Breda is a sparkling and historical city in the south of the Netherlands with around 183.000 inhabitants, making it the ninth largest municipality in the Netherlands. Breda is located on the main railway line between Amsterdam and Brussels. The city is known for its beautiful old town and recently also for its harbor. Breda has an important regional function. This is mainly due to the large theater and casino and the many events that are held in the city every year.
Nicknamed the Pearl of the South, Breda is also home to a thriving student community. Breda is the place where the Dutch royal family was founded 600 years ago. Many monuments and greenery remind of this royal period. But Breda is also a place to admire modern street art, to enjoy the countless restaurants, cafes and terraces and to find peace in the vast nature. In 2009, the center of Breda was voted for the Best City Center in the Netherlands.
Linie Zuid – Project Area
One of the squares before NBS implementation
NBS sketch design for the previous square
Breda demonstration will drive renaturation through urban jungles
Use of plants and trees effective in improving air quality, creation of urban jungles.
The targeted area is an outdated residential area from the 60s populated by a multicultural society, with many social rental properties for residents with lower incomes.
• The site is currently used for parking and other daily uses by local residents
• It is located between railways and the Northern Ring Road of the city within a socio-economically impoverished area.
• The UPSURGE demo site in Doornbos-Line is affected by heat stress and flooding.
• Doornbos-Linie is one of the districts which does not fall within the category of rich green space. The UPSURGE demo site is therefore focused on improving the quality of life of the Doornbos-Linie district
• Goals for the Breda site – high level of biodiversity, high density green area, mix of trees, shrubs, perennials and ground cover plants. Breda wants to become a ‘city in a park’.
Improve air quality, make the area more climate resilient, tackle heat stress, enhance city’s water management, improve and re-establish the biodiversity.
- Turning existing neglected green spaces into urban jungles and house fronts into gardens, responding to climate related issues and reducing urban heat island (UHI) effect.
- Promoting the integration of people and nature through activities aimed at creating social cohesion.
- Creating green corridors and reducing space dedicated to cars.
- Educate residents on the use of NBS and their multiple benefits.
Place Lab in Breda
Together with enthusiastic members of the Competency Group, we have set up a number of Place Labs in Breda. The Competency group meets every month. If a Place Lab is being implemented, we will even meet every week. Every member of the group is very valuable and we try to incorporate every opinion into a Place Lab. The Competency Group consists of various groups, namely advisors, housing association, district manager, climate expert and residents. We involve various stakeholders through letters and social media. Also see which UPSURGE criteria it falls under, such as Eco-sensitisation, Social Benefits of NBS, Gender-based NBS, NBS economic opportunities, enabling NBS-supporting political capital. We try to use all NBS in a Place Lab.
We have organized a number events, such as the opening of a community garden, various workshops, making banners with children from the neighbourhood and of course ‘the rug’ every month for all residents in the project area.
Meeting with residents – 4/3/2024
Children ecosensitisation in the primary school ‘De Liniedoorn’ – 6/19/2024
NBS implementation
The tender contract was signed in June 2024. The start of the work is from 12th August 2024 to March 2025. It will be carried out in 18 phases. Phases 1-5 will create green parking spaces and Infiltration zones from Aug 2024 to Nov 2024. The Phases 6-18 will implement the two squares and a park in March 2025 and it will be planted in April / May 2025.
Breda’s ‘City in a Park’ will become a biodiverse green metropolis connected to the greenery surrounding the city. The Breda UPSURGE approach also contributes to this goal and uses urban jungles, which are high-density re-designed areas immersed in the city, to address the city’s challenges of heat stress and flooding and increase the overall environmental quality through increased green spaces.
Green facades will be implemented as part of Breda Place Lab Activities with Competency Group.
Green parking spaces along the streets of the Linie Zuid – The idea is to reduce concrete pavements and create green parking surfaces which are permeable.
Infiltration zones to capture rainwater – Where possible, downspouts will be disconnected from the sewer through which the rainwater can flow and infiltrate into the adjacent green areas.
Swammerdamplein square is particularly targeted as a recreational area to ‘play and stay’.
Jan VD Heijdenplein square – A semi-paved Ecodynamic Stabilizer Ijsselmix will be installed under chestnut trees. Cobblestone parking spaces with open joints and infiltration of rainwater will be constructed.
Vuchstraat park – A tree bark surface will be used, varied calisthenics and toddler playground equipment, swing sets, benches, semi-paved paths, and Ecodynamic Stabilizer Ijsselmix will be installed.
Overview of NBS for Breda UPSURGE Demonstration site
Design of the infiltration zones
Competence Group Kick-off Meeting
