The Department of Urbanism at the Faculty of Architecture and Built Environment at the Delft University of Technology has a long tradition in educating generations of internationally oriented designers, planners and researchers in urbanism. Here the domain of urbanism is defined as an interdisciplinary approach that engages in real-world sociocultural, ecological and technological issues affecting urban landscapes, from the perspective of spatial planning and design. Specifically, it combines the disciplines of spatial planning, urban design and landscape architecture, having their own theories, methods and techniques, but also sharing common grounds and being complementary. Urbanism education focuses on specific context-related design tasks, in which knowledge from different disciplines is synthesised into coherent multiscale proposals. This paper aims to elaborate on the foundations of the Delft approach to urbanism education that focuses on the urban landscape as a scale continuum, uses design research and research through design as important teaching and research strategies, and regards mapping and drawing as important tools for thinking. The typical Dutch geographic context and spatial planning traditions are the foundation for this approach. The paper addresses the backgrounds and describes the principles of the present education strategies, learning tactics and examination, and identifies their challenges.@en

In this case study, we answer the question: what are design characteristics for a personal development line integrated in undergraduate engineering curricula? We investigated the development of such a line in a Bachelor of Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences in The Netherlands. We documented and analysed the preparation of and discussions during three design sessions, where teachers and students collaboratively created the personal development line. This personal development line has two main aims: to guide students in developing their personal and professional identities and promote self-directed learning in the curriculum. Reflective skills are playing a key role in this. Four levels on which students reflect in relation to personal development in the curriculum were identified: self, education, practice, and society. Each Personal Development Week in the design proposal touches upon one of these levels and makes use of three generic elements: inspiration, contemplation, and perspective. Three tensions in the curriculum arose during the design sessions. First, the question if it is necessary to give students direction by assignments or to trust they will reflect by themselves.Second, if that direction should be shaped by specific writing assignments or if students should be left to work with a free form. Finally, if the reflection should be connected to what students learn inside the university or rather to societal challenges that they perceive outside of their studies. The personal development line in this research is one answer to the questions arising from these three tensions, yet it is not the only answer. Both the identified tensions and the designed reflection model can be a starting point for other curriculum designers to position personal development in their curriculum. Personal development can then become a key ingredient in the education of a diverse group of reflexive engineers at universities anywhere in the world.@en

As part of the renewal in 2013/2014 of the bachelor education curriculum in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, a new study programme was prepared on the Fundamentals (in Dutch: Grondslagen) of spatial design. The teaching approach, visually presented by some examples and explained in this paper, consists of three closely related elements: (a) lectures and readings on basic concepts of architectural, urban and landscape architectural design, (b) a canon of 160 projects illustrating these concepts and (c) a typomorphological project analysis exercise. This new, integrated programme was the follow-up of three former, separate study programmes, Basic Concepts of Architectural Design, Basic Concepts of Urban Design, and History of Architecture, Urbanism and Art. The faculty had serious doubts about the educational quality of those study programmes, consisting of 11 small courses of only one or two EC. The curriculum renewal brought a fresh look at study contents, teaching approach and assessment strategies, based on the didactic principles of integrated learning.@en

Urbanism creates the spatial conditions needed for society to function. The distinction between the public and private domains is fundamental to civil society. The core task of urbanism within that society is designing the urban ground plan, which defines the way land is divided into public and private zones. When that design is being created, developments in the programme and the utilization of space in the city play a role as the public space is designed and furnished and the rules for building are formulated. These four aspects of the task of urbanism (designing the urban ground plan, the programme and utilization of space, the design of public space and the rules for building) should be seen in relation to a fifth aspect: the way the territory is reshaped. How can a new expansion or modification of a city take account of the special conditions and the consequences for the territory itself? Urbanism provides an overview of the foundations of urbanism as a discipline and discusses the relevance of those fundamentals to the challenges of the twenty -first century. This work is based on the centuries of experience and tradition as well as current practice in Dutch urban planning, yet its relevance extends far beyond national borders.se grenzen.@en

De stedenbouwkunde schept de ruimtelijke condities voor het functioneren van de burgerlijke samenleving. Fundamenteel daarin is het onderscheid tussen openbaar en privaat domein. De kerntaak van de stedenbouwkunde is daarom het ontwerp van de stadsplattegrond, waarmee de indeling van het grondgebied in openbare en private gronden wordt vastgelegd. Bij zo’n ontwerp spelen ontwikkelingen in het programma en het ruimtegebruik van de stad een rol, wordt de openbare ruimte ontworpen en ingericht, en worden regels voor het bouwen geformuleerd. Deze vier onderdelen van het stedenbouwkundig werk (ontwerp stadsplattegrond, programma en ruimtegebruik, ontwerp openbare ruimte en regels voor het bouwen) moeten in relatie worden gezien met een vijfde aspect: de bewerking van het grondgebied. Wat betekent een nieuwe uitbreiding of verandering van een stad voor de bijzondere condities van en de gevolgen voor het grondgebied? Stedenbouw biedt een overzicht van de grondslagen van de stedenbouwkundige discipline en behandelt de relevantie van deze grondslagen voor de opgaven van de 21e eeuw. Het is gebaseerd op de eeuwenlange ervaring, traditie en actuele praktijk van de Nederlandse stedenbouwkunde, maar de relevantie van dit werk reikt tot ver buiten de vaderlandse grenzen.@en

De stedenbouwkunde schept de ruimtelijke condities voor het functioneren van de burgerlijke samenleving. Fundamenteel daarin is het onderscheid tussen openbaar en privaat domein. De kerntaak van de stedenbouwkunde is daarom het ontwerp van de stadsplattegrond, waarmee de indeling van het grondgebied in openbare en private gronden wordt vastgelegd. Bij zo’n ontwerp spelen ontwikkelingen in het programma en het ruimtegebruik van de stad een rol, wordt de openbare ruimte ontworpen en ingericht, en worden regels voor het bouwen geformuleerd. Deze vier onderdelen van het stedenbouwkundig werk (ontwerp stadsplattegrond, programma en ruimtegebruik, ontwerp openbare ruimte en regels voor het bouwen) moeten in relatie worden gezien met een vijfde aspect: de bewerking van het grondgebied. Wat betekent een nieuwe uitbreiding of verandering van een stad voor de bijzondere condities van en de gevolgen voor het grondgebied? Stedenbouw biedt een overzicht van de grondslagen van de stedenbouwkundige discipline en behandelt de relevantie van deze grondslagen voor de opgaven van de 21e eeuw. Het is gebaseerd op de eeuwenlange ervaring, traditie en actuele praktijk van de Nederlandse stedenbouwkunde, maar de relevantie van dit werk reikt tot ver buiten de vaderlandse grenzen.@en