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The Lijnbaan is the main shopping street of Provoost, M. and Vanstiphout, W.: Lijnbaan R.I.P.
, retrieved 2009-10-01 It was the first purpose-built pedestrian street in Europe. Flower beds, benches, statues, aviaries and protective wooden canopies were provided. In spite of the initial fears of shopkeepers, the car-free area proved successful. High-end shops thrived and it became a recreation destination, with visitors from all over the Netherlands. It is a complete car-free zone and has been a testcase for numerous car-free shopping streets around the world, such as the pedestrianized town center in Stevenage. However in the 1980s there was a decline as the original shopkeepers retired or left, replaced by large chains. It became a night-time no-go area with shop windows protected by roller shutters. But in the 2010s a revival began, with it becoming a meeting area for more youthful customers. There are plans to redevelop the street as part of bigger redevelopments of the shopping district. The Beurstraverse (by de Architekten Cie) is an example of these redevelopments.
The Lijnbaan is the main shopping street of Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...
. It was opened in 1953, as the main pedestrian street in the new shopping district, after the old shopping district was completely destroyed during the bombing of Rotterdam by the German Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...
. It was designed by the firm Van den Broek & Bakema led by architects Jo van den Broek
Johannes Hendrik ("Jo") van den Broek, (; 4 October 1898 - 6 September 1978) was a Dutch architect influential in the rebuilding of Rotterdam after World War II.
Van den Broek was born in Rotterdam. He joined with Johannes Brinkman in 1936, ...
and Jacob B. Bakema
Jacob Berend "Jaap" Bakema (8 March 1914 – 20 February 1981) was a Dutch modernist architect, notable for design of public housing and involvement in the reconstruction of Rotterdam after the Second World War.
Born in Groningen, Bakema studie ...
., retrieved 2009-10-01 It was the first purpose-built pedestrian street in Europe. Flower beds, benches, statues, aviaries and protective wooden canopies were provided. In spite of the initial fears of shopkeepers, the car-free area proved successful. High-end shops thrived and it became a recreation destination, with visitors from all over the Netherlands. It is a complete car-free zone and has been a testcase for numerous car-free shopping streets around the world, such as the pedestrianized town center in Stevenage. However in the 1980s there was a decline as the original shopkeepers retired or left, replaced by large chains. It became a night-time no-go area with shop windows protected by roller shutters. But in the 2010s a revival began, with it becoming a meeting area for more youthful customers. There are plans to redevelop the street as part of bigger redevelopments of the shopping district. The Beurstraverse (by de Architekten Cie) is an example of these redevelopments.
References
External links
Shopping districts and streets in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Rotterdam Pedestrian streets in the Netherlands {{Netherlands-road-stub Streets in Rotterdam