What we do‍

We were asked by the municipality of Rotterdam to act as project leaders to guide the realization of approximately 100-150 neighborhood hubs. Together with a team of internal colleagues from the municipality, we mapped out the possibilities early this year. What stakeholders do you need? What does a neighborhood hub look like? What are the costs? What locations are there?

From the municipality, a plan of approach was written as part of a national approach to neighborhood hubs from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. A national standard (the Mijksenaar standard) will emerge from that national approach. I&W is making subsidies available to accelerate the realization of neighborhood hubs through that national standard (look and feel) and to support municipalities.

After the plan of action we started to roll it out with currently already 43 realized neighborhood hubs. The goal is to establish 100 community hubs this year.

Why we are doing this‍

A well-organized network of neighborhood hubs can play a crucial role in creating the car-free city. Or begin to reduce car use. Moreover, fewer scooters roam the city and no dangerous situations arise due to shared scooters getting in the way. Users no longer have to search long for the means of transportation and can always find a shared bike or shared scooter at a fixed location.

We are currently seeking participation through neighborhood councils. From our expertise as a neighborhood hub team, we look through the mobility glasses at suitable locations using data. Essential local knowledge can be fed back from the neighborhood councils. What do people think of the locations, what are the complaints? These are valuable reports that we can take back into the process.

The result‍

Meanwhile, there was already a grand opening in the Lombardijen neighborhood after a hub was realized. Furthermore, a number of neighborhood hubs were accelerated due to work at the Roseknoop, in order to provide an alternative to traveling by car.

The evaluation process is further underway. The hubs are currently of a temporary nature, part because of the novelty involved. They are realized with so-called flexible lines. This brings the advantage that they can be moved quickly and adapted to changing space.