Utrecht’s bazaar and asphalt factory give way to 1,500 houses in ten-minute neighborhood

The municipality of Utrecht has started to demolish the old bazaar of Utrecht. The construction of 1,500 housing units will begin here in 2023 for the green urban district of Park Groenewoud. In addition to Groenewoud Park, the same district will be built with another 2,000 additional dwellings. Neighborhoods should be based on the idea of ​​the city ten minutes away.

The Utrecht bazaar hall complex on the Groenewoudsewijk will be demolished. The Asfaltcentrale Utrecht (ACU) is also being dismantled. The latter was the reason why it was not possible to build in the area before. Now that the ACU is no longer an obstacle, the municipality is starting demolition work.

The new Park Groenewoud neighborhood is to be built in the area. The neighborhood has 1,500 homes, two parks, a school, daycare, health center and other facilities. The housing offer is varied: there will be apartments, houses with gardens, studios and water houses and mini-houses. Half of all housing will be social or intermediate rents, the rest will be rented or purchased in the private sector. The first houses are to be built in 2023.

The new neighborhood is a good example of ‘new life’ in a green space development. According to plans, Park Groenewoud will be car-free with a Mobility Hub XL on the edge with space for 2,000 cars. From there, residents can travel to other parts of the city via various shared transport options and public transport. public. There will therefore be fewer roads and parking spaces in the area itself. According to the municipality, this creates more space for greenery, but also for the construction of 200 additional dwellings.

The variety of different facilities should also shape the neighborhood in the sense of a ten-minute city, in which residents live within ten minutes of certain functions such as education or commerce.

Papendorp North

The development plan for the new area joins the adjacent (planned) new area of ​​Papendorp Noord, with 2,000 homes and a range of shops, restaurants and other facilities. In total, the two neighborhoods offer 3,500 housing units. According to the municipality, the two neighborhoods must be connected to allow residents of both areas to use the facilities of the other.

An example of this is the Mobility Hub XL. Residents of Park Groenewoud and Papendorp Noord, as well as existing car-free districts such as the Beurskwartier and the Merwedekanaalzone, can use the hub. The construction of Papendorp Noord will start a year later in 2024, after the construction of Park Groenewoud and the mobility hub.

While Groenewoud will become more of a residential area, Papendorp Noord will have a more urban character with 75,000 square meters of office space and more space for car traffic. According to the current development plans, the 2,000 dwellings consist of more than 1,200 rental units, including 800 social and 420 medium-sized. In addition, there will be 780 residential units.