On Monday, The Municipality of Roosendaal approved RSD40, the strategic vision for the future of Roosendaal created by a team led by MVRDV. The vision, also referred to by the name “The Mosaic”, was created through an in-depth process in participation with the local community, resulting in a proposal in tune with the desires of the municipality’s existing residents. The vision provides insight at all scales, from land-use adjustments across the entire municipality to over 40 possible projects to maximise the potential of specific locations. Published as a series of seven interconnected documents, the vision aims to provide Roosendaal with the “quality leap” needed to accommodate resilient growth, improve wellbeing, and enhance its unique characteristics.

Situated between the Randstad, Flanders, the major cities of Noord-Brabant, and Zeeland, the municipality of Roosendaal – comprising the city itself along with a number of neighbouring villages and their surroundings – is in an ideal location to be an important hub in the southwest of the Netherlands. This location, along with its low density, make it an ideal place for urban densification and the construction of much-needed housing in the region. City officials also have the ambition for Roosendaal to grow: an increase in population to around 100,000 has become an unofficial goal that they believe would help the city to support more culture and leisure opportunities and attract more investment. Despite all of this, the total population has remained stagnant at around 77,000 for a decade, with young people especially moving elsewhere, leaving an ageing population behind them. How can the municipality turn this situation around?

In 2021, the Municipality of Roosendaal began working with MVRDV as an urban development consultant. This work highlighted the need for a more comprehensive overall strategy; MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas was ultimately selected as urban advisor, and the team led by MVRDV was joined by Rebel Group and Transitiefocus, among others, to form a diverse group of experts. Over the past two years, MVRDV has conducted extensive meetings with the municipality to gain an overview of all the projects that were already being worked on, in a piecemeal fashion, in order to incorporate them into the strategic vision. They also sought the input of over 3,000 Roosendaal residents through a combination of in-person events and interactive digital tools. The vision is therefore a balanced mix of bottom-up and top-down planning, finding common goals for a more liveable, more lively city.

The resulting plan starts with a redefinition of Roosendaal’s patterns of land use, expressed in the form of a “barcode” with changing percentages. The plan gives much more space to housing, culture, nature, water, and renewable energy production, by layering functions and by making use of the many leftover spaces found all over the city. This urban intensification is paired with the goal of no net increase in the area designated to infrastructure; new infrastructure should be compensated by a reduction in scale elsewhere. To make a walkable and cyclable future for Roosendaal, the plan pieces together a network of existing roadways, footpaths, and dikes to serve as key routes for the future.

A proposal for a new green station square, one of more than 40 projects that offer inspirational ideas for how the city could improve both attractiveness and function

In order to accommodate the population growth and attract younger people, the vision makes clear that what Roosendaal needs is not just more homes, but a greater variety of homes, moving away from its current overabundance of single-family homes. Furthermore, the increase in housing should be combined with an increase in leisure, culture, and education to make Roosendaal attractive to people in all stages of life.

Proposal for enlarged ecological stream valleys

The vision acknowledges Roosendaal’s distinct character, defined by multiple neighbourhoods with individual identities rather than a dominant historic core. Each neighbourhood therefore has a “neighbourhood passport”, which outlines what role it plays in the larger vision and maps out the key changes that should take place there.

Proposal to renovate Sint Gertrudis Church with homes and other facilities

“Roosendaal is quite a hodgepodge, but that also offers opportunities”, says Winy Maas. “In my hometown of Rotterdam, that same character has become a strength, and the same can be true here. The Mosaic is a call to uncover the identity of Roosendaal as a whole and also the individual identities of the neighbourhoods. It is a call to find the possibilities we can bring to the in-between spaces. In our discussions with Roosendaalers we found a great desire to set a higher standard, have some pride in the city, and to build beautiful buildings, not just boxes.”

Proposal for the densification of the New Market area

The most tangible approach to developing Roosendaal’s character and pride are over 40 strategic projects throughout the area that offer inspirational ideas for how the city could improve both attractiveness and function. These suggestions include the transformation of the station zone into a dynamic mixed-use district including a school for vocational education; covering a section of the A58 motorway to create a linear park with housing development and sports facilities; densifying the area around Nieuwe Markt with tall buildings that make a focal point of the square; renovating the monastery garden of the Mariadal with housing incorporated into the monastery wall and opening the garden to the public; widening streams to provide recreational areas; and repurposing vacant churches to provide homes, community centres, workshops, or cultural buildings. Just a selection of these projects, if taken forwards, will improve the quality of life of existing residents and make Roosendaal a city on the rise.

Proposal for the renewed PortiekFlat 2.0

The RSD40 strategic vision was produced by a team comprising MVRDV, Gemeente Roosendaal, Rebel Group, and TransitieFocus, with input from Joost van Faassen Stedelijke Strategie & Advies, Goudappel, SpringCo, Merosch, and Wing.

See more of the project here.