Jakarta faces mounting challenges of social segregation, environmental threats. While urban development has traditionally prioritised large-scale formal and market-driven growth, the city’s Kampungs have often been overlooked despite their capacity to foster resilient communities, adaptive economies, and strong social networks.

This project explores how the social practices embedded within Jakarta’s Kampungs can change urban planning practices towards a more just and sustainable form. Through fieldwork, spatial analysis, and research-by-design, four Kampungs were studied to identify the social infrastructures and spatial practices that enable communities to adapt to environmental, social, and economic pressures.

The research identifies four core values—Care, Identity, Resilience, and Ecology—as the foundation of life in the studied locations. These values are translated into spatial principles that guide urban transformation: Porous Borders, Chains of Amenities and Socio-Spatial Temporalities, Mobility Networks, and Ecological Corridors. Together, they create conditions for stronger social cohesion, ecological performance, and coexistence between formal and informal urban environments.

The principles are tested through design interventions in dinstinctive but troubling districts in Jakarta: Kapuk Muara and Rawa Terate, which are subjected to segregation, environmental vulnerability, and ecological restoration. The resulting concept, Kampung Metropolis, proposes an alternative way of working for Jakarta that recognises Kampungs not as troubling communities, but as valuable sources of knowledge for creating a more inclusive, resilient, and socially just city. ... Read more

How can cultural landscapes be conserved and developed through the landscape approach? This thesis argues that cultural landscapes can be conserved and developed through an integrated landscape approach that treats them as living systems. Heritage value emerges not only from monuments or scenic elements, but from the interaction of physical structures, ecological processes, historical layers, and social experience. In response to climate change and urban transformation, conservation must move beyond static object protection toward system evolution, long-term resilience and adaptive capacity. The proposed landscape approach connects three components: landscape mapping, landscape planning, and landscape design. Landscape mapping characterizes long-term evolution, persistent spatial structures, and scene-level attributes through literature synthesis, digital reconstruction, clustering, and land-use analysis, using Chengde Mountain Resort as the case. Landscape planning integrates hazards, ecological sensitivity, expert knowledge, public perception, spatial relationships, and visitor movement. The Hazard–Ecology–Perception Landscape Planning (HEPLP) framework supports targeted zoning and governance, while the Perceptual–Spatial Landscape Planning Model (PSLPM) uses large language models, graph neural networks, and route optimization to reduce visitor pressure, improve perceptual coherence, and expand access to meaningful but overlooked scenes. Landscape design translates diagnosis and planning into operational actions. Design-based and cluster-specific toolkits support reversible construction, compatible material selection, stronger ecological connections, improved water retention, and more effective visitor allocation. The overall contribution is a coherent framework that connects historical understanding and resilience with implementable strategies for conservation and development. ... Read more

This study explores the intersection of urban safety, gender, and the nighttime economy by combining women’s subjective perceptions with objective spatial and statistical data. It seeks to define what constitutes a "safe public space" and to identify areas in Amsterdam that are either perceived or demonstrated to be unsafe during nighttime hours.

As a background, the research examines the role of formal institutions such as the Amsterdam municipality and NGOs in addressing urban safety concerns. It highlights a significant limitation in current approaches: while existing strategies tend to prioritize the security of private venues such as nightclubs and bars, they often neglect the safety of outdoor public spaces—where many incidents and perceived threats actually take place.

This oversight is particularly critical given that women are disproportionately affected by safety concerns in public spaces at night, both in terms of actual incidents and heightened perceptions of risk. According to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2014), 55% of women in the EU avoid certain places or situations for fear of being assaulted, especially after dark. Such gendered disparities highlight the need for safety strategies that go beyond crime statistics to also include emotional and psychological dimensions of urban space.

This study approaches the topic of urban safety from two lens: the female perspective lens and the temporal lens of nighttime. Methodologically, the study adopts a multi-method approach including spatial data analysis, surveys, interviews, and literature reviews. Special focus is placed on incorporating female perspectives through street interviews. Based on the insights generated, the research proposes a design intervention using pattern language methodology within the Bijlmermeer district.

The intervention aims to assess the area’s potential for attracting nighttime economic investment and to develop inclusive spatial strategies that enhance safety through urban programming. The proposed framework not only offers a desirable future vision for Bijlmermeer, but also provides a replicable model for other neighborhoods in Amsterdam.By advocating for closer collaboration between economic stakeholders and human-centered safety interventions, this study aims to foster a more diverse and inclusive nighttime economy—one that promotes not only safer public spaces but also gender equality and the long-term social sustainability of urban communities.
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With demand expansion and consumption stimulation as fundamental policies for economic growth, China's culture of consumerism has evolved into not only an economic strategy but also a dominant social ideology and a driving force of urban and regional development. In the era of accelerated platformisation, platform corporations exemplified by Alibaba have expanded their influence and established an oligopolistic platform economy that has already reshaped and continues to reshape the culture of consumerism by transforming consumption behaviors, habits, and values. As a result, the production of space and social relations is undergoing a radical transformation.

Building on this premise, this research adopts the Stack as its primary theoretical and design framework to investigate the computational system of the Alibaba corporation in China, with Shanghai serving as a case study. It examines how planetary-scale computation, as manifested through both physical and digital infrastructures, reconfigures geodesign systems across multiple scales, from the territorial allocation of productive resources and the structure and configuration of urban space to human-machine interaction. In doing so, it reveals how Alibaba digital biopolitics facilitates the restructuring of market environments and conditions human subjectivity.

In the design and strategic section, this research further addresses the ethical dimensions of biopolitics within the context of accelerated platformisation. It explores the potential of an affirmative digital biopolitics as a new paradigm, one that centers on the exploration of human futures. In this model, experience becomes a product for customers to consume in the pursuit of a better self, while platform technologies serve as mediating infrastructures that sustain the operational system and enable the enhancement of individual subjectivity. Based on this paradigm, the study speculates a utopian vision of alternative models of production and consumption within the Stack, and envisions future cultures of consumerism shaped by ethical computation and emancipatory spatial and interaction design that foreground situation construction. ... Read more

Pattern language is used in this research as an analytical tool to study the social and spatial systems of care within Bethel House, a mental health community in Urakawa, Japan. Twenty-two interconnected patterns were identified to describe how reintegration emerges through shared routines, mutual recognition, emotional rhythms, and local participation. Rather than being built around treatment or correction, Bethel’s structure is shaped by trust, repetition, and small, voluntary acts of engagement. The method of tojisha kenkyuu plays a central role, allowing individuals to reflect on their lived experiences and contribute to the ongoing shaping of the system.
To reach individuals who remain outside this structure, a set of five additional patterns, known as the Extension Pack, was developed. These patterns respond to the early thresholds faced by socially withdrawn individuals such as hikikomori. They support forms of non-intrusive contact, digital engagement, and personalized pathways into care. The Extension Pack acts as a bridging layer, allowing systems to enter the withdrawn space on the individual’s terms.
The full network of patterns reflects a model of social reintegration that aligns with the principles of machizukuri, an approach to community-building grounded in shared responsibility, local knowledge, and slow, collaborative change. Using the metaphor of a shape sorter, the re search asks how systems might adjust their forms to hold those who do not fit. Rather than requiring people to change in order to participate, it proposes systems that begin by listening, waiting, and staying close. ... Read more

Against the backdrop of ethical-political dilemmas in urban planning, this research project investigates the philosophy of a historically radical yet increasingly canonical ethical-political thinker: Spinoza. The main research question of this project is: how can Spinoza’s ethical-political philosophy inform a theory of urban space and become operationalised for addressing ethical political issues in urban planning? The full extent of Spinoza’s ethical-political works has been mapped structurally, resulting in a cartography of Spinoza’s works. The philosophical concepts in this cartography have been assessed on their prospects for spatialisation, resulting in an estimation regarding the relevance of certain key concepts for urban planning. By examining these concepts through urban theories of agglomeration and the urban land nexus, it has been found that a Spinoza-informed urban theory might take the shape of a model of the city, aimed at mapping ethical-political situations in urban planning. Building on this, it has been found that this model can become instrumentalised as to form an urban planning approach. The action that an urban planner can take by virtue of the profession, through the Spinozist lens, has been determined. Similarly, the aim of urban planning (the planner’s “own agenda”), through the Spinozist lens, has been determined. The model can be used to reveal or ‘map’ ethical-political dilemmatic urban planning situations. Further areas of research could be testing this model further, and relating the findings on Spinoza’s philosophy and to urban planning to similar fields of research in architecture, ecology, economics, or political science. ... Read more

This thesis explores the possibilities of future inclusive urbanism by investigating how tradition and modernity—in socio-spatial and ecological practices—interact in Chinese urban contexts and what implicit values they carry in post-growth cities. Over the last four decades, accelerated state-led modernisation, accompanied by technocratic urban planning, has led to the making of a spatially homogenised ‘generic city’, often neglecting history and obscuring social-ecological inequalities. However, the persistence of thousands of villages in a city reveals a more complex urban reality, and the recent slowdown demands an inclusive approach to urban planning and design, making it necessary to document values of the past and present for the future.

Using the palimpsest analogy, the research conceptualises a city as a multilayered system with a nonlinear history, enabling the unravelling of historical and cultural layers from the past in present-day readings. It rethinks pluralisation of modernity as reflected in South China’s urban landscapes since the 1980s. An analysis of 50 empirical studies reveals that Chinese modernity is an evolving process entangled with traditions.

This entanglement is further elucidated through an architectural ethnographic investigation of Pingshan village in Shenzhen, focusing on the lived urban spaces, the surviving agricultural landscapes, and the omnipresent sacred spaces. Using ethnographic drawing, photography and interviews, the research reveals that traditions transform themselves while interacting with modern interventions in daily life, producing various hybrid spatial forms and practices. Reflecting on empirical findings, the research proposes hybridisation as the potential for building future inclusiveness in architecture and urbanism in China. ... Read more

As one of the most open and economically vibrant regions in China, the Greater Bay Area plays a significant strategic role in the country’s overall development, showcasing the power of urban transformation within a diverse and sociopolitically rich region. Since China’s economic reform in 1978, mega projects and world-leading developments in the region have driven rapid urbanization. Despite these achievements, rapid globalization has led to negative effects on ecology and pollution in the GBA. When paired with climate change and deltaic conditions, these issues create “double-negative” effects on various layers.

Using the concept of “state entrepreneurialism” as a starting point, this project explores the role of urban mega developments in realizing the state’s strategic and political objectives. It critiques the existing top-down, marketdriven
governance model and advocates for a paradigm shift towards localized planning approaches. These dynamics create tensions in soft locations, areas in transition which are susceptible to change and speculation.

This report outlines the shift from using megaprojects as catalysts for urban development to a more holistic framework. This new approach frames “megascapes” of place-bound strategic interventions that foster complementary relations and shifts focus from big urban cores to their surrounding territories. We define megascapes as self-directed territories consisting of functional conglomerations that respond to local sensitivities and transformations, proposing a future where soft peripheral territories are integrated into the GBA’s broader regionalization model. This vision emphasizes adaptable, place-bound development and enhanced relations between ecological and economic systems to foster sustainable urban growth. ... Read more

This report presents our proposal for “Globalisation Free Choice,” an elective course for master’s students in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at TU Delft, in collaboration with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). The course aims to explore sustainable and integrated development and its regional impacts.

During the 9 weeks of the course, a regional vision and strategy for the Greater Bay Area was prepared. The Greater Bay Area is a global centre for economic development located in the Pearl River Delta in the Southern part of China. In this report we describe how we want to instigate a paradigm shift from focusing on megaprojects to working in mega-processes. In the first two weeks we analysed the environmental, social and economic situation of the area to create a problem statement and define focus points. The next two weeks were spent in Hong Kong at the Polytechnic University where the morphological game boarding strategy was used to look at regional design in a more experimental way. We created two games - one focused on the social perspective including the liveability within the region, and the other based on the morphological perspective, looking at spatial changes. During these two weeks and during the playing of the game we defined two interesting zoom-in locations in the area.

The first zoom in location is the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, an area which is already planned to grow into an innovative tech hub. Due to the rejoining of Hong Kong with Mainland China in 2047, the border will be eliminated, opening a lot of opportunities for development. The other location is the Nansha district near Guangzhou, which lies in the heart of the delta. Major development plans consisting of various megaprojects are proposed by the Chinese government in Nansha, which will disrupt the natural cycle of the water and soil. The two zoom-in locations will be used to develop an approach to integrate the built more with the green-blue networks to mitigate floods, droughts and heat island effect.

We then returned to Delft to develop a vision and strategy for the GBA, focusing on these megaprojects and thinking of ways to change the current way in which they are executed. We used an element-based approach inspired by the book ‘the Elemental Metropolis’ to develop a strategy of working in a more agile, process-based way. We conclude the report by revisiting the entire Greater Bay Area to identify additional regions where the insights from our work on the two focus areas can be applied, aiming to create a resilient, adaptable, and liveable dynamic delta. ... Read more

This project explores the implications of the decline of rural areas and small urban environments in the Spanish countryside. While the growing urban cores seem to be more economically relevant for institutions, the unrepresented residents along with the rich natural and cultural heritage of these regions appear to be overlooked. Consequently, local cultures are disappearing, monuments and infrastructure are decaying and nature environments, already threatened by the ongoing climate crisis, are not sustainably managed while industries profit from the resources of these forgotten lands. As a response, activism groups and social movements are demanding a necessary paradigm shift in the management and governance of these territories.
This project aims to create new knowledge to support the transition to a new narrative that integrates rural areas in the Spanish countryside into the planning process from the point of view of post-growth theory and strategies, assuring a collaboration between actors and making sure the voices of unrepresented groups of society are heard. It strives to use the local heritage, which entails a big part of the identity of these communities, as a driver to implement change and dismantle the perceived barrier between the larger urban environments and the rural populations.
Through an empirical research approach, this project aims to answer the following research question: How can a spatial perspective on post-growth planning strategies contribute to preserving cultural and ecological heritage of rural communities in the Spanish countryside?
This question is addressed through a literature review that introduces a theoretical framework that is translated into a toolkit of spatial strategies. Secondly, through the systematic analysis of interviews with officials and residents of villages from the Soria province (Spain). The collected data informs a specific action timeline that materializes theory into space.
Sustainable (spatial and economic) development, community connectivity, and ecology management are three ways a spatial approach to post-growth planning strategies can protect cultural and natural heritage. Initiatives designed to satisfy basic needs, promote community resilience, and guarantee long-term sustainability through cooperative governance and locally adapted programs can strengthen the identity of rural communities and enhance the value and accessibility of their natural and cultural heritage.
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Over the past 100 years, caravan dwellers in the Netherlands have been a subject of discussion. In the past, laws have banned them from travelling, placed them in big camps, decentralised these camps and even tried to force them into sedentary life through an extinction policy. After a verdict by the European Court for Human Rights, a new policy framework was created for caravan dweller accommodation, redirecting responsibility to municipalities. However, the stigmatised, spatially and socially segregated group is still not seeing improvement in meeting their human rights. Due to a lack of input and output legitimacy fuelled by a complex history with many discriminatory practices, they are distrusting of the government. The government admits fault and a knowledge gap in expertise on caravan dwellers. However, the group that could aid in filling the knowledge gap and improving the input legitimacy is hesitant to cooperate due to mutual distrust.

This research attempts to explore the interconnectedness of the themes of people, policies, spatial principles and governance &participation to create a new approach to the caravan dweller politics and decision-making process in the spatial planning context, by focusing on input and output legitimacy. Through different analytical and fieldwork methods ranging from media analysis to interviews, an approach is created that will advise on the current framework recommendations, who should be involved in which manner and how the process should be approached. A more central role for the national government and a participation roadmap that, together with the framework recommendations, will give insight into which mechanisms and tools can increase input and output legitimacy will pave the way to rebuild the trust between the different stakeholders and create a just and sustainable future for the caravan dwellers in the Netherlands.
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Polders in the Taihu basin have a history of over two thousand years. The low-lying topography and dense water network create convenient geographical conditions for the reclamation of polders. Later, with the rapid population growth, mulberry-dike-fish-pond was constructed in order to make full use of the limited land resources, which is a sustainable and ecological agricultural model, supporting biodiversity and water resilience as well as providing a basis for settlement in this region. The historical polder landscape closely linked the water system, agriculture system, and settlement system, and then derived water culture, rice culture, fish culture, and silk culture.

However, since1950s, the Taihu Lake basin has been under drastic urbanization, which caused a threat to water safety and cultural heritage. The city invasion of the rural area and road construction leads to the siltation of the watercourse. As a result, the polder landscape was fragmented and lost its water resilience gradually. Water crises including eutrophication, flooding, and drought become more frequent, influencing the cultivation of crops and the traditional settlement’s safety. Additionally, the region has lost its unique cultural identity as a result of the standardization of agriculture.

In conclusion, the polder landscape in Taihu basin is facing three main problems: city invasion, water safety issues, and loss of cultural heritage. Compared to the civil engineering method to solve these challenges, landscape intervention costs much less, builds up a more adaptive and resilient system, and brings aesthetic experience as well. Therefore, how to learn from historical practice to protect precious cultural heritage while restoring the water resilience in the Taihu basin through landscape approaches is the key challenge. The landscape approaches start from the base layer like soil and water, helping to create a sustainable social-ecological system as well as being flexible enough to adapt to future challenges.
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Exchanges between China and Africa involving political, economic, scientific and cultural aspects have a long history and are constantly updated according to the practical needs of both sides. The high degree of complementarity has led to China-Africa deepening cooperation, which has been accompanied by the emergence of new industrial clusters, the shift in the interest of new investors, and the movement of new immigrant groups. Nevertheless, differences in historical traditions, social culture, and religious beliefs between immigrant groups and native groups, as well as the possible inequalities in economic power and international discourse between the two sides, often lead to controversial ways of cooperation and negative interactions.

According to the current mode of China-Africa capacity cooperation, industrial parks, as the main spatial carrier, have become the main platform for cooperation between China and African countries. The volume of industrial parks and the impact they bring to the host countries are no longer limited to affecting local economic development as the scale of investment continues to expand, but in most studies, such foreign co-built industrial parks are still treated as an instrument, and the focus of relevant studies is mainly on their promotion of local industrialization. As an entity with economic, social, spatial, and governance attributes that occupies a large area, has a high construction intensity, and has intensive flows of elements, the integration, and interaction between industrial parks and local cities is a direction that can be explored with many new perspectives and strategies.

So the aim of this study is, to use the China Eastern Industry Zone(EIZ) in Ethiopia as a case, to explore integrated strategies to foster regional vitalization in Dukem, Ethiopia via an incremental approach. Firstly, through literature research, mapping and comparative analysis, it is found that the impact of the Eastern Industry Zone on local urbanization and industrialization has penetrated into various aspects of socio-economic, spatial and governance. And the challenges and difficulties at the current stage are complex and intertwined. Therefore on-site surveys and questionnaires were used to analyze the demands of different local groups for the construction and operation of the Eastern Industry Zone, thus establishing the core position of this study to consider industrial park projects as an external opportunity to promote endogenous local development.

Then, based on literature research, comparative analysis and statistical analysis, the local capacity is assessed in three dimensions: spatial, socioeconomic and governance. Through scenario analysis, a vision is proposed, followed by the planning process to delve further into four cross-scale strategic action plans for industrial parks as an active medium for local vitalization. Finally, by analyzing the bottom-up spatial patterns, local activities, and stakeholders in local industrial communities in Dukem, focusing on the interaction and interface between industrial space and urban space, design guidelines for industrial communities are proposed, which is applied to the unbuilt Phase Two area of the Eastern Industry Zone for design testing. ... Read more

Tolerance is an essential tool of peaceful coexistence that allows diversity to flourish and a multicultural pluralist society to function. In times of globalisation, digitalisation, and polarization, it is becoming more critical than ever. Nevertheless, tolerance faces multiple issues. As a concept, it is being washed up, belittled, and critiqued either for its extensiveness or narrowness. Consequently, it became a vague notion, posing the question of what it means in contemporary society. Is it emotion, feeling, or attitude? How does it relate to other concepts of inclusivity and justice? In addition, even with an increasing amount of studies, there is still a gap in knowledge about the relationship between tolerance and space. It is still largely unknown how one associate with the other, what forces are affecting this link and how to use it to facilitate tolerance. Moreover, Kaunas, my hometown and choice as a case-study area, has very explicit issues regarding discriminatory but also changing attitudes, making it an optimal location to investigate (in)tolerance and conditions for it. Therefore in this paper I embark on a journey to study this concept, following the main research question: how can spatial and policy planning be used to foster more tolerant attitudes towards difference in everyday Kaunas?
Tolerance is subjective, partly non-representational, and unconscious. For this reason, I chose to use a mixed-methods explorative approach, combining comprehensive theoretical and empirical analyses. I consolidated spatial observations, institutional research, in-depth unstructured interviews, extensive literature and media review, and poetic investigation of artistic mediums. Through these methods, I integrated knowledge from a diverse range of disciplines, from psychology and philosophy to urban planning and architecture.
The fusion of multiple methods and disciplines allowed me to conclude on conceptual and spatial aspects of tolerance. By integrating tolerance into the affect theory, I argue that it is a process which, through encounter, transforms one state of being into another, meaning that tolerant attitudes are in constant flux. I transferred this new definition into the theoretical framework, which guided my empirical investigation in Kaunas. Based on unstructured interviews and an analysis of multiple cases, I uncovered a force affecting people’s attitudes in Lithuania – the Tolerance Event. It is a very active form of encounter that ruptures the passive status quo while at the same time addressing severe socio-cultural issues and allowing people to get to know diversity. Building on this theory, I propose multiple strategies as an example of how to use the Tolerance Event in Kaunas. They involve funding, policy, institutions, design, and planning proposals and are covered by one central vision – to become the Brave Tolerance City, Kaunas needs More Tolerance Events. ... Read more

Rural migrants are being evicted from China’s metropolis. Urban villages used to be a refuge for rural migrants fleeing excessive living expenses, where they might find reasonable housing, social connections, and even work opportunities. However, as these villages are now being redeveloped mainly to create land revenues for local municipalities, rural migrants are being evicted and left vulnerable. This can also create vulnerabilities for the cities themselves. Despite the amount of literature on urban village development and redevelopment (Hao et al., 2013; Kochan, 2015; Lai et al., 2021; Li et al., 2014; Zhou, 2014), there is little research on the social problems, particularly problems for rural migrants, brought by current mode of redevelopment, which occurs frequently nowadays. This study aims to answer the question of how urban villages can be redeveloped to create socially resilient communities by using multiple methods, in both social and spatial aspects. The study aims to address the issue of urban village redevelopment in China's metropolises and its impact on rural migrants by proposing an alternative art-driven redevelopment strategy. A comprehensive solution package that includes urban design, policy recommendations, and participation strategies that take into account the social resilience of migrants will be developed. To do this, the study will first use methods such as stakeholder analysis and engagement, as well as spatial analysis and urban design at a community scale, using the case of Zanhualing Village as an example. The ultimate goal is to create a strategic plan for numerous urban villages across the city of Dongguan to create a more resilient city overall. ... Read more

The main object of this study is the migrant laneway, which refers to the old community in the city center that attracts migrant workers because of its low rent and good location. This kind of community in urgent need of renewal contains three aspects: spatial, social and the process of renewal. This study regards these three aspects as the main line running through the whole research, and studies the current space situation, residents' life and the problems in the existing renewal process of migrant laneways.

Pattern language is the main analysis method and design tool of this research. By sorting out the patterns in the migrant laneway, these messy spaces are standardized. In addition, pattern language can be used to increase public engagement. This study introduces a new co-design toolkit: pattern buffet. This toolkit helps residents and designers co-design their communities. Work efficiency and program feasibility can be increased while public engagement is being added. More importantly, the result of this design with public engagement is more sustainable and inclusive.

At the social level, this study also proposes a soft strategy to help migrant workers better integrate into the city. The authors reskill these residents towards the opportunities found in a social trend: the senior care industry. While vacancies in the industry are being filled, migrant workers can get longer careers and higher wages to integrate into the city.

Therefore, this thesis develops an approach which enables the urban dilapidated areas to be regenerated in a co-design way. This regeneration framework is very new in the Chinese context. Pattern language, as the most important tool in this study, has been examined for its role and function. However, due to the epidemic, the pattern buffet part lacks practical operation, so the author cannot get feedback from the actual situation, which is also an aspect that this thesis can be further expanded.
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The outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 took a huge toll on Wuhan. The community in metropolitan areas has played a key role in China's pandemic control as a key battleground for closed management and become the focus of society under the pandemic prevention and control.
However, its exposure of weak coping capacities makes building community resilience from an outbreak perspective urgent and critical. Besides, there are many inadequacies in the existing research on community resilience in China. Therefore, it is urgent and valuable to explore community resilience in the context of the Wuhan pandemic perspective.
This project aims to establish an integrated strategic framework to improve community resilience and achieve a liveable and smart urban environment in Wuhan in the long term.
This project is developed from the main research question: What can we learn from the Covid-19 response in Wuhan to enhance community resilience in the long term by adopting planning strategies?
Taking the community response in Wuhan under the pandemic as a departure point, this project explores a framework for increasing community resilience in the long term, using spatial planning, governance, and human capital as measures, and proposes a toolkit of corresponding strategies: including temporary planning, urban renewal, digital transition, and public engagement, hoping to realize a vision of a liveable and smart future.
Next, the Strategy Timeline provides an overview of four main stages with stage milestones, strategies, and key actions. Then the project-specific upgrading goes through four steps: deep analysis and data gathering, co-design, implementation, and evaluation. In the evaluation part, the rules guide the user to test the quality of the project by combining objective site-specific assessment and subject public feedback.
At last, a diverse range of typology sites are selected. Through local design, the community resilience schematic frameworks and strategy toolkit are examined on the ground.
In general, this project focuses on urban upgrading with the theme of community resilience, using the new crown as a starting point. It is hoped that it can give more insights for later studies, including the resilience evaluation framework, the strategy toolkit, and the mechanisms of community planning to design implementation. ... Read more

Bangkok, the primary mega-city of Thailand, had once been driven by water-based development until car mobility was introduced. Since then, the development has been gradually shifted to land-based. The dispersed roads and highways stimulated the urban sprawl where suburban gated communities are built in the outskirts, inaccessible by public transportation, and encourage private motorization. To cope with the congestion, the government is developing public rail transport throughout the metropolitan area. However, the current market-driven development triggers the proliferation of urban gated communities around the emerging stations, resulting in transit-induced gentrification and leaving insufficient spaces for the public. Social segregation and unlivable environments posed by these unplanned phenomena need to be responded. Simultaneously, the water network is disregarded and home to the impoverished citizens, which hinders the performance of stormwater management in this flood-prone metropolis. Regardless of how extensive the network is, only a few
waterways are used for public transport. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is readjusting the land-use plan to align with the expansion of mobility networks, considering the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and Compact City. Since the concepts have been predominantly applied in the Global North, they need to be comprehensively studied to be adapted to Bangkok properly. This project investigates
Bangkok’s current spatial, social, and institutional conditions on multiple scales to seek the development potentialities. On the macro-scale, it proposes potential canals to be utilized for waterborne transport and prospective TOD locations. Ramkhamhaeng is selected
as the pilot project to apply patterns translated from the metropolitan-scale vision and strategy in four layers; enhancing collective and public space, integrated urban mobility, density configuration, and revitalizing water systems. On the micro-scale, design intervention showcases the contextualization of the principles and explores the built forms compromising to the surroundings. Lastly, to realize the project, it suggests the planning systems that engage all stakeholders to ensure the inclusive and efficient operation and implementation, which resulting in the aimed livable and socially diverse environments. ... Read more

With the explosive growing population in Chengdu, the demand for urban drinking water is increasing, and the application of water conservation regulations is becoming more and more stringent. However, with the delineation of water source protection zones, villages and small counties in the upper reaches of Chengdu have been affected a lot.
The upstream of Chengdu, which is part of the Dujiangyan irrigation area, is the typical western Sichuan style village with its vernacular wisdom of living with water. But now they are expected to leave and move into a collective community with fixed reimbursement due to the water source protection policy. Local small industries and livestock raising are no longer allowed, and agricultural production is also restricted due to the risk of water pollution. A similar development limitation has a great impact on small counties as well. Besides the economic loss, the authentic lifestyle that carries water culture has also suffered the loss. Metropolis gains priority on water and the indigenous people are sacrificed. And this water injustice issue is even exacerbated when the new modernized neighborhood came since the informal development is intolerant by the government.
Therefore, this research will explain the conceptualization of water justice and the key elements in this specific local urbanization context. Through the analysis of the impact by water extraction infrastructure, the tangible water value, the virtual value of water, and the cultural preservation, measuring the expulsion of this water project and the livelihood of the locals. Then clarifying the multiple-layer influence of the water conservation interventions in this irrigation area and emphasizing the importance of water justice especially for the indigenous people with the social survey, literature review, and comparison of other villages. And scenario testing of different possible new development in the perspective of different priorities to find a balanced solution for both sides.
This research is aiming to engage flexible water conservation policies with the methods of tax reimbursement and local empowerment, explore a win-win way of both the water use cities and water source districts. And for this specific case, find out a sustainable development way with a comprehensive consideration for vulnerable groups which allows them to keep their positive way of living while doing the water conservancy.
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Guangzhou is one of the biggest cities in China, and it is located in Pearl River Delta, which has a vulnerable natural environment. In history, the development of Guangzhou city was inseparable from its canal system, which was developed from the natural dense river network. On the one hand, this system had played its role in water management very well. It could quickly discharge rainwater into the Pearl River during the rainy season to prevent floods, and it could also function in water storage during the dry season. On the other hand, the canals were also an important part of people's daily life. It carried most of the people's main activities, such as sailing, trade, and socializing. The historic canal system was the lifeline of Guangzhou. However, in the rapid development of the city in the past 100 years, due to the rise of the automobile road system and the improper planning of the drainage system, the historic canals in Guangzhou have gradually left only a single drainage function. Different kinds of industrial wastewater and domestic wastewater are discharged into the canals, causing the canals and the surrounding environment to become bad; at the same time, the river is narrowed and the drainage function has deteriorated. In the rainy season, the surrounding area of the river is often flooded. The historic canals have gradually become the backside of the city, the disease of the city.
In recent years, the government has begun a series of restoration projects for historic canals. However, these projects just aimed to copy-paste the historic scenes to attract tourism and did not pay attention to the historic canal itself and the surrounding communities. As a landscape designer, how the historic canals worked with the city in history has greatly fascinated me, and I have concluded design principles from it, seeking their possibilities in the current situation. This project is not about restoring the canals, is about learning from the history, and designing the historic canal system of Guangzhou as urban landscape infrastructure. ... Read more