Realizing the potential of the Roosendaal City in the Netherlands and addressing its future needs, the MVRDV designed and presented the 2040 vision for the city of Roosendaal, a detailed masterplan and recommendations titled ‘the Mosaic’. Last Monday, this March, the Municipality of Roosendaal sanctioned this RSD 40 strategic vision.
The strategic location of the city of Roosendaal in Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands, to the north of Flanders and amidst the major cities of Randstad and Zeeland, displayed the urban potential of the region. Despite its potential, the city suffered a population deficit with the vibrant youth relocatin,g leaving behind an accumulating aging population in Roosendaal. Subsequently, the number of people residing in the city has remained at 77,000 for over ten years.
However, government officials believe in order to ensure sufficient cultural activities, enhance leisure moments, and draw investments, there is a need for a larger, enthusiastic community of at least 1,00,000 residents. Accompanied by its low urban density, the City of Roosendaal served as an ideal location for multiple housing developments, leading to urban densification and ultimately sustaining the city.
To address the urban inadequacies of Roosendaal Netherlands, in 2021, the Roosendaal Municipality engaged with a strategic alliance of diverse industry experts, comprising the Rebel Group, the Transitiefocus, and the MVRDV. While the latter was designated as the urban development consultant leading the project, one of its founding partners, Winy Maas, was adopted as the urban advisor.
The Urban Planning Team partnered effectively with the Roosendaal’s Municipality, conducted and attended several briefings understanding the other ongoing projects in the region to seamlessly amalgamate them into the master plan. As a part of the design process, 3000 citizens were involved in the design process, informing the design decisions by attending in-person events or expressing their opinions on digital platforms.
Usually, masterplans are developed following a top-down approach and end up being criticized for excluding the very residents of the city. But, in the case of Mosaic, MVRDV and its partners struck a balance between top-down and bottom-up strategies both by including a participatory design approach and by collaborating with the governmental body in charge.
The name Mosaic signifies the multilayered nature of the urban fabric of Roosendaal, comprising the whole city and several neighborhoods, each with its own distinct identity. The designers decided to preserve the identity rather than dissolve it, which is quite reflected in its name.
Aligning with the master plan, the Municipality and MVRDV envision Roosendaal as a Mosaic made up of different stones to which they can add new stones in the coming years depending on the needs while still reinstating the old stones. By mentioning ‘different stones,’ the officials pinpoint the distinct neighborhoods that the city boasts.
The Planners are Municipality determined to work on six areas, including nature and water, social, economy and education, mobility, energy and circularity, and housing, to satisfy the anticipated growth, connect the city effectively with its surroundings, enhance the uniqueness that the neighborhoods possess and improve the overall well-being of the residents. While appreciating the existing state of Roosendaal, the Municipality is expecting to establish new social, spatial, and economic opportunities in the city.
The master plan of the city, the land use details, and the recommendations outlined are presented in a set of seven documents telling the story of the RSD 40’s inception, progress, and results. In order the documents are the Future Image, the Vision, the Assignment, the Conversation, the Strategy, the Area Passports, and finally, the Sequel, which are available on the government’s website.
The striking feature of the master plan is its one-of-its-kind barcode land use diagram clearly outlining the area allocated to different functions before and after the master plan. In line with the government’s idea to attract more youth into the city as residents and the current trend of sustainability, housing, culture, nature, water, and renewable energy production are allocated more space while the planners have refrained from increasing the infrastructure.
In order to be deemed fit for residents of all age groups, the vision’s master plan incorporates a range of housing types in juxtaposition with the existing single-family houses and also ensures that more educational, leisure, and cultural spaces will be integrated into the urban fabric of Roosendaal. The MVRDV has worked on the routes connecting the existing roadways, footpaths, and dikes to make the city pedestrian-friendly and encourage the use of bicycles.
In an attempt to preserve the uniqueness of the neighborhoods, as discussed earlier, the Urban planners have issued a ‘neighborhood passport’ for each neighborhood in Roosendaal. In document 6, the ‘Area Passports,’ the role of ‘neighborhood passport’ is discussed in detail,l which includes identifying the neighborhood’s individual roles in the Mosaic – RSD 40 vision and the adaptations that each neighborhood has to undergo.
Some of the projects that the MVRDV had discussed with the Municipality of Roosendaal incorporating the principles of the Mosaic to see light in the future include the redevelopment of the station zone into a lively mixed-use district with a school for vocational education catering to the educational needs of their residents, developing tall buildings around the Nieuwe Markt square to accentuate the experience in the square, and establishing a series of linear housing developments a d sports facilities along the A58 highway.
The other projects that the vision adopts include the repurposing and renovation of monasteries and vacant churches to house residential buildings, community centers, workshops, or cultural buildings. The masterplan also incorporates natural recreation areas, including a renovated Mariadal Monastery Garden for the public and widened streams for water-based recreational activities.
On implementation, the Mosaic is expected to rejuvenate the Roosendaal Netherlands, add colors to the life in the city, attract all citizens irrespective of age groups towards it, and open up numerous investment possibilities as per the Government’s Vision of a ‘quality leap’ for the city.
The Mosaic Project Details
Architect: MVRDV
Project: The Mosaic (RSD40 Strategic Vision)
Location: Roosendaal, Netherlands
Client: Geemente Roosendaal
Program: Masterplan
Status: Design
Year: 2025
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