Saxion students win 3rd price in design contest

Tue 15 March 2011 - 11:59

Five international students from Saxion's School of Environmental Planning and Building recently won the third price in an urban design and spatial implementation contest. The students received the price for their entry to a contest on ideas for a planned "fast bike lane" route between the cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen in the Eastern part of the Netherlands. The 16 kilometers long track should stimulate car drivers and passengers to use their bike more often.

The bikelane is called "Rijn Waal Pad", meaning path between the rivers the Rhine and Waal (two big rivers in the Dutch Delta). The Netherlands is famous because of their number of bicycles; there are more bikes than people, but traffic congestion is one of the main spatial and environmental problems in this high dense population country.

The contest was initiated by a combination of the Region Arnhem-Nijmegen, which is a cooperation between four municipalities in the eastern part of The Netherlands and the Fietsersbond (the national Bikers Union).

A total of 85 plans were sent in, in two categories: students and professionals. Most entries were sent in by professionals from the field of urban design and spatial planning. Saxion's students were the only international study group to enter the contest. Winning the third price against a playing field of professionals and fellow-studentgroups is a huge achievement. The five students are final year students, studying either Urban and Regional Planning or Urban Design (UD). The group was made up from students from Indonesia, Nigeria, Hungary and Germany.

The jury consisted of experts in the field of traffic, transportation and sustainability issues. The jury report especially proved to be pleased by the way landscaping was embedded in the plans. A citation from the jury report: "Willows and cherry trees fit well in the green park concept of the area between Arnhem and Nijmegen". The area is well known for these types of trees.

The assignment for the participating designers was to come up with ideas to inspire and stimulate people to change their behavour in daily and recreative transportation from
car use into biking. A comfortable and attractive route should result in this change.

In the 3rd price winning proposal titled "Fast and Tasty", Saxion's students suggest to create three service stations for repairing, as well drinking, resting and enjoying the landscape.
Besides the already mentioned landscape elements like characteristic trees they make use of views on historical landmarks like the old church in the village of Ressen.

For more information check the information about the bachelor programmes in Urban & Regional Planning and Urban Design or contact Mr. Henk Blokland or Mr. Henk Horstink.