Development Vision Winkelsteeg approved by City Council Nijmegen
Kanaalzone-Zuid and Winkelsteeg
Nijmegen continues to grow, in number of inhabitants, employees and visitors. The municipality aims to allow this growth to take place within the current city. The Environmental Vision 2040 indicates that the Kanaalzone-Zuid and within it Winkelsteeg play an important role in the search for space for the additional homes and jobs to be created. This has also been confirmed in the Arnhem Nijmegen Woondeal.
Roughly speaking, Kanaalzone-Zuid consists ofseven post-war housing neighborhoods and Winkelsteeg in Nijmegen West, with the two NS stations Dukenburg and Goffert as important public transport interchanges. It is a complex metropolitan area development in which a large number of tasks come together: the transformation of outdated industrial sites, urban densification around station nodes, economic renewal and the social approach to disadvantaged districts.
Kanaalzone-Zuid Ambition document
Our future plan for Canal Zone South aims to bring cohesion to the developments in the various areas and to serve as a framework for future developments and planning. Our ambition is to reduce the barrier effect of the canal and to give the surrounding neighborhoods a boost. On the one hand, efforts are being made to improve neighborhoods, such as achieving a better mix of housing in type and price range and adding employment. On the other hand, efforts are being made to improve the connections between neighborhoods so that they can make better use of each other's qualities. The canal will become the main identity carrier of the area, connecting the surrounding neighborhoods but also giving a quality boost. With its great potential to add new homes and employment, Winkelsteeg is a catalyst for this development.
Winkelsteeg development vision
In elaboration on this, the Winkelsteeg Development Vision offers a framework for an 'organized organic' transformation of Winkelsteeg. In recent years, the business park has developed into a promising area with a diverse range of entrepreneurs. Yet the origin of Winkelsteeg as a business park on the edge of the city can still be felt. In the coming years, Winkelsteeg will change from a somewhat monofunctional business park to a healthy, vital and future-proof working-living environment with a green area identity.
On the one hand, it will be a vital business park that will build on the existing activity and will benefit from its central location in the city. On the other hand, it offers a unique place to live with a varied housing supply and special qualities, such as the canal and the existing greenery. A wide range of (social) facilities serve as an intermediary for employees and residents of Winkelsteeg as well as the surrounding neighbourhoods. The existing greenery in Winkelsteeg will be more visible, reinforced and connected and the practical value will be increased. Green veins will function as a connector and provide space for sports, games, encounters and experiences.
We also see the development of Winkelsteeg as an opportunity to tackle existing challenges in the areas of quality of life, climate adaptation, greening, economic vitality and accessibility. By considering all ambitions and tasks together, space is created for an attractive and healthy city. We have defined 8 development principles for this:
- A mixed working-residential area;
- Anchor points in the area;
- Robust green-blue network (green);
- Robust green-blue network (water);
- Winkelsteeg as a connector;
- Embracing the canal;
- Network for people;
- Space for sports and exercise.
We then created a spatial framework that is flexible and robust enough to deal with the uncertainties of the future, but also offers sufficient guidance and confidence for decisions of today and tomorrow. We will also use and strengthen the qualities already present in Winkelsteeg to realize various sub-areas with their own identity and program mix within the spatial main structure
Anchor points
One of the anchor points, which provides an important programmatic impulse and is crucial for the identity of Winkelsteeg, is the Goffert-NTC Station Area. This will be an important entrance to Winkelsteeg, making room for new developments around the station. The direct surroundings of Goffert station are being developed into a mixed urban area that gives the Novio Tech Campus the opportunity to grow and offers space for affordable housing with clear attention to public transport and slow traffic. In this way, the Goffert-NTC Station Area will better connect Winkelsteeg with other districts.
Another anchor point, which plays an important role in removing the barrier effect of the Maas-Waal Canal, is the Kanaalknoop. A new area, that faces the canal, is being developed around the bridge of the Nieuwe Dukenburgseweg. New buildings with mainly housing and consumer-oriented services in the plinth activate the route along and across the canal. In this way, Kanaalknop brings the Dukenburg, Winkelsteeg and the center of Nijmegen closer together.
