PREPARATION OF AN AREA CONCEPT FOR THE INNER-CITY BUSINESS PARK BENELUX SITE IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF TILBURG
The municipality of Tilburg is working to revitalise its business parks. These range from logistics industrial to more small-scale inner-city business parks. The Benelux site is one of those inner-city sites, located in the northwest of the city, for which, within this context, a contemporary live/work environment is envisaged. To shape this desired mix of functions, this area concept was envisioned. The various components provide a clear view of how future developments by residents, initiators, entrepreneurs and developers can mix themselves into the way to interweave with the existing fabric so that the spatial qualities of the Benelux terrain are safeguarded in the future.
Process and participation has been the common thread throughout the study. In this process, the inspiration group (a regular group of entrepreneurs, residents, developers, the neighbourhood council, representatives of relevant organisations and the municipality) was considered a strong driving force of the “neighbourhood engine” (wijkmotor in dutch). During the workshops, they not only reflected on the problems, solutions and the future of the area, attendees could also note that the first quick-win was the creation of a new network in the neighbourhood.