Area Vision for De Dorschkamp, Wageningen

Witteveen+Bos has created an area vision for De Dorschkamp, a former country estate in Wageningen. The vision gives direction to a proposed housing development while also taking the location’s considerable natural attributes fully into account. The area is home to a diverse range of landscape and ecological attributes and possesses a rich cultural history.

With this vision, the Municipality of Wageningen and the Province of Gelderland have provided broadly-supported development frameworks for the future spatial development of De Dorschkamp. Taking the area’s ‘load capacity’ into account, space was identified for (affordable) housing, retaining the area’s ecological, cultural history and landscape features and, where possible, enhancing them.

Witteveen+Bos drafted the vision, including frameworks for the location’s further planning development. The vision is a visually rich and expressive document that invites, entices and gives direction - all based on the location’s essential features. Using these, Witteveen+Bos set down ambitions, conditions and starting points.

Part of the vision’s development involved an intensive participation process with Wageningen residents, policy makers, the municipal executive and the municipal council. As part of the area vision, a landscape and ecological baseline measurement, an ecological assessment of the vision, and a financial forecast in relation to the land were also provided.

De Dorschkamp is home to a diverse range of landscape and ecological attributes, and possesses a rich cultural history. Making housing construction possible without affecting the location’s essential features was a complex challenge. In drafting the vision and development frameworks, significant attention was paid to spatial quality, history, nature, health and inclusivity. The vision combines the tasks’ complexity and ambitions into a coherent, integrated and visually-rich perspective on the future of the area.

The municipal council of Wageningen adopted the area vision on 13 July 2021. In 2022, it will be developed further into a zoning plan, in advance of the proposed implementation.