This plan uses a 'Missing Link' to add a new layer of reclamation to Liège. It enables this Belgian city to shake off the traditional radial model and evolve into a vibrant new urban centre. The Missing Link is an orthogonal network of urban boulevards running east-west and north-south with a mesh width of some two kilometres. The links have been so devised that 80 per cent of the network is existing infrastructure.

This Missing Link brings with it a number of key transformations to the way the city is organized. The radial structure is extinguished so that the pressure on the development along the old paved roads and the historic centre will decrease. In addition, the Missing Link draws together urban activities now dispersed across the city, ties together the different traffic systems and opens up unexploited areas.

The Urban Boulevards are the new main roads which in turn act as the city's display window, the route along which the urban programme is presented. Twenty metres wide and with a clearly structured, easy-to-read profile, each boulevard accommodates several modes of transport.

The new model responds to the changes brought by social processes and technological advances. With the increase in mobility, the individualization of society and the influence of the free market, the city's spatial structure and its use have been drifting apart. The European city of today has arrived at an impasse. Our Missing Link opens up a new perspective - Ville Révélation!

Place of education: AvB Rotterdam
Specialization: urban design
Tutors: Henk Hartzema, Xaveer De Geyter & Ivan Nio