The Dutch firm OKRA landschapsarchitecten has been awarded the European Prize for Urban Public Space 2022 for its project to restore the Catharijnesingel canal in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Being an initiative of the Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB), this eleventh edition received 326 projects from 35 different countries showing those problems that European cities must face and proposing some solutions in the framework of a post-pandemic context focused on climate change and how to make cities more livable.
After 23 years of history and 11 editions, the European Prize for Urban Public Space seeks to recognize the best proposals for the creation, transformation, and recovery of public spaces in European cities, which share some historical features such as human scale, compactness, and mixed uses.
According to the criteria of the international jury chaired by Teresa Galí-Izard and composed of Hans Ibelings, Eleni Myrivili, Andreas Ruby, Paloma Strelitz, and Špela Videčnik with the support of Lluís Ortega, the reconstruction of the canal and the recovery of the linear park are "a model intervention for the survival of our cities in the new climatic era", which is part of a much broader urban transformation aimed at recovering elements of the city's past to undertake the future.
Presented as a pleasant and playful space for its inhabitants, the canal was returned to its original conditions after being replaced by a freeway for more than 50 years. In this way, OKRA landschapsarchitecten's intervention has managed to reduce vehicular traffic by prioritizing pedestrianism and social interaction in both the Catharijnesingel canal and the Zocherpark. In the latter, a wide variety of trees have been incorporated to connect the new park with the existing one.
Acting as a new habitat for living things, porosity and biodiversity were also prioritized, understanding the crucial role the proposal plays in building urban resilience by increasing the city's capacity to combat high temperatures, storms, and floods. In addition, water reclamation and vegetation help to capture carbon and reduce pollution.
For example, single-flowering trees that attract bees and bumblebees have been selected to enhance biodiversity and offer different experiences throughout the seasons. By using materials such as clinker bricks and gravel, a visual connection to the historic city center is generated. A wooden surface can be used as a seat, stand, or stage next to the existing dock and a lower section of it functions for canoeists and users of paddleboards and other boats.
Under the fundamental premise of recovering the water, the project allows the inhabitants of Utrecht to recover the city's historical relationship with the water and the canal, being able to engage in recreational, sporting, aquatic, and other activities. Visitors can stroll through the meadows among the works of art, rest areas, and a variety of multi-species plantings. Covering 1.1 km in length, the restoration of the last section of the canal has managed to return 40,000 m3 of water, reaching 6 km in length.
