Many urban neighbourhoods in the Netherlands are being radically transformed. The usual preoccupation is with the intended end result, how it will look when everything is finished. But what happens in the interim? The book 'Stedelijke transformatie in de Tussentijd' shows the opportunities such a period can offer.

In the many years that elapse between demolition and the completion of new building projects, entire generations grow up among boarded-up houses, with vastly scaled-down local services and in disintegrating communities. But the interim can also be exploited as a time with its own qualities and potential. It calls for temporary initiatives that add social and cultural capital in a period in which a neighbourhood’s vitality is under pressure on all fronts: initiatives that show how the transformation process can also influence the final outcome.

Many urban neighbourhoods in the Netherlands are being radically transformed. The usual preoccupation is with the intended end result, how it will look when everything is finished. But what happens in the interim? The book 'Stedelijke transformatie in de Tussentijd' shows the opportunities such a period can offer.

In the many years that elapse between demolition and the completion of new building projects, entire generations grow up among boarded-up houses, with vastly scaled-down local services and in disintegrating communities. But the interim can also be exploited as a time with its own qualities and potential. It calls for temporary initiatives that add social and cultural capital in a period in which a neighbourhood’s vitality is under pressure on all fronts: initiatives that show how the transformation process can also influence the final outcome.

In these essays and interviews, people from various social, cultural, and commercial walks of life take a close look at all aspects of ‘interim thinking’, and suggest a wide range of possible activities. Concepts originating in art and design can serve as direct sources of inspiration for specific projects. This volume demonstrates that no one involved in urban regeneration can aff ord to avoid taking an active approach to the interim.