HHH one year later: hubs in the existing city
Hubs in the existing city provide a solution to many urban issues. From improving accessibility to cleaner air. But how realistic is it that we will soon see hubs on every street corner? Emile Revier, partner at PosadMaxwan: "Long-term strategies for the realisation of hub networks are urgently needed for more hubs in existing areas. Not in a few cities, but in as many places as possible." Designer Stefano Agliati adds: "General guidelines that can be tailored to each municipality itself; that would be an important step in accelerating the rollout of hubs in a city."
“Long-term strategies for the realisation of hub networks are urgently needed for more hubs in existing areas.”
“We have seen many pilot projects in the past year, and these strategies are also being worked on. Amsterdam and Rotterdam are clearly taking the lead in this development," Stefano says. "For Zeeburgereiland in Amsterdam, for example, we made an inventory of the shared mobility that is needed, but also of functions that you can add to a hub. We then drew up various scenarios, ranging from a greater focus on mobility to one on public space." Very practical, in other words. Emile: "For the G5, we focused more on theory. We researched how to fit hubs into existing neighbourhoods. In new area developments, you can immediately include hubs in the plans, but that's different in these neighbourhoods. The knowledge we gained there helps us enormously in our other hub projects."
So optimism, knowledge and plans abound. Emile: "Hubs on every street corner is however a bit much. But at strategically chosen locations, as part of a network. Let's take action now and start thinking on a larger, regional scale. And use hubs for social cohesion at the same time, with functions for the neighbourhood. We also see the linking of energy tasks to hubs, with storage and distribution of power, as a valuable addition."
