Art in public space enjoys a unique position in the Netherlands. Compared with neighbouring countries, the art is brilliantly organized and often integrated/represented in construction and planning processes. In support of the position of art in the city, local councils often make master plans that indicate where art can be placed in the town or city over a period of 5 to 10 years. Bureau Venhuizen formulated a master plan for Nieuwegein, a suburban town on the edge of Utrecht with a population of 65,000, which was not started until the 1970s.
In the last thirty years, Nieuwegein has become a splendid showcase for spatial planning ideas. Thus far the new urban expansion projects have been built alongside the existing neighbourhoods on 'virgin' construction sites on the edge of town. But now the town has reached its physical boundaries. This presents a new task in the established town for the coming years. There will be a great deal of demolition and construction and it is also a challenge to forge Nieuwegein into a unified entity.
A town is never finished: after the laying of the infrastructure and initial construction, the town only gains it colour and character under the influence of the people who use it. Form and function make new neighbourhoods and urban districts recognizable, but a place only establishes its own 'identity' when something happens there, not simply because something is standing there. A place must acquire its own history, ‘pick up history’ in the course of time in order to acquire significance and meaning. In the process of Nieuwegein picking up history, a big role has been set aside for visual art in the town. This master plan demonstrates how art in public space can be utilized to animate the town and give it soul.
Before art can contribute to the reinforcement of the identity of Nieuwegein it first has to be determined what the current identity actually is, and where this is evident. These places stand in the physical urban space, but can also be found in the social or even virtual space of the town. Thanks to the lightning developments in new media, people no longer have to leave the house in order to criss-cross their way around the world. They are geared towards new public places, such as the Internet. They do, however, constitute part of the cultural life of the town, and therefore cannot be ignored in this master plan. One of the proposals presented here tackles the setting up of a 'municipal new media collection', the results of which will be displayed on a screen in the foyer of the real town hall, and the municipal website.
Nieuwegein’s city arms seems to have been meant for a quite different town. It features a castle, as if the town originated somewhere in the Middle Ages, rather than 1974. The land that Nieuwegein is built on does have a rich history, and there are still many historic traces, but there is no sign of a castle of such standing in any fields or roads, and there never was. The castle on the city arms must be seen as a ‘dream castle’, as a symbol for a town image with long historical roots that Nieuwegein desired. However, history has taken a quite different course, perhaps even better. Instead of developing into the desired robust civic entity, Nieuwegein has grown into a municipality with the characteristics of town and village. At the same time numerous cores have been executed in an urban area with a high building density, more or less inward looking and self-sufficient, and they have a solidly green, almost rural charm. After more than 25 years it seems that it is not the castle but the residential areas that Nieuwegein can hold up with civic pride. Perhaps it is not yet too late to adapt the city arms so that it is no longer exudes the urbanity that people dreamt of, but the quality that the town has actually developed.
However much the government strives to reduce car use, the automobile continues to play a very important role for our culture in general, and for Nieuwegein in particular; thanks to its perfect road connections it seems as if it were tailor-made for the car. We should not forget what an important role the car plays in our culture. There is no other activity subject to so many restrictions. You must: (1) be 18 years old to be allowed to drive a car, (2) have a driving licence, (3) own a car that (4) has passed safety tests and (5) is insured, and (6) for which you have paid tax. Furthermore, (7) every metre that you cover by car is strictly regulated in terms of (8) position, (9) speed, (10) right of way, and so on. Nevertheless, the car manages to stand as a symbol for ultimate freedom.
It is possible to imagine a number of art applications related to the car. Artists could be involved in the design of traffic-reducing measures and in the layout of car parks as valuable and pleasurable public space. Art can at the same time be applied in the differentiation of the city as it is experienced from the car.
There are still many more places to be found in Nieuwegein where art could contribute to the differentiation of the town. The town centre, for example, is going to be thoroughly remodelled over the coming years, which means it is time to bid farewell to buildings that were initially meant to take a permanent place in the day-to-day life of Nieuwegein’s residents. For example the fantastic public-address system on the Markt market square is set to disappear. This was realized about 15 years ago with the intention of stimulating events, but unfortunately the system has only been used once and the sound quality was poor and the technology unwieldy and quickly out of date. It now seems that the installation will disappear quietly, unless it is granted a farewell concert with a special piece composed by a sound artist.
There is also a full-scale sports centre move on the cards: the Blokhoeve sports complex is moving to a new site at Galecopper-zoom. The various new facilities, such as stands, scoreboards and gates, could be given added value by having an architect and an artist work on the design together. A residential neighbourhood is to be realized at the Blokhoeve site vacated by the sports centre. The golf course there will be partially integrated in the residential development. The task of giving the neighbourhood extra value would be a job for an artist.
Lastly, this plan proposes integrating ‘art plots’ with workspace for artists between the business plots on part of the new 't Klooster (The Cloister) business park. The most attractive ateliers, studios or writing rooms entered in a design competition will be realized and thus form extra accents in this unusual business-park plan.