This study examines the historical evolution and contemporary transformation of open public spaces in the historic city centre of Melaka, Malaysia. Tracing their development from the Melaka Sultanate through colonial and post-independence periods, it reveals how spaces like the Dutch Square, streetscapes, and green open areas have shifted from communal and civic use toward tourism, commercialisation, and privatisation. Through case studies of Padang Pahlawan, Bukit China, and Jonker Street, the thesis highlights how open public spaces in Melaka serve as contested terrains of memory, identity, and urban change.

Despite being one of the world’s smallest countries by land area, Singapore ranks 6th globally in terms of land reclaimed. Increasing from 578 km2 to 719 km2 over two centuries, most of the land that houses top-performing global industries sit on reclaimed land - land that did not exist when the British first arrived on the island. Existing scholarship focuses on the research of land reclamation through a binary lens: either looking at early or contemporary Singapore. This research thus proposes to bridge this analytical gap by examining Singapore’s three distinct eras that form a complex interplay: from Singapore’s colonial founding to its early expansion during post-independence, and its contemporary transnational actions with regards to sand mining. Each era is examined through the lens of postcolonial theory – tracing material losses and impacts. The coastline becomes a physical and symbolic site of negotiation about authority and postcolonial identity. It prompts the question: How does Singapore use her own changing coastlines to legitimize authority and script its own historical and cultural identity? Through challenging the binaries of natural vs. constructed and colonized vs postcolonial, a new "freakosystem" - a term informally used by Ponsford (2025) to describe an accidental hybrid environment born of human intervention – begins to emerge from the Singapore landscape. Singapore’s sand story is a palimpsest that questions what it means to design this colonial-postcolonial-neocolonial "freakosystem" that does not overwrite the past but acknowledges and builds on it. In a truly postcolonial future, we stop asking whether our landscapes are pure but start asking how we might inhabit them more ethically and authentically.

This thesis explores the spatial interplay between the harbour and the Medieval City of Rhodes, tracing how the Knights of St. John and the Ottoman Empire shaped the island’s urban identity. By adopting a spatial-historical methodology supported by cartographic reconstructions, the study demonstrates how military, religious, and economic priorities influenced the city’s structure over time. The fortified integration of the harbour under the Knights is contrasted with the Ottoman strategy of adaptive reuse and integration into imperial trade networks. The research reveals a persistent spatial logic that transcended regime changes, manifesting in fortified architecture and religious-military infrastructure. Through original maps and analysis of historical sources, the thesis argues that Rhodes developed not only as a strategic military outpost but as a spatial palimpsest reflecting layered ideologies of control and power. This study contributes to architectural history by offering a visual and analytical framework for understanding how imperial legacies shape urban morphology in the Mediterranean context.

This thesis examines the impact of climate change on Bryggen, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Bergen, Norway, renowned for its medieval timber architecture and subterranean archaeological deposits. As sea levels rise and precipitation intensifies, both the wooden buildings and the organic materials preserved below ground are increasingly threatened. The study explores Bergen’s identity as a “city of weather,” where climate has historically shaped both the built environment and cultural resilience. It evaluates current preservation efforts, such as groundwater stabilisation, drainage reforms, and timber conservation, and identifies their limitations under future climate scenarios. The thesis proposes a hybrid preservation model based on international case studies, including Venice’s MOSE barriers, Hadrian’s Wall geotextile interventions, and microbial treatments from Polish wooden churches. This model integrates local measures with globally informed strategies, emphasising the need for proactive, interdisciplinary, and adaptive approaches to heritage preservation in a rapidly changing climate.