The use of bicycles and public transport has been increasing in Rotterdam for many years now. Nevertheless, the car is still dominant in the densely built-up urban environment. As a result, cyclists and pedestrians have limited space to move about their neighbourhoods and the city in a pleasant manner. In this context, Veldacademie is conducting research into active mobility in Oud-Charlois on behalf of the Municipality of Rotterdam. The aim is to test (provisionally) temporary interventions that should make the neighbourhood more pleasant and safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Mobility transition in a densely built city
Veldacademie is conducting research into active mobility in Oud-Charlois. Active mobility is understood to mean pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Rotterdam continues to grow and so it is important to properly allocate the limited space available. The city centre is currently being improved in terms of mobility, in line with a transition to an urban environment in which modes of transport other than the car are given greater scope. Coolsingel, for example, has been transformed at a cost of more than 60 million euros. It is a fine example of how pedestrians and cyclists are given more space in the city with the car as a guest. But not only the centre, also the neighbourhoods around the centre need attention in terms of mobility.
Oud-Charlois has a characteristic village centre with a historical past that has been preserved. As a result, the road structures have also remained intact and a new part was built around them later. Many people use the car to travel to work or to other places in or around Rotterdam, but also in the neighbourhood itself, for example, to go shopping. The level of car use among local residents is certainly high because Rotterdam-South, and certainly Oud-Charlois, has limited public transport connectivity.
Citizens take active steps for safer traffic situation
Residents of Oud-Charlois come across dangerous traffic situations in the neighbourhood on a daily basis. This makes the neighbourhood that they live in less pleasant to move around in. The Charlois aan de Vliet Foundation is a residents' initiative set up by residents of the Boergoensevliet in Oud-Charlois. The foundation is very active when it comes to the preservation of greenery and water, traffic safety and the quality of life in the neighbourhood. They develop (spatial) plans that they present to the municipality in the hope of improving the neighbourhood. Recently, for example, several ideas have been conceived to improve the traffic situation on Boergoensevliet. The Municipality of Rotterdam wants to work with these ideas, but also considers the importance of taking a broad view of the mobility issue. Do other residents from the area share the ideas of the residents' group and will the proposed interventions not cause congestion in other parts of the neighbourhood? The municipality wants to first conduct research into this and has asked Veldacademie to do so. The focus until now has been on gathering residents' experiences, the ultimate aim of this research is to carry out and test temporary spatial interventions to improve traffic safety for cyclists and pedestrians.
Walking and cycling in the Oud-Charlois district
When asked, many residents of Oud-Charlois indicated that they walk or cycle every day. However, they do not necessarily do this for pleasure, but mainly for practical reasons such as getting to the shops or other places in Rotterdam. As one resident indicated: "The roads are fine to get from A to B, but for relaxed cycling you have to look around too much. There is too little space and too little greenery". Many respondents indicated that they would walk or cycle more often if the neighbourhood were safer. It is remarkable, however, that when this would be at the expense of space for cars, people would have less need for them.
Residents also indicated their favourite and unpleasant places to cycle and walk in the area. Zuiderpark, for instance, was chosen as favourite place for walking and cycling because of the space and the greenery. The busy and somewhat chaotic Wolphaertsbocht was often indicated as an unpleasant place to cycle and walk. It is noteworthy that Boergoensevliet was frequently mentioned as a favourite place for walking because of the fine footpaths along the water, but at the same time it was described as an unpleasant place for cycling, particularly because of fast-moving cars. In the interviews, residents also mentioned that the neighbourhood section from Arendsweg to Fuutstraat was the source of many traffic problems. At certain times of the day, there are enormous traffic jams around the schools, creating dangerous situations. At those times, cars dominate the entire neighbourhood, making it unpleasant to walk or cycle there.
During discussions, concrete ideas had already been put forward by residents in the form of temporary interventions. These included installing speed bumps, one-way streets, 30 km/h signs, visual incentives to drive slower, and installing mood lighting.
Direct feedback of research results
Residents of the neighbourhood are central to this research. A communication specialist from the neighbourhood was used to get in touch with them. In an online survey, 424 residents shared their experiences and wishes. Veldacademie then carried out observations in the neighbourhood, which provided photographic material and confirmed various findings from the survey. Focus groups were organised to engage in more extensive discussions with residents. During these focus groups, the bottlenecks and ideas for the neighbourhood were collected on maps. To gain an even clearer picture of the traffic situation in Oud-Charlois, schools and entrepreneurs from the neighbourhood were also interviewed.
The steps and results of the research are public and can be found in an online environment with maps and documentation. In this way, Veldacademie gives the information collected directly back to the neighbourhood. It also provides a clear overview of what was collected during the research for the client, the Municipality of Rotterdam.
The neighbourhood as a place of learning
The research enabled a student of Spatial Development and Planning from Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences to gain research experience. Under the supervision of Veldacademie, the trainee experienced the entire first phase of the research: analysing data, carrying out fieldwork in the district and compiling research results. The research trainee was in frequent contact with residents, the client and the neighbourhood team from the Municipality of Rotterdam. Parallel to the research project, the student trainee is conducting an independent research study to make Oud-Charlois more bicycle-friendly by means of a spatial design.
Next steps
The residents' experiences have been extensively surveyed and presented in recent months. Subsequently, an exchange moment will take place with the client to review all the results and to make a first move towards designing interventions for the neighbourhood. In the next phase of this research, the interventions will be presented to the users of the neighbourhood and then actually implemented and tested.