Romina Ojeda Rakela
Mauricio Ishwara Gonzalez
Elena Kafourou
Eva Heuts

Sugar parc

Veurne (Belgium)

Brownfield redevelopment, an old sugar factory transformed into a mixed urban project (a sustainable regional business park).

As a group we put the goal of being excited as our first goal. As our conversation went on we realized that also access to the information of the project as well as a person of contact has to be at hand without difficulties. Sugar parc is both interesting and accessible to us.

Reflecting our thoughts on why this is the project we came to the conclusion that this old factory that was transformed into a mixed urban project with significant nature input can have enough leverage to the community, since we were discussing the importance of our project’s potential due to its social impacts. As we said It’s more than a building, we could have an impact on the community.

The project also has a sustainability focus already, it has undergone the process of the Flemish Sustainability Standard for neighborhoods.

Lastly, the West Flemish Intercommunale (WVI) is looking towards regenerative development already, which we also found quite interesting.

The former Suikerfabriek (sugar beet processing plant) at Veurne is a good example of a sustainable brownfield development with a mix of living, working, recreation, nature and urban agriculture in which the West Flemish Intercommunale (WVI) carries out process and project management from its land position, in close cooperation with its partner, the city of Veurne and with project developer ION for the housing project.
Veurne, despite the small number of inhabitants (12,000) is a regional center for the West Coast and together with Diksmuide, Ypres and Poperinge for the entire Westhoek in Belgium. It was decided from day one that a significant portion of the jobs that had been lost when the Suikerfabriek was closed down had to be restored.

In terms of nature integration, the project is monitored on the basis of the Flemish Sustainability Meter, based on the 11th SDG: Sustainable cities and human settlements, and has many interfaces with the other SDGs (mobility, energy, nature, water, well-being, etc.). Vision of future: 1st phase of the residential project (150 units), another 500 residential units need to be realized over the next 17 years (2040). They are planning 10/20/30 years and preparing the cities for this (integrate green-blue networks).
The reconversion is an ambitious leverage project. There will be space for living and relaxing, nature and work. It's about concrete
18 hectares of multifunctional area , with approximately 450 homes, retail, an extensive city park, a recreational pond, a residential tower and a lively neighborhood square
15 hectares of natural park
16 hectares of new space for a high-quality and sustainable business park
Integration of different actors: ​​In 2009, the development of a master plan was started that has broadly outlined a vision of the future. The Environment design agency was appointed by the province of West Flanders for this purpose. After going through various phases and a communication process for the people of Veurne, the master plan was approved in 2011 by the deputation of the province of West Flanders.
A thorough participation and communication process with the population from the start has contributed to unprecedented support for the project among the population.

Different qualities of the project: *Space to live *Space for working *Space for nature *Space for mobility