A major sports city district with a striking riverside stadium at its heart will be built in Rotterdam, after the city council approved the project following a public meeting yesterday (11 May).

Designed by architecture studio OMA, the development will include a new intricately clad 63,000 seat stadium for Dutch Eredivisie club Feyenoord Rotterdam, located on the River Maas.

At the core of the masterplan is The Strip, an 800m (2,600ft) long elevated pedestrian boulevard connecting the new ground to the club’s old stadium De Kuip, built in 1937, which will be reconverted into apartments, commercial space, an athletics sports centre and a public square.

The project has been developed over the last year and a half by the football club, in collaboration with the municipality, and is designed as a catalyst for Rotterdam Zuid, a part of the city that is in need of rejuvenation and economic injection.

As part of its plan, Feyenoord will set up a new multi-sports club for residents, and cooperate with the surrounding neighbourhoods to encourage sports participation.

In total, Feyenoord City will consist of 180,000sq m housing; 64,000sq m commercial space including a new cinema, restaurants, hotels, and shops; and an 83,000sq m public program including the sports experience center and urban sports fields.

The city government is now set to begin the process of purchasing and leasing of land. It will also own shares in the new stadium and partly finance the planned infrastructural interventions, including a new promenade for slow traffic connecting Feyenoord City to the surrounding neighbourhoods.

The architects will now work on a detailed design of the masterplan and phase 1 of the scheme, which includes the new stadium, four residential towers, a hotel and the development of the northern part of The Strip.

The stadium is foreseen to open in the course of football season 2022-2023.

“OMA is happy that Rotterdam has decided to go forward with the development of the first real sport city of Northern Europe, which will have a major impact on the South of Rotterdam and the rest of the city,” said the practice’s partner-in-charge, David Gianotten.

“I’m also delighted that we can maintain the legacy of Feyenoord and De Kuip whilst establishing a new stadium and amenities for the future of the club in Dutch and European soccer.”

Speaking to Sports Management last year, the architect explained that two previous attempts by other designers to build a new stadium for Feyenoord had failed "because it was an object driven assignment – it was purely about building a new stadium or rebuilding the old one."

"We talked to Feyenoord, and said, you shouldn’t just see this stadium as an object, you should see it as a part of the city," he added. "We want to use this opportunity to revitalise a part of Rotterdam that really needs it.”