Kampala is the heartbeat of Uganda’s economy and has driven rural-urban migration over the years as people travel in search of better opportunities (Namwanje, 2022). This has led to rapid urbanisation and unprecedented growth of the informal sector that extends beyond the geographical confines of the city. Rural areas, acting as spatial extensions of the city, have served as productive landscapes, supporting Kampala’s bustling informal economy and the livelihoods of city dwellers. Over the years, large expanses of uncultivated land in rural areas and natural forests in some cases, have been replaced with monocultural commercial forests causing socio-ecological degradation in Kampala’s city region. While studying past and current trends in Uganda’s forest governance, as well as the socio-cultural relations between people and forests, the study brings to light the social and epistemic injustices of past and current exclusionary forestry policies and practices. Storytelling is used not only as an investigative tool to understand the lives of the Batwa indigenous forest peoples, but also as an approach to document local knowledges and envision an alternative future outside the realm of western technocratic approaches. Counter-storytelling operates as activism, transcending oppression while fostering emanicipation and transformation of the Batwa people. In so doing, the project seeks to achieve self-determination for a just forest economy in Kampala’s city region.

This research project aims to understand the spatial and procedural implications of planning and spatial justice in conditions of oppressive power and conflict. Ambitions towards spatial justice amongst marginalized ethnic minority populations are at further risk if liberal notions of government and planning continue to operate under the ethnocratic state regime. This demands an alternative approach and perspectives that are context-specific to which can engage with the realities of marginalized populations towards the quest for justice. The research framework is steered by an exploratory research approach that suggests an organic process to contextualize the preconditions of spatial justice as the research begins to unveil the marginalized areas of North-Eastern, Sri Lanka. The project aims to understand how spatial planning (planning and design) can unlock conditions to support the quest for spatial justice, self-determination, and liberation of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka's North-East.

The project aims to develop a co-creative approach to participatory urban planning and design for improved socio-spatial justice through co-creation. The project is situated within a broader context of ‘Them vs Us’ conflicts including rigid social hierarchies of coloniality, caste, class, and expertise that limit the extent to which and what types of communities are involved in urban development. More specifically, the project endeavoured to: 1. Reimagine the urbanist as a ‘language mediator’ whereby the urbanist experiments with ways to communicate with and between different stakeholders (inhabitants, migrants, institutions, etc). As such the urbanist becomes multilingual not just in a spoken or written sense, but also in visual and body languages, as well as silence. Together, engaged stakeholders, built trust, and an identifying of needs, wants and worries inform co-creation; 2. Recognize, access and value ‘unconventional’ knowledge and experiences to expand traditional realms of expertise. This aim focuses on the dismissal of ‘othered’ knowledge paradigms that could help in addressing pressing urban challenges; 3. Build inhabitant literacy to facilitate inhabitants not only ‘having a seat at the table’ but also an informed voice when they are there. These aims intertwine to form the central research question, ‘how can an approach to participatory planning and design use language as a means to engage with different actors, access and value ‘unconventional’ knowledge while also building citizen literacy?’. The project takes place in Rotterdam’s western Bospolder-Tussendijken neighbourhood. In response to the research questions and its Rotterdam context, the research outputs are 4-fold, underpinned by the central theme of what it means to be seen. They consist of (1) a storybook; (2) reflections on co-creative participatory approaches; (3) the report; and (4) the bonus spatial implications of the research for urban design and planning. The outputs allow for the intersectional sharing of multiple stories, exposure to other types of knowledge and experiences, and the unpacking of existing systems and hierarchies that hinder the realisation of socio-spatial justice.

People across the world, identifying beyond the binary notion of gender and sexuality are often limited to freely access and appropriate the city and feel a sense of belonging. A general problem is that notions about gender are strongly embedded within the design of the built environment. To be specific: gender relations in public space are normatively coded as masculine and heterosexual. Whereas masculinity is understood as a man who is dominant and refuses to acknowledge vulnerability. The multitude of masculinities are mostly subordinate in the patriarchal urban environment as well. The largely residential neighbourhood Gaasperdam in Amsterdam’s South-East will be studied in greater depth to address and illustrate the spatial consequences. To be more specific, this thesis expands on the following research question: How can we reshape heteronormative spaces in Gaasperdam to facilitate legitimacy to diverse masculine identities? To answer this question, a research-by-design approach is used to identify the challenges at hand and propose various spatial design interventions. In addition, the use of personas is critical for imagining and addressing different demands and appropriations of space. This research made clear how the current built environment of Gaasperdam does not facilitate interactions between different masculinities, while these are very essential. Therefore, this thesis proposes to increase the diversity of public spaces in Gaasperdam, which safeguards individual needs. Secondly, more space for collective use should be developed which allows diverse masculinities to interact. The insights of this thesis are valuable to research fields which focus on spatial issues, such as urban design, urban planning, and architecture since it offers design principles to reshape our built environment to include diverse gender identities.

Gender is a highly context-specific social construct. It explores the social relationships between men and women, a relationship in which women have been systematically subordinated (Oakley 1972). The way gender relations are defined broadly influence the conceptualisation of space and place. In a patriarchy like India, where gender inequality is deeply rooted in its culture and history, this disparity lends itself to the realm of space-making as well. Even though women account for almost half of India’s population, they are still considered vulnerable and marginalised. They still have difficulty fostering an amicable relationship with the public realm which was predominantly created by and served for men. They are met with hostility, cultural taboos, violence and an exclusionary environment that doesn’t account for or recognise their complex needs. The graduation project, ‘Loiter city’ explores the spatial dimension of gender inequalities that result in the economic marginalisation and socio-spatial segregation of women. It examines socially constructed behaviour patterns, relationships between women and the built environment. It deals with the inequalities between gender and focuses on the spatial dimension of this inequality trying to locate socio-spatial justice through an Indian perspective. The framework of the project is constructed using Peter Marcuse’s Critical planning theory. By reviewing an extensive volume of academic research and literature on gender studies, the foundation of the project is developed. The project analyses the notions of gendered exclusions and citizenship and what it means for women to have the same legitimacy as men in the public realm. A transdisciplinary methodology is formulated which can tackle the complex issue both from the spatial and policy perspective in a multiscalar approach. By using ‘Loitering’ as the concept, the project envisions an operational framework that aims to change mindsets and provide more visibility to women in public spaces. The project facilitates uninhibited agency, ownership, accessibility for women and creates platforms for active participation in the co-creation of a city. The vision of achieving legitimacy is a long, tedious and complex process that requires mobilisation of institutional capacities. For this, Gender mainstreaming is envisioned as an integral process achieved by formulating various strategies that can guide sustained change. An organisation called the Gender Lab is proposed to mainstream gender into planning and bridging the knowledge gap. This body helps in tackling opposing interests at different stages while sustaining social change. It monitors the bridging of knowledge and incentive gaps by developing alternative collaborative governance models. Women-led grassroots movements would be formalised within policymaking to boost women’s participation in planning processes and influence important decisions that affect their lives. This model emphasises operational frameworks and policy initiatives that prioritise safer and accessible spaces for women. The project paves the pathway to achieve spatial justice through gender-sensitive city planning and by giving agency and ownership to women towards the cities they inhabit.

Forced migration has been a significant struggle in the Netherlands, politically, socially, spatially and culturally. The costs of this struggle are paid by asylum seekers and status holders, living in uncertainty and isolation. This thesis discusses the position of Syrian status holders in the Netherlands, refugees who have obtained a residency permit to stay in the Netherlands. The aim of this thesis is to explore which role small towns play in the integration of Syrian status holders. A hypothesis was formulated that formed the basis for the fieldwork. The fieldwork consisted of site visits to two towns: Hardenberg and Dalfsen and interviews with Syrian status holders. The fieldwork provided opportunities and lessons that informed the final results. The result of this thesis is a roadmap to belonging: an overview of the factors: places, identifications, policies and collaborations, that influence the sense of belonging of Syrian status holders. A sense of belonging is defined by three dimensions: economic integration, social integration and the expression of cultural identity. Three catalysts are proposed to showcase how combining different factors results in complicated but effective strategies to improve the sense of belonging of Syrian status holders, while also offering opportunities to the host community. The catalysts concern employment, entrepreneurship, social interaction and leisure activities. This thesis provides a new view on the accommodation of newcomers, where benefits for the local society are synergized with a welcoming home for Syrian status holders.

Social cohesion is perceived to be under pressure in the Netherlands, especially in its larger cities. The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced and deepened the socio-spatial divide between vulnerable urban areas and the rest of the city, which not only affects the residents of the area and of the city, but also starts to affect the cohesion of the society as a whole. In light of the large scale spatial transitions that will also need to take place in these vulnerable urban areas, the Dutch government has issued the National Programme for Liveability and Safety, a long term, integrated and multidisciplinary urban regeneration approach to tackle the liveability, safety and social issues within the vulnerable urban areas. To achieve the overall improvement of the quality of life of the residents, it is stated in the Programme that interventions in the spatial domain should reinforce policy objectives in the social domain and vice versa. The objective of this graduation project is to explore to what extent urban design of physical public spaces in urban areas can facilitate the formation of social cohesion. To do this, literature research was conducted to define social cohesion, and to translate the concept to the local community level into specific urban design objectives. For this, the Social Cohesion Radar of the Bertelsmann Stiftung was taken apart and operationalised into requirements and a description of the ideal situation. From this, it was concluded that the design objectives consist of certain types of social interactions with specific characteristics. Furthermore, using relevant theories from environmental psychology and sociology, it was researched how the environment affects human behaviour. Combined with urban design theories the findings from the theoretical exploration and the operationalisation were used to develop a framework to analyse a physical space from the lens of social cohesion. In this analytical framework, the central point through which urban design interventions connect to social cohesion is through social interactions. Through the design of specific elements the defined social interactions could be directly facilitated, or would be facilitated via the improvement of characteristics of the space. The type of space that is analysed sets the expectations for the interactions that are likely to occur, and sets expectations for the characteristics and elements to be found there. For the implementation of the framework a guideline was developed, as well as an overview of typical settings to be found in Dutch urban areas, and a set of possible design interventions for social cohesion. The use of the framework to analyse a physical public space in an urban area should provide an urban designer with a decent understanding of the potential of the space to facilitate social cohesion, and provide the designer with possible spatial improvements. The framework provides the urban designer with an instrument to develop explicit and specific hypotheses regarding the facilitation of social cohesion through urban design.

This research project focuses on how to provide the necessary infrastructure for citizen participation systems and encourage the inhabitants to get involved in the decision-making process in the communities by developing an alternative strategic framework, which offers a step-by-step community activation system. The main location of this study is Tarwewijk, a problematic neighbourhood in Rotterdam south with a super-divers context.

Rotterdam has always been a showcase for attractive images but ignorant about developing urban impurities, by post-war being built back as an intra- and international gateway. Due to fragmentation of the spatial planning system, politicization and polarization, and a lack of depth in important political discussions, urban impurities in municipal measures express in the absence of cross understanding regarding taking care of challenging focus areas, like Bospolder-Tussendijken (BoTu) in Rotterdam. It is time to reconsider the approach. Socio-spatial character is paradoxical, while social unrest creates a lack of responsibility to sustain and maintain the (semi)public space, which causes a vicious cycle of unrest. Overstimulation with (sustainable or resilient) development plans sensitizes and therewith stigmatizes the neighbourhood. Residents are aware of this stigmatization and find themselves often in a self-fulfilling prophecy, not taking care of their surroundings. Passengers and residers move through the neighbourhood with shifting motives related to four domains of social life, living (1), labour (2), learning (3), and leisure (4). Urban planning documents are dominantly textual and theoretical, while they involve creating physical places with a practical outcome. No-boundary-botu could be the solution. By embracing asset-based community development and co-creating with the unusual suspects, an Asset Atlas could strengthen local networks and fit the needs of the different domains, aiming for true cross understanding. Through scenarios, synergies within the initiatives' network will be displayed to reclaim the (semi)public space, encourage encounters, and create safety, trust and, most important, rest.

With the rise of all-electric buildings the load on the electrical grid grows. This could slow down the energy transition and densification of existing neighbourhoods as the current grid is not capable to withstand a higher load. This research gathers literature on different peak shaving techniques to create a clear overview and investigates the impact on the load profile when techniques are combined. This new insight in combined techniques will provide a solid basis to develop a more detailed modelling tool to simulate the actual energy use and generation on a daily and annual basis. The load profiles of these techniques are combined with the existing energy demand curve to see how these techniques reduce peak loads that occur during the day. To asses the influence on the annual load curve the ZED-tool was used to simulate peak shaving techniques on a case-study building. The results show that a combination of outside insulation, sun shading and a heat pump flatten the daily and annual load profile significantly. However the implementation of east and west facing façade PV in combination with wind energy decreases the peak loads the most. Finally when all techniques are combined with a battery a building block can become not only energy neutral but almost self sufficient. These research results were developed into a design for the renovation of a post-war appartmentbuilding in Haarlem Schalkwijk. In the new design other topics like densification, flexibility and climate adaptation were addressed as well to improve the post-war neighbourhood. This design is a base for a bigger renovation strategy that could be implemented in multiple post-war neighbourhoods in the Netherlands.

This master’s thesis aims to shed light on the recent phenomenon of regional food strategies that aim for more localized food provisioning for urban and metropolitan areas. The discourse used in these strategies influences not only which stakeholders are included in the urban food governance process, but also influences the competition for urban and peri-urban space. It is imperative to highlight how discourse is used in regional food strategies and how this could potentially affect the fair use of and access to certain food resources within growing metropolitan areas. A search of current literature was done, and no research was found on how the discourse used in regional food strategies and urban food governance impacts spatial justice and food security within cities. This thesis aims to do so. A comparative case study was used as they effectively analyze and synthesize patterns across phenomenon – regional food strategies – that unfold in different places – the two metropolitan regions of Amsterdam, North Holland the Netherlands and Phoenix, Arizona in the United States of America. A triangulation of qualitative methods, including discourse analysis, were used to enhance the validity of the research design. The results revealed that both cases are characterized by fragmented governance, a lack of political urgency in addressing food system challenges, stakeholder conflict, and low to non-existent awareness of the RFSs among the public. Additionally, both cases are facing increased spatial inequalities that are effectively decreasing access to basic urban food resources.

Umm Al-Fahem is an Arab city in Israel, a city of social, geographic, historic, and political importance. Once a small village, Umm Al Fahem developed to be the third-largest Arab city in the state of Israel. It endured several hegemony stages of occupation and mandates, which shaped its socio-spatial systems through the years. The social and spatial features created a system of segregation and inaccessibility within the different scales of the city, mainly reflected in the core of the city. Therefore, given the long history of the city and its constant unplanned spatial growth, and its important cultural familial heritage, the city core gradually became impenetrable to those who do not live in it, socially and spatially. It became stagnated in order to prevent unauthorized access to it, only readable and open to those who culturally belong, resulting in the need for rejuvenation. This project’s main focus is to understand the city and its people, create intervention strategies in order to rejuvenate the core of Umm Al-Fahem to be socially integrated and spatially accessible on different scales. Through the medium of investigating the history and context of the city and proposing possible minimal and extreme spatial intervention scenarios, this project will be examining and answering the main question: ”To what extent can the socio-spatial strategies of rejuvenation make the stagnated core of Umm Al-Fahem be socially integrated and spatially accessible?”.

De Wallen is the most famous and valuable urban area for showing the body and carnal desire under the circumstance of the society going on the way of spectacle. After years of regulation, overtourism and discipline, now the over-concerntrated prostitution windows have caused both social and environmental pressure in a small historical neighbourhood. This thesis aims to demonstrate how can urban design be used to propose an intense, theoretical and experimental city model for areas like De Wallen. The research proposed a multi-scalar strategy system from theories to analysis, and finally to design to help keep prostitution industry while reconciling the social conflicts between main stakeholder. However, the comprehensiveness of design across various scales and follow-up detailed consideration still need to be improved. Toward City of Enjoyment can be a continious topic to rethink about our life sphere, public space and city!

Spartacusplan, the transportation plan for the Belgian province of Limburg from 2004, is now turned into the most extensive and ambitious bus rapid transit (BRT) project in Europe. However, the proposed vehicles and network do not correspond well to the region’s highly dispersed, poly-centric structure. Moreover, the dispersed urbanisation patterns and their adverse effects need further measures than Bouwshift to facilitate the spatial transition. The thesis explores the possible strategy for accelerating spatial transition through the interplay between urban and transportation planning. The thesis takes the lens of mobility justice by Sheller (2018), and seeks alternative paths to facilitating spatial transition without depriving accessibility on “unsuited” areas. To achieve these objectives, a multi-criteria analysis is conducted to determine the most suitable mix of elements and vehicle automation technology, and its corresponding infrastructural requirements. Trade-offs between accessibility gains through higher levels of automation and increased infrastructure are examined. Additionally, the study categorizes the potential of each location in Limburg based on criteria related to the built environment and accessibility. Through pattern language, the study resulted in urban design patterns and digital tools for transportation planning, providing practical guidance to urban designers and transportation planners for site-specific interventions across the province. The findings of this study suggest that, considering Limburg’s dispersed and poly-centric spatial structure, the higher infrastructural requirements for achieving level 4 driverless operations within Spartacuslijn are justified. Based on this model of dispersed BRT, the burden of densification can be shared with smaller cores, where the lifestyle is more aligned with rural areas. This can be achieved by providing accessibility and nodality in smaller cores through branch services connected to Spartacuslijn, offering single-seat rides to major destinations. The proposed approach and strategy presented in this thesis offer a synergetic pathway for regional planning by integrating transportation planning and urban planning. Furthermore, the insights gained from this research can potentially be applied to other parts of Flanders and to dispersed urban areas worldwide.

This thesis explores alternative spatial- and governance responses to deal with climate-induced migration as a result of slow-onset climate change in the southern California border region with Mexico. These responses will be specifically aimed to mitigate and adapt to a future that may see displacement as a result of changing environmental conditions. In order to do so, this project prioritizes an approach that addresses preparedness towards anticipating change as well as the scale- and temporal variability of the changing conditions and their impacts. This project uses Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways (DAPP) as a methodology to explore alternative future narratives that are geared towards mitigating and adapting to changing climate conditions. It defines concentrations of social- and locational vulnerability as a proxy to anticipate potential migration flows, displacement or trapped population. It then explores potentials for adaptation across scales, which are then used to formulate spatial- and policy actions. In doing this, the project looks specifically for synergies of actions that address the before defined vulnerabilities. The formulated actions are then sequenced into alternative narratives to show their impact for two different IPCC Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP’s). Finally, they are evaluated for their performance in addressing vulnerabilities related to climate-induced migration and for their applicability to the existing multi-scalar planning framework.

The challenges women encounter due to numerous disparities within social superstructures are finally finding their way into mainstream debates. Interestingly, Vienna is the first European city that has been incorporating the concept of gender mainstreaming into urban planning practices since the 1990s, by providing formal platforms for women to integrate their perspectives in the city's development. This research, however, reveals that the dialogue frequently remains trapped under the restricted label of 'feminist' or 'gender-sensitive', while it deserves a deeper, more nuanced discussion. Vienna’s top-down planning leaves little space for informal strategies and hence, abandons the voices of under-represented people, particularly within immigrant communities of Vienna’s outer districts. Therefore, this research dissects the city’s gender sensitivity using a set of conflicts revealing the dissonance between the social realities of vulnerable migrant women in one of the city’s fringe districts, Favoriten, and the efforts of female activists and the city administration. The data collected during extensive field interviews is documented through drawing as a method to showcase that women are less likely to simply ‘be’ in public space. These findings lead to proposal of a discussion-starter role-playing game, which places migrant women as central figures of planning processes. Disrupting the gendered order is a critical examination of how Vienna, the humanist city with a feminist attitude, can transcend beyond its rigid definition of formal urban planning and aim for multi-perspective emancipation, subsequently redefining gender mainstreaming worldwide.

Projected rapid urbanization in African cities is posed to put immense pressure on existing neoliberal urban planning strategies as practised in primary cities and metropolitan regions across Sub-Saharan Africa. This is despite the visible shortcomings of these neoliberal urban development models in delivering the required human development alongside economic growth, specifically for majority of the urban residents in African cities - the urban poor. The political, external agency of cities to global economies at the expense of the internal cultural-economic capacities of local communities continues to propagate inequality, with the urban poor being the most affected by these unjust systems. Continued rural-urban migration, and the growth of the peripheries in urban areas, has seen reduced productivity in traditional integrated agroecological lifestyles and this is unfortunately happening against weakened industrial and manufacturing industries within local urban contexts while propagating a producer-service industry that has fewer opportunities for the rapidly increasing vulnerable populations. The witnessed result of this for the urban peripherals is a growing impermanence of urban lifestyles and the persistence of rural-urban links, as not only escapes from the terror of rigid developmental states mindsets, but also as crucial links for producer-consumer relationships in the splintered regional food system. Unfortunately, the current governance impetus is the propagation of neoliberal models of modernization and gentrification of the urban poor, putting a strain on this crucial cross territorial relationships that sustain urban life. This rural-urban relationships therefore begin to expose the urgent need for reconciling production and consumption landscapes within sustainable city-region governance and planning practices in order to advocate for just urbanisation processes that caters to all populations. This research, critically analyses the symbiotic relationship between the current informal urbanisation structures prevalent in primary cities through the case study of Nairobi, and specifically within the peripherals, and their culturaleconomic identities associated with rural-urban transitory patterns. This investigation makes an attempt to reconnect the future of Kenyan urbanisation to social-cultural production capacities and processes as advocated by critical spatial production and governance literature. Through the main stay of Kenya’s economy - agriculture- and the critical need for sustainable transitions in agricultural and urbanisation systems, we suggest a reconciliation between the emerging social movement of agroecological urbanism at a city-region scale and the adaptiveness of prevalent cultural-economic rural-urban relationships, to suggest a regional, inclusive and adaptive approach to planning practice and governance.

“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.

The large demand for homes in the province of Zuid-Holland, population growth and urbanisation result in a huge demand for raw materials to be used in the construction sector. The next 20 years many new buildings will have to be built to support current trends. Given the fact that 50 percent of all extracted non-renewable resources is accounted by the construction sector, a shift towards a bio-based circular system is necessary. In the province Zuid-Holland, one of the fastest growing urban areas within the Netherlands, there is a missing link between circular initiatives, knowledge and data. The question that comes up is; how can a symbiosis of stakeholders and resources contribute to a circular construction sector? An analysis of the current situation of stakeholders and flows of resources has been made and potential spatial conflicts were understood. Whereafter the analysis of trends and requirements to transition into a circular construction sector has been made. This results in a new understanding of the spatial structure of the province, focussing on the use of waterways as a backbone to support the transition. This will lead to circular neighbourhoods connected by the water. With Flux we try to reform the current construction sector into a circular one by the year of 2050, while taking into account social and spatial justice. The shift to this new structure, supported by the waterways, can facilitate a change to a circular construction sector. Besides this it will also give the Province a new identity and structural element for future improvements toward a circular economy, lifting the idea of circularity to a territorial level.

The Netherlands exported in 2017 for 91,7 billion euros and exported for even more: 62,6 billion euros(CBS, 2018). This shows the big agri-food fl ows in which the Netherlands is involved. Sadly, these global fl ows have a big impact on economic, social and environmental sustainability worldwide. For example, transport causes many emissions, there is an unfair economic system that keeps farmers trappedand there is a lot of environmental damage. This is a situation that needs to change, but the Netherlands is also very dependent on the economy that the worldwide trade brings. This shows the problemthat South Holland is dealing with: The Netherlands is too much economic dependent on its agri-foodimport and export fl ows and is thereby causing economic, social and environmental sustainability challenges.This report proposes to DownScale international agri-food fl ows and Scale-Up a regional food system.The import and export fl ows are limited to only the European Union while food hubs and knowledgenetworks contribute to a system in which local food consumption and participation are important values. Waste, water and CO2 systems contribute to a circular approach of these DownScaled fl ows andthe production of seaweed helps to change the diet which is necessary to make a DownScaled systempossible. The report is supported by a sustainability triangle resulting from the nested sustainabilitymodel, the R-ladder of sustainability and the X-curve for a sustainable transition. A toolkit of interventions is designed as a strategy to achieve the vision goals. With DownScale-Up a new circular economywith DownScaled international fl ows and a Scaled-Up regional food system, is created by 2050. CBS (2018), De Nederlandse Landbouwexport, retrieved in March 2021, from https://edepot.wur.nl/434974#:~:text=%E2%80%94%20De%20export%20van%20landbouwgoederen1)%20wordt,1%20miljard%20euro%20in%202017