This thesis reflects on the exclusion of refugees and other migrants from mobility in border space. The research suggests that, while society is becoming increasingly mobile, refugees and other ‘undesired movers’ are excluded from the otherwise unrestricted possibilities to move that have been established across national borders. Following the integration of spatial and social mobility as described by Vincent Kaufmann, it is suggested that enhancing the potentiality to be mobile for all can improve equal access to opportunities for people in border space. The thesis proposes an urban design strategy for the area along the Como (IT) – Chiasso (CH) border. The design moves away from nation-oriented planning, in which borders are seen as in-between spaces that should be crossed as efficiently as possible, towards a cosmopolitan perspective on planning and design as described by Ulrich Beck. The nation state is put forward as a malleable social construct that urban planners and designers should challenge, by planning and designing for various, hybrid territories that overlap, rather than for a singular national territory. The proposal puts forward border space as an integrative space that can accommodate inclusive mobility (i.e. to establish equitable access to opportunities by securing people’s potentiality to be mobile). Migration is framed as a permanent temporality and design measures are adapted to this notion. Three main design ambitions are experimented with through research by design: the development of affordable housing, diverse public spaces and slow traffic networks. Each of these interventions are expected to contribute to the liveability of border areas as well as access to social and economic opportunities, both for people who currently benefit from border crossing, as well as for those who are stuck in isolated places. To further highlight certain themes, two zoom-in projects explore the themes of designing an adaptive plan, flexible to various futures, and the theme of refugee integration. The first theme is researched through the development of a landscape in place of a current customs area. To research the second theme, a small scale refugee community is integrated into the urban border space envisioned. The ‘camp’ is designed according to the principles of incremental urbanism, meaning that the inhabitable spaces are designed to grow in quality over time and to form the foundation of what will later be part of the interwoven urban fabric.

Proposal for a new neighbourhood in the city of Eindhoven, with a particular focus on one of its residential blocks.

This thesis challenges the overly-simplistic (and economically-driven) responses to urban loneliness offered by convenience-oriented modes of co-living, and responds with a workable alternative that seeks to embed a more-intuitive hierarchy of values. Spaces not just for pro-social activities, but also for passive interactions (“soft edges”) and personal privacy are therefore embedded in the design from its earliest stage. At its heart, the project celebrates and provides a framework for the development of user-appropriated, restorative environments. This is achieved through creating a mosaic of "pockets" of space; a fixed patchwork of varied characteristics designed to “kick-start” the process of user-appropriation. At the centre of each dwelling, the ornamental embedding of architectural “hardware” empowers its users with a customisable layout; to exercise choice and control in how they wish to connect or withdraw from fellow residents. In material terms, each central unit also acts as an “identity anchor”; providing each dwelling with its own powerful sense of individuality. Applied at larger scales, this combination of general coherency and individual identity, ingrained within a wider mosaic of varied qualities, establishes the forms of space required for successful “opt-in” interactions. Through this, the project seeks to invert the commonly-accepted narrative of scrutinised solitude and forced togetherness to one of restorative solitude and wilful togetherness.