Social life in a modern city is conditioned by long-established traditions, cultural codes, and patterns of human behavior. Such aspects will be individual for almost any city since their formation takes place over long periods. A similar activator of social life in London is the beer culture – a complex ritual chain that has lost one of the most important constituent element – the brewery as a typology. As a result, the brewery lost its architectural identity and its place of honor in the city. The central issue addressed in this study is the search for the reasons why the brewery typology has lost its architectural identity in recent years and whether it is possible to rethink the identity of the typology as an approach to design.
The number of new London breweries is growing inexorably. Over the past ten years, it has increased more than ten times, which indicates that the beer culture has experienced a new understanding, and broader demand for the consumption of this product has formed in society. However, due to the comparative youth of the new format and approach to beer culture and its economic uncertainty, it has not yet been architecturally formed. Hence, it exists in a format of technological adaptation rather than an independent typology.
The primary method in the study is the analysis of historical and cultural analogs, and as a result, their comparison with the brewery in different qualities, such as typology, program, function, urban fabric, etc. Using this induction method, we get the necessary conclusions, which are subsequently transformed into specific architectural approaches and rules required to create a new identity of the brewery typology and a new fragment of the urban fabric in heterogeneous London. ... Read more

With the development of the social economy, the traditional urban work and rest pattern of working during the day and resting at night has gradually changed. The night-time economy has become a new engine for urban regeneration, economic growth and cultural creation.The growth of tourism in Amsterdam has also benefited from its inclusive and prosperous night-time economy. However, the agglomeration of the nightlife industry in Amsterdam's city center results in a rise in noise, crime, and antisocial behavior, which triggers a backlash from residents. As a current countermeasure adopted by the municipality, state-led gentrification has mitigated the night-time economy's negative externalities to an extent, but caused massive closures of nightlife venues.

This research aims to solve the dilemma of Amsterdam's night-time economy through planning instruments that optimize the urban polycentricity. The research explores integrated strategies and multi-scale spatial interventions to stimulate the development of peripheral night-time industry clusters while minimizing the nuisance, in order to improve the livability of the city center and contribute to a diverse and balanced night-time economy in Amsterdam.
... Read more

Modern urban road systems often bring environmental problems and affect the quality of life of residents. The main roads in the south of Rotterdam face problems with lack of greenery, heat island effect and flash flooding. These problems have had a negative impact on the well-being of residents, and have also caused the road ecosystem to fail to provide better ecological benefits for the city.

This thesis aims to explore the potential of main roads in improving ecological benefits and quality of life through the concept of ecosystem services. The purpose of the research is to use the arterial network to create urban ecological corridors, support for healthy living, and climate-adaptive infrastructure.

Through the determination of the ecological value of the arterial network and its spatial quality, this thesis clarifies the goals of supporting and habitat services, cultural services and regulating services provided by roads, and proposes spatial intervention strategies. The spatial intervention strategies are applied to the three streets and become different landscape schemes.

The research process of this thesis shows the value and importance of the city's arterial network in improving the ecological integrity of the city and the well-being of residents.
... Read more

Despite the increasing demand for women’s participation in the growing economy, the persisting gender inequality in current societies has a significant spatial factor contributing to inhibiting women from accessing various facilities and economic opportunities, further undermining them from enhancing their social mobility and decreasing gender inequality. The spatial structure of public spaces, including the mobility networks, functional distribution, and presence of appropriable spaces and co-creative processes emerge as critical dimensions within which women’s needs must be met in order to achieve a state of social resilience in these systems, and promote women’s spatial and social mobility across the city. While urban planners and designers highlight ecological and economic resilience, social resilience is vital to establish, in order to achieve a balanced system of resilience. This research proposes an evolutionary approach to addressing and mitigating gender inequality in cities through urban planning and design practice using a strategic planning framework. This is proposed with the goal of increasing women’s capacity for participation through the strategic shaping of their local contexts according to their spatio-temporal needs. By redefining the parameters through which urban planning and design decisions are made, and addressing who is needed to make these decisions, the research proposes a guide to decision-makers on enhancing the socio-spatial integration of city residents. Through the comparison of the three distinct cultural contexts of Cairo, The Hague, and Seoul, across the dimensions of society, economy and space, the unique needs and variables contributing to women’s inhibition are pinpointed, and actions can then be proposed, using the local conditions, to tackle the spatial issues. This allows the framework to be implementable across cultural specificities, and provides a guide for urban planning practice holistically. The strategic framework proposed is therefore a tool that utilises local stakeholders and conditions to co-create and anchor urban transformations in the local context, and does not provide a definite spatial plan. Through addressing the role of urban planners and designers in creating conditions for gender equality, the research aims to provide a frame of reference for actor dynamics in co-creation processes, empowering women to appropriate public spaces as they see fit to reach their needs. ... Read more

Improving the quality of urban spaces has always been the central concern for the urban designers. Street as the typical type of public spaces comprises more than 80% of public space in cities, but they often fail to provide a space where people can safely walk, bicycle and socialize, this mainly because cars dramatically occupies most street spaces, street is no longer a social space but just traffic corridor. Automated vehicle as the new technological regime will allow organizing transport supply in a radically different way, especially when fully automated vehicle are applied. Peple will be released from drving and road infrstructure will also change. It is a huge opportunity to bring street back to more people-oriented design.

I choose Amsterdam-zuidoost, a typical area with low quality of street as my design target, trying to be an eye-opener to figure out To what extent and in what way can automated vehicle be a trigger to transform automobile-oriented street into people-oriented street when 100% used.

I build up my two extreme scenarios according to different policy, also street protypes under these two scenarios. In scenario 1, SYMBIOSIS STREET,we can see a more vivid future street with diverse functions and activities, also more sustainable environment. If we are lead to this condition, strict rules for AVs and our travel behavior should be accepted, apart from this, more taxes regarding travel miles, ownership will also be inevitable.On the other hand, we will have more efficient and convenient public transport system, more equal society and less social segragation. While this needs Top-down policy and coorperation of AV companies and everyone of us. In scenario 2,FLUID STREET, there will be freedom for everyone to choose their own way to travel, loose policy will encourage indivadual ownership and long travel miles and time on streets. To garuntee the efficiency and safety, there will be no more interactions between people and AVs, people will across street by cars, moving projects provide them with everything and space they need for daily life, their activities actually are restricted in cars, their neighborhoods and different buildings. This kind of new lifestyle makes people rely much more on vehicles, causing privacy and internect safety concerns, and it is unfair for people who cannot afford AVs and rely on public transportation. If we let AVs go, this is probably our future. And it is our choose to lead to which senario.
... Read more

Amsterdam Centrum has been suffering from the spatial competition between overcrowded pedestrian visitors and busy vehicular flows. Application of automated vehicles is a historic opportunity to reclaim the streets for people and change the predicament of the downtown. The thesis focuses on the relationship between walkability and traffic efficiency in Amsterdam Centrum, aiming to maximize the viability and vitality of the city center in the automated era.

The whole project, from research to design, is an urban experiment on walkable and efficient-functional city centers. Scenario building is the core approach that has linked research with design. Also, it is a bridge to connect the existing reality with future reality. First, the theoretical study of walkability and traffic efficiency provides the objects for analytical research of Amsterdam. It also helps to select the driving forces for scenario building. Second, theories about viability and vitality provide the evaluation materials for scenario assessment. And the urban design is the continuation of selected scenarios. The key idea of the final design is the movable programme, which means urban functions/human activities can travel in the city like automated vehicles. In the final, the project presents a dynamic urban system and flexible streetscape. It reshapes the relationship between walkability and traffic efficiency by redefining the meaning of city centers and public street with emphasizing on time dimension ... Read more

The general problem of the thesis project is the issue of declining liveability of old neighbourhood area and the lost place identity of Shao City. To be more specific, the problem focus is the fractured social-spatial network between the old neighbourhood and the area for new social class like Kuanzhai Alley & gated communities with declining third place for local residents. The abandoned historical buildings,crowed courtyard space occupied by the informal constructions & car park and Kuanzhai Alley full of tourists and commercial activities reduce the third place of the neighbourhood and decrease its liveability and identity. The spatial gaps in Shao City have been formed. Meanwhile, the social condition in the neighbourhood is degrading. The social class is lowering in the old neighbourhood due to the rise of Kuanzhai Alley as many original residents could not stand the tourists. The upgrading of the social class in gated communities and the inaccessible public space in the new social class area caused the social segregation between the old social class and higher social in this area. From the heritage perspective, it is crucial to reconnect the social-spatial network with rich third place in Shao City for new identity. From residents’ perspective, the complete social-spatial network with good third place is important for improving the liveability. ... Read more

The research in this master graduation focuses on Nowa Huta, a neighborhood located in the Krakow Metropolitan Area (Poland). Nowa Huta was designed and build as a socialist ideal city in the socialist era, complete with its own steel plant where the majority of the inhabitants worked. The Lenin steel factory provided work, but it also financed social services in the town. The mono-product economy resulted in a working class society and was a political counterweight to Krakow, the intellectual city of the bourgeoise. Nowa Huta is incorporated in Krakow and is now a neglected neighborhood in a historic and vibrant city , attracting many foreign investors and tourists. The collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989 was not only a shift of the political regime, it was also the starting point of globalization in Poland. The steel plant got exposed to the international market and the production of steel shifted partially to other countries such as China. The steel plant and the Nowa Hutians suffered not only financially but also socially from this. The mono product economy, once so powerful, turned out to be vulnerable.
Nowadays, the inhabitants of Nowa Huta still suffer from socioeconomic problems relating to the image of the city, the deindustrialization and the urban neglect. This also resulted in high levels of socio-spatial segregation and social inequality within the region. Current trends do not seem to solve these problems, in fact, these trends only enlarge the segregation and inequality. Without interventions and redevelopment, the once so promoted neighborhood Nowa Huta will soon suffer from intergenerational segregation and inequality. This also negatively affects the metropolitan area as a whole. The overall aim for this research is informing powerful governmental stakeholders in Krakow about the problems
involving Nowa Huta and giving them a possible strategy for regenerating and revitalizing the neighborhood. This research tries to discover and describe potentials for design interventions by utilizing local stakeholders. This research does not generate a blueprint masterplan, but instead it generates handles for a revitalization strategy and process. ... Read more

This thesis explores the possible effects of spatial characteristics on the use and
perception public space by pre-teen children. The aim of this thesis was to identify spatial patterns that can be used to create urban public spaces which enhance the ability of children to make (diverse) friends, to explore different urban landscapes, interact with different types of people and situation, and to participate in social life and democratic processes. A short investigation of the general history of children in communal spaces is presented to contextualize the situation of urban children today. This is followed by an evaluation of recurring themes in scientific literature, which shows the diversity of definitions and approaches which are applied today. In order to find possible spatial effects,
empirical research was conducted in two neighbourhoods - one urban and one sub-urbanof Utrecht, the Netherlands. A novel mapping method was used. Self-reported neighbourhood maps were drawn by children around the age of 10 during mapping workshops at four primary schools in Utrecht. The validity of the maps was evaluated by comparing them to on-site observations. Statistical analysis indicates that the effects of certain spatial characteristics near a residence are stronger than non-spatial factors such as going to school independently, living in an area where children make up over 20% of the population, of having one or more siblings. Especially the presence of courtyards or large parks is shown to benefit the social life of children in public space. Children who live near a courtyard have one to two neighbourhood more than average, while children who live near a large park have twice the spatial reach as the average child. The results of this thesis may be of interest to municipalities, urban planners and parents in general. ... Read more

Complex urban planning problems comprise socio-spatial conditions, human behaviour and external factors (e.g. technological developments). The perspective of urban planners and designers is crucial to comprehend these problems from a holistic point of view but does not possess the skills to grapple the full problem. Cities bear characteristics of complex systems in which the interaction between decision makers is an important factor in the manifestation of urban change. Quantitative and computational methods are becoming increasingly capable at evaluating this aspect of urban planning problems. Computational models, although a simplification of reality, can help to evaluate many data and therefore extend the thinking capacity. Design thinking can interpret model outcomes in the broader socio-spatial context. But integration between these engineering-based methods on the one hand and the conventional urban planning and design methods proves challenging. This research investigates how an integrated methodology can lead to better understanding of urban planning problems. Models that comprehend built environment dynamics, can be used as design evaluation tool. The uncertainty around the spatial impacts of automated driving is used as case study for a complex urban planning problem. How automated driving will affect cities depends on the development and the deployment of the technology but also on how human agents adapt their behaviour. Mobility aspects (and therefore automated driving) relate to the built environment through the concept of accessibility and by the integration of the transportation system in space. An important condition to employ computational models within a research process is to explicitly define the system one evaluates. This research narrows down to households and their location choice behaviour as important behavioural aspect in urban development. The residential location choice depends on characteristics of the households itself and on dwelling, environment and location attributes. Automated vehicles are propagated to be more efficient in terms of infrastructure demands and travel efficiency compared to conventional vehicles. Therefore, this technology relates to the decision factors of households through spatial quality and accessibility effects. A scenario approach is employed to grapple the uncertainty around automated driving. In four scenarios, different development paths of automated driving are assumed. The province of Utrecht in the Netherlands is used as case study to provide for context and data. This research employs a residential location choice model to examine the changes in moving behaviour of households in space caused by the development of automated driving. The accessibility effects are studied with a transport model and the spatial quality effects are obtained by research and design. The residential location choice model evaluates these factors. The result is a change in urban development pattern. The results are interpreted in an urban strategy where the results of previous research steps are synthesised and assessed, to provide for interpretation of the research outcome from a holistic socio-spatial perspective. Computational models ask for explicit data which complicates the compatibility between various research steps. This research shows that it is possible to implement qualitative design methods within the data collection process. Design-based research methods are easier to apply and therefore relate directly towards the context of the problem. For using a computational model, this requires often for an operational model before one can comprehend the context. This makes for a more complicated research process. Therefore, employing an integrated methodology in urban planning research proves challenging but helps to approach the urban planning problem from a holistic perspective. An integrated approach broadens both perspectives to consider and combine the most important variables. By explicitly defining the problem, core principles reveal and computational models help to explain the dynamics between these core principles. Interpretation of the results in the socio-spatial context allows to account for the values that are inherent to urban planning problems. The method is labour intensive and does not guarantee more inspiring and detailed plans or designs. But the outcomes for proposed actions relate better to the factors that are significant to the system and elaborate more accurately on the uncertainty and dynamics the urban planning problem encompass. This research, is in which this report is established, is part of the graduation process for both the master of Urbanism at the faculty of Architecture and the master of Transport & Planning at the faculty of Civil Engineering. This report is submitted for the partial fulfilment of the Urbanism exam. The Transport & Planning report can be found here: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5e88d71c-3878-4c4e-967b-0b5727bd0d8f ... Read more