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UNFOLDING PLACE Reading Urban Transformation

Utrecht International Summer Workshop

Unfolding Place Reading Urban Transformation

Een plek in wording Stedelijke Transformatie Ontrafeld Edited by Inge Goudsmit Ester van Steekelenburg Hengzhi Song

Photos by workshop participant: WU, Siu Yeung

Utrecht International Summer Workshop

Unfolding Wisselspoor For one week, in the summer of 2026, 20 students and young professionals from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and universities across the Netherlands came together for our International Summer School on Heritage & Urban Development. Using Wisselspoor in Utrecht, a former Dutch Railways site currently being transformed into a new neighbourhood, as their case study, the students explored the gap between how the area was conceived by planners, architects and developers, and how it is perceived & lived by the people who experience it every day. Through fieldwork, interviews and conversations with residents, entrepreneurs, architects, and planners, they discovered that understanding a place requires an intimate understanding of its past, and it also involves putting yourself in the shoes of different users and even questioning your own assumptions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unfolding Wisselspoor In de zomer van 2026 kwamen twintig studenten van de Chinese University of Hong Kong en diverse Nederlandse universiteiten een week lang samen voor onze ‘International Summer School on Heritage & Urban Development’. Aan de hand van de casus Wisselspoor in Utrecht – een voormalig NS-terrein dat wordt getransformeerd tot een nieuwe woonwijk – onderzochten de studenten de visie van stedenbouwkundigen, architecten en ontwikkelaars enerzijds, en de beleving van de mensen die er dagelijks wonen en werken anderzijds. Door middel van veldwerk, interviews en gesprekken met bewoners en ondernemers maakten ze een tussentijdse rapportage van de gebiedsontwikkeling. Ze ontdekten dat om een plek goed te begrijpen, je niet alleen moet verdiepen in de geschiedenis, je moet je ook kunnen verplaatsen in verschillende soorten gebruikers en zelfs je eigen aannames kritisch tegen het licht houden.

8 Utrecht International Summer Workshop

This publication is a result of a collaboration between the School of Architecture at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Stichting Urban Discovery and heritage consultancy The Missing Link.

Editors Prof. Inge Goudsmit, Dr. Ester van Steekelenburg Hengzhi Song

Co-authors Au, Pak Hei Heiven Chan, Tak Sum Daisy Chiu, Pui Hong Leo Chow, Chun Nok Sherlock Ho, Cheuk Chi Stephanie Lee, King Wo Ken Ng, Chun Lam Shen, Yumeng Sherry Tai, Koon Shing Adrian Wong, Hong Yui Wu, Siu Yeung Ocean Yu, Junwei Ruben

ILoanna Markella Zafeiropoulou Amos Goldenberg Suze-Anne de Weert Vera Verheijen Annelore Lam Lupita Klauss Rizky Kalebos

Mentors

Publisher

Prof. Inge Goudsmit Dr. Ester van Steekelenburg Siënna Veelders Hanneke Masselink-Duits

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Workshop Coordinators Romy Pricken Hengzhi Song

ISBN

Contents 1 Introduction................................................................................9 2 Conceived..................................................................................27 3 Perceived & Lived....................................................................39 Workers...........................................................................40 Local Business...............................................................54 Visitors.............................................................................70 New Residents...............................................................84 Original Residents......................................................102 4 Reflections...............................................................................119 5 About the Summer School..................................................137

1. Introduction

Photo by workshop participant: WU, Siu Yeung

Layers of Place Introduction

In today’s high-pressure urban real estate market there is high demand for inner city locations. Former industrial sites, railway yards and port areas, are sought-after sites for urban transformation. Often centrally located and populated with heritage buildings that provide instantaneous character to a place. Such transformation projects are often presented as new beginnings. A new vision is formulated, translated into plans and drawings and eventually materialised through construction. Yet, the current redevelopment is only one stage in the much longer life of a place. Long before architects, planners, and developers arrive, sites have already accumulated histories, routines, memories, and forms of attachment. Industrial production, everyday activities, social life, and patterns of use leave traces that become layered into the physical and cultural fabric of a place. Urban transformation does not erase these layers; rather, it adds another chapter to an already ongoing story. New rhythms of everyday life emerge. Spaces are appropriated, interpreted, remembered, and contested. Meanings accumulate slowly through use, encounter, and experience. Over time, the transformed site itself becomes another layer in the continuing production of place.

A new appartment building in Wisselspoor district.

This raises a fundamental question: How can the past find its place in the city of tomorrow? •

How are heritage values translated into new architecture and public space?

•

And how are these values subsequently perceived, experienced, negotiated, and reinterpreted by those who inhabit and use the transformed site?

This question formed the starting point of the International Summer School 'Heritage Works?', which brought together participants from Hong Kong and the Netherlands to investigate adaptive reuse through the case of Wisselspoor in Utrecht. Answering this question is not straightforward. Plans, heritage assessments, and design documents can tell us how a place is imagined and intended, but much less about how it is actually experienced once inhabited. The memories, everyday meanings, routines, and interpretations that emerge after redevelopment are often difficult to capture. These are the more delicate, fragmented, yet invaluable dimensions of place as a social entity. It is these unfolding layers of place that this book seeks to explore.

Wisselspoor aerial photograph in 1994. Source: Het Utrechts Archief

14 Introduction Graffiti‑covered facade and grassy grounds outside the ping‑pong club at Wisselspoor. The building was a former railway workshop. Source: Workshop participant, Wu Su Yeung

Places Beyond Plans Lefebvre's theory on The Production of Space and the tradition of critical cartography, presents maps as limited representations of abstract spaces that privilege particular forms of knowledge. We built on his body of work to establish the theoretical foundation of this summer school: UNFOLDING - Through "unfolding," we sought to uncover the hardto-reach dimensions that conventional maps set in motion but cannot fully describe. Working at the intersection of architectural and social sciences methods, we devised a method to explore the more subjective experiences of urban transformation that plans and maps can hardly render. READING - We introduced the notion of "reading" to suggest an attentive engagement with urban transformation, implying that our way of approaching the site was as attentive to the intentions that lie between words and lines. Such close reading brings the different users of a space into view. Taking a humble approach, users are regarded as informants who, through experience and feeling, educate us in situated knowledge.

15 Legend Original residents New residents (Office) workers Local business Leisure visitors

Physical presence of five different user groups in Wisselspoor Area

Orginal residents

New residents

(Office) Workers

Different Lenses Every space is a situated place, and the meaning of a place emerges through the ways its users resonate with it. Here, in the specific case of Wisselspoor in Utrecht, we introduced five main groups of users, original residents, new residents, local business, (office) workers, and (leisure) visitors. Participants were divided in five groups and each group analysed the area through a different lens, this way we could collectively differentiate the place perceptions among different user groups. The final product was a multi-layered analysis of the Wisselspoor area in the form of five sets of narrative maps.

Local business

Leisure Visitors

Urban Transformation as an Ongoing Process Introduction

On this basis, we treated “reading” as a way of working. On one hand, it allowed us to evaluate what had already been built. It enabled us to examine whether planning intentions had taken effect and whether these intentions were recognised, interpreted, or contested by those who used the space. On the other hand, reading helped to carry the process of urban transformation forward. It generated situated feedback and knowledge that might guide subsequent design decisions and planning strategies. This is particularly important because participation in contemporary planning processes is often front-loaded. Consultation typically takes place during a limited number of moments at the beginning of a project, assuming that development proceeds in a linear manner. In reality, however, urban transformation is rarely linear. These are typically complex and large-scale developments that unfold over many years and across multiple development phases. New users arrive gradually, existing communities adapt to changing circumstances, and relationships between people and places evolve over time. A single consultation trajectory at the outset can rarely respond sensitively to all of these shifts.

Facade of a revitalised factory building in Wisselspoor. Source: Studioninedots

This project advocates more frequent and informal moments of engagement throughout the development process. The week-long workshop documented in this book sought to contribute to that ambition through rapid observation, immersion, mapping, and conversation.

A Framework for Unfolding Place To “read” urban transformation with greater precision, we draw on Henri Lefebvre's spatial triad, a framework that understands space not as a fixed physical setting, but as something continuously produced through planning, everyday practices, and lived experience: the Conceived, the Perceived, and the Lived (CPL). Conceived refers to the planned and intended dimensions of space: the ways heritage values, design ambitions, regulations, and development visions are inscribed into architecture and the public realm. Perceived refers to the material and sensory realities of the site: what remains visible on the ground, how spaces function in practice, and how design intentions become expressed through spatial and physical conditions. Lived refers to the experiences through which people attach meaning to place. It encompasses memory, attachment, identity, habit, and everyday interpretations of the environment.

The CPL framework The conceptual structure of our unfolding exercise.

Conceived Space Conceptualised representation of power, rule and manipulation, produced by knowledge, codes and regulations

Lived Space Shaped with imagination, symbolisation, emotions, memory and experience

Perceived Space Materialistic interpretation of space, everyday routines and activities

Lefebrve's spatial triad: conceived, perceived and lived (CPL). Source: Henri Lefebrve (1991)

18 Introduction

Utilizing Heritage Assets In the Netherlands adaptive reuse, and working with existing buildings are integrated in contemporary urban planning practice. In urban regeneration projects, heritage values play a key role. Nowadays, urban designers and architects are required to take the existing monumental value into account and build upon this for the new environment. Meanwhile, due to development pressure, there is high demand for inner city locations. At the same time, we want to protect our valuable historic assets and landscapes. The CPL method allows us to analyse the specific challenges and opportunities of complex urban transformation sites in great detail. The layered and subjective site analysis yields powerful insights into balancing historic and contemporary elements in the new design and explores the juxtaposition of aiming for a high-density building environment while preserving area-specific characteristics. The CPL framework also provides valuable insights into the value of heritage assets in shaping spatial plans and design intentions of new architecture and public space. The CPL mapping exercise explores how these values have been protected in the spatial planning documents for the site development. Which (tangible and intangible) heritage values have been identified and documented for the Wisselspoor site?Who were the stakeholders involved in this process? Whose values have been documented? How to utilize these values in development projects?

How to shape architectural design processes in a participatory way, giving a voice to original residents, heritage enthusiasts, and former users when we build the city of tomorrow together?

Towards More Responsive Forms of Development Within contemporary practice, designers are increasingly exploring alternatives to conventional planning approaches by opening up more flexible development options. In the Netherlands, experiments such as the Cityplot approach by architecture firm Studioninedots, seek to create room for smaller-scale actors, collectives, self-build initiatives, and incremental forms of urban transformation. Aim to adapt more readily to changing conditions. In our own study, however, we were equally interested in how developers might become more responsive not only to market conditions, but also to the places and people that inhabit them. This form of 'unfolding' can be understood as a method of empowerment. For those who live and use a space, it creates opportunities to voice needs, experiences, and ideas throughout the transformation process, helping to ensure that their place is more faithfully written onward. At the same time, it empowers city planners to adapt to, and remain responsive to, social and cultural realities, allowing plans and interventions to evolve beyond their original assumptions. With this method we aim to create a dialogue between the social and the built, where local knowledge can inform urban transformation as it continues to take shape. It offers a way of listening to places in transformation, generating forms of situated knowledge that can support more sensitive planning, architectural design, and urban development. We invite you to unfold Wisselspoor with us.

1 Introductie

Introduction

Gelaagde plekken In de huidige, overbelaste stedelijke woningmarkt is er een grote vraag naar binnenstedelijke ontwikkellocaties. Voormalige industrie-, spoorof havengebieden bieden unieke mogelijkheden en kansen, vaak gunstig gelegen en met karakteristieke historische panden die een nieuw gebied onmiddellijk een gezicht geven. Er zijn dan ook in recente jaren talrijke voorbeelden van dit soort post-industriele transformatiegebieden in Nederlandse steden te vinden. Lang voordat stedenbouwkundigen, architecten en ontwikkelaars zich ermee bezighouden, zijn deze plekken al gevormd door jarenlange routines en structuren. Ze hebben hun eigen geschiedenis, hun eigen verhaal van de plek. Industriële productie, alledaagse activiteiten en gebruikspatronen laten sporen achter die zich laag voor laag nestelen in het ruimtelijke en culturele weefsel van een plek. Stedelijke transformatie wist deze lagen niet uit, het voegt eerder een nieuw hoofdstuk toe. Bewoners nemen bestaande ruimtes op een andere manier in gebruik; zo ontstaat er gaandeweg een nieuw landschap en een nieuw ritme van een plek. Na verloop van tijd wordt ook de getransformeerde plek zelf weer een nieuwe laag in het voortdurende proces van stedelijke vernieuwing. Dit roept een fundamentele vraag op: Hoe kan het verleden zijn plaats vinden in de stad van morgen? •

Hoe worden erfgoedwaarden vastgesteld, geborgd en vervolgens vertaald in de architectuur en het ontwerp van de openbare ruimte?

•

En hoe worden deze waarden vervolgens waargenomen, ervaren, toegeëindigd en opnieuw geïnterpreteerd door nieuwe gebruikers?

Deze vragen vormden het startpunt van de internationale Summer School “Heritage Works?”. Het beantwoorden van deze onderzoeksvraag is niet eenvoudig. Bestemmingsplannen, cultuurhistorische waardenkaarten en ruimtelijke ontwikkel visies kunnen ons veel vertellen over hoe een plek wordt voorgesteld en bedoeld, maar geven geen inzicht in hoe die plek daadwerkelijk wordt ervaren zodra deze is gerealiseerd. De nieuwe routines en interpretaties laten zich vaak moeilijk vastleggen, terwijl deze subtiele, gefragmenteerde dimensies een plek tot leven brengen.

Beleving in kaart brengen De Franse socioloog en filosoof Henri Lefebvre is een van de grondleggers van de kritische cartografie. In zijn optiek vormen kaarten slechts een beperkte vertegenwoordiging van abstracte plekken, waarin bepaalde zienswijze naar voren worden gebracht. Een masterplan bijvoorbeeld legt de nadruk op bepaalde dimensies en laat andere aspecten juist achterwege. Zo ontstaat een bepaald, subjectief beeld van een plek. Een kaart geeft per definitie nooit een volledig beeld van de werkelijkheid. Wij introduceren daarom het concept ‘belevingskaarten’ met als doel om plekken in kaart te brengen zoals deze door gebruikers worden beleefd. ONTRAFELEN - Door te 'ontrafelen' proberen we verschillende dimensies en lagen van een plek te ontdekken en te beschrijven. Werkend op het snijvlak van architectuur en sociale wetenschappen, verkennen we zo de meer subjectieve ervaringen van stedelijke transformatie. LEZEN - Door te ‘lezen’ streven we een natuurlijke oplettendheid na in de gebiedsanalyse. We stimuleerden de studenten om de plek te benaderen met een kien oog voor kleine dingen en als het ware tussen de regels door te lezen. Zo worden gebruikers informanten. Zij geven ons via hun beleving inzicht in belangrijke ruimtelijke en contextuele kennis.

22 Introduction

Verschillende gebruikersperspectieven Bij de analyse van Wisselspoor in Utrecht, een plek in 'wording', onderscheidden we vijf verschillende gebruikersgroepen: oorspronkelijke bewoners, nieuwe bewoners, lokale ondernemers, (kantoor)medewerkers en recreatieve bezoekers. Elke plek krijgt immers pas betekenis vanuit een specifieke context, die ontstaat in de manier waarop gebruikers zich tot die plek verhouden. De studenten werden verdeeld over deze vijf groepen en elke groep analyseerde het gebied vanuit een ander perspectief. Door deze lagen over elkaar heen te leggen verzamelden we ook collectieve inzichten. Het eindproduct was een gelaagde analyse van het Wisselspoor Gebied, weergegeven in vijf subjectieve belevingskaarten.

Stedelijke transformatie als iteratief proces 'Lezen’ en ‘ontrafelen’ zijn de twee basisingrediënten van onze werkwijze. Het helpt om in beeld te brengen in hoeverre de intenties van planners en ontwerpers tot uitwerking zijn gekomen en of deze intenties worden herkend of betwist door gebruikers. Ook kan de plaatsgebonden feedback helpen om richting te bepalen in het continue proces van stedelijke transformatie en het bijstellen van ontwerpbeslissingen. Juist dit is van belang omdat participatie met bewoners en belangengroepen in gebiedsontwikkeling aan het begin van het proces plaatsvindt. De onderliggende veronderstelling is dat een ontwikkeling zich lineair voltrekt, maar door de complexiteit en langdurigheid van stedelijke transformatiegebieden is dit zelden het geval. Nieuwe gebruikers verhuizen geleidelijk naar het gebied, bestaande gemeenschappen passen zich gaandeweg aan veranderende omstandigheden aan en de onderlinge relaties tussen mensen en plekken krijgt vorm. Eén participatietraject aan het begin van een gebiedsontwikkeling kan moeilijk recht doen aan al deze verschuivingen. Dit project pleit daarom voor vaker terugkerende en informele momenten van betrokkenheid gedurende de gehele gebiedsontwikkeling.

Een kader voor het ontrafelen van plekken Om stedelijke transformatie nauwkeuriger te kunnen ‘lezen’, bouwden we voort op de methode van Lefebvre. Zijn denkraam beschouwt ruimte niet als een fysieke context, maar als iets dat voortdurend wordt vervormd: the Conceived (de bedachte ruimte), the Perceived (de waargenomen ruimte) en the Lived (de beleefde ruimte). Conceived verwijst naar de geplande dimensies van ruimte: de manieren waarop erfgoedwaarden, ruimtelijke ambities, regelgeving en ontwikkelvisies worden verankerd in ontwerpen voor architectuur en openbare ruimte. Perceived verwijst naar de materiële en zintuiglijke werkelijkheid van de plek: wat er ter plaatse zichtbaar is, hoe mensen ruimtes in de praktijk daadwerkelijk gebruiken en hoe ontwerpintenties zijn vertaald naar ruimtelijke en fysieke context. Lived verwijst naar de manier waarop mensen betekenis aan een plek geven. Hieronder vallen herinnering, verbondenheid, identiteit, gewoontes en interpretaties van de omgeving. Door middel van observeren, in kaart brengen en analyseren onderzochten we hoe erfgoedwaarden werden vertaald in in ontwerpintenties (conceived), tot uitdrukking kwamen in materiële en ruimtelijke kwaliteiten (perceived) en werden ervaren door gebruikers en belanghebbenden (lived).

24 Introduction

Benutten van Erfgoed Herbestemming, hergebruik en het voortbouwen op het bestaande zijn inmiddels sterk verankerd in de Nederlandse ruimtelijke ordening. Wetgevers (omgevingswet) en instrumenten (transformatiekaders) verplcihten ontwikkelaars om erfgoedwaarden mee te nemen in het ontwerp. Deze praktijk maakt Nederland een van de voorlopers in behoud en benutting van erfgoed, maar tegelijkertijd leidt het ook tot additionele complexiteit, vanwege regelgeving, niet alleen bij monumentale opstellen, ook wat betreft de omgeving van een monument. De huidige planologische uitdaging is om de vraag naar binnenstedelijke locaties te kunnen bedienen, en tegelijkertijd waardevolle historische locaties en karakteristieke landschappen te kunnen behouden. De CPL-methode stelt ons in staat om de specifieke uitdagingen en kansen van complexe stedelijke transformatielocaties nauwkeurig in kaart te brengen. De gelaagde en subjectieve analyse van de plek levert waardevolle inzichten op in de manier waarop historische en hedendaagse elementen in een nieuw ontwerp met elkaar in balans kunnen worden gebracht. Tegelijkertijd is het een bruikbare methode om het spanningsveld tussen stedelijke verdichting en het behoud van gebiedsspecifieke kwaliteiten te analyseren. Welke materiële en immateriële erfgoedwaarden zijn voor Wisselspoor geïdentificeerd en vastgelegd? Welke belanghebbenden waren bij dit proces betrokken? Welke waarden hebben zij meegegeven en zijn daarbij vastgelegd? Welke ruimtelijke instrumenten kunnen bijdragen aan het borgen van erfgoedwaarden? En hoe kunnen erfgoedwaarden worden benut binnen gebiedsontwikkelingen? Hoe kunnen we architectonische ontwerpprocessen op een participatieve manier vormgeven, waarbij oorspronkelijke bewoners, erfgoedliefhebbers en voormalige gebruikers een stem krijgen in het gezamenlijk bouwen aan de stad van morgen?

Naar een meer adaptieve gebiedsontwikkeling In de architectuur zoeken ontwerpers steeds vaker de ruimte op om processen flexibeler in te richten. Experimenten zoals de Cityplotbenadering van architectenbureau Studioninedots bieden bijvoorbeeld ruimte aan meer kleinschalige partijen, collectieve, zelfbouwinitiatieven en stapsgewijze vormen van stedelijke transformatie. Dergelijke benaderingen maken het mogelijk om ontwikkelkaders gemakkelijker aan te passen aan veranderende omstandigheden. In dit onderzoek zijn we dan ook geïnteresseerd in de vraag hoe ontwikkelaars en overheden niet alleen beter kunnen inspelen op marktontwikkelingen, maar ook op de invulling van plekken en mensen die er deel van uitmaken. De belevingskaarten zijn een manier om betrokkenen meer zeggenschap te geven. Het iteratieve proces biedt ook de mogelijkheid om gedurende het hele transformatieproces behoeften, ervaringen en ideeën naar voren te brengen. Tegelijkertijd stelt de CPL benadering professionals in staat zich beter in te leven in de ruimtelijke realiteit en daarop aan te passen. Ontrafelen van de plek brengt als het ware een dialoog tot stand tussen de gewenste en de gebouwde omgeving. De subjectieve belevingskaarten maken het mogelijk om echt te luisteren naar plekken en plaatsgebonden kennis in te zetten voor zorgvuldiger planvorming en ontwerp.

26 Introduction

The railway junction with workshops in the background (1983). Source: Het Utrechts Archief

27 Photo by workshop participant: WU, Siu Yeung

Introduction

2. Conceived —Wisselspoor, Utrecht

Photo by workshop participant: WU, Siu Yeung

30 Conceived - Wisselspoor, Utrecht

Wisselspoor Wisselspoor is one of three major urban regeneration projects in Utrecht. The transformation of a former Netherlands Railways (NS) maintenance yard and railyard. Led by developer Synchroon, the project aims to create a vibrant new residential neighborhood comprising 1,050 homes and 28,000 m² of cultural, community, creative, and commercial spaces. The first new residents moved into the area in 2021 and the project aims to be completed by 2030.

History The land’s recorded history stretches back to 1200, when the Daalsedijk thoroughfare was constructed to link Utrecht and Amsterdam along the historic Vecht River corridor. In 1812, Napoleon commissioned the Imperial Highway, drastically improving regional transport connectivity. The Amsterdam–Utrecht railway, which was the Netherlands’ second-ever rail line, opened across this site in 1843. By the 1860s, Utrecht had evolved into a national railway hub, prompting industrial firms to build maintenance workshops along the Daalsedijk. A large central railway yard was formally established here in 1892, complete with facilities for manufacturing, repairing rolling stock and maintaining rail tracks. At its operational peak between 1880 and 1920, the yard became Utrecht’s largest single employer, sustaining a

(Right) Wisselspoor jaren 70. Source: Utrechts Archief (Left) Wisselspoor,Utrecht,1956. Bovenbouwwerkplaats oude hal Source: Utrechts Archief

workforce of over 5,000 people; rows of terraced housing were purposebuilt nearby to accommodate staff. From the 1980s onward, however, the site fell into steep decline. Obsolete warehouses were demolished, redundant tracks removed, and landowner NS Real Estate began seeking buyers for the disused plot. NS selectively cleared buildings lacking viable long-term redevelopment value to create large, contiguous development parcels. Structures retaining practical usability were repurposed for temporary occupancy, while buildings of recognised cultural and historical significance were conserved, awaiting permanent adaptive reuse.

(Above) Dieselloods en tweede wagenmakerij nog ‘oningepakt’, 1972 (E. Tappen). Source: Het Utrechts Archief (Bottom) Schilderwerkplaats met rijtuigen, 1935. Source: Het Utrechts Archief

The Trajectory of Wisselspoor, Utrecht Former NS Railway repair workshops and warehouses

Conceived - Wisselspoor, Utrecht

COUNTRYSIDE

Timeline (Year)

CENTRAL RAILWAY YARD

1200

1843

The Daalsewijk is a dike‑road and followed the former course of the River Vecht, forming the medieval overland link between Utrecht and Napolean ordered the Amsterdam. construction of Route Impériale 2 between Paris and Amsterdam, a new connecting road between Utrecht with Amsterdam. Today we know this part as the Amsterdamsestraatweg.

1812

Opening of 2nd railway line in the Netherlands between Amsterdam and Utrecht along the Daalsedijk.

1860 Utrecht becomes a connection point for railway companies in The Netherlands. Along the Daalsedijk they construct workshops, warehouses and repairyards.

1881

The Dutch state constructs a canal linking Amsterdam to the major rivers. This canal—the Merwedekanaal —was and is still routed past Utrecht.

StadsOntwikkeling

Fabriekssporen

Werken aan het spoor

Ontwikkelvisie & Ontwikkelkader 2e Daalsedijk Utrecht

Participatory Trajectory in the Redevelopment Stage

www.utrecht.nl

Industrieel erfgoed in de gemeente Utrecht

www.utrecht.nl

Planning Documents in the Redevelopment Stage

Cultuurhistorische waardestelling van de spoorweggebouwen in de Cartesiusdriehoek en aan de 2e Daalsedijk

1911 14

2008 Utrecht Municipality

2015 NS Real Estate

Traces of the Factory – Industrial Heritage in the Municipality of Utrecht

Working on the Railway – Cultural-Historical Valuation of the Railway Buildings in the Cartesiusdriehoek and along the 2e Daalsedijk

Development Vision & Framework 2e Daalsedijk Utrecht

2015-2021 NS Real Estate Synchroon Developer Synchroon conducted an extensive participation trajectory at the outset of the Wisselspoor project. They organised information evenings for current and future residents and a series of stakeholder meetings of which the collected feedback fed into the design proces.

CLOSE DOWN

1892

1920

Netherlands Railways (NS) construct a central railway yard at Wisselspoor, Utrecht, including factories to design and build tracks, wagons and other equipment, paint and repair workshops and offices.

The Railwayyard becomes the largest employer of Utrecht with more than 5,000 employees. Construction of serial housing blocks for workers.

REDEVELOPMENT

2014

1974

In 2014 NS Real Estate & Utrecht Municipality announce tender for redevelopment of Daalsedijk site.The winner is developer Synchroon. From 2015 redevelopment had started, led by DELVA and Studionindots.

1945 After the Second World War, there is work to be done.

Halfway the 20th century less orders come in. Over the years old warehouses were demoliced and most of the track is removed. Owner NS Real Estate is seeking to sell the site. Some railway‑related departments remained on‑site and but in 2003 waited for relocation.

StadsOntwikkeling

Werken aan het spoor

Wisselspoor deelgebied 2-4

alles is

Stedenbouwkundige randvoorwaarden en beeldkwaliteitsplan 2e Daalsedijk | Utrecht

BEELDKWALITEITSPLAN DEELGEBIED 1 01.02.2017

alles is

WISSELSPOOR STOER STUKKIE STAD

Cultuurhistorische waardestelling van de spoorweggebouwen in de Cartesiusdriehoek en aan de 2e Daalsedijk

www.utrecht.nl

cultuur- en erfgoednota 2016 - 2019

P ROV I N C I E- U T R EC H T.N L

BGSV

2015 Utrecht Municipality Wisselspoor Zoning Plan

bureau voor stedenbouw en landschap

september 2020

2016 Utrecht Municipality

2017 Synchroon

2019 NS Real Estate

'Everything is NOW' Culture and Heritage Policy Document 2016–2019

Urban Design Principles & Guidelines (sub-area 1)

Urban Design Principles & Guidelines (sub-adrea 2-4)

34 Conceived - Wisselspoor, Utrecht

Development Vision (1) Targeted at Young Urban Professionals

The core target group for the regeneration project is “Young Urban Professionals”. The vision incorporates affordable student housing and starter homes mixed with small businesses, cultural amenities, and spaces for temporary creative initiatives. To achieve a mix of living and working, residential zones are interwoven with commercial and creative workspaces.

1 Wisselspoor Development Visison 2015.

“This demographic is drawn to the site's industrial character and "free" environment, seeking to associate with the artists and entrepreneurs already present in the area.” 1 The masterplan’s core vision caters explicitly to young urban professionals: a mixed-use district blending student housing and affordable starter homes, small-scale businesses, cultural and social amenities, and flexible zones for temporary creative ventures. This demographic seeks low-cost housing within distinctive, character-rich locations. They are drawn to the site’s unregulated, experimental atmosphere and value proximity to the existing community of artists and creative entrepreneurs. Supplementary public amenities—including hospitality venues and cultural-social enterprises—further amplify the area’s overall appeal.

2 Ibid. Rendering of Wisselspoor Source: Studioninedots, 2024

“This demographic seeks low-cost housing within distinctive, character-rich locations. They are drawn to the site’s unregulated, experimental atmosphere.” 2

(2) Adaptive Design Through Flexible Urban Framework

Top View of Wisselspoor Core Redevelopment Zone. Source: Studioninedots

The entire scheme is built upon the Cityplot planning model. Rather than designing around a rigid final built outcome, the framework prioritises flexibility and responds to real-time market demand, remaining adaptable to grassroots proposals emerging throughout the transformation process. Based on Cityplot planning concept, the model accommodates a diverse range of building typologies and mixed functions. This enables agile adaptation to evolving demand and fosters a uniquely distinct, varied urban environment. Delivery follows a phased rollout, with individual plots allocated to separate architectural practices. As articulated by Studio Nine Dots: “The Cityplot planning concept underpins our circular development approach, weaving together local identity, demographic diversity, collective public space and long-term urban resilience.” (Ruben Smit, 2026)

Cityplot urban design strategy that Studio Nine Dots applied in regenerating the Wisselspoor site. Source: Studioninedots.

36 Conceived - Wisselspoor, Utrecht

“Het gebied wordt een bijzondere plek waar men in de nabijheid van de stad heerlijk kan ontspannen en recreëren in het groen. Een plek voor studenten en hippe inwoners uit het centrum, maar zeker ook voor de bewoners van de Daalsebuurt. Deze stenige buurt krijgt straks een eigen ‘“achtertuin’”. — Wisselspoor Development Visison 2015

(3) Heritage Elements to Carry the Character of the New Development

The design draws heavily on the site’s inherent industrial heritage. By reinterpreting the location’s original historic qualities while layering contemporary design interventions, the scheme revitalises old structures into immersive, inspiring public spaces. Multiple culturally and historically protected buildings line the Tweede Daalsedijk; currently obscured by dense greenery and perimeter fencing, these heritage assets will be redesigned to public view. Each preserved historic building, alongside one new-build structure, will be paired with a dedicated pocket park, designed to create visual landmarks along the dike route. All mature existing trees will be retained as key landscape features. Together with the listed industrial structures, they will form characterful public spaces from the earliest construction phases. 3 Ibid.

“A rugged railway zone, where anything goes, calls for a fitting design. Here, you can live next to a robust cultivated wilderness.” 3

(4) Merging old and new neighbourhoods

The aim is for a car-free and green neighbourhood in line with the quiet character of the current residential streets between the Dijk and the Amsterdamsestraatweg. “The area will become a special place where people can enjoy relaxing and recreating amid greenery close to the city. A spot for students and trendy residents from the city centre, but certainly also for inhabitants of the Daalsebuurt. This stony neighbourhood will soon get its very own back‑garden.” 4

4 Ibid.

The design of the green structure provides for a series of so called “pockets parks” located in the long stretched green corridor along the 2e Daalsewijk. Meanwhile at theside of the railwaytracks the green provision is more wild in nature with space for the railway relics. The pocket parks are designed to become the glue between the two neighbourhoods. Where new residents have their main entrances opening directly onto shared plazas and green spaces, and original residents have green access at walking distance of their home. The pocket parks should also provide facilities for play- and sportsgrounds, seating elements or even daycare and F&B. “The pocket parks are designed to foster lively, socially inclusive and safe public realms, where old and new residents can meet.” —Ruben Smit, 2026

New residential blocks adjacent to the repurposed historic factory buildings, achieving harmonious co‑existence. Source: Studioninedots.

38 Conceived - Wisselspoor, Utrecht

Project owners

Project partners

NS Stations Land Owner & Project Proponent

Synchroon ontwikkelaars Owner & Developer

Local Municipality

Studioninedots Masterplan Urban Design & Architecture

Skonk Strategy, Concept & Placemaking

Delva Landscape Architects

De Wijde Blik Communication & Community participation

Project architects

ZECC Project Architect Deelgebied 1-4

Vorm Project Developer Deelgebied 3

Space Encounters Project Architect Deelgebied 1

Levs Coordinating Architect Deelgebied 3

BETA Project Architect Wisselspoor 9

Heritage advocates & archives

Oud Utrecht Heritage Advocacy Group in Utrecht

USINE Utrecht Foundation for Industrial Heritage Sites

Opvallend Utrecht Utrecht street stories

Utrecht Municipal Archives

Mees Visser Project Architect Deelgebied 1

Aronsen Gelauff Project Architect Wisselspoor 10

WINHOV Project Architect Wisselspoor 6

Local stakeholders

#ASW030 Business Association Amsterdamse Straatweg

Utrecht Community (UcO) Sustainable office space

TOP Neighbourhood Residents Meeting Room

Buurthuis de Uithoek Neigbourhood Centre De Uithoek

39 Photo by workshop participant: WU, Siu Yeung

3. Perceived & Lived

Photo by workshop participant: WU, Siu Yeung

42 Perceived & Lived

01 Workers

(Office) Workers Redevelopment feels a bit like patchwork, with new elements being added all the time, so it's interesting to see how the area's original identity survives alongside the new updates. To get a real read on the community, we started talking directly to the people working in the area.The workers we spoke with genuinely like the vibe, noting that it's a refreshing change from their past workplaces. But there's a clear disconnect: they feel left out of the redevelopment process. Many mentioned that community participation is disappointingly low and that they wish their ideas were actually being heard. With so much ongoing change, there's definitely a lingering sense of uncertainty about what the neighborhood's future holds.

Contributors Lupita Klauss, Wu Siu Yeung Ocean, Chan Tak Sum Daisy, Wong Hong Yui

Fom blue to white collar: evolving landscape of workplaces

Perceived & Lived

INDUSTRIAL

1916

1980

Train Warehouses & Steel Construction

Buurtcentrum De Uithoek (Neighbourhood Community Centre)

1887-1974

1974-2003

NS Railway Workshops

Industrial/Office Spaces

45 (Office) Workers

INDUSTRIOUS

2012 2014 UCo Hair Kappersopleiding (relocated in 2024)

2019

2021

2025

Ping Pong Club

Villa Concordia

Zecc Architecten

2003-2014

2014-Now

Various Temporary Uses

Office, Commercial, F&B and leisure uses

Perceived & Lived

6 5

10 11

2 3

4 Source: Gemeente Utrecht (2018). Cultuurhistorische Waardestelling Cartesiusdriehoek 2e Daalsedijk (p.11)

Year of Construction

1887

1891

1892

1905

Number

Wagenmakerij & schilderwerkplaats

Reparatieloods

Telegraafwerkplaats

Bovenbouwwerkplaats

Former Functions

Reused Functions

Wagenmakerij & zadelmakerij

2014

2016

2017

2021

2024

Kookfabriek & Unscared Gym

Ping Pong club

UCo

Concordia

Hondekop, parkinggarage & office spaces

Wagenmakerij

Reparatieloods

High cultural‑historical value

(Office) Workers

Cultural‑historical value as part of the complex.

Potential cultural‑historical value. Further research is recommended.

No cultural‑historical value.

Bovenbouwwerkplaats

1905

1908

1945

1988

2003

Transformatorgebouw

Onderdelenloods

Wagenmakerij

Laboratorium Gebouw

Bedrijfruimtes

2024

2015

Substation

Office spaces a.o. ZECC architects

Demolished

DEKRA Rail, Creative Industries Building

Eletrorail/Deltarail, Dura Vermeer, Kappersvak-school

Tell tale signs

Perceived & Lived

Category: Perceived Format: Sketch mapping showing general location and types of company signages and 12 photographs of such signages at Wisselsppor Contributors: Lupita Klauss, Wu Siu Yeung Ocean, Chan Tak Sum Daisy, Wong Hong Yui

From old business centres to new businesses moving in the area, these signages tell us a lot more than just merely locations of the community. It traces a living history of local commerce, showcasing a dynamic gradient of businesses sharing the redeveloped spaces. Serving as the 'tree rings' of the district's growth, these layers of physical evidence highlight how old and new enterprises intermix to create a uniquely vibrant community.

(Office) Workers

What do They Think?

Perceived & Lived

Category: Lived - workers' perception between attachment and exclusion Format: Sketch mapping of location of interviews with workers, along with snippets of information from our conversations with the workers Contributors: Lupita Klauss, Wu Siu Yeung Ocean, Chan Tak Sum Daisy, Wong Hong Yui

51 (Office) Workers

The interviews with workers in Wisselpoor reveal a tension between attachment and exclusion. On one hand, people describe the park feeling aof the area and liking the environment here. At the same time, some of them also criticise how the buildings and its surroundings have changed. The long views they once enjoyed are now blocked by new buildings and they cannot experience the architecture from outside anymore. However, the participation in the design process was described as 'very minimal' or 'zero'.Not inlcuding the original elements of how people use the space is missed opportunity.

After work we sit in the park or play some football sometimes

I do feel as a part of the Wisselspoor, not just as someone who comes to work here

Conversation with employee from ZECC Architects

"The experience of the building from outside is not possible anymore. It was completely different. It doesn’t work... And it's because all the views are blocked now, all the long views. That's the beauty when you see it from the distance. In fact, you can still have the experience from the parking lot... And it's amazing... Because it's in the repetition. And there is a right proportion in height."

“The participation was very minimal. In the designing phase, zero. Which is a missed opportunity, especially in regards to all the experts that work here..."

Accat ea sit ma con consecae con noneturSatiae inpris audestia venata

Conversation with Silvia Trevisanato, Community Manager of UCo

How to feel at home amidst a changing landscape?

Perceived & Lived

Category: Lived Format: Snippets of information from our conversations with workers Contributors: Lupita Klauss, Wu Siu Yeung Ocean, Chan Tak Sum Daisy, Wong Hong Yui

“We are part of the space now and people come more”

“More contact from the developer would have been nice, to incorporate ideas that would have helped us a bit”

Conversation with employee of Buurthuis de Uithoek

“We liked being in Wisselspoor, but the conflict between the municipality and the NS made it too uncertain, so we left 2,5 years ago, after 10 years.”

“We would joke that it looks like out of a zombie apocalypse. Sometimes you were afraid to go to the car, but we liked it there.”

Phone conversation with owner of Haircutting Training Center

(Office) Workers

A Walk in the Past

Perceived & Lived

Category: Lived Format: 12 photos of Google Earth Images with author edition based on interviewees' input Contributors: Lupita Klauss, Wu Siu Yeung Ocean, Chan Tak Sum Daisy, Wong Hong Yui

55 (Office) Workers

How does the present manifest in images of the past? The ones that lived and worked here view the area with memories from the past, uncertainties on the present, and thier own imaginations for the future. We looked back at old images of the area to recreate the place perceptions of people that have worked at Wisselspoor for a long time.

56 Perceived & Lived

02 Local Business

The Amsterdamsestraatweg is a vibrant shopping street. It’s charaterized by its diversity in people, shops and food. Known as the ‘beauty street’ of Utrecht, here you can find many nail saloons, hair saloons and clinics catering to the local culture of beauty. In its way to improvement, the reputation of this street used to known by local Utrecht residents. The local government reported in 2014 that the street used to have many vacant stores due to the late 2000s financial crisis and the digitalization of services. This meant the disappearance of job centers, game shops and a video rental store. Now, the shops cater to the everyday necessities like hair, nails, phones, bikes, food and house decoration. With the regeneration and rediscovery of the neighbourhood, there’s also the advance of different type of stores and cafes. The question remains: with the construction and conversion of the Wisselspoor neighbourhood and changing demographics, what will this mean for the diversity Amsterdamsestraatweg, which is its defined characteristic. Contributors: Pak Hei Heiven Au, Rizky Kalebos, Chun Lam Ng

RECENT TRANSFORMATION OF THE AMSTERDAMSESTRAATW e Category: Conceived Format: Mapping and preliminery research on urban transformation over time from 2009 Contributors: Heiven, Rizky, Lam

e ef

r t e

t en

m l e

Perceived & Lived

"The rise of online shopping has had a negative impact. The increasing vacancy rate of shops and facilities (approximately 10%) is a cause for concern and continues to grow."

u ol

tie

s e R

u ct

"Vacancy will be addressed by strengthening retail, creating attractive hospitality venues (restaurants, cafés, etc.), and converting properties into residential and business uses."

c u L

tfo

g o H

d ee Tw ls e aa D

AMST

ORIGINAL R

NEW DEVEL "The future development of the railway zone along the 2e Daalsedijk will also provide an important boost in this regard."

"Upgrading the shopping strip into a cluster specializing in ethnic food products. By combining several existing retail units, it will be possible to establish an exotic (ethnic) supermarket." (Local government quotes from the Development Strategy 2014)

s ijl

N dr e 5-Minute living circle

Local Business

WEG

de urt u eb

TERDAMSESTRAATWEG

6 .1

RESIDENTS

LOPMENT

8 7,

1: 0.08

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Services & Necessities - 52 Retails - 23 Food & Drink - 22 Vacant - 17 Everyday Necessities- 9 Others - 5

TRANSFORMATION OF STREETSCAPE Category: Conceived Format: Elevation and history of the streetscape Contributors: Heiven, Rizky, Lam

Perceived & Lived

HOUSE NUMBER

2026/TYPE

2009/TYPE

Local Business

1 ROUTINES & RELIANCE - Everyday necessities

Perceived & Lived

Category: Perceived Format: Observation of the business activities and interaction between customers and shop owner Contributors: Heiven, Rizky, Lam

Daily necessity businesses provide the essential services that sustain everyday life in the communities surrounding Amsterdamstraatweg and Wisselspoor. Supermarkets, pharmacies, convenience stores, and household services create a dependable network that supports residents while reinforcing the neighbourhood's resilience and sense of place within Utrecht.

63 Local Business

- 3rd years running business in Amsterdamstraatweg - retail of specialty craft beer only from Netherland - member of the #ASW030 Ondernemersvereniging - most of the customers are white, between 20 to 70, and especially 35+ fathers with the baby cart to shop and prepare drinks for taking care of children on Wednesdays' "Papadag"

2 TABLE & STORIES - Food, drink, social life

Perceived & Lived

Category: Perceived Format: Observation of the business activities and interaction between customers and shop owner Contributors: Heiven, Rizky, Lam

Food and beverage establishments serve as the social heart of Amsterdamstraatweg, where residents, workers, and visitors pass by and gather throughout the day. Here, the cultural diversity is the most recognizable with places serving and selling food and drinks from Turkey, Greece, Italy, Pakistan, Vietnam and Mexico. A store like Baba is a meeting places for older males to drink, talk, play games and watch football matches. As Wisselspoor develops into a mixed-use district, these spaces become important settings for community interaction, cultural exchange, and the everyday life of the neighbourhood.

- 5th years running business in Amsterdamstraatweg - Greek Bar & Restaurant selling special coffee and pies - customer composition: 95% Greeks and Dutch from the local neighborhood, lots of them are Greek students from the university, also seeing Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Afraican etc.

Local Business

- planning to start selling Greek Tapas from September to boost customer and sale for evening period

3 EYES & DESIRE - Retail and consupmtion

Perceived & Lived

Category: Perceived Format: Observation of the business activities and interaction between customers and shop owner Contributors: Heiven, Rizky, Lam

Retail businesses along Amsterdamstraatweg reflect the diversity such as Morroccan kaftan and wedding dresses catering to the cultural demand of its surrounding neighbourhood. Independent shops and local entrepreneurs create places for identity, expression, discovery, and exchange, transforming the street into an active commercial corridor that responds to changing lifestyles and consumer needs.

67 Local Business

- 26 years running business in Amsterdamsestraatweg - second-hand clothing store - customer composition: different ethnicities, covering from the city of Utrecht to provincial region and even national - people usually visited by passing by; old regular customers come often with cars, comment about the insufficiency of car-parking in Amsterdamstraatweg

HANDS & SWEAT - Production, repair , craftsmanship

Perceived & Lived

Category: Perceived Format: Observation of the business activities and interaction between customers and shop owner Contributors: Heiven, Rizky, Lam

Rooted in the industrial legacy of Wisselspoor and the working-class history of Amsterdamstraatweg, these businesses rely on craftsmanship, technical expertise, and manual labour. From repair workshops in bikes or phones to specialised trades for beauty and services, they continue Utrecht's tradition of making and maintaining, supporting both local entrepreneurship and everyday urban life.

69 Local Business

- 9 years running business in Amsterdamsestraatweg - mixed service and retail (parcel storage, ATM machine, retail of electronic devices and appliances, and phone repairment) - customer composition: different ethnicities, from the local neighbourhood - started on the opposite of Amsterdamsestraatweg 160 and moved in 2021 to 181 to have larger shop space

Perceived & Lived

What does the street get out of the neighbourhood? Interviews with local business owners along Amsterdamstraatweg reveal a shared sense of cautious optimism towards the redevelopment of Wisselspoor. While many acknowledge that prolonged construction has disrupted accessibility, reduced customer footfall, and placed financial pressure on existing businesses, they generally view the project as a long-term investment in the neighbourhood. Business owners anticipate that the influx of new residents, workers, and visitors will strengthen the local customer base and create opportunities for a more diverse commercial environment. At the same time, they emphasise that successful regeneration should extend beyond physical redevelopment by supporting existing entrepreneurs, maintaining affordability, improving connectivity, and fostering stronger collaboration between businesses and the municipality. Their perspectives suggest that the future success of Wisselspoor will depend not only on attracting new investment, but also on integrating and sustaining the established economic and social networks that have long characterised Amsterdamstraatweg.

Local Business

Category: Lived Format: Interview of shop owners and their Contributors: Heiven, Rizky, Lam

72 Perceived & Lived

03 Visitors

Visitors This chapter takes external leisure visitors as the research subject to study their time-based activity patterns and spatial usage in Wisselspoor. Field research reveals distinct visitor flow differences across time: the district sees few visitors on weekdays during working hours, yet becomes lively and crowded after work and on weekends. Our key finding is the fragmented use of scattered leisure venues. Most visitors only visit one pre-planned spot without exploring other facilities, and many are unaware of the district’s full range of offerings beyond their original destination. They expose mismatches between the current layout and visitors’ movement habits, offering references to optimise walkways, signage and public rest spaces. The renovation can connect isolated venues, encourage visitors to explore the whole area and build a more cohesive vibrant public zone.

Suze-Anne de Weert, TAI Koon Shing (Adrian), LEE King Wo Ken, Yu Junwei (Ruben)

Wisselspoor design intentions Category: Conceived Format: Quotes from the designers Contributors: Suze-Anne de Weert

One Way In, One Way Out

Perceived & Lived

Category: Perceived Format: Mapping and tracing inbound regional trajectories to individual blocks Contributors: TAI Koon Shing (Adrian)

75 Visitors

Leisure visitors travel to Wisselspoor from local neighborhoods in Utrecht, cities like Amsterdam and Eindhoven, and across the borders from Belgium and Germany. On the ground, these journeys follow a highly distinct, point-to-point routine. A visitor arrives at the site with a single, specific destination in mind. They navigate directly to that lone coordinate, spend their time within that specific block, and then immediately reverse their path to elsewhere, outside the area. There is no casual drifting between adjacent spaces, no spontaneous wandering into neighboring zones, and no overlapping paths. The physical movement consists entirely of these self-contained, independent loops, where people occupy the same geographic neighborhood while remaining tied solely to their individual entry and exit tracks.

Getting lost?

Perceived & Lived

Category: Conceived and Lived Format: Mapping of the signs Contributors: LEE King Wo Ken

Visitors

Let Me Guide You!

Perceived & Lived

Category: Conceived and Lived Format: 21 photographs of signs at Wisselspoor Contributors: LEE King Wo Ken

We observed that there is a large amount of signs at Wisselspoor that guide the visitors to different leisure spots. PingPong Club has the most signs that guide you trough a construction site to the entrance of the building. This shows the difficulty to sense directions during the development process, but perhaps the large amount of signs makes it even more confussing?

Visitors

Different places, different visitor flows

Perceived & Lived

Category: Perceived Format: Screenshot collages of Google Maps business profiles for five local venues, containing officialopening hours, visitor popular time charts and public rating data. Contributors: Yu Junwei (Ruben)

81 Visitors

This page compiles raw reference materials collected from Google Maps and on-site fieldwork, which act as the data foundation for the visitor peak time timetable graph above. Each screenshot records authentic official information of the five leisure businesses, including address, daily opening schedule, customer rating, realtime popular visiting hours and service limitations. Combined with our manual field verification, we sort out accurate daily visitor flow curves and mark overlapping leisure visitor peak periods.

Opening Rhythms & Visitor Peaks

Perceived & Lived

Category: Perceived Format: Time-series line graphs recording daily visitor volume of five local leisure businesses, marking peak visiting hours for recreational visitors. Contributors: Yu Junwei (Ruben)

Doloris Anoma Maze

De Honddekop

The ping Pong Club

UnScared CrossFit

Villa Concordia

83 This mapping visualizes the daily visitor flow curve of five surrounding commercial venues, clearly recording the time distribution and peak hours of leisure visitors across weekdays and weekends. The light green highlighted segments represent overlapping peak periods of recreational visitors at all stores, while the vertical dashed green frame outlines the optimal time window on Sundays recommended for visitors to access the district. For local merchants: It provides intuitive data to adjust staffing, service schedules and operation plans according to actual visitor peaks, optimising business efficiency.

Visitors

For architectural & urban renewal design: It reveals the real activity timeline of external leisure visitors, The result guides the layout of public outdoor spaces to accommodate concentrated weekend visitor flows, relieving crowd congestion and improving the overall visiting experience of the community centre block.

84 Perceived & Lived

A fragmented site? Category: Lived Format: Mapping Contributors: Suze-Anne de Weert

We found out that the visitors that come to the site are only at the site for a specifice leisure spot. The visitors don't go to multiple spots. This makes the site a fragmented site and not a flowing site that people come to and visite for a long time. Most people do not know that there are more things happening in the neighbourhood. The leisure spots that are in Wisselspoor are spots that a lot of people love and come to alot, but the visitors don't connect them to eachother and vistite multiple sites.

85 Visitors What else to do? It's not clear for the visitors of the site.

86 Perceived & Lived

04 New Residents

New Residents This chapter is a assessment of the new residencies of Wisselspoor approached through the CPL framework. The reader is guided, first, through the C-mapping, focusing on the planning of the developers and the architects to design the new residencies that align and interact with the surviving historical heritage. The second half of the presentation is concentrated of the construction of a the PL-mapping emphasizing on how the residents connect with the heritage and the public space. *Note: In this context, PL does NOT refer to financial term of profit and loss! ;-) We aim to interpret Wisselspoor though three inter-connected aspects: connection between survived material past an present, diversity of the residents' current identities and needs, use of the public space, mainly the designated parks, as a connector. Research Questions: How the new buildings match with the past? Do the residents feel this connection with the heritage? How do they interact with the public space?

Name of Contributors: Vera Verheijen, Ioanna-Markella Zafeiropoulou, Sherlock Chow Chun Nok, Stephanie Ho Cheuk Chi

Perceived & Lived

New Residents

Ambitions for a 'cool & industrial' neighbourhood Category: Conceived Format: 6 diagrams illustrating the design considerations of the master plan of the area

The development of the new residential neighborhoods is based on three main directions:

Perceived & Lived

1. Use as starting point the surviving heritage of Wisselspoor and integrate the new residencies into the "cool and industrial" character of the site. Heritage is intended to be visible and be part of everyday routes and public spaces.

2. Creation of a "hotspot where living, working and recreation come together." A central objective is to create a diverse mix of housing types, residents and activities: student apartments, social housing, self‑build homes and collectively commissioned houses. Goal: bring different groups together within the same neighbourhood. 3. Development of a landscape environment across the Wisselspoor, though diverse style of parks and greenery, which intend to bring the diverse Wisselspoor residents together and attract non‑residents at the Wisselspoor. It is central the establishment of Wisselspoor as "stoer stukkie stad," in other words, to concert the area a cool, lively location.

New Residents

Together, these principles aim to embrace the existing heritage and strengthen the identity of Wisselspoor.

Materiality responds to industrial heritage

Perceived & Lived

Category: Conceived and Perceived Format: 21 photographs of materials of new buildings

This section compares the materials used in the brickwork of Wisselspoor. Some of the materials are original and form part of the site’s industrial heritage. Others are newly introduced but refer to this heritage through similar colours, textures and finishes. A third group consists of contemporary materials that do not imitate the past and therefore create a visible contrast between the historic and newly developed parts of the site. On the left side are presented images used as reference by the developers of the Wisselspoor (Synchroon 2017) .The materials can be classified into three categories: historic materials, new materials with a historic reference, and contemporary additions. The selection of the materials used for the new residencies aim to align with the "cool and urban" character of the area and function as an extension of the old materials. On the right side is presented a collage with photos from residencies highlighting this "interplay between past and present."

Materials of the Heritage

93 New Residents New Materials with Historical References

Contemporary Add-ons

Interplay between old and new

Perceived & Lived

Category: Conceived and Perceived Format: Diagrams of Planned Building Form Design and 12 photographs of completed buildings

This page present the initial design concepts with the buildings that were ultimately implemented at the residencies of Wisselspoor. The sketches and the reference images on the left side of this page present the main source of inspiration, propositions and architectural character. The residents of the single-family houses at the west side of the 2e Daalsebuurt were allowed to influence the design of their homes by selecting from a range of reference images. On the right ride of this page are selected various photos from the new residencies emphasizing on the wide variety of forms and structures. The photographs show how the conceived designs were translated into built form. At the same time the design of the residential area compliment the surviving industrial heritage of Wisselspoor, align with the "cool and urban" character of the area and symbolize the sentiment of"here and now with an optimistic look at the future."

New Residents

Interplay between public & private

Perceived & Lived

Category: Perceived Format: 21 photographs of materials of new buildings

The city plot concept stipulates a close connection between buildings with small private and larger public open spaces. We observed that pedestrians can take a quick look at the private space of the residents. Through plants, furniture, decorations and everyday objects, each balcony becomes an extension of the home and gives to the outside part of each residency a character of "individuality." At the same time, the boundary between private and public space is very limited. In some cases, the balcony forms the interval between the public space and the "sacred" privacy of the bedroom. The open and transparent facades make parts of the everyday domestic life visible from the walking bypassers. The collage of photos shows, on the one hand, the manifestation of the personality of the residents "from the inside to the outside" and, on the other hand, functions as a motive for further discussion on the proximity between private and public space.

New Residents

How do the new residents perceive their new places?

Perceived & Lived

Category: Perceived and Lived Format: 12 photos showing the morning activities of the neighbors in the public space

This section explores the daily human activities and lived experiences of the residents within the public spaces of Wisselspoor. Some elements focus on recreational activities, such as sports and cycling, while others highlight moments at the community's green lawns. A third component captures qualitative feedback from various community members, mapping their personal connections, adjustments, and social interactions within the neighborhood. On the left side are presented images documenting routine morning activities, showing how neighbors actively utilize the outdoor public realms. On the right side is presented a series of illustrated interview panels featuring diverse resident profiles—such as local students, couples, and dog walkers— highlighting their candid perceptions, personal experiences, and varied thoughts regarding the site's ongoing urban transition and identity.

New Residents

100

Old elements in new buildings Category: Perceived Format: 4 photos showing the new buildings where the new residents are housed

Perceived & Lived

This section explores the architectural design and public perception of Wisselspoor's new residential structures, focusing on how contemporary additions dialogue with preserved industrial remnants. The new residencies' distinct rust-colored expanded-metal skins, varying mesh orientations, and geometric balconies mirror the site's raw heritage. The key heritage elements - including the reintroduced railway tracks and the Wagenmakeri Gate - capture the imagination but also receive public critiques.

New Residents

101

102

Railway history in public realm

Category: Perceived Format: 4 photos showing how to existing railway is preserved in the new development

Perceived & Lived

This section highlights the structural preservation and urban integration of the historic railway infrastructure within the new Wisselspoor development, anchoring the area to its industrial roots. On the left side, photographs detail the preserved railway tracks traversing the transitional landscapes of the developing public spaces. On the right side, an architectural photographic study of the historic Wagenmakerij Gate showcases the direct material relationship between weathered brickwork, concrete structural arches, and the modern residential complexes rising immediately adjacent to them.

New Residents

103

104 Perceived & Lived

05 Original Residents

Original Residents The lived narratives reveal how redevelopment has influenced residents' sense of place beyond its intended design outcomes. Green infrastructure has become an important social asset, creating spaces that support everyday interactions, particularly for families and older residents. At the same time, interviewees identified emerging issues such as increased traffic and changing neighbourhood demographics, topics that appear to received less attention within the conceived perspective.

These perspectives suggest that while redevelopment can enhance the quality of public space, it also reshapes social relationships and community identify, requiring existing and new residents to adapt as the neighbourhood continues to evolve.

Contributors Amos Goldenberg Annelore Lam Pui Hong Chiu (Leo) Yumeng Shen (Sherry)

106

The Layers of the Daalsebuurt

Category: Conceived Format: Quotes from the ‘Ontwikkelvisie & Ontwikkelkader 2e Daalsedijk Utrecht’ (2015) (translated from Dutch) Contributors: Annelore

Perceived & Lived

On this side of the 2nd Daalsedijk, a residential area consisting mainly of terraced workers’ houses was built between 1880 and 1920, where employees of the Centrale Werkplaats lived. (Source: Ontwikkelvisie & ontwikkelkader 2e Daalsedijk Utrecht (2015)

The municipality wants to focus on creating more student housing in the The municipality to focus creating more student housing Daalsebuurt, as wellwants as housing foron small households. in the Daalsebuurt, as well as housing for small households.

107

A New Vision: Do we still belong here? Category: Conceived Format: General information about the neighborhood and municipal plans Contributors: Annelore

A New Vision: Do we still belong here?

Original Residents

This new green of the Daalseb Category: Conceived walk, play and In the development vision, thefrom Daalsebuurt is mentioned quite often: pages). The focus seems to be on maintaining the Format: Quotes the ‘Ontwikkelvisie & Ontwikkelkader 2e44 Daalsedijk 31 times in total (on neighborhood's quietness, and creating new green for them. Nothing is said about (maintaining) their sense of belonging. Utrecht’ (2015) (translated fromspaces Dutch) dominated neig Contributors: Annelore its own ‘back

In the long term, the policy is to prevent passing traffic in this area, which will lead to a reduction in traffic. Furthermore, future developments will be geared towards ensuring the area remains car-free in order to preserve the peaceful atmosphere of the residential streets.

This new green space offers residents of the Daalsebuurt pleasant places to walk, play and relax. [...] This stonedominated neighbourhood will soon have its own ‘back garden’. In the development vision, the Daalsebuurt is mentioned quite often: times in total (on pages). The focus The 31 development of 44 the planning area seems to be on maintaining the neighborhood's presents opportunities to give the quietness, and creating for them. green spaces new at green thisspaces location a more Nothingpublic is said about (maintaining) their current sense of character for the belonging. residents of the Daalsebuurt.

The developmen presents oppor green spaces a public charact residents of t

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A changing social fabric Category: Conceived Format: Mapping of street name

Perceived & Lived

The neighbourhood lives up to its name with streetnames at the intersection of floral and industry

Social‑housing blocks in the 2e Daalsedijk area. Housing stock owned by housing associations, as of January 2025. Source: RWU‑corporatiebestand. Woonin Bo-Ex SSH Utrecht Portaal

Original Residents

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Planted and Unplanned

Perceived & Lived

Category: Percieved Format: 18 photographs of planting at Wisselsppor Contributors: Amos, Sherry

The coexistence of cultivated gardens and spontaneous vegetation reflects different forms of spatial occupation. Resident-maintained planting expresses care, ownership, and identity, while unmanaged growth exposes temporal gaps in maintenance and the ability of nature to reclaim urban surfaces. Together, they reveal the street as a continually negotiated environment between control and emergence.

Original Residents

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112 Perceived & Lived

The gap does not disappear as neighbourhoods become wealthier; rather, the way it is occupied changes. Temporary occupation shifts from residual and necessity-driven practices towards curated, resident-led forms of stewardship. This suggests that the urban threshold remains an active space of negotiation regardless of socioeconomic context, but the actors, intentions and temporalities of occupation differ.

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Threshold Occupation Across Residential Streets Category: Percieved Format: a series of photographs of the "frontage" at Wisselsppor. Contributors: Sherry

Original Residents

bulky waste

unmanaged vegetation

informally parked bike

Veldstraat - Koolstraat: social residential area

residents-managed planting

Fabriekstraat : moving towards more affluent residential streets residents-managed planting

municipal greenery

regulated parked bike doorstep benches

Jasmijnstraat

residents-managed planting

doorstep seating

municipal greenery

municipal Bike Parking

Dahliastraat : the transition is not simply aesthetic but reflects different relationships between residents and the public realm.

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Reading the Everyday Streetscape

Perceived & Lived

Category: Percieved Format: 9 photographs of signs at Wisselsppor Contributors: Annelore, Amos, Sherry, Leo

Walking through the neighbourhood reveals a rich layer of informal communication embedded within the streetscape. Community-made signs, resident-maintained greenery, neighbourhood benches, playground notices, and personalised front gardens collectively express a strong sense of local stewardship. Rather than being designed by the municipality alone, these small interventions demonstrate how residents continuously negotiate, manage, and personalise public space. Together, they construct an everyday landscape of care, ownership, and social interaction. hared benches, community gardens, resident-managed spaces, welcoming messages, playgrounds, and informal decorations are concentrated around key pedestrian routes and gathering points. These everyday interventions transform ordinary streets into collective spaces, illustrating how community identity is produced through numerous small-scale acts rather than singular architectural projects.

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TW ESTRAA RDAMS AMSTE

LIVING

TOGETHER

Original Residents

PLANTING MANAGED BY RESIDENTS

BENCH FOR NEIGHBOURHOOD

ATTENTION NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH !

LIVING TOGETHER

TW ESTRAA

RDAMS

AMSTE

PLANTING MANAGED BY RESIDENTS

WELCOME TO PLAYGROUND

COMMUNITY CENTER LIVING TOGETHER

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I Grow Up and Grow Old Here...

Perceived & Lived

Category: Lived Format: Voices from 5 different backgrounds Contributors: Leo, Annelore, Amos

It had been getting worse. They always talk about "living together", but where was the

togetherness? It has been getting worse.

I always sit underneath the trees. To enjoy it for a while… To remember the old days.

We sometimes look for green spaces like parks to have a chat with friends in this weather. Most irritating is the parking problem, mostly for professional workers. At the end of the day when they come home they cannot find a place.

The quietness is gone. That was what made this

street so beautiful.

Property prices are going up. But that's also due to scarity of the last years. We have a scarity here in the housing and in buildings.

…it’s got really busy too. It’s not peaceful any more. Sometimes there are tens of them cycling past here… as early as 7 o’clock… late at night as well. By then, people are already shouting quite loudly.

Our houses are also cracking and shanking because of the big lorries that come through here. There’s no paid parking here on Sundays, relatives have to drive round and round ten times to find a space

Accat ea sit ma con consecae con noneturSatiae inpris audestia venata

117 Original Residents

...nice that there is more living space for People... there is a housing shortage. They have made some greenery around it, so that it is still nice to walk in there a bit Old Industrial buildings… That I don’t really like that much

I think it’s a different kind of style than it is on this side, but I don’t think it is necessarily ugly

this is what they call the flower neighbourhood. But it was just a

concrete neighbourhood.

because of this new are being remodeled, everything got better. Before, building was just in downfall and we were just looking at it all the time and they just fixed it now. It's always very dangerous in the streets, people can drive very fast. But in the new area, you can cycle and my son can become part of the village.

Parents are very happy with this because there is there

was nothing like this before here.

Young urban professionals'... someone with a lot of money that comes out and finds a house. New people live there with more money... not really a reflection of the city itself... it's not really mixing with the neighbourhood just yet.. But I think that will change over time. I'm guessing then you will have

more crossover as well...

parents also see each other a bit more from around the area... the street becomes

more connected.

New development is also really nice for this area because it used to be pretty boring...

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The places where old and new merge

Category: Lived Format: Map records the interviewee's experiences and emotional attachments to particular locations. Contributors: Leo, Sherry

Perceived & Lived

Through conversations with local residents, this map records the everyday experiences that shape the perceptions of Wisselspoor. It reveals how the redevelopment is understood through daily routines, memories, mobility and personal attachment. Together these voices highlight the opportunities and tensions alongside a transforming neighbourhood.

We have new gardens so that is quite beautiful.

we just walk over there in two minutes and he can play there and he can cycle.

For many people that live here, the new part is not really a reflection of the city itself. You have more social housing here, it is more mixed, but when you go across there, it's just business people.

I think it’s a different kind of style than it is on this side, but I don’t think it is necessarily ugly.

It's always very dangerous in the streets, people can drive very fast.

Those buidlings was simply in downfall, we had to look at it all the time, they only fixed it now.

119 Original Residents

We see a lot of traffic going on, ... busy traffic.

We see that this street, the Fabrieksstraat is now becoming the main road. We recently saw more accidents becase of the new development.

Favourite part of the neighbourhood is this bench in front of my house.

Better conennctions across the railroads.

I think it would be nicer if they took the street across the railroads to another neighborhood. So then you get a better connection.

Reflections

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4. Reflections

Photo by workshop participant: CHIU, Pui Hong

122 Reflections

Reading Urban Transformation The week-long learning journey showed how local knowledge, fresh perspectives and cross-cultural collaboration can deepen the way we understand, design and care for the places we call home. Here’s what resonated after a week of intense collaboration and getting to know new people from across the world and different practises.

Learning in Real Practice The students learned about the specific challenges and opportunities that come with these complex urban transformation sites, they learned which spatial instruments can help safeguard heritage values and discovered how to shape architectural design processes in a participatory way. The highlight was the deep dive in the Wisselspoor neighbourhood. Together, they analysed the area on different levels: through the eyes of the designers and through the eyes of the people who live, work and visit there. They presented their ‘P&L maps’ and observations to an audience that included the very people who planned and designed the brand- new neighbourhood for young urban professionals at the disused former railway yard in the middle of Utrecht. What followed was an interesting dialogue about how to capitalise on the value of heritage, documenting the people’s perspective midway through the development process and ways to keep stakeholders involved in complex urban transformation projects.

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Stedelijke transformatie ontrafeld Deze International Summer School creëerde een mooie gelegenheid om met een frisse blik en een intercultureel perspectief naar het proces van stedelijke herontwikkeling te kijken. Een week van intensieve samenwerking en nieuwe ontmoetingen leverde de volgende nieuwe inzichten op:

Leren in de praktijk De studenten maakten kennis met de unieke kansen en specifieke uitdagingen van dit soort binnenstedelijke industriële transformatielocaties. Ze leerden hoe historische panden en karakteristieke elementen ingezet kunnen worden om waarde toe te voegen aan de gebiedsontwikkeling, welke ruimtelijke instrumenten kunnen bijdragen aan het borgen van erfgoedwaarden en onderzochten hoe architectonische ontwerpprocessen op een participatieve manier kunnen worden vormgegeven. Het hoogtepunt was de verdiepende analyse van de Wisselspoorbuurt. Samen onderzochten de studenten het gebied op verschillende niveaus: door de ogen van de ontwerpers én door die van de mensen die er wonen, werken en op bezoek komen. Ze presenteerden hun CPL analyses in de vorm van belevingskaarten aan de mensen die het gebied nu vormgeven: architecten, stedebouwkundigen en planologen. Daaruit ontstond een interessante dialoog. Het gesprek ging over het borgen en benutten van de erfgoedwaarden en over methodes en momenten om belanghebbenden, oude en nieuwe bewoners in het transformatieproces te betrekken.

124 Reflections

“Bij The Missing Link laten we ons inspireren door het verleden en zetten we erfgoed in als verbindende factor. We geloven dat gedeelde erfgoedwaarden een krachtige basis kunnen vormen voor gemeenschapsvorming, door gebruik te maken van de kennis en lessen uit het verleden én van de ervaringen van huidige gebruikers. Wanneer planners en architecten erin slagen om verleden en toekomst met elkaar te verbinden, ontstaat er ruimte om een nieuwe laag aan de historie van een plek toe te voegen.” — Hanneke Masselink Duits

“At The Missing Link we take our inspiration from the past and use heritage as a connector of people and place. We believe that

by putting to use the wisdom and lessons of the past and tapping into the experiences of current users, shared heritage values can serve as a kickstarter for community building. When planners and architects

manage to connect the future with the past , a a place has a chance to unfold and become.” —Hanneke Masselink Duits

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New buildings exhibit echoes of the former factory heritage through their details of patterns, materials and colour. Source: New residents group

126 Reflections

“Dit een belangrijke takeaway voor ons als gemeente, en voor de architecten en ontwikkelaars.

We denken vaak in termen van placemaking, maar we zouden meer moeten nadenken over placekeeping: vanuit het perspectief van de mensen die de plekken gebruiken.”

— David Langerak, gemeente Utrecht

“I think that's a big lesson for us as a municipality, together with the architects and the developers, because we always

Greenery within in‑between spaces is a frequent resting and activity space for residents. Source: New residents group

think in place making, but we should also think in place keeping. The people’s way.”

—David Langerak, Utrecht Municipality

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Feedback from Conceivers "It’s a rich set of data. I'm really amazed by the details. We investigated when we planned the area, but its useful to also do it throughout the development.” —Ruben Visser, Studio Nine Dots “Het is een rijke dataset. Ik ben met name onder de indruk van het detailniveau. Bij aanvang van het ontwerpproces hebben we natuurlijk de kenmerken van het gebied en de zorgen van de bewoners uitgebreid geanalyseerd, maar het blijkt heel waardevol om dat ook tijdens de ontwikkeling van het gebied te blijven doen.” — Ruben Visser, Studioninedots

Signage for Various Programms on Perimeter Walls Source: Workers group

128 Reflections

How to capitalise on the value of heritage? “The development process is almost like patchwork. There is a very long process with layers and layers of new elements being added. What we learned from this fieldwork is that physical anchors from the past help to create a sense of belonging. This makes it easier for residents to adjust to the redevelopment process. It also means that more people come and stay in the area, which is ultimately what we're trying to achieve in development.” —Office workers group ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Transformatieopgaves zijn als een lappendeken; een langdurig proces waarin steeds nieuwe lagen en elementen worden toegevoegd. Uit ons veldwerk bleek dat fysieke ankerpunten uit het verleden helpen om een gevoel van verbondenheid te creëren. Dat maakt het makkelijker voor bewoners om mee te bewegen met de herontwikkeling. Ook zorgt het voor meer tractie en herkenbaarheid in het gebied — en dat is uiteindelijk wat we proberen te bereiken.” — Werkgroep ‘kantoormedewerkers’

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The interior of the ping-pong club Source: Workers group

130 Reflections

“It is a fragmented site, not a flowing site. All of the leisure places attract their own customer group. Different visitors come at different times. They typically come to one place and then leave the site. On paper it looks like a leisure line, but it's all quite separated from each other. We see potential to optimise walkways, signage and public rest spaces. A design adaptation could connect isolated venues encourage visitors to explore the whole area and build a more cohesive vibrant public zone.” —Visitors group

Bicycle parking at residual street edge in front of historic building. Source: Workers group

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What can planners and designers learn from the people's perspective? “Het gebied voelt gefragmenteerd en mist samenhang. De verschillende locaties trekken ieder hun eigen publiek en bezoekers komen op verschillende momenten van de dag. Vaak bezoeken zij slechts één specifieke plek en verlaten daarna het gebied weer. Op papier lijkt er sprake van een aaneengesloten recreatieve zone, maar in de praktijk liggen de verschillende plekken behoorlijk los van elkaar. We zien dus kansen om looproutes, bewegwijzering en openbare ruimtes te verbeteren om zo de afzonderlijke voorzieningen beter met elkaar te verbinden en bezoekers te verleiden om het hele gebied te verkennen.” — Werkgroep ‘bezoekers’

132 Reflections

Value of participatory mapping “We researched the place through the design; what it said on paper, but also based on our first-person POV, the real question for us was, what is happening in real life?” —Visitors group -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wij onderzochten de plek door middel van ontwerp: wat er op papier stond, maar ook vanuit ons eigen eerste‑persoonsperspectief. De echte vraag voor ons was: wat speelt zich af in het echte leven?”

— Groep ‘Bezoekers’

133 New apartment building. Source: New residents group

134 Reflections Informal micro‑interventions on residential street frontages Source: Original residents group

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About cross-cultural learning “We have seen a very different approach, and it encourages us to learn more from other cultures, and also the other way of thinking. This creative mindset is a very huge inspiration for us.” —Hong Kong student -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We hebben nu een heel andere benadering leren kennen. Jullie creatieve manier van ontwerpen inspireert om vaker te kijken naar andere culturen en andere manieren van denken.” — Student uit Hongkong

136 Reflections

Lastly The co-organisers - School of Architecture CUHK, Stichting Urban Discovery and The Missing Link - share a belief in the power of heritage and its ability to bring people together. Routes, objects and places people come across in daily life, sometimes very casually, gain meaning along the way and throughout time. In urban transformation we add new spatial layers as we go along. Reckognising spatial elements that transcend individual interests, backgrounds and cultures can provide useful pillars when planning and designing new neighbourhoods on these former industrial sites. This mapping exercise has helped to pinpoint not only the spatial dimensions but also the soft values: shared (his)stories, memories and perceptions. This week has also made us realise that a multivoiced approach is key. Only when we take care to carefully identify how different stakeholders in a community perceive certain places and which values they attach to it, these heritage elements - both tangible and intangible - can become bearers of shared identities and contribute to the wellbeing and sense of belonging. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tenslotte De organisatoren, School of Architecture CUHK, Stichting Urban Discovery en The Missing Link, delen de overtuiging dat erfgoed de kracht heeft om mensen met elkaar te verbinden. Routes, objecten en plekken die mensen in het dagelijks leven tegenkomen, soms heel terloops, krijgen gaandeweg betekenis. In stedelijke transformatie voegen we steeds nieuwe lagen toe. Het herkennen en borgen van ruimtelijke elementen die individuele belangen, achtergronden en culturen overstijgen, kan houvast bieden bij het plannen en ontwerpen van nieuwe buurten. Deze manier van belevingen in kaart brengen heeft geholpen om niet alleen de ruimtelijke dimensies van een gebied zichtbaar te maken, maar ook de zachtere waarden: gedeelde verhalen en persoonlijke geschiedenissen, herinneringen en percepties. Deze week heeft ons ook doen inzien hoe belangrijk een meerstemmige benadering is. Alleen wanneer we zorgvuldig onderzoeken hoe verschillende belanghebbenden binnen een gemeenschap plekken ervaren en welke waarden zij eraan toekennen, ontstaat er een meerstemmig beeld van de plek. Erfgoedelementen, zowel materieel als immaterieel, kunnen zo dragers worden van gedeelde identiteiten en bijdragen aan welzijn en een gevoel van verbondenheid.

137 Street‑front view of local shops. Source: Local business group

Reflections

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5. About the Summer School

Photo by workshop participant: WU, Siu Yeung

140 About the Summer School

The Summer School is an immersive, field-based investigation into adaptive reuse and area development, a collaboration between: School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Urban Discovery, a Hong Kong and Netherlandsbased non-profit organisation for community-driven heritage interpretation and revitalisation.

The Missing Link, independent consultancy in the Netherlands focused on adaptive reuse and heritagedriven urban redevelopment. Participants come from the School of Architecture at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and from universities and colleges across the Netherlands and across different disciplines (architecture, real estate, heritage management, urban planning and urban studies), including the University of Amsterdam, University of Utrecht, Fontys College Eindhoven, Radboud University Nijmegen and the Reinwardt Academy. This diverse group of participants will strengthen cross‑cultural exchange and support multidiplinary collaboration. The week took place at Utrecht Community (UCo), a former train repair workshop repurposed as a multi-tenant office building and home to the office of The Missing Link). A location surrounded by industrial history in the middle of a new city district that is coming to life. A fitting location for a Summer School for heritage-inclusive city makers.

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Schedule

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Index of Participants

About the Summer School

Participants from Chinese University of Hong Kong

AU, Pak Hei Heiven MArch

CHAN, Tak Sum Daisy MArch

CHIU, Pui Hong MArch

CHOW, Chun Nok MArch

LEE, King Wo Ken MArch

HO, Cheuk Chi MArch

NG, Chun Lam MArch

SHEN, Yumeng MArch

YU, Junwei MArch

TAI, Koon Shing MArch

WONG, Hong Yui MArch

WU, Siu Yeung MArch

Vera Verheijen Real Estate Studies at Fontys University of Applied Sciences Eindhoven

Annelore Lam History at Radboud University Archival Studies at University of Amsterdam

Participants from Dutch Universities

ILoanna Markella Zafeiropoulou Old History at Utrecht University, p.

Suze-Anne de Weert Amos Goldenberg Human Geography and Planning, Urban Planning at Amsterdam University Planning specialization at of Applied Sciences Univeristy of Amsterdam

Young Urban Professionals

Rizky Kalebos Lupita Klauss Urban and Regional Architecture at Technical University of Vienna Planning at University Spatial Planning at Utrecht University of Amsterdam Archival Studies at University of Amsterdam

Prof. Inge Goudsmit Architect & Assistant Professor at School of Architecture, CUHK

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Mentors Inge Goudsmit is an architect and Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), where she teaches and conducts research in architecture, urban design, and the social production of the built environment. With over 20 years of experience in practice, she previously served as an Associate at the Pritzker Prize-winning architectural firm the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), contributing to major international projects across Asia and Europe.

Ester van Steekelenburg (PhD) is an urban planner with over 20 years of international experience at the intersection of heritage and spatial development. As a consultant she worked for clients such as UNESCO, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank on repurposing of historic buildings and the transformation of old neighborhoods throughout Southest Asia. Ester now lives in her home country the Netherlands where she heads Urban Discovery, a non-profit agency for botom-up projects in urban storytelling, Dr. Ester van Steekelenburg and also works as a heritage planner for The Missing Link. Heritage Consulatant at Urban Discovery

Siënna Veelders is a heritage professional at The Missing Link. Over the last 10 years, she worked in heritage preservation and spatial development, always addressing the need for participatory processes to create a stage for all voices, small and big. Sienna is a proponent of ‘Heritage Inclusive Development’: preserving both protected and nonprotected buildings through development, as long as it has a special spot in the hearts of the community.

Siënna Veelders Heritage Consultant at the Missing Link

Hanneke Masselink-Duits (MA) is a historian with a decade long trackrecord as a heritage consultant for municipalities and public sector organizations. Her signature projects centre around participatory policymaking, for example Erfgoedcafe’s/Hertiage-café’s that help facilitate long-term collaboration between practitioners and local government. She thinks heritage is an import part of our environment and contributes to our sense of place and wellbeing. Hanneke Masselink-Duits Heritage Consultant at the Missing Link

Guest Speakers

Ruben Visser Urban Designer, Studio Nine Dots

Christiann Cooiman Developer, Heijmans Vastgoed

Workshop Coordinators

Romy Pricken The Missing Link

Hengzhi Song Luna Ph.D. student, CUHK

Aura Luz Melis Partner, Inside Outside

About the Summer School

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About the Summer School

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147

About the Summer School

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About the Summer School

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This international summer workshop and the accompanying publication received financial support from the School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as per of the course ARCH 5731 Topical Studies in Urbanism. Without this funding, the organisation of this cross-border workshop would not have been possible. Special thanks go to Stichting Urban Discovery for undertaking the planning, programme design and cross-border communication that brought this collaboration between Dutch and Hong Kong to realisation. We extend our deepest gratitude to The Missing Link for the logistical support, student coordination and warm hospitality at UCo where we enjoyed a comfortable and pleasant co-working space throughout this exceptionally hot week. An inspirational place for our group discussions, lectures, project meetings and final workshop presentations. We sincerely appreciate all invited lecturers and speakers, who delivered insightful presentations and hosted field trips: • • •

Wisselspoor Utrecht: Ruben Visser (Studioninedots) LocHal Tilburg: Aura Lux Melis (Inside Outside) Fenix Rotterdam: Christiaan Cooiman (Heijma ns Vastgoed)

They offered participants valuable perspectives from industry insights, making our exchanges highly productive and rewarding. In addition, we would like to express our gratitude to all architects, government officials, developers, media practitioners, local residents, and friends who were interested in our work. Your thoughtful questions and valuable feedback in our work constituted invaluable takeaways from this summer school. Last but most importantly, we wish to thank all informants who kindly agreed to participate in our interviews and generously shared their personal living experiences in Wisselspoor. Without their willingness to share their stories, we would never have been able to fully unfold the layered dimensions and spatial narratives of this place. This study has been conducted in full compliance with the ethical requirements of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Ethical approval was granted by the CUHK Survey and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee under reference numbers SBRE-25-1081 and SBRE25-1061. All participants who took part in the in-depth interviews provided informed consent prior to their participation.

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Acknowledgements

152 About the Summer School

Unfolding Place: Reading Urban Transformation Edited by Inge Goudsmit, Ester van Steekelenburg and Hengzhi Song Dutch Translation by Ester van Steekelenburg and Siënna Veelders

This publication is a result of a collaboration among School of Architecture at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Stichting Urban Discovery and heritage consultancy The Missing Link. First edition printed in Hong Kong, 2026 Second edition published in 2026 Printed in the Netherlands © 2026 The Chinese University of Hong Kong for this edition © 2026 the individual participants for their drawings and maps © 2026 the participants for their photographs All rights reserved. Published by The Chinese University of Hong Kong

ISBN: 978-962-8272-61-7

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School of Architecture, CUHK Urban Discovery The Missing Link

ISBN 978-962-8272-61-7