This thesis investigates how the industrial system of the Wadden Sea region can be spatially transformed towards Sustainable Circularity. As a semi-peripheral and ecologically fragile territory, the region operates as an operational hinterland for Europe where extractive industries intersect with vulnerable landscapes and dispersed communities.

Using the theoretical lenses of metabolism and territorialism, the research explores four key questions: (1) it maps the regional spatial-industrial history,
(2) examines how territorial and metabolic processes co-shape current regional dynamics,
(3) identifies leverage points and spatial pathways for systemic transition and
(4) proposes strategic design interventions on the regional and the local scale.

The methodology combines diachronic mapping, territorial capital analysis and spatial flow readings, not to quantify, but to reveal underlying spatial organisational principles and systemic logics. These are synthesised into three structuring motors: productive, protective and ecological. Based on these, the thesis formulates a vision for a sustainable, cross-border metabolism, that is explored through scenarios. The resulting findings are structured and made actionable through an adaptive strategic framework. A zoom-in on the city of Emden illustrates how baseline spatial interventions can anchor long-term transitions.

The work contributes to current discourse on circular economy, regional transformation and design-led planning by offering a spatially explicit and theoretically grounded approach. It situates industrial sustainability in policy, process and simultaneously in the fabric of the landscape and the design of territorial futures.

Water scarcity is a growing issue in Europe, driven by the overexploitation of natural resources for anthropogenic activities, intensified by global pressures, and exacerbated by climate change. This has resulted in environmental degradation in many regions, including desertification and an increased risk of flooding. These symptoms signal a disrupted relationship between humans and nature and emphasise the need to transition towards a more socio-ecologically resilient water system. However, designing for systemic change remains challenging, as existing frameworks often fail to bridge theoretical concepts and practical implementation across interconnected spatial and temporal layers.

This thesis addresses this gap by developing a symbiotic systemic design strategy for the water transition in the Segura River Basin, an arid region marked by intensive agricultural production and structural water scarcity. Through a research-by-design process, this study integrates the concept of symbiosis with a systemic design approach.

The outputs include: (1) a methodology for symbiotic strategic design of water system transitions, (2) a pattern language of symbiotic design interventions, and (3) a regional symbiotic strategy for the Segura River Basin. The results show that a symbiotic systemic design framework can effectively connect complex systems theory to actionable design strategies and policy-making. Therefore, this research offers inspiration for researchers, designers, and decision-makers to collaboratively develop context-specific, symbiotic solutions to integrated systemic problems, moving collectively towards a socio-ecologically resilient future.

Currently, Hungary is undergoing a rapid (re)industrialisation process, manifesting in the rise of lithium-ion battery manufacturing driven by the economic vision of the government. While framed as an important cornerstone of the energy transition towards decarbonisation, in reality this process deepens resource dependencies and results in spatially and socially uncontextual, unsustainable development - triggering what can be described as a battery manufacturing-induced crisis. The project focuses on North-East Hungary, which has become a key region in this phenomenon, bearing the disproportionate costs of a transition from which it gains minimal long-term benefits.

Therefore this thesis proposes a paradigm shift from transition to transformation, by addressing the research question: ‘How could the current battery crisis be leveraged to enable long-term spatial, transformative change in North-East Hungary?’ Grounded in theories of change and resilience thinking, the research aims to offer a long-term vision for the region that allows for transformability in moments of crisis, at the same time responding to the short-term impacts of unsustainable battery development patterns.

Using a multi-scalar lens, the study combines a territorial capital and a frequency of change analysis to identify static and dynamic regional elements and their transformative potential. Two future scenarios - based on the opposing transformability principles of efficiency and redundancy - are constructed and assessed through a value-based evaluation system. These inform a balanced, flexible long-term spatial framework and a set of transformation pathways that bridge immediate decisions regarding the battery industry with broader transformation goals. By proposing an engagement strategy and a new, landscape-based governance system as well, the project aims to call for action and serve as a catalyst for spatial imagination.

Ultimately, the thesis attempts to provide a future direction to an otherwise disadvantaged region, shifting the narrative of an unsustainable transition towards a flexible, circular, socially just and spatially integrated territorial transformation in North-East Hungary.

The Netherlands is at a critical juncture in its energy transition journey, facing significant challenges in meeting the European Union's 2030 goals. Wind energy, with its vast potential, is hindered by factors such as grid capacity shortages, resulting in congestion; and a lack of meaningful citizen participation in the decision-making process, which compounded by uneven benefits and conflicting interests, have led to local opposition against wind energy projects. This research explores how smart renewable energy community development strategies can address these dilemmas and facilitate a just and sustainable energy transition. It focuses on four main research questions: identifying key stakeholders and their influence on energy community development; analyzing spatial plans and policies and their deficiencies; proposing strategies to address these challenges at local and regional levels; and exploring how these strategies can be implemented in the Dutch urban context.

The study employs a range of methodologies including literature reviews, stakeholder analysis, case studies, analytical mapping, spatial analysis, multi-criteria analysis, urban planning/design, and scenario-making. The expected outcomes include a methodology for citizen/stakeholder engagement in energy community and energy transition decision-making, cross-scale exploratory design scenarios, and an experimental visualization platform to present spatial interactions and data. This approach aims to enhance just energy transition through the development of smart renewable energy communities, improve grid resilience and energy project's social acceptance, and ensure spatial justice in the Dutch energy transition.

The green growth paradigm of economic and urban growth leads to undesired decoupling effects and locks urban development into a growth dependency, causing a decrease in socio-ecological resilience. Degrowth proposes to be a solution that focusses practices of commons, distributive justice, sufficiency, a downscaling of the economic system as well as a long-term balance between the socio-ecological and the urban-economic system. However, there is no insight yet whether and how the concept can be spatialized on a larger scale. This thesis argues that a systemic perspective is necessary to achieve this. To study this, it puts forward the case of the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam (MRA), a growing region which is exceeding planetary and local carrying capacities and the flow of construction materials, a central resource of the urban-economic system. A pattern language is developed to trace path dependencies and modify them in a degrowth-appropriate way.

It was found that on the regional scale, the values promote a region-based economy by reducing material imports, strengthening local biobased value chains, and strategically preserving space for production. Infrastructure should be sized to connect regional nodes with each other while reducing ecological impact. At the city and neighbourhood scale, degrowth prioritises compact and mixed-use development, sufficiency in housing, and the integration of common spaces and small-scale production to enhance access and community well-being. Implementing degrowth goes along with a complex process of systemic change which will influence the whole structure of the built environment, particularly regarding materials, building and dwelling type, infrastructure, function, zoning and ownership. Applying degrowth focuses on reinterpretation and modification of existing spatial structures. For the MRA, this specifically includes shifting institutional goals, redefining land value, and addressing global responsibilities through scaling economic activity down to the region while distributing functions equitably and ensuring access.

Amid the rapid climate change and resource depletion, there is a dire need for energy transition in all sectors for resilience. In the Netherlands, agriculture dominates land use and the economy but remains fossil-fuel dependent, contributing to environmental degradation. The industry must incorporate eco-sensitive practices while facilitating the energy transition, placing farmers at the core of this systemic transition. Furthermore, globalisation has created a distance between producer and consumer, spatially and mentally (Bock & Wiskerke, 2024), creating tensions between the farmers in the countryside and consumers in the cities, which the systemic change needs to factor in. With its fertile landscapes and high solar and wind potential, Flevoland presents a unique opportunity for synergising health, agriculture and renewable energy in the Netherlands (Staps et al., 2015). A few biodynamic farms already demonstrate eco-sensitive practices, integrating hydrogen, solar, and wind. However, these initiatives are marginalised by globalisation, market pressures, consumer demands, and policy frameworks. Therefore, this project attempts to conceptualise HOW biodynamic farming principles in Flevoland can be upscaled and combined with the sustainable energy transition to strengthen the (regional) food supply chain. Through spatial mapping and critical analysis of the supply chain and consumer behaviour, the identified opportunities and challenges are translated into a spatial vision for our transition community, i.e. the biodynamic farmers, through three zones: urban, transition, and agricultural, each supporting varying producer-consumer dynamics and shortening the chain while integrating farming, biodiversity, innovation, and renewable energy for a multifunctional and interconnected landscape. The project further delves into the existing policies and identifies synergies, conflicts, and internal dilemmas within the proposed spatial vision. The project developed scenarios to understand the exemplary measures to address the internal dilemmas and upscale the biodynamic farms in Flevoland. These measures are further translated into interconnected strategic actions predominantly as physical spatial interventions and policies to regulate market dynamics and facilitate the energy transition. All of these are supported by collaborations between stakeholders with varying vested interests and raising their awareness through educational reforms. The different zones and types of transition zones are key to implementing this vision. They are reflected at multiple scales, ranging from Flevoland at a regional level to a neighbourhood-scale pioneering pilot project in Oosterwold. The multiscalar approach, thus, accounts for an adaptive cycle that first creates a demand that enables the agricultural transition comprising spatial and legislative reorganisations, altogether reforming the environmental system. All these aspects together form a resilient food system, focusing on healthy, regional, and energy-efficient food production while giving room to nature and water.

The ongoing energy transition across Europe presents significant challenges and opportunities for industries traditionally dependent on fossil fuels, particularly the chemical sector. As a cornerstone of the European economy, the chemical industry must balance the urgency of transitioning to sustainable energy with the need to maintain competitiveness and profitability. One such industry hub, Chemelot in the southern Netherlands, finds itself at a pivotal moment in this transition. As a major contributor to the regional economy and a key player in the chemical sector, Chemelot’s shift toward sustainability holds profound implications not only for its own future but also for the local communities and natural environment that surround it.
This report examines how Chemelot can navigate the complex energy transition in alignment with the European Union’s Green Deal and climate targets, while balancing the economic, social, and environmental needs of its region. The research explores the cross-scalar impacts of this transition, addressing the local challenges faced by surrounding communities, the spatial implications for the region, and the broader cross-border implications within the European context. The study focuses on the tensions that emerge between industrial growth, environmental preservation, and social equity, and seeks to identify strategies that reconcile these often-conflicting demands.
A central element of this research’s visioning process is the development of an urban-industrial symbiosis model that integrates the economic needs of Chemelot with the broader community and environmental priorities of the surrounding area. This ideal vision is situated within a larger framework of national policies, EU climate targets, and regional development plans, ensuring alignment with both local and cross-border objectives. By analysing the power-interest dynamics and policy frameworks in play, as well as understanding the attitudes of various stakeholders, we create a development strategy that balances conflict resolution with the identification of synergies.
To achieve this, co-design methodologies, such as pattern language, are employed to spatially address and facilitate conflicts and synergies. This approach allows for a more nuanced understanding of how stakeholder interests intersect and evolve. It ensures that the transition process is inclusive, with opportunities for stakeholders to collaborate in shaping a shared vision. The result is a phased strategy for Chemelot’s growth, positioned within a larger metropolitan area, which not only enables industrial expansion but also fosters sustainable regional development.
The findings of this research suggest that Chemelot’s energy transition can become a model for the future development of similar industrial hubs, contributing to the larger goal of achieving sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient urban-industrial landscapes. It also highlights the importance of collaboration and communication among stakeholders to ensure that the transition is just, equitable, and environmentally responsible.

The Netherlands is currently undergoing an energy transition towards sustainable and renewable sources, aiming to eliminate CO2 emissions by 2050. This report focuses on the transition community of sustainable settlers, young people (25–45) who strive to lead a more sustainable lifestyle, yet often feel powerless to effect change. In addition to the energy transition, this group is strongly affected by the national housing shortage. This shortage is particularly pressing in Utrecht, where rapidly rising housing prices make it increasingly difficult for this community to find affordable housing. By combining bottom-up and top-down approaches, a vision is developed for this community of the future within the province of Utrecht. Using microgrids as a key energy theme, the energy transition is accelerated by introducing decentralized energy systems in urban areas, promoting sustainable energy generation while reducing stress on the national grid. This report analyses the current state of Utrecht to define a vision across four key themes from the perspective of sustainable settlers: housing, work, mobility, and energy. These individual visions may present conflicting interests. However, their integration leads to a cohesive overall vision. A strategic plan is formulated based on this vision, using stakeholder analysis to identify and map various interests. A set of targeted actions is outlined to create a realistic future scenario for the province. These actions are tailored to different types of settlements and can originate from either top-down or bottom-up initiatives. They are strategically deployed to shape a long-term strategy for Utrecht. This results in a forward-thinking strategy where spatial planning aligns with sustainable energy, affordable living, and accessible transport. The strategy distinguishes between three settlement types: city center, suburb, and peri-urban, each with specific needs, ensuring a balanced and inclusive approach. Together, these layers form a coherent vision for a more resilient and sustainable province of Utrecht.

Zeeland is a delta region with a rich cultural heritage that plays a key role in the Netherland’s energy transition and is known as the ‘energy plug’ of the Netherlands. Despite its potential, Zeeland is becoming a left behind region in the Netherlands due to student migration, aging population, lack of engagement, limited opportunities and scores the lowest on the national innovation index of the Netherlands.
This proposal aims to reimagine Zeeland as an innovation hub by focusing on spatial planning strategies that integrate education, industry, renewable energy and cultural landscapes within a decentralized governance. The project centres on the students of Zeeland, both theoretical and vocational, as the chosen community to create a vision for Zeeland’s future, while ensuring the involvement of all relevant stakeholders in the strategy process. A mixed-methods approach is used, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative research to understand the regional challenges and opportunities the region.
The design advocates for the decentralization of provincial governance and the establishment of independent knowledge clusters within Zeeland. These clusters, shaped by the province’s spatial characteristics, will be more aligned with the development needs of students and the opportunities in both renewable energy and industry.
The design advocates for the decentralization of provincial governance and the establishment of independent knowledge clusters within Zeeland. These clusters, shaped by the province’s spatial characteristics, will be more aligned with the development needs of students and the opportunities in both renewable energy and industry.
If the project is successful, this approach could position Zeeland as an innovation hub in not only the national, but also European scale. Redirecting investments from nuclear energy projects to other renewable energy solutions will support industries, lower energy prices and also preserve the region’s cultural landscape. Ultimately, in the future, Zeeland will become a region that attracts and maintain talent, supports innovation and contributes to the broader energy transition.

The European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) aims to address the growing demand and supply chain disruptions of critical raw materials essential for energy and digital transitions. While the Act emphasizes enhancing processing, recycling, and extraction activities within Europe, it does not address the significant spatial and environmental impacts of establishing these facilities. This issue is further complicated by our consumption patterns, which drive increased material use for a better quality of life, thus necessitating more extraction and processing activities.

This thesis examines these implications by focusing on neodymium, a rare earth element, and develops a circular supply chain for neodymium magnets in the Netherlands. Beyond addressing supply chain disruptions, the research critiques the current economic system by exploring different processing capacities within alternative growth paradigms.

The primary method used is scenario building, which illustrates four potential futures for the Netherlands. These scenarios are influenced by various factors such as processing capacities, economic conditions, societal values, and different supply chains. By comparing and evaluating these potential futures, their implications were understood. Key strategies from these extreme scenarios were then integrated to develop a national vision for the Netherlands. This vision is showcased through five strategic locations, each demonstrating the benefits of the vision.

This thesis highlights that the CRMA, which follows the green growth model, may lead to spatial and economic lock-ins, proving unsustainable in the long term under the current socio-economic framework. It emphasizes the necessity for a holistic approach that integrates environmental and spatial considerations, along with long-term planning, into policy-making to ensure socio-ecologically resilient supply chains. Additionally, while building capacities is seen as environmentally taxing this transition can be used to revitalize existing locations by addressing their current issues.

Shifting to a circular biobased building sector is imperative to address pressing environmental challenges while meeting societal needs. The construction sector, responsible for a significant portion of global carbon emissions, faces the additional demand of constructing and refurbishing millions of houses by 2050. To achieve sustainability goals set out in the Dutch National Circularity Programme, the Dutch Government has allocated €200 million to transition to a circular biobased building sector, with flax emerging as a promising candidate, especially for fiber reinforced composites, due to its technical properties and suitability for Dutch climate and soil conditions. However, strategies on the spatial integration of a flax value chain do not exist yet.
This thesis addresses the research question: “How could a flax-based value chain be spatially facilitated to sustainably contribute to a circular biobased building sector?” Drawing upon theory on circular and biobased economies, the research investigates the potential applications of flax, the historical evolution of the flax industry, and the spatial, environmental, and socio-economic dimensions of a circular flax supply chain.
By formulating concrete scenarios and backcasting from desired outcomes, the study envisions future trajectories for the flax value chain and lays the groundwork for informed decision-making and strategic planning. A suitability analysis is performed to optimize land use and allocate functions of the flax value chain geographically, resulting in a national plan for the Netherlands. Furthermore, the use of a pattern language, stuctured along the flax value chain, provides a structured and systemic approach to understanding and modifying the system and translates research insights into tangible design interventions.
Lastly, the thesis extends beyond theoretical frameworks to practical implementation, by the application of the pattern language in the case of Lelystad, Flevoland. Through iterative design processes, spatial frameworks emerge as instruments for sustainable land-use optimization and system modification.
In conclusion, while flax emerges as a promising component of a circular biobased building sector, its role is just one part of the broader transition. Acknowledging uncertainties and complexities, and the need for environmental resilience, the research underscores the necessity for adaptable spatial design strategies and continued interdisciplinary collaboration and research to navigate the evolving landscape of the biobased built environment.

The starting point of this project is the search for a renewal approach, including process and outcome, that allows urban village communities to move from labour-intensive industry-dominated production and living space to a sustainable and livable high-density community in the context of industrial transition.

Shenzhen's labour-intensive manufacturing-based system attracted a large number of migrants from other cities. Urban villages were born along with the rapid expansion of factories. However, Shenzhen's shortage of land and expensive housing has forced migrants to live in urban villages, turning them into areas of extremely high density, both in terms of population and building structures. They became the characteristic feature of Shenzhen's landscape. About 60 percent of the people in Shenzhen now live in urban villages, where there are many environmental problems, such as inadequate public facilities and a shortage of housing. Shenzhen government has undertaken various urban village renewal programes. They either demolish villages for the sake of land finance or focus on micro revitalization aimed at improving the environmental conditions of public spaces.

However, industrial transition has affected people and space along the entire labour-intensive industry chain, which means that the model of high-density urban villages and industrial parks dominated by labour-intensity is facing mismatches in population, space and system in the industrial transition.

In recent years, Shenzhen has launched a new round of urban village improvement projects, which plans to retain most of the existing living spaces in urban villages, while changing the functions or redeveloping the large-footprint industrial zones that collectively owned by villages. The latter contains great opportunities to enhance the urban sustainability and livability. For this project, urban villages' industrial parks in Shenzhen's periphery were selected for planning and design

For this project, industrial parks in the periphery of Shenzhen, which is going to become a high-tech industrial park in the future, were selected for planning and design.

The Delta Program states that the Netherlands must be climate-resilient and water-robust by 2050, posing a great challenge to spatial planning. This imminent challenge of climate adaptation requires a common ground of interdisciplinary approach as monodisciplinary reductionist approaches are often not enough to deal with complex phenomena such as climate change.
In this context, combining information models can support well-informed design decisions, since many interventions related to climate adaptation, such as those related to water storage, soil infiltration and underground spatial management, require a deeper knowledge of subsurface characteristics and configurations.
However, this interdisciplinary approach still face many organizational, technological and institutional barriers, related to inherent characteristics of design and geoinformatics in combination with practical challenges related to standardization and interface of existing products. There has not been yet an integrated approach that relates subsurface information models and local climate adaptation design interventions in a single place even if literature and design examples suggest information needs.
This thesis aims to explores how subsurface information models, in particular 3D ones, can aid the cause of concrete well-informed urban climate adaptation design interventions, identifying the reasons for an under use of existing subsurface data models and assessing existing subsurface information models, both in 2D and 3D, to better understand what are the information requirements for climate adaptation design interventions in the Netherlands.
As climate adaptation can often be a broad concept, this research opted to focus on concrete examples of standards for climate adaptation in urban design, coming from the Leidraad 2.0, the Maatlat, and the Klimaateffectatlas. The interventions used for the design analysis are also standardized and refer to a document published by the Dutch government containing the twenty five most relevant climate adaptation design interventions in the Netherlands.
The study of these interventions, standards, and models, along with the study of their interdependence, indicate information needs for local climate adaptation design.
Therefore, this thesis provides both theoretical and practical foundations for better integrating subsurface data models into standardized urban design practices for climate adaptation. As a result of this research, a tangible tool named CLIMACAT is developed. CLIMACAT integrates pre-existing subsurface information models in accordance with FAIR data principles: ensuring findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability. Subsequently, both the tool and the established information models undergo testing via design proposals across four neighborhoods within the city of Utrecht.

Cities are responsible for a great amount of CO2 emissions related to transportation (CBS). However, the greatest amount of CO2 is caused by private transport and is mainly associated with peri-urban (the peri-urban area is a common place to live for the natural environment and also near accessibility to city facilities) and rural areas due to the lack of public transport, proximities to Services of General Interest (SGI) and access to jobs. This problem is especially evident in the cross-border regions.
When zooming in on North-West Europe, more specific issues around transport, mobility and battling CO2 arise. The European railway network, which spreads across national borders, is a patchwork filled with gaps around those national borders. Considering that a large share of the European Union’s territory consists of border regions and includes more than one-third of the EU’s population, this fact is rather alarming (European Mobility Atlas, 2021). The spatial vision and strategy presented in this report will focus on the challenge of carbon emissions caused by the transport and mobility sector with a focus on cross-border and last-mile connectivity of peri-urban areas.
The region of Maas-Rijn is used as a case study. This project explores how the region can become a place where what is not in your direct vicinity, is still within reach in the next 30 years. In saying this, the project is not only referring to physical proximity to amenities, services and (infra)structures but also to the possibility of accessing job opportunities, education, social networks, communities and other intangible resources.
Based on our analysis, the relevant trends and values are identified for a region covering three different scales: Local scale within national borders, Cross-border scale, and Multi-nation/ European scale. Key findings emphasize the role of enhancement of short-distance transport trips, the reduction of motorized vehicle use of any kind by promoting development aimed at close proximity to physical and intangible resources and promoting the use of active/ non-motorized modes of transport of any kind. More medium and long-distance/ not daily movements will be replaced by the use of sustainable alternatives, such as EVs, optimized public transport networks and smart sharing systems.

There is an imbalance in the nitrogen cycle, mainly caused by an increasingly intensive agricultural sector. This leads to the degradation of nature and the loss of biodiversity. Measures have been taken at European level to reduce the amount of nitrogen emitted by the agricultural sector, but this has caused a backlash as farmers in many European countries have protested strongly. Many farmers fear for their future and something must be done to safeguard their livelihoods and the quality of Europe's nature.
To address this, we propose a vision for 2150 in which the food system of north-west Europe shifts from intensive agriculture to a regenerative, small-scale and collective farming system. We envision diversified and rotational land use to close nitrogen cycles and thus reduce the burden on the climate, giving the soil space and time to regenerate so that nature can thrive. Food and bio-based materials will be produced locally and seasonally, making food and material consumption more transparent and integrated into the daily lives of communities, transforming peri-urban and rural structures and the way we live in them. This regenerative production system, coupled with new incentives, will provide affordable food for all, while being more circular, organic, sustainable and fit for the future world we envision.
To enable diversified farms, farmers will share facilities, tools and land to enable soil-based crop rotation. This will have an impact not only on the local diet, but also on the food and materials produced. Focusing on local production also means introducing other collective infrastructures that increase local and regional flows. It also means reducing some of our international infrastructure while increasing knowledge flows between countries to empower people in the Global South to process and produce food locally, thus ensuring a more equitable distribution of resources. Finally, at the heart of the strategy is the conservation of nature, which will shape the boundaries of the newly structured peri-urban rural agricultural landscape. The existing boundaries of the built environment will remain, with the emphasis on densifying and transforming our current structures rather than expanding them.
In order to visualise the vision, we selected three pilot projects based on three different typologies and existing infrastructure: Nijkerk (sand, rural, a practical school and a milk processing unit), Utrecht (clay, urban and distribution centres) and Bodegraven (peat, peri-urban and dairy related businesses). These pilot projects show the necessary landscape transformation over time with the introduction of regenerative agriculture, food and material hubs along with food production within city boundaries, working towards a sustainable landscape and local diet.

Interstitial urban spaces form an exception in the very organised urban-rural monocultural landscapes in the Netherlands. These unplanned in-between spaces are rarely valued from a traditional planning perspective, in which they are seen as “empty” or “unused”, thus ready for development. They are, however, an important refuge for people and wildlife alike, who do not fit in the monocultures of urban life and agriculture. However, the unplanned character that is core to their nature and arguably their value might be easily disturbed by design activities, and thus urban densification in the Netherlands is a threat to the existence of these spaces. Through the research question “How could urban interstitial spaces in the Netherlands provide cultural and ecological value?” The aim is to find a better way to describe, design, and value these spaces. Next to theoretical exploration, site analysis and fieldwork, explorative design is used to imagine how interstitial urban spaces could look and function to support and sustain the cultural and ecological values for the people and wildlife that make use of these spaces, could encourage bottom-up spacial development and inspire by illustrating what is possible.

The current linear food system in the Netherlands has a negative impact on the environment, requiring almost ten times the biocapacity the country has to offer. The food sector plays a big role in generating this inequality - this overconsumption, and of the entire food supply chain up to a third of food waste is generated by the consumer. The linear food system contributes to environmental problems such as loss of biodiversity and wasting of food. Negative effects – such as rising vulnerability to extreme weather conditions, low urban quality, decreasing biodversity, and higher obesity rates - can be seen in the urban built environment, especially in Dutch post-war neighbourhoods like Schalkwijk, Haarlem. Changing peoples’ behaviour in their day-to-day life can be a starting point for establishing loops for food, water, and energy resources.

This project highlights a significant knowledge gap in the effective integration of circular principles into the built environment at the neighbourhood scale and underlines the importance of social and environmental integration in research.
Previous research has identified significant vulnerability to climate risks and inadequate availability of nutritious, locally grown food, resulting in high levels of obesity and vulnerability to climate extremes in the selected post-war neighbourhood. In addition, the opportunity to separate organic waste from general waste is not fully realised, resulting in the loss of recyclable organic matter, which would have a great potential for energy transformation and introducing local agriculture. However, this waste separation needs to start in our daily lives. In contrast, food production takes place in isolation from our daily lives.

This raises the question: How can the transformation of Dutch post war neighbourhoods facilitate actions of our daily life towards a circular foodscape?

The main objective of this research project is to create a pattern language as a co-design method for the transition to a circular built environment in Dutch post-war neighbourhoods.
The creation of circular networks, such as mobility, sewage, heating infrastructure, and social networks that are interconnected, are very much needed to support the transition to a holistic circular system for everyday life in the respective neighbourhoods.
The project will use a design approach, conduct qualitative and quantitative research, and confirm the results with workshops and design development - in particular creating a pattern language. A systemic design approach will form the basis of this research and design process, as it embraces urban metabolism, co-creation and respects the diverse and complex nature of the project. The use of a pattern language as a research and design tool allows for the exchange of research and design through a co-creation approach and possible spatial implementations of a circular neighbourhood with circular actions in the everyday life of the inhabitants of Schalkwijk.

The primary outcome of this project is the design of a co-creation process, using the developed pattern language to show possible outcomes of a circular built environment. This includes bringing food production closer to our everyday lives and integrating circular systems within the local community. Urban planners have a facilitating role in presenting options for a circular future, starting processes that support the information and interest exchange of stakeholders, and providing participatory methods for shaping spatial circular strategies in post-war neighbourhoods.

The research highlights how outcomes can vary based on perspectives, interests, and needs during the co-creation process. While the study concentrates on the food system, it also recognises wider aspects of circularity within the built environment, such as water and energy supply. The unpredictable human element in the co-creation process affects workshop dynamics and results.

In short, this project aligns with the continual changes in sustainable development, participation, and circularity. It presents the pattern language as a useful tool for stakeholders working on circularity transitions, offering new opportunities for collaboration and resource efficiency at the neighbourhood scale. The findings contribute to filling existing research gaps by proposing a way to a sustainable, participatory, and circular urban development in Dutch post-war neighbourhoods.

The Netherlands is a place where the interplay between mankind and Nature1 resonates deeply within the roots of its omnipresent cultural landscape. Proactively shaping this landscape, which is widely considered as the most eminent aspect of place identity of the Lowlands, stands at the cradle of the by now long and rich tradition of planning urban development. The unintentional production of this key facet of Dutch culture traces back to the Middle Ages when the peatlands of the western delta were cultivated and colonized, gradually forming over millennia through natural processes. Inhabiting this inhospitable environment led early settlers to adopt a technophilic2 approach, perceiving nature as something that needed to be controlled. This organized endeavour resulted in rapid polycentric urbanization, where manmade inland waterways interconnected medieval cities and rural villages spatially, socially and economically, on the territorial scale of what is referred to in this thesis as the Deltametropolis3. However, the transition to modernity disrupted this equilibrium, creating a divide between the increasingly separate spheres of ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ driven by the pursuit of global economic competitiveness. A metropolitan region was starting to take shape based on the already centuries-old urbanized configuration – complete with mutually competitive and independent cities in a discontinuous countryside, connected by an extensive infrastructural network, and where each individual citizen could compose their own polycentric city. While urban and rural typologies have long been dissolved into a continuum, today public policy still prioritizes compact city models and sectoral economic development, overlooking strategic interdependencies within the metropolitan region and worsening socio-economic inequalities. With the increasing pressure from Natural forces – once the core catalyst of the production of Dutch culture – the Anthropocene is experiencing a second deep transition that will once more inevitably alter our relation towards our natural environment. In anticipation of an uncertain future, this design exploration aims to express an authentic articulation of the spatial configuration of the Deltametropolis, drawing lessons from the past to shape the future, in which urban and rural spatial qualities are symbiotically reintegrated and our relation with Nature is critically reassessed.

(de Geyter et al., 2002; Geuze et al., 2016; Koolhaas et al., 1993; Palmboom, n.d.; Van der Woud, n.d.)

This thesis explores spatial strategies for achieving sustainable industry transition in the dispersed urbanised areas of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in China. Since 1978, urbanisation in the GBA has accelerated, significantly expanding beyond metropolitan regions. These dispersed areas, described as the Desakota by Terry McGee, encompass a patchwork landscape of urban and rural settlements, as well as industrial and agricultural lands. However, this region faces pressing issues, including unsustainable industrial activities, fragmented landscapes, inadequate public services, and a loss of identity. The existing urban-rural dichotomy planning system fails to address these challenges, leading to environmental degradation and a decline in quality of life. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a regional strategy to explore the potential for sustainable and liveable urbanisation in Desakota.

Hence, this thesis adopts the “Netzstadt” concept as a guiding methodology from a regional perspective. It leads to defining Desakota’s spatial and functional nodes and connections, identifying potential elements for sustainable industrial transformation, adapting structural features through reference projects, experimenting with a design project, and proposing an adapted planning system.

These assignments yield three significant outcomes. Firstly, the adapted structure plan proposes a decentralised development pattern of Desakota, envisioning a circular and symbiotic industry conversion, repurposing industrial redundancy for metropolitan publicness, and enhancing the green and public network. Secondly, a showcased design project incorporates industrial, open space, and residential elements, proposing a specific spatial morphology and physiological flow. It emphasises the local identity and demonstrates the importance of involving local actors in the transition. Thirdly, a more decentralised and flexible spatial planning system should be employed to materialise the proposed Desakota structure.

By implementing these strategies, the desakota of GBA can progress towards a sustainable and liveable future that integrates nature, supports diverse livelihoods and lifestyles, and optimises resource management. This thesis can also provide transferable knowledge to other similar dispersed areas on how the pattern, flow and policy could be synthesised into future urbanisation and contribute to ensuring the sustainable development of society and ecology.