This thesis explores how the urban form can be reconfigured to create more equal
opportunities for women in Almere, one of the largest NewTowns in the Netherlands.
Developed from the ambitious planning paradigms of the 1970s onwards, it priori
tised efficiency, functional separation and normative household models. Almere’s
urban structure shapes everyday life in ways that limit or enable access to social,
economic and spatial opportunities unevenly. In this context, this thesis addresses
the following research question:
How can dominant urban design paradigms in Almere be transformed
through the implementation of opportunity structures for young profes
sional women in order to support a more just city?
This project takes a feminist approach while focusing on young professional wom
en, combining critical urban theory with qualitative and spatial methods. First, it
explores how opportunity structures are defined for women. Secondly, it situates
Almere within the broader historical context of NewTown development and feminist
critiques of urban form. Based on this theoretical foundation, the project examines
women’s lived experiences through a literature review, site visits, interviews and
ethnographic go-along mapping. These methods reveal how urban design influenc
es daily routines, mobility patterns, caregiving practices and perceptions of safety,
highlighting the tensions between women’s everyday realities and the city’s domi
nant spatial design.
In the final phase, the identified socio-spatial constraints are reconfigured into a set
of opportunity structures to better support young professional women’s daily lives.
Through research-by-design and spatial patterns, these structures connect theo
ry, lived experience and spatial strategy. The resulting multi-scalar design demon
strates that feminist urban design is not a symbolic gesture, but a structural reor
ganisation of how the city distributes opportunity. ... Read more

The Port of Rotterdam is currently undergoing a crucial energy transition, promoting the production of sustainable energy in the port to provide the Netherlands with clean energy. In current approaches, though, non-human species are severely underrepresented in the spatial design of the port. This makes the port inherently unsustainable because this approach destroys current ecosystems that are beneficial for the well-being of the space and the well-being of humans living and working in these spaces. (Jørgensen, 2009; Latour, 2012). This research builds on the Post-Anthropocene philosophy and expands on this concept by integrating spatial justice and an ecosystem approach into it. In this approach, we aim to create a design that considers humans and seagulls as inhabitants of one ecosystem. Based on spatial data about seagulls and humans, we create an analysis of the spatial needs of the two species. In the analysis, we also investigate differences in energy production sources and discuss which sources are spatially and ethically just. These analyses combined form the base of a just vision of the Port of Rotterdam during the energy transition. After this, we visualize the feasibility of the new vision for the port by creating a potential strategy to achieve the created vision. This strategy visualizes the timeline in which future policies and spatial interventions are represented. We zoomed in on three key projects, which we based on key principles our strategy aims to represent spatially. The report concludes with a discussion on how the research has impacted current energy transition approaches and reflects on the conceptual foundation this research builds upon. The reflection will additionally cover ethical constraints, this research’s impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, n.d.), its relevance to science and society, the incorporation of public goods, and recommendations for further research. ... Read more