Over the past years we have seen a renewed interest in our Flemish villages from various quarters. Writers, policy-makers, planners and designers have brought to life a refreshing and optimistic debate on a typology that some considered obsolete, ill-equipped to answer today’s challenges. At POLO Urbanism we believe in the transformative power of the small-scale village tissue, and find the timeless qualities of village life are ripe for a reappraisal; we do so through a radical but sensitive proposal that grows out of a particular context, injecting life back into the village of Steenhuffel.

In the Dutch city of Enschede a large plot of land is poised for a radical overhaul. Its scale and strategic location represent an opportunity to make a real impact on the city’s functioning. In close collaboration with the municipal administration, POLO conceives an ambitious urban plan that ties together disparate neighbourhoods and plants the seeds for a city-wide modal shift.