 |
| Jan Termorshuizen describing Ypenburg |
Yes, the Netherlands is a tiny country. I'm pretty sure you can fit 1.5 million of them in the good old USA. Still, the Dutch have made such a concerted effort to preserve farmland and natural resources by limiting and containing growth that the country feels largely uninhabited. Cities are usually centered around a main train station and carefully planned in terms of land use and the transportation facilities supporting it. The result has pretty consistently been dense, compact, and navigable cities.
Which is why Ypenburg somewhat confused me. Redeveloped
on the site of a former air force base, the town seems like a combination of
Dutch planning principles and American spatial standards. In less stupid language, the general patterns
of orienting the city to transit and facilitating social interactions while
embracing nature are there, but the density and compactness are not. In fact, it almost felt like a gigantic office
park:
Another crazy thing about the place is the departure from
beautiful building design the Dutch are known for. The social housing that dominates the town
center is bland and institutional, which our guide Jan Termorshuizen of
Stadsgewest Haaglanden (the regional government) explained by saying, “It seems
that they forgot to make it look nice.”
 |
| Social housing in Ypenburg town center |
Indeed.
As we biked away from the uninspiring center, nicer
townhomes emerged, which then gave way to neighborhoods of single-family homes
on large lots. So although we
experienced all this on bicycles instead of in cars, I couldn’t help but think
that the 4th of July was a perfect day for this tour. God bless you, Ypenburg.
 |
| Ypenburg "Main Street": bike path and tramline only |
 |
| View through one of the two Ypenburg train stations |
 |
| To each his own (mote) |
No comments:
Post a Comment