Vedado is the western modern city grid part of Havana, soaked in a history of entertainment, casinos and mobster money which was halted by the "Triumph of the Revolution" in 1959. Currently a slumber town due to it´s lack of public space and social space which precludes a lot of Cuban activity which traditionally takes place in the public sphere. The entertainment era left a number of hotels along the sea front which now have no connection to the vibrant Cuban experience that tourists seek, leaving little incentive to visit the area. The merging of a failing luxury hotel in embargoed Cuba with an architectural invention, a tower of stacking levels of public and social space, allows for a new opportunity to revitalize Vedado. Cubans in Vedado are able to construct temporary spaces to make use of for their social activities and tourists are able to partake in these spaces and activities, creating a merger of the two worlds. It brings a new business model in tourism, allowing for hotel visitors to meet the new Cuban reality within the hotel itself.

Flexible working is the trending discussion between the professionals in the field of facility management and corporate real estate management. The technological developments and the change in the need of employees have reformed the requirements of an ideal workplace. Because of these new drivers more and more organizations are opting flexibility in their accommodation strategies to gain competitive advantage. But from recent studies, flexible workplace has been receiving negative criticism from the perspective of employees. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to identify the perceived added value of adopting flexible workplace boundaries in the organizations, both directly and indirectly of how it adds value to the core business and wealth of the firm. The research design uses mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative research. However, the quantitative part is limited and used just to validate the qualitative data. To achieve this objective, the research attempts an empirical study by conducting surveys and interviews in organizations’ that have adopted these kinds of flexible boundaries. And hence the research involves study in two cases located in Amsterdam. The main goal of this research is finding out the actual added values to organization by comparing the findings between the organizations and employee perceptions. Furthermore, within the research, the potential benefits and challenges the organizations considered are also observed and relevant findings are made. These final outcomes of the research are intended to help organization make better decision while adopting flexible accommodation strategies.

The water tax in the Netherlands provides the funding for all the water management in the Dutch deltas. In the US there is no such tax, this means funding big civil projects may be problematic and not so easy. Therefore it is necessary to explore smaller scale solutions for the problem of sea level rise. In the San Francisco bay area, there are many communities which are prone to flooding in the near future. Some of these communities have a high social vulnerability for disasters like flooding. This means preparing and recovering from flooding’s(or earthquakes) proves to be very difficult for the communities. That is what this project is about, providing a small scale safe location and give the opportunity to decrease the social vulnerability in these communities. The solution that is suggested is a terp(dutch) on with people can flee when the area is about to flood. On this hill a school and community centre are located. The school functions in times of need as an evacuation centre and provides food and drinking water to its inhabitants.

The station location is typically characterised by its dual nature as a semi-public piece of real estate. On the one hand, it is used by its owner to achieve its corporate objectives, also in terms of feasibility. On the other hand, it is a place which is accessible to all and serves the societal and urban needs in terms of transport, activities, encounters and many more. In current urban developments, these places in the city are changing rapidly. The concept of transit-oriented development describes the reason why this is happening. Due to the high demand for space in the city, the quest for available land often leads to places that are both available and well accessible. Station locations are examples of these places. Consequently, many new stakeholders are engaged in station location developments, but many rather often follow their own aims and objectives, and substantiate their decisions with own interpretations and assumptions. This leads to uncoordinated collaborations with conflicts of interests. This study wants to clear some of the air in this respect. However, from which perspective should one observe the station location to decide which elements deserve attention? The user has a central position in this regard. Most importantly, their demands should be taken into consideration in order to provide successful real estate. Therefore, this study positions the user of a station location as a central point of attention. More specifically, the definition of the user has been narrowed down to the traveller which encounters various elements at the station location during their door-to-door journey. The study is executed by reviewing thirty Dutch station locations and statistically compare them to each other and to the appreciation of travellers at those stations. As a result, critical elements at station locations have been identified that relate to the enhancement of the traveller experience. During station location development processes, the output of this research can be used by actors to get a clearer view on the demands by the main user. Stakeholders should always critically review this information and assess whether and to what extent their current real estate supply should be adjusted in order to meet these demands.

The concept of circular economy has gained popularity as an affordable and viable solution to housing problems, providing a cyclical alternative flow model that reuses materials. Despite the Netherlands being one of the first countries to move towards circular housing, implementation issues and a lack of motivation from some stakeholders remain. This study aims to identify the impact of circular economy on the relationship between landlords and tenants in the Dutch rental real estate market. By conducting a literature review and semi-structured interviews with industry experts and stakeholders, the study seeks to answer the research question: "How will circular rental real estate investment affect the relationship between tenants and landlords?" The study will add to the existing knowledge by establishing practical relevance in terms of costs and rent prices and creating awareness of the perceived value available in circular housing.

In recent years, population ageing is becoming more and more of a challenge for cities to prepare for. Improving facilities for an all-age-friendly city can provide a healthy and supportive life for both the young and the old living in cities. One of the cities of interest in this is Amsterdam. Amsterdam has been exploring sustainable and healthy city development, such as garden city in the 1920s. In Amsterdam Noord, a central area of Amsterdam, the post-industrial IJ bank and the attached garden villages currently need renovation. Amsterdam Noord is the potential site for an all-age-friendly development. Amsterdam Noord was built with the concept of garden city, where urban forest is used mainly as green buffer and formed entities from industrial nuisances. However, since the industry is moving out, the existing urban forest becomes barriers for connectivity and undermines the dike-polder landscape of Noord. Thus, this project takes urban forest as a key element to renovate Amsterdam Noord and aims to explore an urban forest framework for Amsterdam Noord to be all-age-friendly and to develop the Noord identity as a dike city and a garden city. Firstly, theoretical study is executed in topics of urban identity, all-age-friendly city, and urban forest to conclude a theoretical framework of restorative and identity-narrative green network. Secondly, based on the theoretical framework, site study is executed in topics of urban fabric, site visit of the dike, and urban forest tradition. Thirdly, these studies provide site-speci c strategies to build Amsterdam Noord with a restorative and identity-narrative plan, to develop the all-age-friendly-ness and its identity. As the result, this project proposes a multi-scale plan for Amsterdam Noord. In city scale (L), Amsterdam Noord is divided into 3 zones, with different urbanization plans, to integrate into the expanding Amsterdam center as well as preserve and develop its identity. In green system scale (M), a multi-functional and restorative urban forest network is designed with the old dike as its spine, to improve connectivity within and beyond Amsterdam Noord. In green space scale (S), urban forest places are designed to offer sensorial experiences related to identity elements, as well as provide all-age-friendly space and program for Noord. The results of this project will provide a new view about how Amsterdam Noord can be developed into a future garden city, which is all-age-friendly, green, and related to its own identity as a dike city.

As the world is a complex and dynamic system, parties increasingly depend on each other in their decisions. These interdependencies are found as well between corporations and cities in decisions on mutations in the corporation’s accommodation, which is the subject of this research. Mutations are considered all changes in the accommodation. In this decision making, corporation often depend on cities for example for the granting of permits. At the same time, cities are in increasing competition to attract corporations to reap the benefits of boosting the local economy by increased employment levels. Thus within this decision making, actors of both parties need to communicate with each other. However, currently little is known about this actual interaction that is realised through communication strategies. At the same time, the importance connective capacity of individual actors is increasingly recognised in literature and practice and confirmed by this research. In this research the use of communication strategies of corporations and cities regarding the communication components when, who, how and what was analysed. By analysing these communication strategies in relation to the situation of the decision making and the motives of each party, interesting relations have been found. Among others, this research showed that communication strategies are supportive of the mutation process, either by speeding up the process or affecting slight preferences at decision-makers. Also, communication can be decisive by providing crucial information for the decision, such as location proposals. An aspect for further thought in both research and practice is the organisation of communication. This organisation includes the deployment of resources and additionally the appointment of a contact person. This appears to be related to the priority given to the mutation project. It seems that at cities, more priority is given to mutations with job creation in comparison with mutation projects focused on qualitative improvement. Also, communication often remains project-based and thereby both parties miss the benefits of early alignment of the plans with existing policies. This confirms the notion in literature that barriers between public and private still exist. All in all, the human factor remains present in decision making on mutations in the accommodation. Therefore this research encourages the recognition of communication strategies as a factor in decision making.

The creative industry is growing faster then before, start-ups are popping up from everywhere and many incubator and accelerator programs try to support innovative ideas to become a success. The construction sector is also growing, which means that there is also room for starting architects to benefit from this. However, the crisis caused that projects are scarcer than before, which forces starting architects to enter the market with a more commercial attitude. Professionalization and commercialization in the already ‘established’ architectural firms is nothing new, but it is still relatively unknown how starting architects deal with this. This research explored what the business model of starting architectural firms characterizes in the Netherlands. With a questionnaire, insights have been gained regarding the explicit characteristics of starting architectural firms in the Netherlands. According to six case studies the business models of these firms have been studied. Three important characteristics emerged from this research. Firstly, starting architects are often strongly focused on the value proposition and client aspect of the business model. Defining a market position with an appropriate customer profile appeared to be difficult for these firms. Secondly, the epic center (starting point within the business model where change occurs) often lies in the client aspect. In the start-up phase, the business model is mainly determined by what the client demands and less from the value proposition of the firm. The latter characteristic describes a mis-match within the business model of starting architects. Often starting architects have a certain vision and mission, but they generate most of their income with projects that do not fit. With time, experience and an increasing professional network, a transition takes place in the above-mentioned characteristics. This shift indicates a transition from start-up to scale-up. The advice to starting agencies is to consciously draw up a business model. This improves goal orientation and effectiveness, which are important factors in the start-up phase. In short, making a creative new idea a reality requires more than just the idea. A business model contributes to the strategic realization of this, which also makes the agency stand out in the current market.

Cuba is facing badly lack of housing and in the high risk of building collapse. This project is to resolve the issues and stimulate the public life.

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the notion that workplaces need adjustments to support employees - a heterogenous group of individuals from different cultures, generations, genders, with a myriad of personalities, completing vastly different tasks in varied contexts. Of particular interest in this thesis are the site specific cultural and institutional factors that create national differences. The influence of national context may need to be considered when global workplace strategies are formed in order to adequately address employee needs and preferences. Understanding the effect of national context on employee workplace preferences could foreshadow the acceptance (or lack thereof) of various post-pandemic workplace strategies and allow organizations to implement nuanced and contextualized solutions in the workplace. To answer the research question a literature review, statistical analysis, and expert interviews are completed. A literature review and statistical analysis of employee workplace preference data found similarities and differences in employee workplace preferences across national contexts in this sample. The preference for hybrid working was found across national contexts, while specific preferences relating to workplace components and facilities and services often varied between contexts in this case. Although the data reflected significant differences in employee post pandemic workplace preferences across the national contexts surveyed, it remains inconclusive if these differences can be attributed to national context or a myriad of other factors. In order to understand how workplace strategy may accommodate and better understand national context’s effect on the workplace, nine experts were interviewed. From the interviews a number of recommendations were formed to promote nuanced workplace strategy that responds to national context: 1) convey the benefits of accommodating employees to core organizations; 2) promote flexibility in global workplace strategy; 3) inform workplace strategy by gathering employee sentiment through quantitative and qualitative means; and 4) form workplace strategy with a multidisciplinary team.

This study aims to explore the impact of employee separation as a result of hybrid working on the organisational commitment of ORGANISATION X’s workforce. The findings of this research aim to offer valuable insights to ORGANISATION X's understanding on how the alternating remote and in-office work setup may influence the commitment levels of ORGANISATION X's employees. The research methodology employed in the initial study of this thesis encompasses quantitative research, in addition to a comprehensive literature review. This quantitative research entails surveying the entire office-based workforce at ORGANISATION X. The results of the researches have yielded fascinating insights, offering a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between hybrid working elements and commitment to the organisation. The primary research findings demonstrate a nuanced relationship between hybrid work and organisational commitment, with only two of the nine potential relationships between hybrid work and organisational commitment found. Therefore, the 'sense of belonging' or the organisational commitment referred to in this research can be seen as being affected by hybrid work only to a small, insignificant extent. Additionally, the study explored the influence of other variables, such as physical proximity, dependency, and socio-demographic factors, on shaping employees' commitment to the organisation. The study shows a positive relation between physical proximity, particularly arranged in-person meetings, and dependency on co-workers and organisational commitment. These are believed to influence the separation awareness among employees.

The pressure for businesses to respond and contribute to sustainability is increasing and organizations are expected to actively address these issues (Joyce & Paquin, 2016). However, achieving circularity in real estate development poses significant challenges and barriers. Previous studies have primarily focused on the drivers and barriers influencing frontrunner’s uptake of circular solutions, particularly within the supply side. Meanwhile, the perspective of non-frontrunner clients and the demand side of circularity has gotten limited attention. This study aims to enhance circularity in the built environment by exploring how corporate real estate clients who are not early adopters can implement circular ambitions and solutions. The thesis research focuses on the demand side of corporate real estate within the Dutch context, utilizing a mixed-approach that combines theoretical research and on-field investigation. The study identifies two groups of interest: early adopters and next adopters. Then, through qualitative field interviews with representatives from 12 organizations it sheds light on the experiences of both groups. The findings reveal that the main drivers for next adopters of circularity are the organization's core business and personal motivation, while the primary barriers include uncertainty regarding circularity benefits and a general lack of circularity awareness. Based on these findings, the study concludes by providing circularity adoption recommendations tailored to corporate real estate clients who are new to the field. By addressing the demand side and considering the experiences of non-frontrunner clients, this research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of circularity in real estate development and offers practical guidance for organizations seeking to embrace circular solutions in their operations.

An ever-changing modern society imposes new challenges for city development, namely how the built environment can be designed for a changing population and urban housing density. This article argues that current large-scale top-down demolition and construction strategies for densification are not the most efficient and sustainable approaches. Alternatively, a proposal for a more flexible system, consisting of small-scale interventions, is put forward, with the goal of creating resilient neighbourhoods that can adapt to different dwelling densities. This article takes the neighbourhood of Hillesluis in Rotterdam South as the research subject to explore possible densification strategies. Afterwards, a new housing model of ‘Sponge housing’ is proposed that can self-regulate the number and size of houses , creating a system capable of having flexible densities.

Cities are the backbone of the economy in most countries, serving the corporations they house and enjoying the benefits of their business. They are also a beacon for many who flock to these urban areas in the hope of better employment opportunities and quality of life. Cities are thus constantly growing and evolving in an effort to create a competitive advantage that can attract and retain more business. The pattern of city growth can be traced back to several factors that influence the location decisions of businesses to cluster. Service sector led cities witness the most prominent impact in real estate development, given that their economy is heavily reliant on business networks and economies of agglomeration. As such, these cities also bear the drawbacks of being popular migration destinations, including overconsumption of resources, crowding and high costs. Creating an environment that can benefit corporations, residents and the Government, while still tackling the negative externalities of agglomeration is crucial to maintain a city's competitive advantage. This tension is researched through an empirical study of the factors that have established Bangalore as the Silicon Valley of India. The dynamics between the private and public sector is therefore explored, making a case for more cross-sector collaboration in order to sustain Bangalore’s competitive advantage as an IT destination.

Industrialised house-building is a delivery method that combines the know-how of many companies that standardise a part of their production within a common product platform and connect it with a unified interface. This way, organisations can adopt product customisation while keeping the advantages of mass production. Furthermore, those platforms create supplier networks that enable more efficient retention and exploitation of knowledge, leading to continuous improvement in product development. Firms that in traditional construction compete in IHB collaborate within the platform. However, the integration strategies that the product platform owner utilises to integrate this supplier network are underexplored by academics. In addition, the aspects of the IHB product platforms to be integrated are not sufficiently described. The research fills this gap by complementing existing research and conducting case studies from practice. Two case studies assess supplier networks in the platform, their level of integration and suppliers’ role in product platform development. The place of origin of those platforms differs; one is based in Sweden, and the second one is in the Czech Republic. It provides a broader scope of study and variability of setting. Several objectives and challenges for integrations are discovered in the three strategic levels that influence the strategy formulation. The thesis provides an integration strategy framework for platform owners who strive to establish or strengthen such a product platform. The framework will make it easier for platform owners to navigate ways to build and integrate relationships across the supply chain. Furthermore, four product platform element strategies are introduced.

The COVID-19 pandemic's onset was a critical change for employees all over the world. Many aspects of how they operated, including their working atmosphere, underwent a revolution as a result. As a result, there has been a shift in the nature of “work”. Work is now something you do, not a place you go. It can be done anywhere. Since it is now more normal to be flexible regarding time and location, there are now more working styles than ever. Organisations are getting more involved with changing the workplace to employees' needs and demands to ensure that their real estate continues to meet corporate goals. Since employees are an organisation's most valuable asset, designing and maintaining the physical, virtual, and social workplace to adhere to productivity and employee satisfaction is now crucial for organisations looking to achieve a competitive advantage. This forces organisations to be more accountable, and inclusive, and better integrate stakeholders into their decision-making processes, particularly by paying attention to input and foreseeing expectations from stakeholders. Participation in spatial planning is becoming more widely recognised as a valuable method of gain access to community skills and local knowledge as well as including residents in conversations about place. A strategy that promotes user participation is placemaking. The strategy is born out of the ethical insertion of a specifically designed space into existing settings, opening a platform for dialogue about public places among the many involved stakeholders. This study explores the use of placemaking as a new approach in corporate real estate to transition towards the workplace of the future. Placemaking, or the practice of inspiring people to collectively reimagine and reinvent spaces at the heart of every community, can play a significant role in creating a workspace that is conducive to productivity, collaboration, and innovation. The study combines expert knowledge with case studies from the Dutch real estate market to answer the main research question: How can placemaking help the transition to a future workplace? The characteristics of placemaking are used in four phases of the transition towards a future workplace. Overall, this study provides valuable insights for companies seeking to create adaptable and innovative workspaces that meet the needs of their employees and organization.

This thesis project, as part of the urban forest places graduation lab, focuses on the relationship between urban environments and the healing aspects of nature. Urban environments affect our body and state of mind, and are not always beneficial for our mental health. Landscape and urban design can do something about this. But the question is how? The city of Amsterdam is used as a location to investigate this. The city is surrounded with a diverse metropolitan landscape, which enters far into the city in the form of green wedges, also called the Scheggen. Amsterdam has a long history in investing in green spaces during urban expansions. Since the sixteenth century every period of growth has been accompanied by planned investment in green spaces. First by planting trees along the canals in the sixteenth century. Than by creating city parks in the nineteenth century. The existing green structure was planned during the General Expansion Plan in 1934, made by van Eesteren. The purpose of the General Expansion Plan was not only to expand urban development but also to create a balance between city and green space. This green structure ensures that every resident of Amsterdam can reach a green space within ten minutes, even from the heart of the city centre. Nowadays, the city of Amsterdam has to deal with the following problems. Firstly, the big pressure on the housing market, is forcing the city to densify as well as expand outside of its current urban borders, which makes the Scheggen vulnerable. Not only densification is a problem, but also the fact that more and more people suffer from mental health issues, such as stress, burn-outs, anxiety and depression. Of course we all need a little bit of stress, but if people cannot restore from too much stress for a prolonged period of time, their health will be negatively affected in many ways. Additionally, the city also has to deal with a number of other complex issues, such as climate change issues and biodiversity loss. This has led to the main research question: How can a forest park be designed in such a way that it contributes to reducing mental stress in an urban environment? The findings from the literature study provided evidence that a forest park can contribute to reduce mental stress. Visiting or viewing a forest has a positive effect on people’s mental health and recovering from stress, especially for people from urban environments. The literature study, together with a thorough site research, formed the site specific design principles for the design intervention. The result of this thesis is a design proposal for an urban forest park for Amsterdam Sloterdijk. The project shows that the design proposal for a forest park not only contributes to reduce mental stress in an urban environment, but also increases biodiversity, and acts as a climate buffer by managing rainwater and cooling the environment.

Restrictions from the covid pandemic are lifted. However, the office remains changed, the hybrid way of working seems to stick. Employees want flexibility and choose when to work from home and when they work in the office. The norm of a hybrid work week is working three days in the office and two days from home. Resulting in office space that is not used as much as before the pandemic. Therefore organizations are looking into reducing their office space (Syme, P., 2023). When considering the reduction of office space, it is also important to consider an organization’s employees. In this research, the focus lies on the impact space reduction might have on the perceived productivity of the employees. The focus on productivity is due to the impact productivity has on the performance of an organization (Aziri, 2011). If office space is reduced and the office therefore has a higher occupancy level, what does this do to the employee productivity? According to research done by Center for People and Buildings (2023), a higher occupancy level in the working environment results in employees being less satisfied with the availability of workplaces. With a higher occupancy, employees are forced to have video meetings in the open workspace, while other employees/colleagues are doing concentration work in the same space at the same time (Center for People and Buildings, 2023). Looking at these uncertainties, the main research question therefore is: ‘How can global pharmaceutical companies reduce their office space in the Netherlands while still maintaining perceived employee productivity?’. The research focuses on global pharmaceutical companies that are reducing their office space. The focus lies on these companies, in order to define the research on a specific branch and due to the timeframe. In order to answer the research question, the research starts with a literature study. After the literature study, a series of case studies including interviews are done on global pharmaceutical companies. These companies have already experienced an office reduction and are planning on implementing a second reduction within the same project or with another project. The case studies provide insight into potential challenges concerning office reduction and maintaining employee productivity. After analyzing the case studies a cross case study analysis has been done. With the insights from the cross case analysis solutions have been found on how global pharmaceutical companies have tried to successfully reduce office space while keeping employee productivity. The research can help organizations with the decision-making on their office use.

During the Paris climate conference in December 2015, 195 different countries recognized the dangers of climate change. One of the key points on which the participants of this conference agreed on was that cities should built resilience against the effects of climate change. The changing climate has amongst others major consequences for water systems. In a country such as the Netherlands – which is extremely vulnerable to the consequences of flooding – water should be treated and used differently according to J.M. de Vries, former Secretary of State for Transport, Public Works and Water Management, in order to keep the Netherlands safe and livable. The climate will change considerably in the coming decades. Cities and their buildings will be affected. My graduation focuses on how water can be treated differently within the built environment related to climate change resilience. As project location, I have chosen 'Het Marineterrein' in Amsterdam. This area belongs to the Royal Navy until 2018. In this year, the Navy will leave and the area will be open for redevelopment from then on. My research on how water and its natural cycles can be integrated into a hotel building leads to a design of a bio hotel for 'Het Marineterrein', in Amsterdam. Within the hotel building and its surroundings water is purified, recycled and harvested. The hotel is an inspirational place for hotel guests, visitors and locals, where people can learn about water treatment related to climate change and where they can share their ideas and thoughts about the subject.

Currently cities are becoming more densified, resulting in overpopulated areas with fewer green spaces. Together with this rising health care expenses caused by mental health and current environmental design questions such as water nuisance, heath island effect, densification demands and creating a healthy living environment, leads to questioning current city structures. This thesis rethinks existing city structures, by creating a new way of designing cities which respond to current environmental design questions and offers restorative nature. It explores methods of creating restorative nature and by researching restorative theories and their affiliation to movement and bodily experience. Movement acts as a tool for designing with an eye-level - and sensorial experience which are both crucial for perceiving nature and its beneficial effects. To design a new city structure, a historical overview is created to research healthy living environments and how these can be spatially recognised in landscape structures, urban plans and ideal city movements. The Garden City movement is used as a starting point for the research. From this research the Urban Forest Movement is designed, working through three scales: the city/region, a main structure of the city and the site. The movement focusses on creating healthy living environments by reacting to current environmental design questions and by emphasising the importance of how green spaces are experienced. The generic model is applied to the city of Den Haag, testing it in the process. The site was chosen because of its history and its different relation to the surrounding landscape due to the lack of a city wall. To apply the Movement, it is adapted to fit the design brief that is concluded from an analysis of the site. A vision is created for the city/region scale that focusses on the main spatial framework, densification and green spaces. One of these elements of the spatial framework is further elaborated, zooming in to the line scale. To implement the ideas on the lowest scale on how to create restorative green spaces which help to create healthy living environments, a design on eye-level perspective and movement is made. These crucial design methods are used to design a park along the line. Here elevations, buildings, water structures, materialisation and a planting plan are used to create various bodily experiences through movement. Three different movements are introduced in the park; Gliding, Grazing and Wandering, offering different levels of emerging in nature and experiencing its restorative effects. Finally, conclusions and limitations of the thesis are discussed and evaluated to provide future suggestions.