From isolation to integration

Abstract

There are more than 2000 estates reserved in Netherlands, of which 18% are in Gelderland. However, with time going by, the surrounding environment of the estates has changed and new challenges which the estates are faced with has happened, including climate change threat, spatial fragmentation and increasing tourism. The city I am studying, Arnhem used to be surrounded by the mansions of affluent city dwellers who transformed their riches into magnificent country houses in the countryside. After the period of city fast expansion, the estates are threaten by the heavy influence of urbanization process which caused territory separation, function isolation etc. Under this condition, transformation of the estates are required to adapt surrounding urban environment. Therefore, my project is to explore how to integrate the estates in the city. After preliminary analysis, I proposed the acupunctural strategy is to transfrom the estates as landscape infrastructures in the city. Under this proposal, there are three precise sub-strategies could be applied, consisting of reorganizing the spatial layout, renewing the functions/facilities/programs and repairing the interfaces between the estates and surrounding urban context.