BUROPPOSSO

Rotterdam is growing into an attractive metropolis with a challenging architecture and a New economy. The city is characterized by its location on two river banks, with the southern bank performing economically less good. That is why the city works on better connections, such as the Erasmus Bridge, but also on the shifting of the center to both sides of the river.

This urban development survey has resulted in a draft master plan for a connection on the west side of the city, between Delfshaven and Charlois. It creates a good route for urban public transport and slow traffic such as the bicycle. The new infrastructure requires space that requires a rearrangement of companies and other existing functions.Therefore it's more than just a bridge plan, it concerns the whole area that is affected and transforms them into dense mixed urban districts.

Part of the survey was making draft starting points for the desired technical integration of the bridge, the type of bridge and the image quality requirements. One of the most important starting points was to keep the crossing as small as possible. Often the long slopes run to the bridge creating a big urban void on the embankment itself. This makes the crossing of the river 2 to 3 times as long as the river is really wide.

To prevent this the many London city bridges have been taken as an example. There often the ramp is part of the urban fabric. An always continuous quay under the bridge and good connections between quay and bridge ensure walk-ability and a safe & attractive urban environment. On the north side an attractive river route from the Mullerpier can thus be created far into the Merwe-Vierhaven. This can remove a neighborhood like Schiemond from it's isolation.

A lot of development space can be filled in with high quality and with higher building densities due to the changed position in the city. In addition the existing embankment can be used as a recreational and ecological river park on the scale of the city. This creates a good environment in which the older port areas (Stadshavens) such as the Sluisjesdijk and Merwe-Vierhavens can make a transition to the new Innovation and Manufacturing industry, where a much larger number of jobs per hectare can be achieved.