Genk town council wants to build a high-grade business park on the former mine site at Waterschei. This

brownfield site would have to be transformed into a 'park' with space for employment, giving new significance to

the industrial archaeological remains (main building, headframe with lift engine building, and slagheaps.

A spatial organisation plan is being drawn up for the area south of the mine railway, and this will refine the area

for sustainable urban development as described in the regional plan.

In contrast to the former isolation of the mine site from the outside world, effort is now being put into the best

possible links between the business park and its surroundings. A landscape articulation of the site divides the

public landscape park into four quadrants or landscape 'rooms' and introduces elements of the surroundings

deep into the site. A 'mining landscape-heath landscape' runs from north to south and a 'wood landscape-water

landscape' connects the Stiemerbeek with the garden district.

The landscape rooms create clusters of buildings intended for high-level businesses and thereby guarantee a

large area of greenery, the differentiation of building types and manageable stages. The remaining mine buildings

form the 'heart' of the site, together with a group of common facilities. From this point departs a main axis called

the 'park boulevard'.

The mine site, with its area of about 100 ha., will be redeveloped in several stages. The 'draft' Spatial

Implementation Plan (RUP) sets out the spatial framework for the initial stages. It incorporates the park layout,

the surrounding green setting and also the mine buildings, the business zone for high-level companies and the

Science Park.

Genk town council and the University of Leuven want to lay out and develop the Waterschei Science Park

(including the remaining mine buildings) in the near future. This Science Park is intended for high-technology

companies that develop new products and processes. These activities will be complementary to those of the

Arenberg Science Park in Leuven.

The aim of the first stage of the masterplan is a plan for the landscaping and architectural design of the area with

a focus on cluster development (± 20,000 sq. m.), sustainability, feasibility and administration. In the following

step this plan will be refined and made concrete in a definitive masterplan. At this stage, a proposal is also

expected for monitoring the quality of the work is carried out in the planned area.