The Redingenhof project encompasses the redevelopment of two streets in a residential area and the adjacent school grounds in Leuven. After a call for projects issued by the Flemish authorities to depave more and to set up test beds, the inhabitants themselves took things into their own hands. Together with the school, the city authorities and the design team made up of 51N4E and Plant en Houtgoed, they are working on the greening of the playground, the catchment of rainwater, and the creation of vegetable gardens –and this, over and beyond private and public plot borders. A test set-up in 2019 showed what the direct impact could be of more greenery and biodiversity, and as such bolstered support for a permanent depaving.

It is eight in the morning, and the first residents of Volmolenstraat are already on site with their tools. The municipality closed off the street as part of the summer’s ‘play streets’ programme. The temperature is already 25°C. The objective today is simple and goes further than the mere reservation of the street for a few hours of play: gathered around the temporary arrangement of the street as a greener zone with more plants, neighbours and passers-by are going to test a layout together for the transformation of the space. One of the key moments for the depaving project of Redingenhof supported by 51n4e and Plant en Houtgoed.