EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - New business park ‘Roombekerveld’

New business park ‘Roombekerveld’ - Enschede, the Netherlands

Introduction

The project concerns the creation of a business park in the Roombeek district, in Enschede-Noord, which has suffered from a fireworks tragedy. Roombeek is not only a district with a history, it also has exciting opportunities for the future. The district is offering entrepreneurial people the opportunity to run their business in a flourishing and varied part of the city.

Description

The project concerns the creation of a new business park, ‘Roombekerveld’, which signifies an important first physical and economic milestone in the reconstruction of the district.

Approach

At the beginning of 2003 a start was made on the design process, the preparation of the specifications and the call for tenders. It is expected that the zoning plan will be procedurally completed during 2004. In the first instance the northern half of the site was concentrated on. The site will be cleared for building work to commence in the spring of 2004. The southern part will be cleared for building work a year later.

Results

The creation of this business park will provide 2.7 hectares for economic activity. This is an extremely important development for the vitality of both the district and the city. Expectations are that a hundred jobs will be created at the business park and that the first businesses will move into the site during 2004.

Resources used

European subsidy: € 625.379
Total cost: € 1.734.363

EU involvement

This project has been partially funded with Objective 2 funds. Since 2000 nine cities have been eligible for the Objective 2 Urban Areas in the Netherlands programme, which forms part of the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD) of the European Union. EFRD is one of the four Structural Funds of the European Commission. The programme helps cities to carry out projects that benefit disadvantaged areas.

In the Netherlands, total European Objective 2 subsidies concern 192 million euros. 4.25% of the Dutch population lives in the selected areas.

The European Commission prescribes that for every euro from the EFRD, a minimum of one euro must be contributed from the government. The cities must therefore add their own public or private funding to the European subsidy. The European programme is linked to the urban plans agreed within the context of the urban policy of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. For this, the cities can make use of funds that have been allocated to them in the context of the national urban policy.

Contact info

Enschede Stedelijk Hart - local programme management
Phone: +31 53 4818532

Project start date

22/01/2003

Links

City of Enschede

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment > Urban economy

Keywords

Business support