Masterplan water Oude Landen, Antwerp

Masterplan water Oude Landen, Antwerp

Water Shaping the City's Future

Antwerp has adopted an ambitious city-wide Water Plan and Green Plan to prepare for climate change. Rather than accelerating the discharge of rainwater towards the River Schelde, the strategy aims to retain, delay and infiltrate water throughout the city, allowing natural systems to absorb increasingly extreme rainfall while building resilience against prolonged drought.

Achieving this ambition requires more than technical infrastructure. It requires every district to contribute to the functioning of the larger metropolitan water system. The Masterplan Water Oude Landen translates this city-wide strategy into a spatial framework for one of Antwerp's most important water landscapes.

A Strategic Water Landscape for the City

Within Antwerp's wider water system, Oude Landen occupies a crucial position. Before water reaches the dense urban fabric and ultimately flows towards the Schelde, the area functions as one of the city's principal water retention landscapes.

To fulfil this role under future climate conditions, the water system must become significantly more robust. Greater storage capacity, slower discharge, improved infiltration and the ability to accommodate fluctuating water levels are essential to cope with both extreme rainfall and prolonged dry periods. Rather than relying solely on technical infrastructure, the masterplan restores the landscape itself as the city's water infrastructure.

Restoring the Natural Water Structure

Historically, Oude Landen was structured by three streams: the Donkse Beek, the Oudenlandse Beek and the Laarse Beek. Together, they formed the area's hydrological framework and determined how water moved through the landscape. Urbanisation gradually disconnected these streams from their valleys. Watercourses were straightened, culverted or fragmented, while urban development increasingly ignored the natural water system.

The masterplan restores these streams as the primary spatial framework for future development. Instead of functioning merely as drainage infrastructure, they once again become the organising structure around which water management, ecology, recreation and urban development are coordinated. The resulting blue-green framework reconnects Oude Landen with Antwerp's metropolitan water system while strengthening the area's own landscape identity and ecological resilience.

Integrating Water with Urban Development

To determine how Oude Landen could best fulfil its strategic role within Antwerp's water system, several hydrological models were developed and tested. Each explored a different strategy: concentrating water in large retention landscapes, restoring and widening the stream valleys, or distributing water storage throughout the urban fabric using nature-based solutions.

Rather than selecting a single approach, the strongest elements of each model were combined into one integrated water framework. This made it possible to define a robust hydrological structure that maximises water retention, infiltration and adaptive water management while responding to future climate conditions.

At the same time, the framework was tested against the area's broader development ambitions. By aligning the water structure with planned urban developments, ecological corridors, recreational routes and public-space improvements, the masterplan demonstrates how investments in water can simultaneously strengthen biodiversity, landscape identity, recreation, healthy living and climate resilience. Water therefore becomes more than a technical necessity; it becomes the spatial framework through which multiple urban agendas reinforce one another.

From Strategic Framework to Implementation

The long-term vision is translated into an adaptive implementation framework consisting of spatial principles and nature-based building blocks. These interventions are directly linked to existing and planned area developments, ensuring that every project contributes both to local improvements and to Antwerp's wider water strategy.

Quick wins initiate the transformation, while larger redevelopment projects gradually complete the blue-green framework over time. This allows Oude Landen to evolve step by step into a resilient water landscape that continues to grow in ecological, spatial and societal value.

A District that Strengthens the City

The Masterplan Water Oude Landen demonstrates how a metropolitan water strategy can become operational through area-based design.

By restoring the three historic streams as the organising framework for future development and aligning water management with broader spatial ambitions, the project enables Oude Landen to fulfil its strategic role within Antwerp's metropolitan water system while creating a healthier, more resilient and more attractive living environment. The project shows that water is not simply something to manage, but a natural system that can organise the future development of the city.