Erasmus Veld: a climate-proof and sustainable neighbourhood
Between the Noordweg and the Erasmusweg in The Hague, the municipality and developers are working on the sustainable and climate-adaptive Erasmus Veld neighbourhood. The construction of this new neighbourhood involves a redevelopment of an urban outskirt zone comprising allotment gardens and sports centres. The sustainable development of the neighbourhood is substantiated in collaboration with buyers and local stakeholders.
The new residential area comprises several sub-sections. The sub-sections are interconnected by an ecological corridor: a small natural area featuring greenery and water, meandering through the neighbourhood. The natural area offers a range of advantages, such as water drainage during severe downpours and providing cooling on hot days. The ecological corridor thus helps to achieve one of the project ambitions: a climate-proof residential area.
Image: Erasmus Veld design (download design)
Other sustainability ambitions for this neighbourhood are the reduction of energy consumption and the use of renewable energy. During workshops, the sustainability ambitions have been translated into concrete lay-out principles for public space. In these workshops, housing developers and municipal management departments have worked on new design principles for the pavement, lay-out elements, and vegetation in the neighbourhood. Climate resilience and ecology aspects have been taken into consideration in this process.
The new design and lay-out principles have been set down in this document (pdf, 12 MB). The document outlines how the various principles contribute to achieving the sustainability ambitions of the project.
More information on the project is available on this website.
Lessons to be learned from the project
- Considering the high maintenance costs, semi-paving is not recommended. Rather than semi-paving, a minimum of paving is preferable for new neighbourhoods.
- Create optimum room for water and greenery.
- Disconnect downspouts from the (mixed) sewer system and connect them to the surface water.
- Use sustainable and low-maintenance materials.
- Use indigenous plant species in order to reinforce the ecology.
Contact person
Gijs Slagmolen
Gemeente Den Haag
Gijs.slagmolen@denhaag.nl
070 - 353 6484