Designing Workscapes of the Future

An approach to understand and design for liveable business districts.

Map highlighting the Dutch business districts and their diverse contexts
Population growth and urbanisation put more and more pressure on the already limited space in the Netherlands. This asks for an integrated use of space in the built environment. The Dutch business districts cover approx. 20% of the built environment. However, they show serious vulnerability due to their profit-oriented foundation.

Author
Rosa de Wolf

Location
the Netherlands

Prof. Dr. Steffen Nijhuis
Prof. Dr. Rob Roggema
Dr. Nico Tillie

Project duration
Runs until November 2027

Project links
Werklandschappen van de Toekomst

This economy-driven design results in a predominance of industrial and office spaces, car-oriented infrastructure, and deficient spatial quality. Most of these areas have minimal green coverage and a lack of public spaces. It creates monotonous and unattractive environments that are underutilised, even during business hours. The business districts play a crucial role in the national economy and people’s lives, as they contribute up to 40% of the Dutch national income and one in three people work there. The districts have a great potential to become more liveable and socio-ecological inclusive environments, and thus transform into Workscapes: landscapes wherein living, working, recreation and nature are combined.

 

The objective of this research is to explore the potential of business district as workscapes, and to formulate spatial design patterns for transformation and design of workscapes.