Antwerp takes further
steps towards becoming
a circular city
© DRIES LUYTEN
Antwerp takes further
steps towards becoming
a circular city
© DRIES LUYTEN
SCROLL
© TRIPLE LIVING
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOUT THE MASTER PLAN WITH ARCHITECT PAOLA VIGANÒ.
Former trans-shipment site
Nieuw Zuid, which translates into English as “New South”, is the area between the quays on the Scheldt river, the Namenstraat, the Jan van Gentstraat, the Brusselstraat and the Antwerp Ring road. Since the trans-shipping activities moved to the harbour, the site had effectively become an obsolete wasteland. In the spring of 2001, work started on the Antwerp law courts. In 2006, Bank J. Van Breda & C° set up their offices in a former goods station. And four years later, real-estate developer Triple Living purchased a large part of the land that makes up New South.
Pioneering neighbourhood
The first step towards a new neighbourhood had been taken. The opportunity for the City of Antwerp to make the area into an example of sustainability for the rest of the city. The city council and Triple Living had a masterplan drafted. In it, sustainability was incorporated in every element, with a lot of green areas, ‘waterproof’ public places and buildings, a heat network and more. This was also to be a mixed neighbourhood, with different types of housing and services.
Masterplan
In 2012, the architectural agency Studio Associato Secchi-Viganò made a design for the New South city quarter. It addressed five specific focus points:
1. GREEN AREAS
60% of the neighbourhood consists of ‘green areas’, including a 15-hectare park.
2. SLOW MOBILITY
The masterplan gives the city back to pedestrians and cyclists. There are car-free residential areas, underground car parks and one-way streets.
3. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Sustainability is the standard, with passive building standards, green roofs, bioswale channels for the drainage and infiltration of rainwater, a heat network, and much more ...
4. EMBEDDED IN THE CITY
The neighbourhood is not a separate community, but embedded in the city.
5. FLEXIBILITY
New South is the ideal place for the highly varied resident groups (students, families, retirees) of today and tomorrow.
In New South, you’ll find a green living environment that is also a part of the great city of Antwerp.
Architect Paola Viganò
the masterplan for New South
In New South, you’ll find a green living environment that is also a part of the great city of Antwerp.
Architect Paola Viganò
the masterplan for New South
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOUT THE MASTER PLAN WITH ARCHITECT PAOLA VIGANÒ.
1. GREEN AREAS
60% of the neighbourhood consists of ‘green areas’, including a 15-hectare park.
2. SLOW MOBILITY
The masterplan gives the city back to pedestrians and cyclists. There are car-free residential areas, underground car parks and one-way streets.
3. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Sustainability is the standard, with passive building standards, green roofs, bioswale channels for the drainage and infiltration of rainwater,
a heat network, and
much more ...
4. EMBEDDED IN
THE CITY
The neighbourhood is not
a separate community, but embedded in the city.
5. FLEXIBILITY
New South is the ideal place for the highly varied resident groups (students, families, retirees) of today and tomorrow.
Former trans-shipment site
Nieuw Zuid, which translates into English as “New South”, is the area between the quays on the Scheldt river, the Namenstraat, the Jan van Gentstraat, the Brusselstraat and the Antwerp Ring road. Since the trans-shipping activities moved to the harbour, the site had effectively become an obsolete wasteland. In the spring of 2001, work started on the Antwerp law courts. In 2006, Bank
J. Van Breda & C° set up their offices in a former goods station. And four years later, real-estate developer Triple Living purchased a large part of the land that makes up New South.
Pioneering neighbourhood
The first step towards a new neighbourhood had been taken. The opportunity for the City of Antwerp to make the area into an example of sustainability for the rest of the city.
The city council and Triple Living had a masterplan drafted. In it, sustainability was incorporated in every element, with a lot of green areas, ‘waterproof’ public places and buildings, a heat network and more. This was also to be a mixed neighbourhood, with different types of housing and services.
Masterplan
In 2012, the architectural agency Studio Associato Secchi-Viganò made a design for the New South city quarter.
It addressed five specific focus points:
© TRIPLE LIVING
SCROLL
© CIRCULAr FLANDerS
A liveable city, for us and for our children
The gain and use of raw materials have a major impact on natural resources and the climate on earth. Urban areas offer the perfect opportunity for a circular economy as they have a dense population and high levels of use of raw materials and resources. Circular South was a suitable test project for the City of Antwerp, serving as part of the city’s ambition to reduce CO2 emissions by 50-55% by 2030 and to be a climate neutral and climate-robust city by 2050. As part of the climate plan, the City of Antwerp would like to invest in circular entrepreneurship, the circular use of resources and changes to circular behaviour through its citizens.
With the Circular South project, we have taken a step towards a circular way of life.
shared, hired, reused, repaired and recycled for as
long as possible in order to create added value.
In this way, the lifecycle of a product is extended. In practice, it means that waste production and disposal is kept to a minimum.
When a product reaches the end of its lifecycle, the materials are kept within the economy to the greatest extent possible. They can be reused, time and again.
A circular economy is a production and consumption model in which existing materials and products are
Would you like to know more? Watch this short film.
In this way, the lifecycle of a product is extended. In practice, it means that waste production and disposal is kept to a minimum.
A circular economy is a production and consumption model in which existing materials and products are
When a product reaches the end of its lifecycle, the materials are kept within the economy to the greatest extent possible. They can be reused, time
and again.
shared, hired, reused, repaired and recycled for as long as possible in order to create added value.
© CIRCULAr FLANDerS
Would you like to know more?
Watch this short film.
A liveable city, for us and for our children
The gain and use of raw materials have a major impact on natural resources and the climate on earth. Urban areas offer the perfect opportunity for a circular economy as they have a dense population and high levels of use of raw materials and resources. Circular South was a suitable test project for the City of Antwerp, serving as part of the city’s ambition to reduce CO2 emissions by
50-55% by 2030 and to be a climate neutral and climate-robust city by 2050.
As part of the climate plan, the City of Antwerp would like to invest in circular entrepreneurship, the circular use of resources and changes to circular behaviour through its citizens.
With the Circular South project,
we have taken a step towards a
circular way of life.
