Manipulated space: The “Beurstraverse” retail complex in Rotterdam

Abstract

In 1993, a new retail complex called “Beurstraverse” was opened in the core of Rotterdam’s downtown commercial centre. In design, this complex differs sharply from that of the adjacent shopping precinct. An instant success, it was nicknamed the “Koopgoot”, or “shopping trench”. As an excavated passage under the Coolsingel, the major thoroughfare in the city center, the “trench” joins two retail concentrations that had been separated by the increasing traffic flow. This review focuses on the way the complex is operated, considering whether it is a substitute for public space or an extension of it. The point of departure is the concept of the “counterlocale”, which denotes a space that appears to be public but is actually exclusive. This article evaluates how the space of the “Beurstraverse” is manipulated as well as the public use of it.