Organising Lasting Social Impact: Keilekwartier Rotterdam

Introduction

Placemaking goes beyond a mere temporary intervention, though the term is often used as a synonym for short-term efforts. It’s about creating lasting impact for neighborhoods, cities, and communities. In the Keilekwartier, located in Rotterdam’s Merwe-Vierhavens (M4H), the value of the existing temporary initiatives is recognized and appreciated. Consequently, the municipality and these parties are exploring how to integrate the value of these places into permanent development. With the top-down housing plans for Keilekwartier currently on hold due to noise restrictions, there is now space for organic, bottom-up development. Success hinges on how well these parties work together.

Initiate

Merwe-Vierhavens is one of Rotterdam’s city ports, covering an area as large as the entire city centre. Once one of the world’s largest fruit ports, it has seen a decline in port activity, creating space for new purposes. Over the years, various plans have been developed for the area by the municipality and other stakeholders, evolving from concepts of self-sufficient living to an Innovation District, and now, in collaboration with RDM Rotterdam, as part of the Rotterdam Makers District.

In recent decades, artists and creatives have been drawn to the area, especially to what is now known as the Keilekwartier. A pioneer in this space is artist Joep van Lieshout, who established his studio and foundation, AVL Mundo (now known as Brutus), here as early as 1987. In 2008, Van Lieshout envisioned expanding his studio into a larger development that would include a museum and housing—a place of lasting value to Rotterdam, both grand and impactful. Since 2018, AVL has partnered with developer RED Company to realise this vision, with plans for the museum to become a permanent public institution for the city.

In the summer of 2013, the creative collective The Gang moved into an adjacent empty warehouse owned by the municipality. This space, later named Keilewerf 1, quickly became home to dozens of Rotterdam-based creators. The organisation professionalised rapidly, and in 2015, the founders established Keilewerf BV. They also launched Buurman, a shop for second-hand building materials, which now has franchise locations across the country.

That same year, designer Daan Roosegaarde also settled in the area, and architecture firm Group A, together with Studio ADAMS, moved into an old warehouse, now known as the Keilepand. By 2017, demand from creators had grown so much that Keilewerf 2 was established in a neighbouring warehouse. Between these buildings lies the Food Garden, an initiative that grows vegetables for food bank packages with the help of volunteers from the surrounding neighbourhoods.

In short, an area full of activity and initiative for which the municipality was going to develop a new vision in 2019. When creating this ‘Spatial Framework M4H’, the municipality also spoke with these parties. And where in previous plans RDM and M4H together were still referred to as ‘Innovation District’, this was transformed into ‘Rotterdam Makers District’, precisely because of the area’s current users: it’s about knowledge and skill, thinking and doing. A testing ground and showcase for the port city of the future. It is a vision with a long planning horizon, with an image for 2035 and a look ahead to 2050. M4H has several subareas, each with its own character, development perspective and path.

Organising and financing

Since its publication in 2019, the M4H Spatial Framework has served as a kind of bible for all stakeholders, acting as a guiding compass for initiatives. ‘Experiment’ is a key term in the Spatial Framework, and the Keilekwartier subarea is ideally suited for this approach. Creatives and artists are particularly well-placed to set up experiments, with the municipality able to play a facilitating role.

This is evident in the case of the Keilepand. This warehouse, where organisations like Group A are based, was in very poor condition. The owner, Rotterdam Municipality, had listed the building for sale as it was not part of its core portfolio. The tenants, however, wanted to make the building more sustainable and proposed purchasing it so they could redevelop it themselves.

To achieve this, the tenants united to form the KeileCollective. The municipality accepted their proposal, and after a three-year process, the property was sold to the KeileCollective. Following the purchase, the Keilepand was redeveloped into a business centre, featuring workspaces, catering facilities, and a 1,100-square-metre event and exhibition hall. For the municipality, this marked a new approach. Rather than selling to the highest bidder, they chose to sell to the existing tenants, who bring immense added value to the neighbourhood. This emphasis on the substance of the plan rather than the highest bid was also applied to the Kunst&Complex tender process, which followed the “best plan for the neighbourhood” principle. Both of these sales occurred prior to the Didam verdict.

The municipality recognises that these kinds of organisations are essential for the area, offering substantial social value. Consequently, they continue to seek ways to support incumbent parties that align with the M4H profile. This strategy is often challenging, particularly in light of the Didam ruling, but it is a deliberate approach. The municipality has therefore established a special ‘Didam steering group’ to advise on the sale and leasing of properties in this area.

The area itself has now organised as well. Companies working towards a sustainable future and sharing common values in Keilekwartier have come together to form the Keilekwartier Foundation. A shared commitment to benefiting the city unites all members of the Foundation. They meet regularly and collaborate on programming, for example, during Rotterdam Art Week.

Consolidate

With the designation of the area as the Makers District, the preservation of a certain level of manufacturing, culture, and creativity in the area is secured on paper. But how do you go from vision to implementation, knowing that reality can often be unpredictable?

In several subareas of Merwe-Vierhavens, housing construction will begin in phases. Due to noise issues, however, this is not expected to happen in the Keilekwartier for the next 10 years or so. This delay creates room for creative makers and temporary initiatives within a new 10-year timeframe, bringing a very different dynamic to this subarea compared to the others.

The municipality does not always have a clear view of what is emerging from the grassroots level and lacks sufficient capacity to fully support these initiatives. For this reason, Stichting Keilekwartier has created a map providing insight into the activities in the area. There is a lot happening, and many more parties are interested in becoming involved in the future. The challenge is to keep the area vibrant, even as permanent development is temporarily on hold. How can existing users continue to grow, and how can new users join?

This is why strong collaboration is essential. The municipality aims to look towards the future alongside all parties in the area, including Keilepand, Joep van Lieshout, the Food Garden, Keilewerf, Kunst&Complex, and Daan Roosegaarde. To support this, there are plans to establish an area cooperative in which the municipality will also participate. One of the main topics for discussion is how housing can eventually be integrated with the existing maker community.

In area developments, things rarely go exactly as planned. In 2023, disaster struck when Keilewerf 1 was completely destroyed by fire, leaving more than 60 creators with nothing in a matter of hours. The city quickly rallied, and within days, €2 million was raised through crowdfunding on various platforms. The initiators of Keilewerf are now developing a concept for a permanent space for Rotterdam makers—a vision that will hopefully find a home in the Keilekwartier in the future.

Success factors

One of those involved described the area development in the Keilekwartier as cooking string meat. Being in a hurry and turning up the heat results in tough meat. Wanting to eat it too quickly is also unwise. You have to give it time to simmer. Stir occasionally, but otherwise leave it alone. It is often from a lack of knowledge about how these kinds of processes run that people get frustrated. But you cannot speed up these kinds of processes without frustrating them. This just takes time. And in Keilekwartier, that time is now available. 

Lessons learned

Folkert van Hagen (architect, initiator Keilepand): ‘It is important that everyone involved is aware of the environment they are operating in and understands the process involved. Remember, as a property owner and developer, you also have to organise a great deal on your own; you must unite as a group, make the necessary investments, and take responsibility for operating and maintaining the property. The municipality will not handle that for you.’

Lisette Groen (Municipality of Rotterdam): As a municipality, we have come to realise that these types of organisations are essential to an area. These are the people who not only know the area intimately but have also become deeply attached to it. If you want to foster or preserve the soul of a place, you can’t achieve it from a policy tower. You need these people and organisations. This means that, as a municipality, we must rethink our approach to the sale of properties and land. The central question should be: ‘How do we retain people and networks that are valuable to the area?’

“My biggest lesson is to be more confident in what we do and what our value is to the city. Our gut feeling for what is needed turns out to be a shot in the arm time and again. I have also learned that sometimes it is better to just do something and say sorry later than to wait for permission. Because then you can wait a very long time in many cases.”

Lenard Vunderink (Keilewerf)

Photo credit: José van Adrichem