Green Health: Examining the role of green space characteristics and their proximity in green space health pathways

This doctoral thesis critically examines green space characteristics and their proximity to residents in their ability to help reduce the global disease burden of non-communicable diseases. By dissecting three pivotal pathways of theorized green space health effects through increased physical activity, increased social cohesion, and reduced air...

Spatial approaches to a circular economy: Determining locations and scales of closing material loops using geographic data

Rapid urbanization and a growing world population has exerted unsustainable pressures on the environment, exacerbating climate change through unrestrained material usage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Since the turn of the century, transitioning to a circular economy (CE) has been seen by policy makers as a potential solution for...

Urban form influence on microclimate and building cooling demand: An analytical framework and its application on the Rotterdam case

Urban form plays a critical role when planning city transitions toward decarbonization. However, in urban climate conditions the complex relationship between urban form and cooling demand remains understudied. This thesis develops integrated approaches and knowledge in the transdisciplinary domain of urban morphology, urban climatology and...

Geographies of Waste: Significance, Semantics and Statistics in pursuit of a Circular Economy

The Spatial Dimension of Household Energy Consumption

The vast majority of previous studies on household energy consumption (HEC) has presumed that the influencing factors of HEC are similar in each and every location regardless of the location specific circumstances. In other words, they assume that some generalizable facts explain the level of HEC and energy poverty across all areas of a city,...

Re-use of Building Products in the Netherlands: he development of a metabolism based assessment approach

This research departs from the desire to understand the practice of reuse of building products from a systemic standpoint, representing a network of multiple factors influencing the process of reusing. Through the Industrial Ecology theoretical framework, these relations are dynamic and contextually bounded defining the commercial feasibility of...

Integrated Urban River Corridors: Spatial design for social-ecological resilience in Bucharest and beyond

The issue of urban resilience concerns a multitude of urban systems and spaces. This thesis focuses on Urban River Corridors (URCs)—that is, urban spaces where the overlap between the urban systems (carrying the ’social-‘) and the river system (carrying the ‘-ecological’) is at the highest intensity—as strategic spaces with a potentially high...

Activerende Gevels: Naar gedrag beïnvloedende gebouwen

As a result of the large amounts of CO2 emissions the built environment produces, it contributes immensely to climate change. Within the strategies developed to reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions, getting buildings to an energy-neutral level is one of the main priorities. The blueprint for this altered energy-efficient building now seems to be...

Een complex-cognitieve benadering van stedebouwkundig ontwerpen

De motivatie voor dit proefschrift is ontstaan in de stedebouwkundige praktijk. Ten eerste vanuit een verbazing over de complexiteit van de opgaven waarvoor stedebouwkundigen wordt gesteld, en de manieren die ze in hun loopbaan ontwikkelen om met deze complexiteit om te gaan. Ten tweede vanuit een verbazing over de hoge mate van ongrijpbaarheid...

Designing the Urban Microclimate: A framework for a design-decision tool for the dissemination of knowledge on the urban microclimate to the urban design process

The urban microclimate has a significant impact on people’s physical health. Effects range from discomfort, for example sleep disturbance, to life- threatening conditions, such as heat stroke, skin and lung cancer. It is therefore vital that the urban microclimate is given considerable attention in the urban design process. The PhD research...

Duurzame Ontwikkeling door Collectief Bewonersinitiatief (Sustainable Development through Resident’s Collective Initiatives): 'leidraad voor professionals om bewonersgroepen aan de duurzaamheidsopgave te verbinden.'

More and more residents’ groups in the Netherlands are undertaking collective initiatives for sustainable energy optimalisation. This is the result of growing environmental awareness, decreasing government intervention and increasing civil initiative. However, the contribution to the national move towards sus-tainability is, according to the...