The identity

Not far away from the city center of Tilburg, the mixed industrial zone of Loven is located. One of the first observations when visiting Loven is the spatial contrast between work and living. But taking a closer look, there is a lot of ‘‘hidden’’ work and living. Many houses have small businesses at home, either physical or online. Next to this, many businesses also have a living part on the same plot. This combination of housing combined with small businesses, often at home, so called ‘‘backyard businesses’’, make Loven a unique and interesting place.

The conflict

The small scale of these businesses, along with the fact business owners often living in the same area, naturally evolved into a good relationship between residents and businesses. However, over time increasingly large-scale businesses gradually overshadowed the neighborhood, resulting in both physical and social conflicts. These large scale businesses increase heavy traffic in the residential streets, its buildings block view and sunlight and the industrial activities cause noise disturbance. Additionally, local residents feel their neighborhood is becoming increasingly isolated from the city center. But maybe the biggest issue might even be the fact that large-scale businesses are not as easily approachable in case of conflicts.

The strategy

A spatial strategy is introduced to transform the area of Loven into a more small-scale, livable neighborhood and restoring the balance between residential and industrial program. In this strategy, an incentive is introduced for plot-owners to transform their plot. The incentive includes offering possibilities for redevelopment to densify the plot (raising the FSI) and to add residential program. However, in return of these increased possibilities for redevelopment there are spatial, programmatic and social rules. Following these rules, large-scale, monofunctional and self-centered industrial plots will transform into more fine-grained and mixed plots. This will not only contribute to a more diverse and livable neighborhood but also re-introduce the identity of Loven’s backyard businesses.