Kenniskwartier is taking shape. What will the university notice?

A new area is being developed in the west of Tilburg: the Kenniskwartier. There are plans for thousands of homes, a new station area and a better connection between the university and the city. Univers asked the municipality and Tilburg University for their view of the plans.

The area around Tilburg Central Station exudes a metropolitan atmosphere, with wide avenues and closely spaced high-rise buildings. The contrast is great with the messy décor on the west side of Ringbaan-West in the direction of the university. Here the city feels incoherent and sometimes downright deserted.

A station is also crammed in between the collection of educational institutions, housing blocks, flats and sports fields: Tilburg University. Platforms are separated from each other by a motorway, the Statenlaan. Via the platform along the back of a block of rental apartments, you are suddenly on the university campus as a train passenger. It is not a grand entrance.

Growth

The Kenniskwartier (Knowledge Quarter) is an ambitious plan by the municipality of Tilburg to breathe new life into a number of neighborhoods between the city and the university campus. ‘The neighbourhoods were once designed as residential areas for families, but the composition has now become much more diverse,’ explains alderman Bas van der Pol (D66).

‘Tilburg-West is ideally suited for the construction of homes’

‘We expect a significant growth in residents. For those people, more than 30,000 homes must be added in this city by 2040,’ says Van der Pol. ‘We don’t want to build those homes in the outlying areas, but as much as possible in the vicinity of existing high-quality public transport connections (HOV) and existing facilities. Tilburg-West is therefore an excellent place for the construction of 10,000 homes, of which about 7,500 within the Kenniskwartier.’

City with a university

The university plays a major role in the plans of the municipality, and not only as the owner of land on which the municipality wants to build. The first plans, presented in a so-called area vision, state in capitals ‘From a city with a university to a university city’. The university also has something to gain from the Kenniskwartier, it shows.

Tilburg University is sympathetic to the plans. ‘It is important for our Executive Board to contribute ideas about the design of the Kenniskwartier,’ says Vice-President Wilma de Koning of the Executive Board. ‘We feel partly responsible for the housing of our students and staff and we also have an interest in good access to the campus.’

A hot potato

In addition to housing and good connections to and from the area, there is a great need for sports facilities among students. ‘We have also investigated that,’ says alderman Van der Pol. And that is a thorny issue. Because it is precisely in the area of the future ‘Reitse Campus’ (drawn in blue below) that the sports centre and the sports fields are located. The university wants to keep this.

De Koning: ‘We had great new construction plans for a sports center on the site where the hockey fields are now, and discussions with the municipality about those plans were already underway when the municipality of Tilburg put these plans on hold. Because of the new housing task, the municipality first wanted to review the plans in conjunction with all the other tasks for the entire area.’

Agreement

Subsequently, the university negotiated with the municipality for a long time, which eventually led to a covenant. The sports centre and various fields will remain in the same place for the time being, and will remain in the same area in the future, only the hockey fields of student hockey association SHOT will have to make way for the construction of about a thousand homes, including housing for students.

‘It’s a shame,’ says De Koning: ‘As a bargaining chip, the university has stipulated that the municipality will pay for the costs of moving the hockey pitches and that the municipality will get to work more quickly on more affordable housing for students.’

Moreover, according to De Koning, there is an agreement that the municipality ‘will purchase the building on the Meerkoldreef at a reasonable price and redevelop the location next to the sports center, where the Theological Faculty Tilburg was housed, in mutual consultation.’ The municipality says it will study these plans together.

Station

The development of the Kenniskwartier must be in line with the existing infrastructure. ‘Tilburg University station plays a key role in this,’ says Van der Pol. ‘The intention is to create a station environment that is safe, that is pleasant and where you can miss your train once in a while and then not be left behind on the rainy platform.’

‘It’s great that the station is being renovated,’ the university agrees. ‘We encourage our staff and our students to use public transport, cycle or walk. So an improved station can certainly help us with that,’ agrees vice-president Wilma de Koning.

There will be a new station square on the south side of the tracks. ‘We are in talks with the central government to make those plans concrete,’ says the alderman. The Reitse Campus and the surroundings of Tilburg University station will have a central function with new squares, meeting places and social facilities and health centers are planned in the area.

Retaining talent

Especially in the area of the Reitse Campus, the municipality wants to accelerate the construction of affordable housing, also for students. Van der Pol: ‘We are also going to build group homes there for students, who can live in a house with four or six people. In a student life, it is very important to have social contacts and not to get lonely.’

And there will be a lot of new employment, also in the segments that belong to the educational institutions, says Van der Pol. ‘Students who want to start their own business or are looking for an inspiring job will soon be able to do so here. And if employers are looking for talent, they can come here. Because if we have good people who have been trained here, but who don’t see opportunities to start their careers here, then we’re not doing something right. That has to be improved.’

Accessibility

To increase accessibility, new underpasses will be built under the railway with better walking and cycling routes that connect the neighbourhoods and the centre. ‘The existing viaduct of Ringbaan-West has to be replaced anyway,’ says Van der Pol, ‘so let’s lift the construction, then the Spoorpark will continue visually in the new Kenniskwartier.’

The university does have a comment on these plans. De Koning: ‘We do want our campus to remain a campus, and not a through route for cycling or walking traffic.’ These kinds of points must be answered later in sub-plans with the municipality and the parties involved.

Park

And parking is also quite a challenge, because many cars and parking facilities will soon be added. Van der Pol: ‘So we have to move towards smart parking hubs, to keep the public space green, with space for sports, staying and meeting, and fewer cars in the streets.’

‘We want our campus to remain a campus’

The university has expressed concerns about parking and car traffic in its so-called view on the Environment Programme. ‘It is still unclear to us what the effect of paid parking will be on the university, where exactly those parking garages will be located and what that means for the environment,’ says De Koning.

Contours

The contours of the new Kenniskwartier are slowly becoming visible, now that the Tilburg College of Mayors and Aldermen has adopted the Kenniskwartier Environmental Program, but it will take a few years before the first results are visible.

The plans for the Kenniskwartier are ambitious. ‘That suits this city, we are not too modest,’ says Van der Pol. In the coming period, the municipality, university and all other parties will sit down together to further develop the contours into concrete plans.

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