Erasmus Veld: a climate-proof and sustainable neighbourhood
Between the Noordweg and the Erasmusweg in The Hague, the sustainable and climate-adaptive Erasmus Veld neighbourhood has been developed. The neighbourhood was created through the redevelopment of a former urban fringe area with allotment gardens and sports facilities. The municipality, developers, future residents and other stakeholders worked together to shape the sustainable development of the neighbourhood.
The neighbourhood consists of several residential areas connected by an ecological corridor: a green and water-rich area that meanders through the neighbourhood. The corridor helps drain rainwater during heavy rainfall and provides cooling during hot weather. In this way, it contributes to one of the project's main ambitions: creating a climate-resilient neighbourhood.
Other sustainability ambitions for this neighbourhood are the reduction of energy consumption and the use of renewable energy. During a series of workshops, the sustainability ambitions were translated into design principles for the public space. Housing developers and municipal management departments worked together on the design of paving, public space elements and planting, taking climate resilience and ecology into account. The resulting design principles were documented in a design guide for the development of the neighbourhood.
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.
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