How did Groningen transform itself into a model city?
Exhibition Bold City, Brave Decisions
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the twinning of Graz and Groningen, De Zwarte Hond was invited to showcase Groningen to Graz’s residents. The result is the travelling exhibition, Bold City, Brave Decisions: How Groningen Transformed Itself into an Exemplary City, showcasing the courageous choices that transformed Groningen into a model city. Three key decisions — Continuity, Collectivity and Compactness — illustrate how a city can grow flexibly without losing its identity or quality of life. De Zwarte Hond has played a decisive role in shaping the appearance and design of Groningen in recent years, both architecturally and urbanistically.
Rather than being a retrospective, the Bold City, Brave Decisions exhibition is a call to action: how can we transform area development into a dialogue with residents, in which participation is paramount? An interactive map enables residents to share ideas and highlight important areas. Each city hosting the exhibition will receive a customized experience that brings together local communities, policymakers, and designers. How can your city learn from the experiences of Groningen? What are the next ‘brave’ decisions that need to be made?
The accompanying online platform, Bold Cities, Brave Decisions, showcases the bold choices of medium-sized cities and makes complex urban issues accessible to a wide audience. Following Graz, the exhibition travelled to Groningen (2024), Mainz and Rotterdam (2025), and more cities will follow in the near future, including Tilburg. De Zwarte Hond invites citizens and experts to share their thoughts on the city and its future. Together, we are redefining what it means to be a courageous city.
data
- Location
- Size
- Client
- De Zwarte Hond
- Discipline
- Research
- Program
- Culture, Publications & Exhibitions, Urbanization Strategy
- Period
- 2023-2026
- Status
- Completed
- Photography
- The Schubidu Quartet/HAD, Aad Hoogendoorn, Markus Kohz
- Partners
- Haus der Architektur Graz, Gemeente Groningen, Zentrum Baukultur Rheinland-Pfalz, KeileCollectief
- Downloads
The reason: 60 years of Graz-Groningen as twin cities
In 2024, the 60th anniversary of the partnership between Graz and Groningen was celebrated. To mark this occasion, Haus der Architektur Graz invited De Zwarte Hond to showcase the city of Groningen to Graz residents. This invitation formed the basis for the travelling exhibition Bold City, Brave Decisions, which explores the urban development of Groningen. The central research question is: What makes a ‘bold city’?
Groningen as an Exemplary City
The exhibition Bold City, Brave Decisions: How Groningen Transformed Itself into an Exemplary City offers insights into the city’s transformation in recent decades. De Zwarte Hond has played a significant role in this transformation, both architecturally and urbanistically. The exhibition encourages reflection and dialogue on urban challenges and on the courageous choices that cities must make in order to remain future-proof. It invites citizens and professionals to share their ideas about the city of tomorrow.
Shared challenges for European mid-size cities
In north-west Europe, many medium-sized cities, such as Graz, Groningen and Mainz, are developing into attractive urban centres with steadily growing populations. These cities have a lot in common: a historic city centre on a river, a major university with over 60,000 students, a vibrant creative sector and a rich architectural history where old and new complement each other. These similarities make it valuable to learn from each other’s urban strategies and experiences.
The exhibition and the accompanying opening discussions stimulate a dialogue between cities and their residents about socially and environmentally sustainable urban development. How can cities grow alongside their populations without compromising on quality of life? How can we ensure a high quality of life in a sustainable and inclusive city?
The exhibition: Three brave decisions
The exhibition focuses on the three crucial ‘brave decisions’ that shaped the city of Groningen, presented through the three Cs: Continuity, Collectivity and Compactness. These decisions were: Berlage’s urban expansion plan (1928, updated in 1932); Max van den Berg’s traffic circulation plan (1977); and the architectural direction of Ypke Gietema, who was the alderman for spatial development from 1978 to 1992. Thanks to these decisions, Groningen has grown to become the distinctive, compact and exemplary city it is today.
The exhibition illustrates how these choices were implemented in various phases of urban development, showcasing their impact on the city’s spatial and social structure. For each city visited by the travelling exhibition, two bold design choices that contributed to its development are presented. This gives the exhibition a unique interpretation at each location.
A call for participation and dialogue
Bold City, Brave Decisions is not a retrospective, but rather a call to action. How can we transform area development into a dialogue with residents, in which participation is leading, not supplementary? An interactive map invites residents to share their ideas and highlight important areas, enabling them to contribute to the future of their city. The exhibition encourages active involvement and provides a platform for local input and exchange.
A growing platform for urban development
After Graz, the exhibition travelled to Groningen, Mainz and Rotterdam. More cities will follow in late 2025 and 2026. The accompanying online platform, Bold Cities, Brave Decisions, showcases bold choices made by medium-sized cities and makes complex urban issues accessible to a wide audience. De Zwarte Hond invites citizens and experts to share their ideas about the future of urban development. Together, we are redefining what it means to be a bold city.
Haus Der Architekur, Graz
Zentrum Baukultur Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz
Keilepand, Rotterdam
Groningen City Hall
