as an urban example for how car-free city districts could look like around Europe.

Robust national green-blue frameworks prove to be of utmost importance, ensuring enough green and unpaved space between urban area’s to infiltrate and store water and being prepared for extreme periods of drought or precipitation.

N30 TRANSFORMATION

With the transformation and slight extension of the N30 tunnel, with about just 500 meters, the missing green link between Parc de la Boverie and Parc de la chartreuse can be healed, creating a robust and much needed green-blue framework in a city district with currently has less than 0,5m2 green area per citizen being far below the 9m2 guideline of the world health organisation.

To cope with these climate issues, urban sprawl must be halted and be turned around. Existing cities, facilitating dense, compact and an energy efficient way of life, not being car dependent close to jobs and amenities await an immense task.

Belgium and even Europe must adapt its cities, facilitating more people, increasing its densities.

To ensure healthy and sustainable urbanism, densification can only be executed with making more, and better accessible green space as well.

To do so, car domination has to be pushed back tremendously in urban environments, allowing space for active, healthy and space efficient ways of mobility throughout the city.

LONGDOZ STATION

The (re-)creation of train station Longdoz as an important mobility hub for the eastern part of the city can strategically be placed at the intersection of 3 continuous axis. Rue Grétry as the commercial axis, N30 as a green link with a new tramline and the current railwaytrack present an alternative facilitating active mobility and public transport instead of having the car as the best option.

GRAND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LIÈGE

As for the city of Liège, a striking potential and a life changing opportunity, being a car-free valley is presented. Getting rid of its polluting and suffocating quay motorways, accommodating trough traffic, slicing up the urban core and denying the Meuse river as part of the city.

CATALYST TRAMLINE

The new tramline following the N30 road between station Angleur and the city center can be used as a catalyst to transform the former industrial sites along this line, and directly provide for sustainable infrastructure.

Although further research concerning the redirection of trough traffic is needed, the city of Liège can start today facilitating it’s much needed mobility transition which is needed to create a solid green-blue framework to have acces to green within 3 minutes.

URBAN HOUSING, SUB-URBAN QUALITY

The presented Longdoz typologies provide a design example of how ribbon and sub-urban qualities can be translated within an urban context, allowing for attractive family housing with spacious and collective climate courtyards and having intimate and compact private gardens. These typologies will help in re-attracting those who fled the city before and turn around Belgian urban sprawl into making denser, greener and more sustainable cities.

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The Meuse quay motorways, currently exclusively designed for cars can, with a relatively small investment be downgraded to having motorized traffic on just 2 out of 4 quays first, leaving 2 quays to be car free and the others to have a maximum speed of 30km/h, gradually restoring the cities relation with its river. When shared mobility,

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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I would like to thank everyone supporting me along the way throughout my graduation project.

In the first place Jaap Brouwer as my mentor, supporting me all the way up to the end, being able to both travel to the city of Liège and present my plans to the Urbanism department of Liège.

Jerryt Krombeen and John Westrik as committee members I would like to thank for their solid feedback, having me come over to draw and discuss the story and design elements. As for the whole group of committee members, I am thankful for the overall consensus when discussing the progress during the committee meetings. This has helped me tremendously, setting clear goals in developing the project over the past year.

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Master in Urbanism Academy of Architecture Amsterdam Author Tom Lodder Committee members Jaap Brouwer Jerryt Krombeen John Westrik Added committee members Riette Bosch Hein Comou

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Date of publication 26 august 2021

L O V E LY L I È G E

Contact tom.lodder@live.nl

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