PI: Ana Paula Duarte de Oliveira Post (TU Delft). Co-applicants: dr. Maurice Harteveld (TU Delft), dr. Tina van der Vlies (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Ang Li (Leiden University).
Abstract: The Delflandsedijk is one of the most important dikes in the Netherlands, serving both as flood-protection infrastructure and as a significant cultural landscape. This 31 km-long dike runs parallel to the river Het Scheur in Maassluis, forming the boundary between the historic inner city and the Waterweg. Despite its importance, the dike is becoming an almost invisible element in the landscape, reduced to a transitional space and underused as a public space, with limited opportunities for social interaction. Dikes are distinctive elements of Dutch heritage and should be understood as cultural landscapes that extend beyond their infrastructural function. They represent “historical layers of human–water interaction”, expressing the identity of communities through collective effort, engineering, and landscape transformation. This perspective aligns with the shift in Dutch heritage policy from preservation to “heritage as a driver for spatial development”. Moreover, dikes function as “carriers of history”, structuring elements that reveal the evolution of the landscape and connect settlements, agriculture, and water systems. Based on on-site observations since 2023, the Delflandsedijk has merged silently into the urban landscape of Maassluis, underused as a public space and invisible as cultural heritage. Therefore, a fertile ground for simple and impactful transformations. Research developed for the Maassluis Heritage Vision 2040 highlights the city’s strong relationship with water and cultural heritage.
This project responds to that by respecting the utilitarian character of the Delflandsedijk while increasing its visibility as a cultural heritage landscape and as a public space. This project proposes simple landscape interventions to unlock the dike’s potential. Through an attractive design, pathways will be shaped along the dike, connecting viewpoints to small seating and play areas, using circular materials. By making use of the existing maintenance cycle of the dike, it aims to transform an underused and unseen public element into a truly public space, creating opportunities for social interaction and strengthening people’s relationship with this cultural heritage landscape element . Cultural heritage landscapes should be inclusive public spaces and support a sustainable relationship between people, place and past.