New urban space in Trekroner to add more life and a community identity
RUC students will soon have yet another incentive to stay longer on campus: A new urban space to be developed in Trekroner will provide room for social and recreational activities for RUC students and local residents
to be developed for social and recreational
activities for RUC students and local residents.
The area surrounding Roskilde University is about to become much more vibrant thanks to the redevelopment of the urban space near the lake in Trekroner. RUC students and the residents of Trekroner will all be able to enjoy these new urban facilities. The space is being developed for both "recreation and activity", according to the project report prepared by Active City Transformation and the Municipality of Roskilde.
Sports courts and other facilities are intended to invite activity and make students want to spend more time on the university campus in Trekroner.
"We believe it's important to make RUC students want to stay longer on campus and in Trekroner so that we can build a vibrant student community," says head of Roskilde's urban planning department, Jan Bille, who is spearheading the project.
"Today, the students return home to Central Copenhagen when they've finished their lectures," he explains. To change this, a new gathering point is now being established to make it more attractive for students to stay longer on campus.
University and city
The area is being developed in a joint venture between the Municipality of Roskilde and Roskilde University to bring the municipality and the university closer together; because although Roskilde University is situated in the Municipality of Roskilde, efforts to promote a sense of coherence between the university and the city have so far been futile.
"The city of Roskilde doesn't know Roskilde University very well and vice versa. This is why we've launched the University City Year," Jan Bille comments on the joint venture. The Municipality of Roskilde wants to bridge the gap between the university and the city.
"We're very proud to be a university city, but we want to make the relation even more visible," says Jan Bille.
"Situated right on the borderline of Roskilde University and Trekroner, the new urban space will become a gathering point for the residents of Trekroner as well as for students and university staff," he explains.
In order to facilitate the best possible outcome, RUC students have also been invited to engage in the process and, to that end, the project group arranged a consultation event at Roskilde University. However, it turned out to be quite a challenge to engage the students.
"Generally speaking, it has been quite difficult to get the students of Roskilde University to take an interest in the project. That was why we set up the meeting and announced it throughout the university," says Jan Bille.
In spite of the low turnout, the Municipality of Roskilde did in fact get something out of the event, he concludes:
"The students that did turn up were very excited."
The urban space
The area will have a large multi-facility court for football, basketball, tennis and many other activities. The court will be established slightly below ground level to provide seating for people who want to watch the games being played. The intention is for the users to gather for sports and other recreational activities. In addition to the multi-facility court, the area will have "study cubicles" for the students and open green spaces intended for social and relaxation purposes. During the winter, the multi-facility court will be converted into an ice skating rink.
The project is scheduled for completion in the early summer of 2013. Please direct any comments or input regarding the project to Jan Bille, head of Roskilde's urban planning department: janb(at)roskilde.dk.