Kerkrade as a unique municipality

Kerkrade originated in the Middle Ages as small settlements close to agricultural clearings. Some of the important routes through Kerkrade (the historical ribbons) and the various neighborhood centers (village centers) are still recognizable from this time. It is also true that we can see many cultural-historical elements in the form of churches, chapels, crosses and some farmsteads.

After a long quiet period with very limited growth, mining has brought about considerable changes. The South Limburg soil has always been a site of mineral resources. Coal has been mined in Kerkrade since the Middle Ages. Starting in the early twentieth century, coal mining permanently changed the face of Kerkrade. The town grew exponentially with about five mines, associated mining colonies for the new workers and new rail lines. In the 1950s and 1960s, the population continued to grow, new residential neighborhoods emerged, and many homes were built, including porches and high-rise apartments.

After the closure of the mines, over fifty years ago, various sites were transformed into residential, working or green areas in a short period of time. Kerkrade is now primarily a residential and working municipality with beautiful nature. The ingredients for a good and healthy living environment are in place, but there is also the pain over the abrupt end of mining and all the socioeconomic problems it has brought about. The past thirty years have been marked by population decline and economic decline. There were few opportunities to invest and arrive at a new perspective. But the tide is turning, the number of jobs and business establishments is increasing, there is a growing demand for housing, and migration is gradually increasing the population. All trends that provide opportunities to invest, plan and look ahead again. In this dynamic, an Environmental Vision is crucial, because we can now decide how to bend the trends to our will to make it Kerkrade where we like to continue to live, work and recreate.

Kerkrade's core qualities

When working on the future, what we want to preserve is also important. When describing what makes Kerkrade a special municipality, four characteristics, in this case historical qualities, stand out. Qualities which make Kerkrade what it is, but which also give us tools to work on solutions beyond problems.

1. Kerkrade has a unique, high-quality nature and landscape and associated water system in the heart of the town. A town around a valley, with large differences in height, beautiful water features and consequently beautiful views, is unique in the Netherlands. Nature is nearby everywhere in the city and offers many opportunities for recreation and health of residents and visitors. This nature is the most important precondition for healthy and future-proof living in Kerkrade.
2. Kerkrade has traditionally consisted of several neighborhoods connected by a ribbon structure. Building on this structure provides opportunities for accessible facilities close to home. Many neighborhoods have their own center that is embedded in a long history and culture.
3. Growth in the mining period also meant a strong commuting identity. Those who worked in Kerkrade also lived there. Entrepreneurs and workers were very involved in the ins and outs of the town, so local connections and club life are still strong.
4. The rapid growth of the mines, also meant a rapid growth of the population. With, at that time, a vigorous population made up mostly of young, working people.

As described, these four qualities have a strong relationship with the past, but we also see that precisely these qualities are under pressure from trends and developments. In the Kerkrade Environmental Vision, we work to return to quality. Not from a historicizing approach, but to use history and quality for a future-proof Kerkrade.

Construction Kerkrade

The image below shows that Kerkrade is divided into three districts and several neighborhoods.

Neighborhood Kerkrade-West

Neighborhoods:

• Dentgenbach
• Terwinselen
• Bare Heath
• Heilust
• Spekholzerheide
• Moat

Neighborhood Kerkrade-North

Neighborhoods:

• Waubacherveld
• Hopel
• Eygelshoven-Come
• Finch
• Haanrade
• Chevremont

Neighborhood Kerkrade-East

Neighborhoods:

• Erenstein
• Rolduckerveld
• Kerkrade Center
• Holz
• Nulland
• Bleijerheide

On Jan. 1, 2024, the Omgevingswet went into effect. This law aims to achieve and maintain a safe and healthy physical living environment and good environmental quality. Therefore, municipalities are required to adopt an Environment Vision by 2027. The Environment Vision is form-free and replaces the current structure vision and associated district visions. Listed below are the vision documents that will expire:

• Kerkrade Structure Vision 2010-2020 (2011)
• Kerkrade West district vision (2011)
• Kerkrade East I district vision (2012)
• Kerkrade North and East II district vision (2014).

The structure and district visions have proven their services but are in need of renewal. The Environmental Vision is the long-term vision of the physical living environment and helps to make the right trade-offs and deal carefully with the available space. The Kerkrade Environmental Vision contains an integrated and coherent framework in which all themes relating to the physical living environment are addressed: housing, mobility, water, soil, nature and landscape, economy, energy transition, circularity, health, climate, safety, heritage, recreation and tourism, etc.

The Environmental Vision indicates the developments the municipality wants to encourage and the qualities it wants to protect. The vision is a dot on the horizon towards 2050 for the municipality of Kerkrade. Society, technology and geopolitics are changing rapidly and can be unpredictable. As a result, the municipality cannot anticipate all developments in advance. Unlike the structural vision, the Environment Vision is a dynamic document. That means no updating every ten years, but a document that can and should be updated more often. For example, every four years or for a particular (social) issue or area. For this updating, programs or other instruments such as regulations or cooperation agreements can be used. The adoption of programs, an environmental plan or other instruments takes place within the framework of this Environmental Vision. In this way we guarantee legal and policy coherence. However, it is important that the dot on the horizon for Kerkrade remains in place. Working with the policy cycle is an important part of the Omgevingswet ensuring legal and policy coherence, Section 5.1 Section 5.1 discusses this in more detail.

The Environment Vision is self-binding. This means that the municipality adheres to the ambitions and tasks described in this Environment Vision.

In cooperation with consulting firms PosadMaxwan of The Hague and Pantopicon of Antwerp, the municipality has been working on drafting this vision from 2022.
In addition to making an Environmental Vision, an Environmental Impact Assessment (OER) was prepared by Arcadis in cooperation with the municipality. The OER can be consulted in Appendix 1. After a start-up, the following process steps were followed for this purpose:

• Zero measurement on the scale of the area: In order to analyze the state of Kerkrade's environment, a brief biography has been drawn up for each area (central areas, residential areas, working areas, landscape framework (outlying area) and main infrastructure). This contains a brief analysis and the top five opportunities and bottlenecks.
• A "Picture of the Living Environment" was also prepared as part of the OER. This described the current situation and trends and developments until 2050.
• Thematic Fact Sheets: In addition to the area biographies, thematic fact sheets were also created that depicted and described the state of affairs for each policy theme. These two documents formed the knowledge base upon which further work was done in the follow-up steps.
• Four story lines as the basis for the vision: The key aspects for the vision are summarized in four story lines, each of which sets out the ambitions for a specific area within the municipality.
• The Environmental Vision was then drawn up on the basis of the four story lines. In it, attention was also paid to action perspectives and implementation agenda in order to move from vision to action.

An intensive participation process was used in the creation of the vision. The vision planning process was also identified as an internal pilot project for citizen participation. A postcard was sent to all households (23,000) in June 2023 asking them to participate in thinking about the future of
Kerkrade. In addition, participation meetings were held for the municipal council, stakeholders and diverse residents. There was also participation in the local sustainability festival "Kirchroa va Mörje" in 2023 and 2024. The participation report can be found on the City Council website. 

The poll with over 1,000 responses revealed that a clean and safe living environment is the most important theme. Furthermore, the supply of facilities and the strengthening of greenery were mentioned. It was striking that there were few differences between the neighborhoods. Respondents from Eygelshoven indicated that the theme of climate adaptation was also important. This has to do with flooding in 2021. Kerkrade residents were also asked, "Imagine it's 2040. What above all do you hope has or hasn't changed in Kerkrade?' This showed that residents value the social and cultural aspects in the town, such as culture, club life, facilities, the dialect and sociability in Kerkrade. People would like to see change in the following topics: greenery, stores, aging, the center and housing in Kerkrade. In short, residents like to see change in the physical aspects of the living environment.

During the area safaris in Kerkrade West, North and East, participants (key figures) mentioned locations that we need to preserve and address in the future. Some examples include the medieval church with historic buildings in Eygelshoven, the weekly markets, addressing vacant and impoverished business premises in various locations, improving entrances to neighborhood centers, and greening streets and squares. These topics are also incorporated into the four story lines of this vision and elaborated in the preconditions for new initiatives.

Two meetings were held with stakeholders. Consultations were also held with some agencies. Various topics emerged during these meetings and consultations. For example: Health also for space for small and medium-sized businesses, take into account the strengthening and expansion of utilities (energy and water), make the link between living and working, take into account more extreme weather due to climate change in new building plans and also environmental safety, Health for good recreational connections, strengthen the landscape in combination with agriculture and continue to focus on the specific qualities (including landscape, cultural history and facilities).