A2 Neighbourhoods Maastricht

The A2 Maastricht project organisation was set up to develop a single integrated and sustainable plan for the city and the motorway, from which future generations will continue to benefit. A plan with multiple objectives for the improvement of the traffic flow on the A2 and the accessibility of Maastricht, as well as one that promotes the quality of life and road safety, resolving bottlenecks within the city, and creating opportunities for urban development.

The integral area design ‘Groene Loper’ on top of the new A2 highway tunnel aims at improving the connections between the former by highway separated neigbourhoods in the city of Maastricht.

It is clear that the to-be-developed real estate along the Green Carpet will be oriented towards the Groene Loper-area. But what about the current public space in the neighbourhoods along the building site? Will the streets, centres and squares which today are the hearts of the neighbourhoods become ‘empty’ backsides tomorrow? And what is happening right now in those places? Will the energy or the program already present be able to enrich the Groene Loper? Or do the neighbourhoods lack a centre nowadays, opening up opportunities for the Groene Loper?

We focussed on todays’ qualities of the neighbourhoods along the Groene Loper, by observing and identifying. From these observations we will generate new insights on the significance of the Green Carpet for the neighbourhoods, but also the other way round: discover qualities that could enrich the development of the Green Carpet.

In order to make use of the describes identities, or in other words, to implement the gained knowledge about them in the process, we structured the project area by dividing it in ten sections, and explained for each of them how the identities across the highway relate to each other – both spatially and socially – and what the (im)possibilities for a connection are.

Hunting ground: Maastricht (NL)
Hunting period: 2015
Client: Gemeente Maastricht, Provincie Limburg, Avenue2 Maastricht