Club Cool

Rotterdam doesn’t have much space but it does need a lot of housing. That means densification. In the middle of the inner city 1,000 new homes are being built, which means a doubling of the population of Cool Zuid, as the neighbourhood around the Witte de Withstraat is called. The relationship between the developers, the municipality, residents and entrepreneurs in this very busy part of the city was put under pressure and construction was delayed. This would not have been necessary if the joys and burdens of development were fairly shared. We do this in Club Cool, inspired by the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) and powered by WeLoveTheCity.

“We would like to cooperate with the current residents and entrepreneurs in the neighbourhood so that the new residents in our new housing development can happily land here.”

Yvette van Piggelen, SENS real estate

The developers, the municipality, residents and entrepreneurs reached an agreement surprisingly quickly: Cool Zuid needs a ‘plus’ in order to accommodate the large housing programme. This plus consists of a substantial investment budget of €6 million for the redevelopment of the Landje, the central park square where 1,000 schoolchildren play every day. Furthermore, agreements have been made about the realisation of a primary health care centre, upgrading and expansion of indoor and outdoor sports and educational facilities, and a Club House where current and new residents can have a party together.

Meanwhile, accessibility remains a hot issue. That is why we are starting a series of five experiments in the field of traffic safety, green streets, shared mobility, smart parking for cyclists and motorists and an urban cargo hub.

The agreements are summarised in the Cool Cocktail, 12 rules to which all parties comply. They can be found on the joint communication platform of Club Cool, the place where everyone plays open cards and shares good stuff with each other.