In the last decades, due to a number of reasons, cities have become more diverse than ever. This diversity, although an “inherent characteristic” is not always perceived as positive, especially in the so-called deprived areas, which mainly consist of multicultural, low-income social groups, having serious implications not only on how people live together in space, but also on the actions taken to “minimize” the differences. Research increasingly shows that low neighbourhood status, poverty, stigmatization of lower income areas with high concentration of ethnic minority households, and racial discrimination have a great impact on how inhabitants of an area perceive and interact with one another. And Rotterdam South is a prominent example of this situation. Afrikaanderwijk is one of those hyper-diverse and socio-spatially segregated neighbourhoods, where spatial interventions in the public space are necessary, in order for co-existence to be ensured. Investigating the city from the perspective of hyper-diversity and acknowledging it as a given, the current project aimed at contributing to redefining the public space, in Afrikaanderwijk, where conflicting interests between local authorities, people of power and local inhabitants regularly occur, in order to ensure social cohesion and create a common identity for all. In this process, a number of methods were used to conclude to the spatial interventions in the public space, with the use of design principles proving to be one of the most important in bridging research and design and creating the basis for the design interventions that focus on local-based alternatives to the demolition and renovation plans of the municipality. Thus, this thesis, through spatial interventions, and taking into account the needs and identities of different social groups, aimed at enabling the participation of people from different socio-economic statuses, lifestyles, attitudes and activities to interact and communicate, consequently steering the city towards fairer opportunity distribution and a more harmonious and co- existential urban environment.

The changing climate pressures the resilience of cities and nature all over the world, putting the position of historically valuable urban and natural environments at risk. The province of South-Holland has economically evolved around the unique triple delta landscape. In order to keep its economically competitive position and take environmental responsibility, the province aims to be circular by 2050. However, the province is facing a number of environmental challenges, such as salinization, soil subsidence and the risk of flooding, that are further aggravated by the intensification of land use and climate change. At the same time, however, the region faces an enormous housing demand. Therefore, this strategic vision was created with the aim to propose a way to answer the high demand for space in South-Holland while preserving the delta environment. Three themes were identified as key drivers to reach the use of adaptive delta water management, the transformation to sponge cities and a shift towards water circularity were identified as key drivers. Implementing interventions along these themes will preserve and redefine both the natural and the urban environment. This strategic vision provides the roadmap towards a circular delta environment in 2050. This vision involves the transformation of export-oriented agricultural land into wetland area, the densification and expansion of urban areas and a shift towards a biobased port. The strategic pathway towards 2050 starts by involving a wide range of stakeholders. Water boards were identified as a fundamental partner. Besides, local stakeholders, such as farmers and citizens, are empowered in order to secure social justice and to increase impact. The interventions are then being implemented in collaboration with these stakeholders. Pilot projects are the first step of implementation, after which the interventions are being implemented on a larger scale. The main interventions are: implementing wetlands and blue-green networks, implementing a separated water system and water retaining structures within urban areas, executing urban development projects and the development of a blue-green hydrogen network. Finally, these implemented interventions are connected to create a circular system. Based on this projects the main recommendations to foster the shift towards circular water flows are: the implementation of a separated water system as an aspect in the shift towards sponge cities, the implementation of large scale wetland areas that are connected to the water system and finally the implementation of water reuse technologies within the port, greenports and agriculture.