Municipality Maastricht - A LINES process from A to Z
- Yorick Knijff
- Jul 18
- 2 min read
From insight to vision - and implementation within a single year
Theme: Street Sports & Culture | Location: Maastricht | Period: 2024 – 2025
Background
In the spring of 2024, the Municipality of Maastricht commissioned LINES to develop an integrated vision on street sports and culture. The reason: a growing scene, a strong local network, and a desire to embed urban vitality and youth culture sustainably into policy.
Our Approach
We began with a City Scan to map the current state of the city, not only in terms of facilities and policy (hardware, software, and orgware), but also through qualitative interviews and sessions with the local community. These insights formed the foundation for a broadly supported policy development process.
Steps
City Scan Maastricht (starting March 2024): Conducted interviews, field visits, and an analysis of existing structures and ambitions.
Vision Process: Through co-creation with both the municipality and the community, we developed Street & Sjoen. A guiding document focused on shared goals, values, and opportunities.
Advice & Approval: The Strategic Policy Management Team (MTSB), the Mayor and Aldermen, and eventually the City Council all approved the vision. It was adopted on April 15, 2025, with near-unanimous support.
City Round: The process concluded with a presentation to the council, during which representatives from the scene took the floor themselves.
Results & Next Steps
With the vision approved, Maastricht is now entering the implementation phase. In the coming period, the following actions will be realised:
Appointment of a liaison officer to serve as a bridge between the municipality and the community.
Allocation of program and operational budgets to activate the scene.
Strengthening of the existing working group of community members as a sounding board and catalyst for further plans.
Budget for investments in street sports and culture in public spaces.
Why This Works?
The success of this process lies in the collaboration: an engaged municipal organisation and an active scene that was taken seriously. Three aldermen and the entire social policy domain were actively involved throughout. By building the vision together, not only was policy support created, but more importantly, energy and trust were fostered.
