One of the main results of Cyprus’s contemporary conflict is the Cypriot refugee identity creation. The thesis focuses on the Cypriot refugee settlements created from 1976 to 1991, unraveling the formation of the Greek Cypriot refugee community through space. The thesis project questions how community-led spatial planning allows the Cypriot refugee settlements to be transformed into livable environments while preserving the memories of their initial inhabitants. Additionally, the project expands on how the planning process builds a community in a conflict environment and how the right to remembrance is spatialized conceptually while considering the spatial factors which influence the right to remembrance seen in theoretical notions.
Through the analysis of the spatial footprint of the Cypriot refugees, the refugee settlements, aspects of their liveability state, and remembrance of their past are depicted. The refugee community’s and refugee settlement’s current image are illustrated through quantitative and qualitative analysis. These areas’ social consistency, and spatial characteristics, are combined with the actors and stakeholders involved, contributing to constructing and reconstructing the refugee identity. These elements have been used to form the spatial patterns that describe urgencies and critical features of the refugee community building. Moreover, the degree of place attachment of the refugee settlement residents and the factors responsible for their decay and embody the potential to contribute to community building are identified and used for the pattern language.
The spatial patterns formed through the analysis of Nicosia refugee settlements and global reference patterns dedicated to community express the socio-spatial characteristics of the social group, the refugees, their living conditions, and how the life histories of the first generations have or can be imprinted through space. The patterns created represent starting points for synergies and cooperation among actors towards a socially conscious community’s future at the refugee settlements. Spatial patterns related to the remembrance of the refugee community, combined with liveability aspects, aim to summarize the key elements that enable a community-led strategy, resulting in the landscape memorialization of the refugee settlements.
The complexity of the Cypriot refugee case, primarily because of their internal displacement, the unclear future of the refugee properties, and the de facto division of the island since 1974, make the Cypriot refugees a unique, extremely complex, particularly interesting case. ... Read more

“Building a Fair Transition” strives for a fair circular built environment in the Dutch province of South Holland. By 2040 South Holland aims to have built 210.000 new dwellings to meet the rapidly growing housing demand. This transition in the built environment should align with current climate agreements and be as energy neutral as possible. To meet these goals, a lot of material and renewable energy are needed. However, the current linear economy creates inequalities for current and future generations. Therefore, radical changes towards circular construction and the demolition sector are needed. At the same time, energy poverty is an issue that calls for immediate actions in order to make the much-needed transition truly sustainable. Nevertheless, the country lacks a comprehensive measurement framework that considers social aspects to address the phenomenon. The main research question is how to manage the transition in South Holland towards a circular built environment while ensuring that this transition is done in a fair way. In order to make this possible, a tremendous change in organisational structures is required. An interscalar approach is needed to create a symbiosis betweenthe regional scale and the actions needed at a local level. In this work, bottom-up initiatives are encouraged and embraced within a bigger top-down mainframe. Through an assessment analysis, the goals towards a sustainable built environment are classified into three categories: materials, energy and knowledge. These goals will strengthen the social foundation of our report and fit the ecological ceiling that all development must respect. In our work, phasing of interventions is based onthe urgency needed. In that sense, actions are prioritisedin the most vulnerable areas while pilot projects serve as the research ground for testing feasibility and potential upscaling. The most urgent areas will be addressed first according to the criteria of low liveability, building energy performance, low income and ownership status.The overall goal of this strategy is to create a just sustainable built environment characterised by circular material flows and fair energy transition. More precisely, the aim is to strive for affordable and adequate housing for all, a regenerative and stable labour market and knowledge exchange. Concerning material flows, the target of closed material loops is achieved through renewable raw materials used, upcycling of wasteflows and optimal use. Finally, democratisation of energy has become a key theme. Supply and demand for renewable energy sources is controlled to minimise energy losses. A decentralised energy system enables every citizen to become a prosumer of energy leading thus to democratisation of energy. ... Read more