The place of urban low-income populations is increasingly coming under threat in the modern and globalized city - as urban centers are becoming more prominent and attractive parts of society and economy, and the addressal of poverty more socially prominent, questions and actions taken in this context increase the pressures on these vulnerable populations. In Rotterdam this manifests in the notion of urban renewal of low income neighborhoods, promoting strategies of socio-spatial integration that would introduce more affluent populations into these spaces in an effort of creating diverse communities that would eliminate the notion of ‘bad’ neighborhoods while elevating the local population already there. However, this comes at a heavy price, as it requires the displacement of the majority of the local population, thus creating a contradiction - the strategy for aiding the poor threatens the displacement of most of them. Rotterdam’s place communities are trying to resist these changes, but are coming short due to lack of socio-economic capital - they lack funds, home ownership, social and political clout and the unity required in order to influence the processes that threaten them. This research proposes a method of supplementing these lacks, which is based on a research conducted by the University of Birmingham, training and promoting community based projects with the aid of external partners- and seeing them to fruition through engagement of local establishments. The project here proposes to replicate the process in the Rotterdam context, adapting it and examining how external means can be implemented in aiding vulnerable populations achieve a loud and coherent voice in the planning processes in the western globalized metropolis.

By 2050, South-Holland will transform into a transition based urbanity with value change at its core. Currently, consumers are disconnected from where their food is produced, leading to a high environmental impact, unhealthy choices and social injustice to the farmers’ work. The proposed strategy of change for the region would see South Holland shift away from being an export based business of livestock farming, lowering and limiting production to local needs, while changing the attitude of farming, and reshaping it as a spatial part of everyday life, freely accessible to the region’s citizens. In order to do that a strategy of transitions is chosen, recognizing three core spatial movements based on the three pillars of sustainability; diet transition, attitude transition and technical transition. Diet Transition - changes in food consumption would also affect the spatial landscape upon which food is produced. Attitude Transition - raising awareness toward how meat and dairy is produced would affect the cities where consumption takes place and how the different actors are treated. Technical Transition - would help change the Dutch industrial sites from an exporter of goods to an exporter of knowledge while supplying it with clean energy, creating a better South Holland while benefiting other countries. In the vision, it is recognized that these movements have spatial manifestations in the form of rings, with their points of overlap being ideal to the beginning of change, as they are where new sustainable relations would be most meaningful. These zones are where the transition of attitude, diet and technology will happen for the circular agriculture in South-Holland. A toolkit of 21 typologies is created with a focus on these transitions while keeping a pleasant environment. The new vision will lead to a circular economy in the livestock sector of South-Holland with sustainable relations between producers and consumers.