The trend of rapid urbanisation, a global phenomenon, is very prominent in Bangladesh and leads to the expansion of existing cities. Sylhet, a city in the north-east of the country, has been expanding in the past decades and can be expected to grow further, as it is still in the beginning of its urbanisation process. As these developments will affect the currently adjacent rural areas, this project was developed to answer the following question: How can rural areas of Sylhet be transformed according to the trend of rural-urban transition while maintaining crucial living qualities of rural populations? In proposing a housing scheme which can adapt over time to the increasing density of the area, this project aims to create a pilot project which can guide the future urban development of Sylhet City during the process of its expansion. ... Read more

As a result of extended urbanization caused by the expansion of urban activities to the periphery and beyond and in-situ urbanization in rural areas, many peri-urban areas with a mix of agricultural and non-agricultural activities have emerged in Liaoning, which can be described as ‘desakota’. These widely distributed desakota are neglected in planning, leading to marginalization and socio-ecological degradation, and the socio-ecological systems of desakota are further affected by urban shrinkage. Therefore, desakota in Liaoning cannot innovate and transform into a desirable future in the shrinking context.

Socio-ecological systems are dynamic and unpredictable (Berkes, 2017). Traditional planning can only partially cope with it (Balducci et al, 2011) while adaptive planning provides more flexibility and adaptivity. Adaptive planning can enhance socio-ecological resilience in desakota from both spatial and institutional dimensions. Building on socio-ecological resilience, these areas increase the potential to provide socio-ecological values to the megaregion.

Therefore, in the context of shrinkage, this study aims to investigate how socio-ecological resilience can be built in peri-urban areas through adaptive planning, with attention to spatial and institutional dimensions, to counter socio-ecological degradation and achieve integrated development. ... Read more

The increasing demand for critical raw materials like lithium, essential for clean energy technologies, presents both opportunities and challenges. Portugal, with Europe’s largest lithium reserves, faces resistance to establishing lithium mines in the Norte region due to insufficient citizen support and concerns about socio-environmental impacts. This thesis addresses the need for a comprehensive spatial strategy that guides the region’s transition from an extractivist lithium economy to a circular post-extractivist mode, while considering socio-environmental vulnerabilities and broader economic impacts.
The research involved developing a spatial strategy that integrates facilities for lithium extraction, processing, battery production, and recycling. Incorporating insights from analyzing the region’s conditions, the metabolic and spatial footprint of each facility in the supply chain, and proposing strategic locations for the facilities and their supporting and infrastructural systems. The strategy is designed to support both the extractivist and post-extractivist states, ensuring sustainable long-term development.
The key findings demonstrate that the proposed strategy effectively minimizes the nuisances of the extractive operations while supporting conditions for a circular post-extractivist state. In the extractivist state, facilities are efficiently located for lithium extraction, processing, and exportation. In the post-extractivist state are infrastructures repurposed for bio-based economies and lithium recycling, while promoting circularity and reducing reliance on new raw material extraction. The strategy enhances Europe’s independence in lithium supply, strengthens Portugal’s role in achieving green transition goals, fosters long-term circular development in the Norte region, and supports conditions in the Alto Tamega subregion for a circular bio-based economy that helps remediate the mining landscape, while connecting to the local economy and cultural identity, as well as creating additional income for these rural areas.
The findings show the set of key interventions – including urban development for (temporary) worker accommodations, infrastructural reinforcement and development, change in cultivation patterns, water and energy infrastructure development, and industrial development – that are necessary to shape the conditions that support both states. These set of interventions could inspire other European countries to establish the necessary extractivist landscapes progressively, ensuring circular long-term development. However, the thesis recommends, that future elaboration is necessary on engaging with local communities and refining the strategy through participatory methods to ensure successful implementation. ... Read more

Portscapes are one of the most important hubs in the global economic system that facilitate the movement of goods and shape the socio-economic conditions of their surroundings. However, in times of climate change, they face unprec- edented challenges to completely transform their current ways of operating and fully reduce their contribution to a linear economy and socio-spatial injustice. These challenges go far beyond purely economic considerations and calls for a closer analysis of their current spatial impacts and system flows.

Despite their significance, the spatial effects of Portscapes and their role in a shift towards sustainability and circularity is rarely the main focus of urban and regional design efforts. Drawing upon key theories such as circularity, decentralisation, socio-spatial justice, and sustainable land use, our approach involves a multidisciplinary analysis of ports and Portscapes in the Eurodelta portlandscape in North-Western Europe. Through analysis we have identified the different functioning of portscapes, the stakeholders they encompass and the spatial dynamics shaping ports, Portscapes and Port Landscapes.

Our goal is to develop a strategy for the future of the European Portscape after a successful transition towards circular and just development to create a sustainable Eurodelta. This is achieved through a set of five objectives; integrating the ports, Portscapes and portlandscapes; increasing the resource efficiency of Portscapes; regenerating Portscapes for humans and nature; embracing technological innovation; facilitating a socially just transition.

The spatial implications of these five objectives should not be neglected, and our strategy outlines what changes need to happen and when. In four Phases of spatial interventions and regulatory frameworks, we propose to build a just and truly circular Portscape, in harmony with the Eurodelta Port Landscape.

This report holds key implications for both academia and practice, as further light is being shed on the spatial dynamics of Portscapes and potential transition pathways. By understanding the interplay of ports with their surrounding environments better, policymakers, urbanists and other related stakeholders can make informed decisions that promote sustainability and resilience. Ultimately, our efforts regarding the creation of more sustainable Portscapes contribute to broader (global) goals of addressing climate change, promoting socio-spatial justice and ensuring inclusive development.
... Read more

With the ongoing impact of climate change on inhabitation patterns in the Netherlands, the region of Gelderland will play a crucial role in accommodating a growing population while facing ecological and socio-economic pressures. Proper planning and design practices that prioritize long-term resilience are necessary to prevent the loss of opportunities and qualities in Gelderland. This design project aims to offer an alternative pathway for the future by identifying opportunities outside of the highly vulnerable Randstad region and envisioning potential developments in safer areas. Through the study of urban form across different scales, time frames, and scenarios, the project combines the concepts of resilience and densification, benefiting both Gelderland and the Netherlands as a whole.

The project centres around the shared framework of space in response to the uncertainties that we are faced with. Though these uncertainties impact various processes and elements within complex systems, the spatial conditions of a location play a crucial role in determining the functioning of the systems that are embedded within it. Recognizing the significance of (the alteration of) space offers an opportunity to address processes on different layers and promote resilience in a holistic manner.

By categorizing areas based on potentials and vulnerabilities, and employing different scenarios, the research identifies suitable locations for densification and develops strategies for improving connectivity, efficiency, modularity, redundancy, and diversity in urban environments. The multiscalar approach involves diverse and phased developments to answer to the pressure on space. By designing with higher densities with resilience as a starting point, urban environments can benefit from the transformation and the negative effects of climate change and densification can be mitigated. ... Read more

Currently, the building industry is complicit in resource depletion, excessive CO2 emissions (38% globally (UN Environment Programme, 2020)) and the nitrogen crisis. This contributes to negative changes on a global scale, such as climate change and biodiversity loss.

Using wood as a dominant building material would have a positive effect on these problems. The Netherlands used to produce wood on a large scale, but a shift in the functions that forests had to accommodate caused production to become secondary.

Currently, there is no circular system in the Netherlands in which landscapes produce materials that can be used in the common building industry on a local scale.

The main goal for this project is to show a future in which the production of wood and the forests that go with it play a central role in our day to day landscapes. This will be done by answering the research question: “How can a sustainable and multifunctional production forest be designed in the Netherlands?”
The current nitrogen crisis and the expected buy-out of farmers who run intensive cattle farms around Natura 2000 areas, will be used as a starting point for the design location.

The outcome shows three types of production forests that differ in accommodating five aspects that are valued in forests: production, recreation, biodiversity, climate resilience and experience of landscape. This way a new idea can be formed on how forests can be productive, while also providing space for animals and humans in the Netherlands. The design is tested on sand soil in Hattem, but could be applied to any agricultural land.

The discussion elaborates on the reason why production forests are not planted on a large scale to provide a circular material producing system. Taking into account: the current relationship between humans and materials, the difficulty of circular thinking due to the complexity of current systems, the long-term thinking that has disappeared in our culture and the unpredictability of the future due to rapid global changes. ... Read more

The Dutch government has published the circular economy goal, which aims to reduce 50% consumption of raw materials by 2030 and realize full circularity by 2050. The goal leads the promotion of the sustainability development, particularly, on improving the resilience of the self-sufficient material supply chain in the Dutch economy. As one of the largest raw material consumers, the construction sector has urgent demand on the solution towards building circularity, which mainly indicates as increasing the use of secondary materials, and reducing the demolition and construction waste. Accordingly, the municipality of Leiden takes the leading role of circular transition, and seeks for the practical solution in construction sector at the local scale.
The circular construction hub is brought out as an effective solution to the building material circularity transition. A series conceptual development and a few pilot projects in Utrecht and Amsterdam were established, the effectiveness is proved by the promising results of transportation reduction, and recycling rate improvement.
Regardless numbers of the studies on the building material flow analysis and the development of the hubs in various forms, limited discussion of practical information for local hubs’ development is provided, and little quantitative analysis of the implementation of the circular construction hub was conducted. Decision making for the intermediate steps in the transition towards building material circularity, therefore, has little referencing information.
Hence, this research proposes the main research question as: How will the circular construction hub support the transition of building material circularity in the cities of the Netherlands? In order to explore the formation and the influence of the circular construction hub in city with the case study of Leiden. The research firstly specifies the formation of the hub by desk research; then quantifies the urban mining potential and handling capacity of the hub by Material Flow Analysis (MFA); then the suitability analysis of the hub’s location is provided by the Geographical Information System (GIS) based on the transportation emission (CO2 eq kg).
The research aims to draw a comprehensive understanding on the metabolic characteristics of building material flows with implementation of the circular construction hub, and provide a referencing value for municipality’s decision making on developing the hub in city Leiden, and further development in the cities of the Netherlands.
... Read more

The project aims to answer the following research question: How can the Dutch 80’s neighbourhood be densified in terms of housing and nature while enhancing and preserving in- and extrinsic values (if present) by taking the neighbourhood Hoptille as case study? Hoptille (1980) is a neighbourhood in Amsterdam Zuid-Oost and was a reaction against the Bijlmer high-rise flats. The area consists of a mid-rise, 300 meter long building, several low-rise row housing and two large parking garages. After 40 years is it well over due for a renovation/transformation. Hoptille was research through stakeholder research, risk assessments, and several analyses. This research was the base for the program and goals for the neighbourhood. The project itself takes the international and the national context to address the local situation. This is done through a threefold approach to explore the many opportunities within the area, low intensity renovation, high intensity transformation, and demolish-new build. During the design process, the emphasise was laid on sustainable development, particularly the enhancement of biodiversity. ... Read more

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. ... Read more

This thesis explores possible transformations of peri-urban areas in the Jing-Jin-Ji megaregion (China) in order to improve the region’s performance in terms of environmental and social sustainability. Peri-urbanity in East-Asia - or Desakota, a term coined by Terry McGee in the 1990s - can be conceptualized as a combination of easing urban agglomerations and different forms of rural transformation. Being bypassed by economic metropolitan structures, it forms a diffuse mix of agricultural, industrial, and residential patches. Dramatic levels of air pollution and the loss of agricultural land threaten environmental and social structures. What was once called the hinterland has lost its original function. The shortcomings of spatial planning practices and regional governance should be counteracted by readjusted principles of urbanism. It is hypothesized that integration and compactness can be suitable tools to contribute to the sustainable development of megaregions, if they adapt to the complexities and scales posed by mega-regionalization. This hypothesis is explored through in-depth analyses on multiple scales and their translation into (design) strategies. European case studies help to make transitions between well-known icons of regional planning and design, and the unknowns of the Chinese megaregion. The methodology lays out an agenda that leads to three concrete outcomes. Firstly, the “Desakota Dilemmas” clarify the difficulties of balancing environmental and social concerns. Secondly, the “Desakota Strategies” present proposals for alternative forms of peri-urbanization that are based on the diversity of village communities and the detailed analysis of spatial pre-conditions. Thirdly, the “Jing-Jin-Ji Planning Framework” synthesizes the outcomes of analysis and design, and presents recommendations that advocate for a type of regional planning that is based on collective action, multi-scalar cooperation, and the recognition of uncertainty. ... Read more

Problem statement – As a result of the increasing world population, use of raw materials and energy, scarcity of the raw materials and the pressure on the environment, a transition to the concept of a circular economy has become more urgent. Since the Dutch government has the ambition to be fully circular in 2050, the concept of a circular economy is more and more linked to area development in the Netherlands. As a result, existing inner-city production areas are, partly because of urbanization, being transformed through a circular design approach into residential and commercial areas. However, due to these transformations, production processes disappear from areas, which in fact makes the areas less circular because the circular functioning in the areas is no longer included. Hence it can be questioned in what extent contemporary circular area developments are actually circular, or whether these circular area developments only consist of a circularly designed area that does not take into account the circular functioning of the area. Objective – The main objective of this research is to understand how circular functioning can be taken into account in the development of circular areas. Based on the understanding of how the circular functioning of an area is or is not taken into consideration during circular area development, recommendations will be drawn up. The research question that is answered: ‘’Which recommendations can contribute to an area development with regard to the circular functioning of an area?’’. Methods – The research process is divided in three parts. First of all, a literature review has been carried out to collect information in order to gain an understanding and insights about circular area development. Secondly, a case study and several interviews are conducted in order to gain insights of what criteria the recommendations should suffice to with the aim of improving the circular functioning of an area during a circular area development. Thirdly, an expert panel is held to validate draft recommendations to ultimately formulate final conclusions and recommendations. Results – The results of this research show that circular area development consists of a circularly designed environment and a circularly functioning environment, in which the use of resources and energy is minimized by closing, slowing down and narrowing cycles. In addition, a circular area consists of as much local production and transactions as possible, creating opportunities for the highest possible reuse of products, materials and resources. Further findings claim that area development can significantly change an area's program. As a consequence of an increasing program, material consumption and waste generation increase within an area. It can therefore be argued that, with regard to the circular functioning of an area undergoing an area development, more processing of materials and waste should take place as locally as possible. Conclusion – Several recommendations have been identified in this study that can be divided into three categories. First, overarching recommendations focus on (1) the specific formulation of guidelines for achieving sustainable and circular objectives and (2) stimulating innovations during area developments. Second, the focus should be on creating both a circularly designed area and a circularly functioning area during area development. This category consists primarily of rethinking the development plans, by analysing the current situation in the area and assessing how the current built environment, infrastructure and established activities can contribute to a circular economy. Subsequently, the following five aspects can be applied: (1) circular criteria for land issues and tenders, (2) design and build according to circular principles, (3) new forms of financial value assessment, (4) introducing flexibility in the existing zoning plan, and (5) stimulating local partnerships to close cycles. The third category, monitor, evaluate and improve, serves to assess whether the sustainable and circular objectives of an area development are achieved and, if possible, to make adjustments to improve the sustainability and circularity of an area. This category consists of the following six components to monitor, analyse and improve: (1) incoming and outgoing flows in an area, (2) existing and future raw materials in an area, (3) energy consumption of an area, (4) climate adaptation of an area, (5) health and well-being of residents in an area, and (6) local economy. Discussion – COVID-19 broke out during the research process. On the one hand, this created obstacles for the research: respondents were often not available for interviews. Nevertheless, all questions previously drafted in the protocols have been answered. On the other hand, the coronavirus outbreak has shown that the circular economy principle is more topical than ever, in which port cities in particular should focus more on less volatile manufacturing industries rather than international processes. As a result, countries will be less dependent on international processes and besides, the total number of international transactions will reduce. This given is in line with the principle of a circular economy. Moreover, the focus on less volatile manufacturing industries of port cities will eventually create new job opportunities for local residents. In other words, bringing (re)consumption and (re)production back or closer to port cities not only contributes to the ecological aspect, but also to the local economy. ... Read more

Sustainable urban planning aims to decrease the ecological footprint of cities while maintaining or increasing social welfare, however it does not consider limits to economic growth and therefore undermines its own ambition. The upcoming field of degrowth offers a theoretical answer to this dilemma but the degrowth lens has only scarcely been applied to existing cities and the field of urban planning. This thesis addresses these gaps by exploring to what extent a growth mindset underpins planning in the city of Amsterdam and what the need and potential for degrowth could be in sustainable urban planning for the city’s future. The qualitative research design includes a document analysis of degrowth proposals for urban planning, a historical analysis of urban planning focusing on degrowth precedents and finally interviews with respondents related to sustainable urban planning and degrowth. This study shows there is an urgent necessity for a degrowth approach in sustainable urban planning in Amsterdam which currently does not sufficiently address issues of global and long-term social and environmental impact. Degrowth can address these issues with a broad pallet of proposals from the planning process itself, to the design of public space and large economic policy changes. This study provides an overview of these degrowth proposals for sustainable urban planning but also shows that a degrowth implementation faces big obstacles. The study concludes that an example project such as the re-localization of the food system of Amsterdam can be a valuable showcase for a degrowth approach in sustainable urban planning. ... Read more

The unprecedented major scale and rapid rate of urban growth put an increasing pressure on natural resources for providing energy, materials, and food- and nutrition security. Likewise, an alarming major increase can be witnessed in the generation of food waste (FW) in urban areas. While megacities contribute to 6.7% of the global population, 12.6% of global waste disposal can be attributed to them1. 30 to 50% of produced food is never consumed, and FW constitutes 25 to 30% of municipal solid waste in high-income countries which is expected to grow 35% until 20252. One of these high-income, highly urbanized areas is the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (AMA), where the related impacts of FW treatment create important environmental and socio-economic challenges that demand optimisation in terms of reduced environmental impacts and enhanced resource recovery. The AMA poses an interesting case study with high ambitions for a circular economy in relation to organic and biobased resources, yet a comprehensive regional strategy for circular and sustainable FW waste treatment remains uncomposed, while effective FW prevention does not emerge. Especially with regard to techniques that obtain more high-value, circular products as aimed for by the Dutch government. Only few studies investigate these high-value techniques, and more importantly lack to demonstrate the role of governance in the socio-technical transition that is required, and the impact it has on the main actors in the current system, as it requires a change from a systems perspective. Therefore, this research applies a two-dimensional nexus governance approach specific to the context of three high-value valorisation techniques in the AMA that use fermentation technologies for fatty acids production (i.e. Chaincraft for feed additives, Amsterdam Green Campus for food additives, and the FABULOUS-project for bioplastics). It investigates how these technologies could contribute to more circular and sustainable FW valorisation. This is respectively analysed by means of a socio-technical analysis and social network analysis, including a baseline study of available FW flows and an environmental assessment (EA) of the investigated technologies. ... Read more

Policymakers and literature have expressed the need for a visual and tangible manner of mapping circular value, the progress towards a fully circular economy and the presence of materials (material passport) in public space. Several initiatives exist for the measurement of circular progress. However, none have explicitly aimed towards the urban public space yet. Also, the most promising frameworks have shown to run into technical and organisational issues that make them impracticable. This has resulted in the goal: To develop actionable knowledge on performance measurement of the ecological and economic impact of the end of life phase in regional public asset management by developing a framework and identifying the technical and organisational barriers for implementation of these circularity parameters. A framework for performance measurement has been set up consisting of category characteristics, economic- and ecological parameters. These indicators provide a holistic image of the current end of life asset management practice. Data availability has been identified as a major issue in performance measurement frameworks that were discussed before. Therefore, the developed framework aims to assist in identifying these data gaps, their cause and proposal of a solution to aid the implementation of the end of life phase in local asset management. ... Read more

This research aims to test how energy could be used in landscape and then in which means energy landscape could solve the social and cultural issues.
The energy transition is a spatial issue because it is forms of sustainable energy inherently entail new demands on space. A regional spatial vision on energy, based on which issues like landscape integration can be coordinated shortly, is called for. Parkstad Limburg currently is described as the fastest growing tourist destination in The Netherlands. It is a region full of contrasts and extremes. This place located in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands, with an estimated 2017 population of 245109 and consists of eight municipalities. It covers a total area of 211 km², with a population density of 1,161 per square kilometers. This region used to be known as the Eastern Mining Area. Around 1900, the formerly agricultural area rapidly developed as the epicenter of Dutch coal mining. In 1965, the Dutch national government decided to close the state mines. Most former mining complexes were demolished and replaced by natural areas, parks or housing areas, but the old miners hardly profited from those new jobs, so the city began to shrink. It is fascinating when the landscape is a tool to deal with a social and economic problem. My main interest in this Lab is energy flow in a landscape. In a large scale perspective, shrinkage is an inevitable stage and does not mean passive; While in the sight of Parkstad scale, it is a shame to losing both the identity and population. It is thought-provoking as a landscape architect to rethink about what will landscape act in this procedure and what will Parkstad benefit from. The energy transition is a spatial issue because it is forms of sustainable energy inherently entail new demands on space. To do energy-conscious spatial planning, and achieve synergies in such a complicated place, the questions are invited for: What are the energy-conscious spatial strategies, to integrate with energy sinks, urban green network, and differentiation of niches, to facilitate sustainable energy landscape design to improve environmental quality in Parkstad? With this research question, I come up with three strategies for the whole Parkstad region, based on the existing problems on a big scale. They are a green grid strategy, energy flow strategy, and spatial composition strategy. These three strategies are parallel and correlated in some respects, for example, social and cultural activities. It is a challenge as the complexity of this area but makes the intervention approach more interesting. And how to achieve a delicate balance between the synergistic effect and trade-off is my primary task and research orientation. ... Read more

Despite its small size Luxembourg has made a name for itself, even on a global level. This has to do with the importance of its financial centre, and, above all, with the country’s morally questionable tax principles. Which makes Luxembourg hit the headlines regularly. Renowned for its growing economy, stable political situation and a general high standard of living, to many Luxembourg might seem to be the ideal country. This is also reflected by Luxembourg’s continuous and rapid population growth, caused almost exclusively by immigration. In addition, massive commuter flows, and the related rising resource consumption cause major problems in the national territory (e.g. traffic jams, air pollution, excessive resource consumption). Due to these challenging conditions and the specific geography, Luxembourg constitutes an exceptional case study. In search of innovative solutions, this design and research project shows the possibilities for resource efficient planning by exploring the concept of transit-oriented development. With my thesis, I aim to analyse how resource efficiency can be achieved on a regional scale through important changes in current spatial development strategies. And thus, turn Luxembourg into ’smart Luxembourg’, a productive economic space, an ecologically sustainable society and a role model in resource management for other European countries. In particular, Luxembourg’s spatial configuration and its population adaptability can be advantageous in the process of becoming a laboratory for regional innovation. ... Read more

The continuously increasing population within cities imposes the future challenges related to planning and managing the sustainable environment, where people’s health and wellbeing is prioritized. Currently more than half of the world’s population live in cities which results in the rise of the human footprint, affecting the local climate. Simultaneously the planet’s climate is changing towards less predictable weather conditions with high extremes, e.g., heavy rainfalls, followed by long dry periods or severe heatwaves. Frequently extreme weather conditions are associated with flooding and hurricanes, while heatwaves represent an equally important danger for the health of city’s citizens.
UHI has been recognized as one of the leading environmental issues of the 21st century. The UHI is defined as the area within a city with the higher surface or air temperatures compared to its surroundings. The higher urban temperatures are resulting in health-related issues among the population, greater energy demands, and various economic losses. Thus, the current work is focusing on researching the air temperatures in the urban canopy layer, which are mainly affected by the heat radiated from the urban surfaces during the night. Moreover, there are differences in the heat exchange phases between the neighborhoods, which are caused by the heterogenicity of the morphological characteristics of the city. Such information can be of great use for the development of UHI mitigation strategies, but it is currently very sparse or not detailed enough. Therefore this master thesis investigates the possibility for generation of more detailed models, taking into account the intraurban variability. For the development of the statistical models explaining the UHI effect in the city of the Hague different spatial and sensor datasets have been used. The data about the temperatures in the city for 2017 have been collected with the means of the Netatmo weather stations. Additionally, different spatial representations and their effect on the statistical analysis have been investigated. In combination with the different spatial models, six distinct UHI contributing factors have been researched, namely the Buildings density, the Land cover index, the Vegetation index, the Sky View Factor, the Non-permeable surfaces in the city and the Vehicle traffic density. These variables have been calculated and utilized in the statistical analysis of their relationship with the air temperatures in the Hague. The results indicated a weak relationship between the air temperatures and the different spatial characteristics of the city where only the Sky View Factor and the Non-permeable surfaces proved to be statistically significant variables. ... Read more

The worldwide trends of depleting natural resources and increasing generation of waste create challenges concerning the development and growth of our cities. Urban growth is enforcing these trends, resulting in growing problems and reaching limitations to the growth of our economies. In this thesis, these worldwide trends will be challenged in the city of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The concept of circular economy is used to improve residential waste collection and treatment to close loops and reduce environmental impact. Amsterdam is a fast growing city and has many spatial challenges related to this growth. A new more integrated system for residential waste treatment and collection is needed. In this way, the city can live up to its high circular ambitions and reach their set goals in a short time frame. To conquer these challenges, a link between circular economy and urban design is made. Circular concepts can now be translated to urban systems, creating possibilities for urban integration. In this way, circular economy becomes part of the city, interacts with other systems and circular economy evolves in a economic, social and environmental concept which contributes to sustainable development of our cities in the future. The circular proposals are integrated in Amsterdam, taking into account the great diversity in urban forms and possible connections to existing systems. This all results in a list of recommendations for the municipality on how to improve their vision and continue with their circular ambitions. The main recommendations concluded from this research are:

1. Waste treatment and collection should connect to existing urban systems, creating more support and integration within daily lives.

2. Circular economy does not have just a economic value. Circular waste treatment can contribute to the city, strengthen communities and improve living quality .

3. The value of circular waste treatment needs to experienced by the residents themselves. It will contribute to the motivation and will support a change in disposal behaviour.

4. Separate waste collection should be available for all the residents of Amsterdam. It will require large investments in some parts of the city. However, by making clever use of existing structures, improvement can be made fast and without tremendous costs. ... Read more

Precise and comprehensive knowledge about 3D urban space, critical infrastructures, and below ground features is required for simulation and analysis in the fields of urban and environmental planning, city administration and disaster management. In order to facilitate these applications, geo-information about functional, semantic, and topographic aspects of urban features, their mutual dependencies and relations are needed. Substantial work has been done in the modeling and representation of above ground features in the context of 3D city modelling by means of CityGML. However, the below ground part of the real world, of which utility networks form a big part, is often neglected in 3D city models. At the same time, several existing utility network data models exist. These are, however, commonly tailored to a specific domain and not suitable for the integrated modeling and representation of utility networks and city objects in 3D urban space

This research proposes a 3D data modeling approach for integrated management of below ground utility networks features (viz. electricity and sewer) and related above ground city objects (viz. streetlights and manhole covers). The data modeling approach is successfully examined by implementing relationships between 1) the below ground electricity network and above ground streetlights and 2) between the sewer network and the above ground manhole covers.

Having existing utility network data and city objects as input, a file in CityGML Utility Network ADE format is created. The manipulation of the data structure and content, according the proposed data modeling approach, is completed in FME. The output CityGML dataset allows interoperability but may become very large and objects may be arbitrarily nested leading to complex data structures. Therefore carefully optimized database schemas are required that enables efficient storage, management and data access of the CityGML data. The object-oriented CityGML data model, including the Utility Network ADE, is mapped to a relational database by means of the 3DCityDB. Subsequently, the CityGML data is inserted into the derived relational database. Several relevant (network) analyses are performed by querying the designed relational database. It shows the possibility to simulate what network features are affected by e.g. a utility strike by means of pgRouting and visualization in a GIS.

This research made one of the first attempts to thoroughly model existing utility network data and city objects according the CityGML Utility Network ADE. Following are further research that could optimize the proposed data modeling approach for better decision making in the field of asset management:

- Modeling multiple different utility networks and city objects
- Modeling in a higher LoD
- Detailing the CityGML Utility Network ADE classes and use
- Better investigating on more types of analyses
- Implementing larger datasets
- Implementing datasets with a different accuracy
- Exporting a CityGML file from the relational database
- Better investigating on visualization of the data
- Investigating on how to model different types of relationships ... Read more

This report describes the design of the REPAiR website: www.h2020repair.eu. The website is above all intended to provide a principal channel for dissemination and exploitation thus tailored for the purpose of external communication. The project website contains principal information about the project, its objectives, publishable results, list of partners and events, and copies of public deliverables and any documents that are declared as public by the consortium. Website contains subscription for newsletter as well as links to REPAiR’s profile on easily accessible commonly known and recognised social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Research Gate and Academia.edu). The website is set up and administered by the IGiPZ. ... Read more