Nijmegen (Netherlands)

[Ronald]

Went to Nijmegen last week, here are the pictures.
Nijmegen is the oldest city of the Netherlands, the city's 2000-year existance was celebrated in 2005. With 160,000 inhabitants, it''s the 10th city of the Netherlands.

Music

Nijmegen is situated halfway between Amsterdam and Cologne, near the German border.

Pedestrian area in the city centre, not far from the main railway station (Nijmegen has 4).

A lot of urban renewal has been taking place this last decade.

A small park in the city centre. These are the remainings of a medieval city wall/ fortress.

Care to take a seat?

There are plenty of hills in Nijmegen, which makes it very unique for The Netherlands, being pretty much the flattest country in Europe.

Near City Hall

One of the many squares in the inner city

Lastly, some nocturnal shots of the city centre.

This bench reads 'what there is'

Hope you enjoyed.

 

[JasonParis]

I did enjoy that!

What a great mix of old and new. Perfectly European.

This...

...reminds me much of this....

...in Rotterdam.

 

[smuncky]

wow thx!

i think i only saw 1 car in the whole set.

 

[ProjectEnd]

That outdoor mall is superb. We should put something like that somewhere in Toronto. I'm racking my brain to try and think of where would be best but I'm stumped since many of the places I think of are relatively major thoroughfares.

But if it were pedestrian only just think how cool something like this would be along Bremner between Bathurst and Spadina! It would look like a more European and sophisticated version of that render which combined Cityplace with (I believe it was) downtown Markham.

Good stuff!

 

[Zephyr]

Thanks for sharing.

Don't mean to be negative, but the lack of greenery along many of these streets is particularly dreary to me. And my claustrophobia would immediately surface with the walls so near.

On the other hand, these areas look exceptionally clean, and the architecture looks very interesting.

 

[ganjavih]

People-friendly European cities... gotta love 'em!

 

[Observer Walt]

Thanks for the neat pictures! These pedestrian-oriented spaces are always attractive.

Claustrophibic? Maybe. We are accustomed to more open spaces here, in most residential areas, but I think there is more emphasis on density in European cities. I also think that with the good inter-city transit, access to open space outside the cities is readily available, even for those without cars, perhaps more so than here.

 

[Jayomatic]

I love how that pedestrian mall has a few levels to buffer some elements. It would be great to do this somewhere with different levels to provide some shelter from the wind and weather while still allowing for that outdoors feel.

 

[Ronald]

Thanks a lot for your replies

Zephyr, I can imagine someone from a country where land is abundant finds such narrow streets claustrophobic, though the streets of Nijmegen are actually pretty wide compared to some alleys in medieval Italian cities... now that gives me claustrophobia
Walter, you mentioned the core principle of dutch urban planning: compact cities with stricktly enforced growth boundaries on one side, and open spaces that we strive to protect from fragmentation as much as possible.