Reimagining Heerenstraat

In 2016, the Government of Suriname, financed by a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), launched the Paramaribo Urban Rehabilitation Program (PURP), which contributes to the socio-economic revitalisation of Paramaribo’s historic inner city. It aims to attract new residents and commercial activities to the centre of Paramaribo, to restore value to its cultural heritage, to reduce traffic congestion and to strengthen the institutional framework for managing its sustainable development. The program also aims for a climate-smart approach to infrastructural interventions. From July 29 to August 2, 2019, Luiz de Carvalho Filho and Santiago del Hierro, from the Department of Urbanism of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at TU Delft, visited Paramaribo to explore the possible topics for a Workshop Program in support of PURP to be carried out in November 2019. This Technical Cooperation would take place in coordination with IDB and the Government of Suriname, particularly the Ministry of Education’s Directorate of Culture. The cooperation would be realised as part of the fall semester of the European Post-master in Urbanism (EMU), in parallel to a research and design studio for the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. By focusing on the interaction of various layers on an intervention at a smaller scale (the Heerenstraat and its adjacent buildings and public spaces), the workshop aimed at understanding and visualising a concrete roadmap towards a more lively, active and safe space in this specific case study within the Historic Inner City.