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The introduction of electric mobility is one of the promising options to create a more sustainable mobility system for the future. Electric vehicles offer the promise of major reductions in local CO2, NOX and particulate emissions. In addition, electric vehicles are silent, easy to service and have high ‘well-to-wheel’ energy efficiency. However, the introduction of electric vehicles into society also poses several important challenges. Current electric vehicle technologies have limitations with respect to ease of use, driving range, and time-to-charge, and are relatively expensive. Moreover, the use of electric vehicles requires an adequate charging and electric grid infrastructure, as well as dedicated solutions for vehicle charging and storage that are optimally integrated into the built environment. In this paper the results are presented of a ‘design inclusive research’ project for the introduction of electric vehicles in the urban environment. Researchers & designers from architecture, industrial design, electrical engineering and technology assessment were involved. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol was a taken as a challenging case. The Schiphol Group has the ambition to develop its properties and business park areas in more sustainable a socially responsible way. Electric mobility is therefore one of the options to consider. The results show that it is possible to create a multifunctional, sustainable and comfortable urban area in which the electric mobility is very well integrated. It even can be stated that the sustainable urban development is becoming more feasible by the clever combination of renewableenergy, electricity grid design, inductive Park&Charge and customized electric vehicle services.

De stedelijke plekken van Varallo Sesia worden doorgetrokken over een locatie. Op deze locatie staat een door krimp leegstaand ziekenhuis die op deze manier nieuwe betekenis krijgt. Kunst word als kathalyserende factor gebruikt midden in deze locatie. Hierdoor worden bestaande krachten van Varallo Sesia verbonden maar ontstaat er ook een nieuw vertrekpunt voor kunst in Varallo.

This graduation project focuses on the city center as a place for people to walk. Everyone knows that walking is the most primary form of mobility in the city. And the most of us do it every day. It is the most essential way for us to move around. It gives us the opportunity to explore and experience the surrounding environment. But, most certainly, everyone have experienced that some urban environments are less attractive or more difficult to travel through by walking compared with others. Did we ever made the decision not to walk, because of the urban environment? Maybe you felt unsafe or it was just too far to walk or any other reason? At that moment the urban environment could not provide the conditions for you to walk. To be able to walk safely, conveniently, directly and comfortably, you will need an urban environment that corresponds to your needs, as a pedestrian. This graduation project researches the required conditions for the urban environment to facilitate and encourage people to walk, especially for city centers.

We all have walked on a street when suddenly someone comes over to you asking for directions. Sometimes, people do not know where they are and they do not know how to reach their destination. They are lost. However, people should not depend on others to find their way. The urban fabric should be legible enough to find one’s way. The problem statement of this Master Thesis is that people should wander and stroll through the urban fabric instead of getting lost. Consequently, for the graduation project we zoom in to one of the many aspects of “good public space”, namely the element ‘wayfinding’. What is good public space in relation to pedestrian’s ability to orientate themselves in the historic city centre? The first chapter deals with wayfinding, its definitions, how it is related to the city centre of Delft, environmental psychology and urban economy. The aim of the graduation project is to better understand how people navigate in cities in order to develop recommendations for urban planning and design to make city visits more enjoyable, engaging and involving for pedestrians. The main research question for the graduation project is: “Which strategic spatial design interventions can improve public space for the slow traffic network in order to retain city visitors in the city centre of Delft?” This subject will be solved by answering four sub-research questions: (i) What are criteria for successful public spaces looking at pedestrians walking in city centres? (ii) What is the current quality of the streets and built environment in the city centre of Delft? (iii) Do pedestrians (visitors/tourists, city centre inhabitants and neighbourhood residents) use the public space in the city centre of Delft differently? (iv) How can the criteria for successful public spaces, the analysis of the current situation and the conclusions of how people use the city centre be embedded in strategic spatial (navigational) recommendations for the city centre of Delft? Applied methods in order to answer the sub-research questions are: (ad i) Literature review studies (a general study about good public space and a specific wayfinding study). (ad ii) Evaluation of the city centre by mapping urban facilities, making a Three-Step analysis, measuring walking distances from two garages, visibility graph analysis, history of Delft by a morphology analysis, quality analysis perception of the city centre based on participants’ questionnaires and a visual analysis (photographs). (ad iii) Actual pedestrian movement is gathered and mapped by doing two GPS-tracking research pilots in the city centre of Delft (a) November 2009: following visitors/tourists who park their car in the Phoenix or Zuidpoort garage and who continue their journey on foot (b) April/May 2010: following city centre inhabitants and neighbourhood residents of Delft. Results are mapped in ArcGIS and statistics are made in SPSS and Excel. Behaviour of the three different pedestrian groups is compared, where after results and conclusions are noted. (ad iv) All gathered information is put into a self made GPS-flowchart: the model shows a researcher in four steps which strategic interventions are recommended for a project area. To answer the main research question, first a future vision of Delft 2030 is described which is followed by a mission, vision and strategy for the city centre of Delft. Consequently, strategic spatial design interventions are proposed, divided into conservative short term and ambitious long term scenarios. The GPS-flowchart is used to determine a strategy for a specific area in the city centre. Due to the fact that there is an enormous amount of data available, several tips for follow-up research are suggested.