Ageing is a serious problem all around the world, making lots of countries under fiscal and political pressures (United Nations report, 2015), so does China. As country who has the biggest population of ageing, reaching 0.241 billion (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2017), China faces the most severe conflicts between ageing society and transforming cities. However, the current services systems for elderlies is not sufficient enough for China's rapid growth of ageing group. The neighborhood services system, which takes up the biggest proportion of the existing genres of services systems for elderlies in China, depends on the quality of neighborhood. The level of integration of such services systems is also determined by the setup of the neighborhood. (Li Zhiming, 2016) This thesis aims at seeking a way to integrate the existing neighborhood services systems for elderlies in the historical area of first-tier cities in China. The proposal would turn the relationship between historical area and elderlies from mutually conflicting and exclusive to mutually beneficial. The new urban strategy would address to the existing problems of neighborhood-dependent services systems for elderlies, and the urban conflicts between historical area and elderlies' needs. The conceptual framework of the proposal would touch social, spatial, and governance aspects, based on the theories of environmental psychology, aged-friendly environments, aged-interacting environments, silver economy, participatory management, and participatory design. Changsha, a typical ageing, first-tier city in China, would be the example taken in this thesis for exploring the principles that can be used in other practices in a bottom-up way. There would be four stages—problem definition, problem description, solution proposals and reflection. ... Read more

The AMA region wants to make the transition towards a circular economy. To make the circular economy happen, social, environmental and economic challenges have to be integrated in the transition. This report will identify these challenges and propose a vision, a development strategy and projects/policies to propose a new system in the sector where most of these challenges come together: the agrifood sector. The agrifood sector being one of the most polluting sectors in the world plays a key role in a circular economy. The project uses the circular economy as a tool to establish normative change in the case of the imbalanced agrifood sector. The development strategy of the project provides a framework for a future circular economy in a fairer agrifood sector. The framework encompasses localising the food network and creating a local circularity in the flows of energy, water, heat, fodder, CO2 circulation and organic material. This localisation aims to create jobs for the low to middle educated people that are struck by socio-spatial polarization. It also suggests new ways of protein production and of the usage of peatlands. The conclusion is that, while already a big portion of the circular economy can be realised, more research is needed to be able to make the circular economy happen in the agrifood sector. To balance the sector, it has to be deconcentrated and localised. This localisation is essentially a modern form of the traditional sector from the 18th and 19th century. Therefore it’s called an agronomic renaissance. Due to the traditional nature of the sector, institutional change has to happen, which can only be achieved by a long term strategy, strong policy and a periodical review. Giving the sector guidance and a perspective is important to instigate the change needed for a circular agrifood system that also accounts for the social, environmental and economic challenges mentioned. This project gives a possible direction for this long term perspective. ... Read more