The
ultimate aim of remodelling these commercial streets in Kortrijk,
Belgium, is to redefine its historic centre. This town, like many
others in the Flanders region, has in recent years seen citizens move
away to a residential periphery based on the suburban model. The
remodelling of its commercial streets is, then, a key factor in an
urban revitalization project that looks beyond public space.
The
commercial activity of this centre is a vital element in its
enhancement, but this driving force of activity cannot be taken apart
from other functions that today contribute to forming an urban area
complete with facilities, such as the various churches, the
Dormitoire museum complex and the Béguinage, Sint-Niklaas hospital,
the school of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Bijstand, the Academy and the green
area of Begijnhofpark. Added to these are numerous interventions
already carried out by the municipality with a view to reassessing
the town centre. These include work on the squares around the Church
of Sint-Marin, the underground car park and the remodelling of the
theatre square, and the project for the Grote-Markt.
The
project exploits the potential of this conjunction to create a
synergy between the streets to be remodelled and the town’s other
public spaces. It is not a question merely of giving the centre a
facelift by remodelling its commercial streets, but of using this
operation to give it structure and effect an overall improvement.
Although the operation necessarily involves clearing the streets of
poorly positioned street furniture and replacing prefabricated 1960s
paving now in a dreadful state of repair, it cannot be reduced to a
cosmetic operation.
Although traffic may, in differing
degrees and intensity, be authorized, the streets in question are to
be fundamentally pedestrian. They will be given a sober treatment
with the aim of exuding a degree of calm that will serve to highlight
the continuity of the various spaces. Rather than the public space
itself seeking the limelight, it is what is going on around it that
is important. This calls for the use of noble materials that will
continue to be freely available and age well, and which also respond
appropriately to the functional duality of these streets, making them
both convenient for pedestrians and resistant to occasional traffic.