What kind of city do we create through our station districts and through which logic of transformation?
That question is becoming increasingly urgent as station areas shift from residual infrastructure spaces to key sites of contemporary urban transformation.
Last week in Paris, at Atelier Néerlandais, Cecilia Gross (VenhoevenCS architecture+urbanism) and Daan Zandbelt (De Zwarte Hond) hosted “Station District” – an exchange between French and Dutch perspectives on this transformation, with the support of Atelier Néerlandais and the Dutch Embassy.
Through themes of intensification versus reinvention, public–private balance, and the lived station district, the conversation moved between the different logics shaping station districts and the systems that underpin them.
We spoke about station districts having a wide variety like dogs – from chihuahuas to Saint Bernards – and as balanced butterflies with symmetrical wings, symbolising the balance between accessibility and density. In that sense, a well-functioning station district is not a fixed typology, but a framework: it creates the public conditions within which private actors can develop programmes that respond to shifting urban and market dynamics. This results in station districts as a 3D Nolli map, where the boundary between station and city repeatedly evaporates.
Rather than offering a conclusion, the exchange raises the question: how can the French and Dutch approaches reinforce each other in shaping future station districts? To be continued!
A sincere thank you to all participants for the openness and depth of the exchange and to Atelier Néerlandais (Lilian Widdershoven, Gerco de Vroeg) for the generous hosting.
Moderation & organisation by Cecilia Gross and Daan Zandbelt
With contributions from Charlotte Halpern, Djamel Klouche, Erik Roerdink, François Bourvic, Guillaume Hébert, Jochen Geraedts, Lucille Daunay, Maaike Perenboom, Mattijs van Ruijven, Paul Gerretsen, Paul Lecroart, Pieter Klomp, Raphaël Ménard and Stéphan de Fay.