Zoöp Observations: JongkindstraatZoöp Observations: Jongkindstraat

One week ago reconstruction works in the Jongkindstraat (Jongkindstreet) finally started. For The New Garden these works will eventually lead to a more direct connection to the rest of the Museum Park, both visually and physically. At least for a year now, the site on the corner of Jongkindstraat and Museumpark, where building materials and tools are stored, formed a barrier between The New Garden and the rest of the Museum Park. Small mammals and insects benefit from a non-fragmented habitat and, should fragmentation occur, from clear, safe corridors between habitats. At the moment the crossing from The New Garden to the rest of the Museum Park and vice versa is hindered considerably by the storage site. When this temporary (nearly a year and a half) storage site was envisioned by the municipality of Rotterdam in 2020, the Zoöp idea within The New Institute was still in its infancy. Judging from the current Zoöp governance model the choice for this location for such a sizeable storage site would almost certainly have raised questions.

When the work on the Jongkindstraat is completed, the parking lots there will be gone, and the entire street will serve as a pedestrian thoroughfare where only local motorized traffic is allowed. Hopefully, the reconstruction also leads to a greener Jongkindstraat that transitions more seamlessly into The New Garden than before. This would also be good news to human visitors, who feel The New Garden in its current form is unfinished, and neither very accessible nor inviting.