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E.W.T.M. Heurkens

36 records found

Strategies for Developers in Urban Area Projects on Climate Change Adaptations

Implementation of Climate Change Adaptations on a Corporate, Development, and Collaboration level

Cities are facing the impacts of climate change now more than ever. The increase in extreme weather events, rise in sea level and temperature have a great impact on the built environment. This is mainly due to the usage of fossil fuels and deforestation. The construction sector i ...

To The Next level

Redefining the Common between the Horizontal and Vertical realm

Combining insights from urban design theory and political philosophy, this research aims to bridge the gap between public and private spaces in cities. While existing approaches to urban design have successfully enhanced social cohesion at the street level, they fail to address t ...
This research explores the role of developers in creating social impact within Dutch priority neighborhoods, where socioeconomic challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and inadequate housing compromise the quality of life. It investigates how private entities can align their s ...
The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector is a major contributor to CO₂
emissions and resource consumption. In response, the Netherlands aims to make the sector 50% circular by 2030 and fully circular by 2050. However, the transition from a linear to a c ...

Managing the real estate development paradox

Developers’ management of the paradox between profitability and embodied carbon reduction

There is a growing emphasis on reducing the amount of carbon that is embodied in buildings, a huge contributor of greenhouse gas emissions is the real estate sector. Despite this, a number of challenges, primary among them economical limitations, obstruct the advancement of meani ...

Change of a developer organisation for a better future

An approach for Implementing change strategies in the organisational structures of private developers management and projects for sustainable impact – a single case study

There is significant potential for circular and sustainable development, however, many organisations are struggling to keep pace with this transition. Despite the Paris Agreements and ESG benchmarks setting clear sustainability standards, private developers are still lacking in ...

Participatory placemaking in public spaces

A conceptual framework of the different perspectives of participatory placemaking according to a semi-systematic literature review

Placemaking is currently a popular concept to implement for the revitalisation of urban areas, often connected to achieving various social goals in neighbourhoods. However, while the concept of placemaking has been in use for some decades, still a lot of confusion exists concerni ...

Carbon net-zero urban area developments in the Netherlands

A framework for developers to influence carbon offsets

To prevent global warming, CO2 emissions must be reduced by 95%. The
building and construction industries account for over 15% of all direct CO2
emissions. However, currently there are no regulations for carbon net-zero
developments. Investors adhere to current sust ...

Shared Mobility Hubs in Urban Developments

A qualitative research on how developers can steer on the integration of shared mobility hubs within urban development.

Over the last decade, shared mobility has more often become a part of urban development. Studies are increasingly pointing at mobility hubs as a vehicle to deliver shared mobility, often from a viewpoint within the mobility sector. However, shared mobility hubs have to a lesser e ...

Sustainable Real Estate Development Canvas

An approach for aligning the strategic and project level to achieve sustainable development concepts

Real estate development faces numerous challenges due to the dynamic market, socio-economic developments, but also deep-rooted mentalities and practices in the sector. Real estate developers need to innovate at both a strategic and business level to overcome these challenges and ...

Partner selection methods and sustainability ambitions in urban redevelopment plans

A qualitative analysis of the relationship between partner selection methods and the incorporation of sustainability ambitions

Context - Globally, there is climate change that affects life of people and nature on earth. The built environment is responsible for nearly 40% of global energy consumption and approximately onethird of global CO² emissions (JLL, 2020). Therefore, the built environment must beco ...

Unsolicited & Welcome

An inquiry into the desirability and feasibility of Unsolicited Proposals in Dutch urban area development

Traditionally, municipalities in the Netherlands have been taking a dominant and leading role in the urban area development. Currently, the municipalities pursue more often a facilitating and passive role, and prefer to utilize market resources and capabilities. The lack of munic ...

The impact of sustainability in developers' decision-making process

A comparative study of urban sustainability assessment systems

In a time of increasing awareness regarding environmental and social concerns, urban area developments have been framed within ambitious goals which require the collaboration of developers and other parties. The complexity behind pursuing sustainable goals brings several challeng ...

From space to place, shaping experts into expert-teams

Improving the quality of collaboration of cross-sectional project teams during urban regeneration projects in the Netherlands

Rising city-life growth has resulted in a world population where the majority of
people live in cities. However, cities are not yet prepared and designed for this
increase and are confronted with a need for urban regeneration. The landscape
of urban regeneration is ne ...

Floating urbanisation

Researching the preconditions for urban development on surface water in the Netherlands

Due to climate change, the built environment will have to deal with rising surface
water levels in the future. We could cope with this situation by making our buildings adaptable to changing water levels and develop floating urbanisation. Although quite a few floating project ...

Circular Land Tender Procedures

A study on the perception of stakeholders in circular land tender procedures in Rotterdam and Amsterdam

To attain a transition such as to a circular economy and built environment, actions at all scales are necessary, which implies that interventions should positively contribute to the transition (Petersen& Heurkens, 2018). Governments see the problems that the linear built envi ...

A Stepping Stone to Enhance Competitiveness through Sustainable Development

A preliminary design for prioritizing between sustainable development activities to enhance the competitiveness of Dutch real estate developers

Dutch real estate developers are being pressured to obtain a more sustainable corporate strategy to guarantee competitiveness and continuity of their firm. Even though this contextual pressure is being recognized by Dutch real estate developers, it is often not translated to prac ...

WE WILLEMSTAD -Urban resilience in the Caribbean through collaboration & the adaptability of real estate

The case of urban transformation in historical port city of Willemstad, Curaçao


The increase in economic, social, and environmental challenges leads to rethinking the long-term spatial vulnerabilities of small island developing states (SIDS). In addition, the lack of resources and low capacity available accentuates the necessity of considering urban res ...

Places of non-resistance

An explorative study to the incorporation of (non)-resistance in the architectural design process to foster urban densification

Dutch cities are both expanding and densifying, corresponding to a global
trend in which people increasingly tend to live in cities. Urban densification
implicates the development of new buildings and redevelopment of part of the
existing building stock, to meet the a ...
A more inclusive perspective on heritage management regarding sustainable development becomes an important aspect in understanding and reflecting on heritage buildings or sites. The cultural significance they convey, such as attributes and values attached to them, are not only re ...