In the Achterhoek region east of Arnhem lies Oude IJsselstreek, a river region transformed in this scheme into a rural network city. Its inhabitants can withdraw into the greenspace while ICT enables them to stay in touch with the rest of the world. The physical deceleration is effected in part by improving the area's inaccessibility. At the same time the regional diversity and the area's identity are strengthened. My design takes its cue from distinctive local qualities such as landscape characteristics and the spatial build-up peculiar to the area. The Oude IJssel river is the region's principal support and all local activities relate to it. We can identify four characteristic sub-areas. In the woods of Kruisbergse Bosgebied the existing country estates have been compacted. In the rural region of Wehlse Strip all commercial activity has been concentrated along a strip so that the rest of the area can remain an open and unpolluted landscape. Struinbroek has been an inundation area of the Rhine since time immemorial. Here it has been worked out further in the spirit of that function into a wet foraging area. Accordingly the house types are divided among living along the water, on artificial mounds or 'terpen', in ribbon developments and on stilts. In the past, the camping area of Stroomkamp lost its small-scale structure through the transfer of land ownership and the straightening of its brooks. That structure is to be restored. House-building is permitted only on the property left by farmers departing the area, resulting in small residential estates.

Each area has its own telecottage. Other local functions are coupled to this telework office such as a child day care centre and old-age comfort station. By enhancing the region's identity and cohesion Oude IJsselstreek is back on the map as a unitary whole. In the Rural Network City the emphasis is on leisure, dwelling and work, thereby easing the pressure of settlement in the rest of the Achterhoek and Veluwe regions and allowing them to become greener.

Place of education: TU Delft
Specialization: stedebouw
Tutors: Peter de Bois, Saskia de Wit & Paul Drewe