Offshore Urbanism: Using design to understand, represent and employ human-sea relations in the spatial reorganisation of the Barents Sea

This thesis builds on the proposition that the ocean is both an urban and social space. Therefore, marine planning needs to consider socio-cultural risks and opportunities to be deemed sustainable. This reconceptualisation is especially relevant for the Barents Sea, where retreating sea ice leaves the ocean more accessible to marine traffic and...

Non-parasitic Economy: Towards a symbiosis between coastal cities and water

Coastal areas have always played a vital role in the economic, social, and political development of most countries. They support a diverse and productive coastal ecosystem that provides valuable goods and services (Airoldi et al., 2005). In these areas, urbanization and other land-use activities are rapidly increasing. However, human activities...

From resistance to coexistence: Towards a more integrated coastal defence system in city of Ostend by adapting nature-based solutions

Belgian coastal area is one of the densest areas in the world, facing strom surge risks due to the climate change. However, the current coastal defence system in Belgium is engineering-based defence line, blocking the dynamic relation between sea and urban, causing larger risks in the future. On the other hand, Nature-based solutions are hard to...