Producing space: post-war redevelopment as big business, Utrecht and Hannover 1962–1975

Abstract

This contribution opens a new perspective on the politics of urban redevelopment in Dutch and German cities during the 1960s and early 1970s. More specifically, it examines the post-war expansion of Bredero, a Dutch private developer that forged public-private partnerships with the city councils of Utrecht and Hannover to get local urban redevelopment agendas of the ground. Within the period covered by this article, the political consensus was that the post-war economy, which was dominated by rising car ownership, business and consumerism, had to find its place and thrive in central urban areas. Developers such as Bredero were thought to dispose over the expertise and financial means to swiftly execute redevelopment schemes. Up until now, planning historians have largely neglected the role played by private developers in post-war urban redevelopment efforts. This contribution investigates how and why local administrators and private developers decided to work together in the first place, and how the expertise of Bredero in particular was translated into the development of Utrecht's Hoog Catharijne and Hannover's Raschplatz schemes. Through the innovate use of hitherto under-examined primary sources, this contribution sheds a new light on the allegedly recent phenomena of the internationalization and outsourcing of urban planning efforts.

Mobilization of the Masses: Dutch Planners, Local Politics, and the Threat of the Motor Age 1960-1980

“…The megastructure was designed to accommodate much of Utrecht's expected growth in demand for office and retail space, which effectively brought a halt to the suburbanization of shops and offices. 91 In addition to its mixed functions and covered arcades, these characteristics made Hoog Catharijne a hybrid of American and Western European planning practices. In fact, the scheme was inspired by Birmingham's Bull Ring Center and the work of Victor Gruen, the Austrian American planner who pioneered in pedestrianizing American inner cities and designing shopping malls.…”