Articles
Recent publications and articles (click on title)
Reconstruction plans Cogels Osylei announced, Residents disappointed
The reconstruction plans for the Cogels Osylei, Antwerps famous Belle Epoque street, have been announced by Berchem District. Given the poor and dilapidated shape of the street, a thorough reconstruction is needed. Following decades of neglect and discussion, it is...
Neighbourhood residents disappointed: long awaited relocation bus depot delayed again
Where do we see a historic urban residential neighbourhood cobble stone streets overloaded by hundreds of heavy buses per day running in and out of a dated and run down bus depot. In Antwerp - Zurenborg. Resistance against the depot dates from the 1980s, and promises...
Unexpected Impact: will Covid-19 trigger a new wave of Suburbanisation
Who would one year ago have foreseen the dramatic changes in our daily life because of the Covid-19-triggered health crisis. And how this impacted the function of cities, including Antwerp, and including the Zurenborg neighbourhood. Social distancing, working from...
Town centres in the post corona era, it’s now up to the municipalities!
The corona pandemic has clearly changed the way consumers shop. In Holland, the PBL expects vacancy to increase by about 40% in the coming years. It is therefore very important to consider the new role of town centres in the post corona era. In the first...
Covid-19 Second Wave: Back to Reset
Link to article on DiscVision.nl //www.discvision.nl/news/3110/ How changes in consumer behaviour becoming structural may impact property What was feared by many became reality by the end of November. Many parts in Europe including the Netherlands and its...
Laiterie d’Orsières, the new milk factory
Laiterie d'Orsieres, the new milk factoryOrsières, located in the heart of the Valaisan Entremont region, has a new milk factory since September 2020. A milk factory which is more than just a milk factory, but a nice example of a rural experience linked to...
Cloudburst hits Zurenborg – Antwerp. How to Keep our Neighbourhood Dry?
Article in Gazet Van Zurenborg local Antwerp newspaper. It seemed as if there had been a dam breach in the Waterloostraat among other streets in the historic Zurenborg neighbourhood in Antwerp on 16 August 2020. Heavy rain showers with extreme rainfall made the street...
Cables on facades at the Dageraadplaats Square indicate the arrival of fiber optics to the neighbourhood
Those who walked recently in the vicinity of the Dageraadplaats Square in the heart of Zurenborg and looked up to the mostly beautiful facades of Zurenborg will probably have noticed: new black cables fixed on the facade with also here and there small network...
Historic Opportunity for Urban Mixed Use
Covid-19 has accelerated pre-existing trends in real estate driving a need to repurpose or reposition assets such as shopping centres and office blocks, creating a historic opportunity for investors to add value and redefine urban landscapes. Article in Living Retail....
Ryckaert Square, a Difficult to Untangle Traffic Spaghetti
So many functions in an area of 50 by 60 meters! How do we ever get that arranged smoothly? Ask casual passers-by or residents. Hardly anyone is satisfied with the Mayor Edgar Ryckaert Square, or for many simply the Station Square. Too busy, too chaotic, too ugly and...
Antwerp Tramnet 2020 and Zurenborg Neighbourhood. Much work still to be done.
Article in Antwerp paper Gazet Van Zurenborg, 2020 nr 2, March-April issue. The Zurenborg neighbourhood and the Antwerp tram are historically closely intertwined. The tram was the link that made Zurenborg as new residential area attractive for the Antwerp bourgeoisie...
RICS – CPD: From Neighbourhood Shopping Centre to Heart of the Neighbourhood.
From Neighbourhood Shopping Centre to Heart of the Neighbourhood. CPD Session organised by RICS NL Research & Innovation Committee which took place in New Metropolis, in the Amsterdamse Poort shopping centre, in Amsterdam on 3rd December. Hosted by CBRE Global...
No Space for Easy Riders in the Food and Beverage Sector
Food & Beverage (F&B) has become the buzzword in the retail and shopping centre sector in recent years, but the market environment is changing rapidly and the challenges are mounting, writes Meyer Bergman's Herman Kok in in this comment piece for Property EU.
Technology and the Relevance of Urban Meeting Places
A recent Meyer Bergman advertorial considers how technology lets us rediscover our roots, highlighting the relevance of urban meeting places. In ancient Rome, citizens gathered at the Forum – the market place where civic events, gladiatorial combats, commerce, and...
Creating A Modern-Day Forum
In the April 2018 edition of Retail Watch, Markus Meijer, CEO of Meyer Bergman, explains how mixed-use assets meet the 'live, work, play' demands of urban occupiers, providing sustainable income for real estate investors. Read Creating a Modern-Day Forum.