In the wake of climate change and rising water levels the city of Dordrecht is looking for alternative ways to prepare for coming threats other than keep raising the current dikes. In an exploration a suggestion is made to use the southern side of the island as a buffer for excess water. This research takes that suggestion a step further and upgrades it towards a room for the river project. In contrast to normal room for the river projects this case is located on a city border where the city even has wishes to expand. Within this research the city dynamics that have implications for the dike in the room for the river plan are identified. A research by design process was aimed at working towards a solution to account for these city dynamics as well as future water safety needs. This resulted in a framework for the placement of a number of mounds. Mounds that are scaled up to be able to accommodate different types of developments as well as be able to have integrated solutions for self reliance and sustainability.

Historically, cities have been shaped by the transport system as it was considered as the most crucial element for economic growth. However, the advance of infomation technology broke the strong relationship between the city shape, the transport system and the economic growth. Since the flow of information is no longer dependant on the physical transport system today, modern cites recently show the limits of current design methods in their urban spatial structure. In the meantime. Landscape urbanism has been discussed as an alternative way of designing urban spatial structure. However, the actual method for design process is not developed yet. The problem of the method developing process is that Landscape urbanism does not have a quantitative part to materialize the concept of landscape as a structuring element. For this reason, this paper attempts to combine landscape urbanism with a quantitative tool, Spacematrix. By the marriage between them, landscape urbanism have a tool to materialize the idea of re-structuring a city with nature. At the same time, a new usage of spacematrix for design process is discovered. San Jose is a case chosen for the process of developing the method because the current situation of the city shows the struggle of the new urban transformation. It is located in the southern part of San Francisco bay, greatly overlapped with the area of silicon valley. Since the silicon valley has shown noticeable economic performance last decades, it has been gradually expanding, and reaching the periphery of the city toward the sea. Today the area cannot offer enough land for new development of the silicon valley because of the shortage of available land. Besides, the trend of sea level rising is also threatening the availability of land. As a result, the migration of silicon valley is getting accelarated every year. In the process of developing the method. Therefore, this paper focus on providing a solution for both the development issue and the flood problem based on landscape urbanism and spacematrix.

The San Rafael canal district is an example of a high density, low-income neighborhood in a flood risk area. A combination that is becoming a global problem, and will likely grow with future climate change. In this thesis strategic spatial planning, water management interventions and goverenance policies are used alongside in an attempt to protect the local residents, giving them a chance to grow with the future economic development of the district.

Het polder-boezemsysteem, een watersysteem dat is ontstaan door vallen en opstaan, continue is aangepast, en vanwege de invloed van de klimaatsverandering moet worden uitgebreid vormt het onderwerp van dit proefschrift. In het onderzoek wordt gezocht naar een antwoord op de volgende vraag: Welke potentie heeft het huidige polder-boezemsysteem om door middel van het landschapsarchitectonische ontwerp (weer) tot ruimtelijke drager van de laagland-identiteit uit te groeien? Zodanig dat het laagland-water (weer) als ruimtelijke en compositorische kracht van het (stedelijk)landschap (her)ontdekt en versterkt kan worden.@en

The research aims to provide an understanding of an urbanizing delta in which different scales, times, and domains are related to each other; and to examine how this understanding can be used in a planning and design process in a rapidly urbanizing delta. A mapping method is developed according to the key notions in the understanding of urban deltas, namely its systems, scales, and temporality. The systematic mapping approach was used to organize and analyze both short-term and long-term spatial data during the rapid delta urbanization processes by transforming spatial data via scales, times, and domains. The mapping approach works with insufficient data, which is often the case in a rapidly changing environment, to identify spatial challenges from a long-term perspective. Applied in the Pearl River Delta, the knowledge of the development of the urban landscape had been inventoried, synthesized, and presented in its own spatial-temporal model using maps. Three types of processes (landscape formation, infrastructure extension, and urbanization) were identified according to their speeds. Spatial interactions were illustratively explained on both the delta scale and local scale from 4000 BC to the present with a time extent ranging from 2000 years to 50 years. The intervention of this mapping framework was applied and evaluated in terms of design, decision-making, and education, and the insights gained were used to discover new possibilities and strategies for the delta.@en

The research aims to provide an understanding of an urbanizing delta in which different scales, times, and domains are related to each other; and to examine how this understanding can be used in a planning and design process in a rapidly urbanizing delta. A mapping method is developed according to the key notions in the understanding of urban deltas, namely its systems, scales, and temporality. The systematic mapping approach was used to organize and analyze both short-term and long-term spatial data during the rapid delta urbanization processes by transforming spatial data via scales, times, and domains. The mapping approach works with insufficient data, which is often the case in a rapidly changing environment, to identify spatial challenges from a long-term perspective. Applied in the Pearl River Delta, the knowledge of the development of the urban landscape had been inventoried, synthesized, and presented in its own spatial-temporal model using maps. Three types of processes (landscape formation, infrastructure extension, and urbanization) were identified according to their speeds. Spatial interactions were illustratively explained on both the delta scale and local scale from 4000 BC to the present with a time extent ranging from 2000 years to 50 years. The intervention of this mapping framework was applied and evaluated in terms of design, decision-making, and education, and the insights gained were used to discover new possibilities and strategies for the delta.@en

A critical discourse on the influence of the Modern Movement in urban design and planning has been taking place since the mid-20th century, accompanied by an ongoing search for opportunities to bring the human dimension, scale and self-organisation into this process. However, still a large number of new towns have been built across Asia and Africa, generally following modernistic urban concepts. This research contributes to the afore-mentioned discussion, exploring the context of urbanisation in Latin America in the 1950s and 1960s, in many ways similar to the context of current new town developments in Asia and Africa. To address the meeting point of the ideas of the Modern Movement and self-organisation, the study examines two case-studies in Venezuela, a country which urbanized rapidly after the discovery of oil in the 1920s. The oil revenues made it possible to build new towns, on a large scale, with modernist ideals. The analysis of the planning and implementation of the two new towns built in Venezuela in the 1950s and 1960s provides important lessons that can be shared to improve the current practice of new town planning. The main lessons emphasize the importance of integrating the needs and wishes of the residents, and to get the commitment of the authorities. More importantly, the results show the opportunities of the aided self-help housing policy, an effective alternative beyond the habitual use of modernistic ideas and concepts. @en

In this study, the transformation of the form of nine cities in the Randstad between 1250 and 1940 in relation to changes in infrastructure is central, namely Utrecht, Dordrecht, Leiden, Haarlem, Delft, Gouda, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Within this time span three periods of great spatial dynamics are identified, namely the period 1240-1450, 1580-1680 and 1870-1940. From the eleventh century large areas of hitherto inaccessible peatland were reclaimed and made suitable for agriculture and habitation, creating a number of peatland streams. Water became the main vehicle for goods transport. Along the peat streams, small settlements were formed, part of which developed as market centers for the environment. After the establishment of a system of continuous shipping links through the Randstad area in the thirteenth century, Central Holland became an alternative to the goods transport between the trading centers of the moment, namely the German Rhineland, Flanders and the Baltic Sea. Central Holland performed a role as a transit between the trading chains. Some cities transformed from a pre-urban to an urban settlement. The interlocal infrastructure formed the main structure of the cities. In a second phase of urbanization around 1350, cities developed into industrial centers. In this study, this development is referred to as the term spatial maturity. Typical for this period is that at the intersection of long-distance (water) ways an urban center developed with a port and public buildings. The street pattern was oriented on this center. The cities showed a remarkable resemblance to size and spatial thematic. Location for economic functions was found in particular by using existing structures. Harbors were made in inland waterways, markets were held on quays, bridges and streets. The main spatial themes in this period are: the development of ports, the development of the street pattern, the extensions and the emergence of an urban center with public functions. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the goods transport through Holland grew, and Amsterdam expanded to the centre of world trade. The infrastructural network barely changed during this period. The various urban maps in this phase show a great diversity. Some of the cities were performing in the superregional goods transport and showed a great spatial dynamics. In Amsterdam and to a lesser extent Rotterdam the cities expanded towards the IJ and the Meuse with ports and industrial areas. Leiden applied to the textile industry. In the city there was strong densification and expansion with neighborhoods for the textile industry. The Hague grew in particular as a government center of the Republic. The other cities felt less dynamic. Extensions hardly took place, and in the cities mainly marketplaces were created. During this period, space for economic functions was created. Inland ports were constructed at the edges of the city and marketplaces were made. Important spatial themes in this period are the construction of ports and marketplaces and the strengthening of the urban center. Typical for the city maps during this period was the strengthening of the urban center in addition to the relocation of overseas and regional market functions to the city's borders. There was a specialization in the city maps. From the end of the nineteenth century, the mainstream goods transport moved east-west, and the development of transit trade took place. The North Sea Canal and the New Waterway improved the Randstad's position to the international goods transport. Rotterdam was favorable in relation to these goods flows and committed itself to the transit trade. The city expanded with vast ports. The expansion was also extensive in Amsterdam. The remaining cities responded to industrialization. Canals were dug at the outside of the cities. These gave direction to the establishment of the industrial and labor districts. The location of the central station influenced the inner city development. The access roads between the central station and the urban centers developed into important shopping areas. Comparing the city maps with each other, they made a development from uniformity to diversification to leveling between 1250 and 1940. Typical for the spatial development was that in the first period an urban centers was created in which the various urban functions were concentrated. In the second period, specialization took place, in addition to strengthening the regional market function in the late medieval centers, functions were moved to the city edges. In the third period, the international goods transports continued to be moved out of the late medieval centers. In addition, the routes between the central station and the centers were a centers shopping area, passenger flows determined the spatial configuration.@en

Since the economic shifts of the 1990s, New Towns have become an increasingly popular approach to urban development across the African continent. While New Towns are not a new development model, their contemporary materialisation often targets middle- and high-income buyers, leaving no space for low-income residents. Strict regulations in these exclusive developments often impede spatial appropriations by the informal sector such as fresh markets, unregulated housing, street kiosks and ‘public’ transit options. As a result, this approach may exacerbate spatial segregation and increase the visibility of economic inequality. This research addresses contemporary African New Towns as a group through the lens of urban design, identifying shared spatial challenges across a dataset of 146 New Towns. Through three case studies (Sheikh Zayed City, Egypt; BuraNEST, Ethiopia, and Kilamba, Angola) it takes a deeper look at the idiosyncrasies of individual New Towns, and the diversity of examples within this group. By bringing together wider trends with the case studies, this study translates challenges into potentials for future New Towns in the form of adaptive planning and design principles. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, transdisciplinary workshops and Research Through Design exercises, the principles are tested, refined, and validated by peer review. The study concludes that these principles can be an effective starting tool for developers, planners, and decision-makers initiating New Towns in Africa. It also concludes that the principles must be adapted locally according to geographic, political, and social contexts and urgencies.@en

Many delta cities and urbanized coastal regions are facing increasing risks of flooding due to climate change and sea level rise and will have to adapt. The question that is central to this study is what opportunities offer spatial development and urban renewal to speed up the process of adaptation, and reduce costs, while creating spatial value and wider benefits for society. To answer this question a new method is introduced that is based on the development of adaptation paths and analysing urban dynamics. The method has been tested in two flood-prone waterfront areas in Rotterdam and New York. Both cases have shown that identifying opportunities for adaptation based on an analysis of planned investment projects and life cycle of buildings and urban infrastructure helps to systematically assess the effectiveness of adaptation paths. Moreover, it helps to identify new spatial transformations that provide opportunities for adaptation that were not yet identified, or positively assessed before. This makes it easier to synchronize adaptation measures in space and time, and to develop more comprehensive strategies. Both cases show that in intensively built-up environments, such as Rotterdam and New York, adapting existing buildings, despite changes in the building regulations is not a sustainable solution to increasing flood risk. In the long term an integral solution by developing integrated flood protection as part of the redevelopment of the waterfront is necessary. To make this possible, it is however necessary to develop new financial arrangements that fairly distribute the costs and benefits of the stakeholders and to make major changes in the policy regime.@en

The role of the designer in flood risk management strategy development is currently often restricted to the important but limited task of optimally embedding technical interventions, which are themselves derivatives of system level flood risk strategies that are developed at an earlier stage, in their local surroundings. During this thesis research, an integrated approach is developed in which spatial quality can already be included in the regional flood risk management strategy development, and thus can become a decisive ‘ex-ante’ aspect of flood risk management strategy development. The key principle to this approach is the inclusion of a range of interchangeable (effective) flood risk reduction interventions at varying locations, so that the criterion of spatial quality can become decisive in flood risk management strategy development. As part of the methodology development, an assessment framework is developed, allowing for the assessment of the impact of the different interventions on spatial quality; research-by-design is employed to systematically evaluate different interventions at different locations. The Rijnmond-Drechtsteden area in The Netherlands is used as a case study area for this research.@en

Faced with the highly overlapping factors of the external disturbances -- natural disasters caused by extreme climate change, and internal interactions -- the contradiction between natural conditions and rapid urbanization, traditional spatial planning and design used to pursue economic development could not be flexible enough to respond to the dynamic and uncertain future of the Pearl River Delta (PRD). Therefore, spatial planning and design should pay great attention to the fragile natural base layer and unexpected external disturbances that will negatively impact the PRD caused by increasing natural disasters, such as flooding and land subsidence situation. Based on the idea of spatial resilience, this doctoral dissertation aims to give an answer to the research question: What are the theories and methods of spatial planning and design for resilience? How is it possible to apply the theory and method of spatial planning and design for resilience to the PRD? Five major research contents are conducted. First of all, literatures on exploring the physical context, the crucial stages of spatial transformation, as well as spatial planning and design practices of the PRD are reviewed. Secondly, the theory of spatial planning and design for resilience is systematically researched. Thirdly, implementation method for spatial planning and design for resilience is provided. Fourthly, the empirical research of the theory and method of spatial planning and design for resilient PRD is conducted and possible new schemes are produced. Fifthly, the corresponding principles and strategies of resilient flood control and drainage on Hengli Island are proposed. The research outcomes obtained from this doctoral dissertation can be possibly applied to the further spatial planning and design practice for establishing a resilient PRD. @en