Genk - Masterplan Sledderlo

In the sixties, the Dutch town-planner Sam J. Van Embden designed a satellite town for 20,000 inhabitants at

‘Genk South’, near the industrial estate around the Albert Canal. This town was composed of five districts

arranged around a town centre. In the early 70s just half of one of the planned districts, ‘Nieuw Sledderlo’, was

built, on assignment to the Nieuw Dak social housing company. The rest of the area where the satellite town had

been planned was not developed, but was labelled as a residential zone. This area includes several old hamlets

such as Oud Sledderlo.

In this context, the Nieuw Sledderlo district underwent its own development, characterised by spatial isolation

and inhabitants with a weak socio-economic profile. It was necessary to draw up a masterplan in order to bring

new stimuli to bear on this social housing estate. The redevelopment of Nieuw Sledderlo is incorporated in an

overall plan for a broader area with the name of Groot Sledderlo. Genk town council is the authority

commissioning the formulation and implementation of a masterplan for Groot Sledderlo. The council will draw up

a detailed project definition for this design brief on the basis of a preliminary study.

The masterplan lays down the guidelines for future spatial projects in Groot Sledderlo. In addition to the

redevelopment of the Nieuw Sledderlo social housing estate, possible projects included private housing

developments and the building of public amenities (for sport, education, culture and so on), the reorganisation of

the public space and construction of infrastructure, measures for the development of the local retail trade and the

reinforcement of the economic fabric in so far as they include a spatial component. The masterplan should take

account of the specific structure of the landscape in the area, which is a wooded spur of the Kempen Plateau with

remains of an agrarian network and of planning developments from the 60s. In other words, this brief deals with a

point where urban planning and landscape design meet, and requires an affinity with the redevelopment of postwar

housing projects. The masterplan plays a key role in a process in which several parties are participating.

This means that apart from their design qualities, a process-based approach is expected from the design team.

The drawing up and implementation of the masterplan will be supervised by a steering group including

representatives of the client and the Nieuw Dak social housing company.

The masterplan is to be translated into a number of implementation-oriented sub-projects that can be carried out

by the design team. However, the client may decide to award the whole implementation package or part of it to a

third party without the creator of the masterplan having any right to compensation. The creator of the masterplan

would act as a supervisor for any parts of the implementation brief that may be awarded to the third party.

Genk town council, the Nieuw Dak social housing company and other public and private clients will draw up a

cooperative agreement in which they proclaim their commitment to the implementation of the masterplan (and its

sub-projects).