Places that Work: Holland’s Sidewalks
Years ago, a small town in Michigan, best known for its annual tulip festival, diverted waste heat from its power plant into pipes that run under streets and sidewalks in the central business district. For generations Hollanders have appreciated their forefathers’ prescient decisions, especially in hard, freezing winters with their Lake Effect snow storms. Thanks to the underground pipes, no matter how cold it gets, the sidewalks stay clear and dry, all because someone was thoughtful enough to use an industrial by-product that other towns blithely discarded. This early decision, which lead to the installation of 120 miles of tubes, have kept downtown Holland alive, even as towns of similar size have been decimated, with shops decamping to nearby malls.
I have often driven through downtown Holland and watched the snow falling on those heated streets and sidewalks, and seen the white stuff transformed into bizarre and beautiful white clouds. As the annual Tulip Time celebration nears this spring, I’ll be there, on the same streets, to watch the old-time Dutch klompen (wooden shoe wearing) dancers.
Now Holland has added a new amenity to its kind and gentle downtown: A gas-powered hearth rises up from the sidewalk near the corner of 8th Street. On cold days, people gather around it, just as they do around a fireplace. These al fresco get-togethers build community spirit – just as the downtown promenades have been doing for years.
The low walls built up around the fireplace invite people can sit, stay, and chat. I watch as my neighbors relax into the moment, catch each other’s eyes and have real conversations—that much-coveted face-time we all long for today. For my taste, the stone/brick benches are a little far apart, but no doubt zoning and concern about any possible accidents influenced their location.
Well done, Holland. Your downtown, and community, is a place that works.
Sally Augustin, PhD, is a principal at Design with Science . She is also the editor of Research Design Connections and the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009). She can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com .
Sally Augustin’s previous post in this series was about the Milwaukee Art Museum.
If we love it, will it last?
Re-imagining Infrastructure: Part II
Getting to the (living) future… or 100% for all?
The Big Apple vs. the City of Lights
Lab Report: XXVIII
Something old, something new
Nine Lives of Green
Q&A: Nina Rappaport
Tough Love
Made in America
BACK TO TOP
I wish this heating feature had been in place when I was a student in Holland. What a great idea!
Comment by Liz — April 7, 2011, @ 8:17 am
Too bad in this day and age, such foresight would be considered a Socialist plot for the Government to take over industry and redistribute waste heat to the criminals and illegal immigrants walking the sidewalk.
Comment by brent — April 15, 2011, @ 3:40 am
I love this idea, and as someone keenly interested in streetscapes, I find my mind jumping with ideas for this particular use in Canadian cities!
However, a criticism on the photo - where are the people enjoying the hearth?? All too often urban design photos omit the very subject they are meant to attract - humans.
Comment by concrete_jungler — April 18, 2011, @ 3:07 pm
Nice idea, I really like the community appeal and engagement, social exchange and more.
But in a world where we are increasingly troubled by energy issues, climate change and sea level rise, the idea of these social heaters seems a little askew of where the world is at.
Just as strange would be “cooling stations” in the streets of tropical cities where people could gather to cool off and maybe engage in a similar way that the Dutch might.
Energy use in today’s world is a real issue. Not only are energy resources depleting, they also cause pollution and climate change. For all their social merits (that I really like) the heat stations are hardly appropriate in a world that is facing great energy and climate issues.
Comment by Geoff — April 18, 2011, @ 4:52 pm
As a Dutchman I applaud the ambiance this snow-melting system and hearth provide. Box-stores and malls far outside the central core of cities would use a lot more energy in heating/cooling and car-miles driven. My question is, can some of the “waste” heat be used to keep buildings warm as they do St. Paul and many Northern European cities?
Comment by Chris — April 26, 2011, @ 2:53 pm
Geoff says: “Just as strange would be “cooling stations” in the streets of tropical cities”. Consider the patios of Mediterranean countries: enclosed shady places with water fountains, designed to provide relief from the heat.
I too am troubled by the idea of a gas fireplace releasing GHG for hours on end. Perhaps by simply enclosing the space in some aesthetic and transparent way, the heat form the sidewalks could be re-used once again to provide warmth in a small public space.
Comment by Valerie Taylor — May 4, 2011, @ 3:11 pm