This P4 report investigates how participatory practices can address conflicting stakeholder interests during the removal of curbside parking, a key challenge in the transition towards low-car cities. While literature often highlights the benefits of parking removal for traffic flow, safety and urban livability, such interventions frequently generate resistance rooted in competing values and lived experiences. Through case studies in Leiden, Rotterdam and Amsterdam as well as six qualitative interviews with both organizers and participants, this research identifies recurring value conflicts: spatial, temporal, economic and equity-related and explores how participation can be used to manage them.
The findings demonstrate that, while participation does not resolve conflict, it can facilitate constructive negotiation when certain conditions are met. These include trust, clear communication, meaningful feedback and a well-defined scope. The study provides an empirical framework of nine enabling conditions for participatory conflict management, reinterpreting participation not as a tool for consensus, but as a platform for navigating value tensions. This supports a shift towards more inclusive and reflexive planning practices, especially relevant under the legal requirements of the new Dutch Environment and Planning Act.

Key Message: Participation can support urban transitions not by eliminating disagreement, but by creating the conditions for fair and open negotiation of conflicting interests.

Keywords: Participatory planning, stakeholder conflict, curb parking removal, low-car city, urban governance, value regimes, Arnstein’s ladder, conflict management, public space, participation conditions, urban sustainability, trust, legitimacy

The construction industry is increasingly turning to industrialized construction in response to societal pressures such as housing shortages, rising costs, and sustainability demands. This transition, from traditional, project-based delivery models to product-oriented approaches, promises greater standardization, repeatability, and scalability. However, despite the technical potential of industrialized construction, many firms face persistent organizational challenges. Bottlenecks in internal coordination, role clarity, and collaboration, can hinder the effective development of product platforms.
This study begins with a theoretical background to establish a foundation for understanding the case later on, using academic papers sourced from Google Scholar. The empirical research adopts qualitative methods, focusing on a single-case study of VORM 2050. Semi-structured interviews guided by abductive reasoning align empirical observations with theoretical insights. Organizational ethnography is employed as a secondary method, involving observations of daily practices, meetings, and project documentation. Finally, recommendations will be developed using workshops with VORM 2050 to collectively reflect on tensions and identify improvements to organizational practices.
The primary goal of this study is to support the transition of construction companies towards industrialized practices. This includes a case study of VORM 2050’s ongoing transition, focusing on organizational practices and enhancing understanding through theoretical frameworks. The key outcome is a set of practice-informed recommendations, offering actionable guidance for integrating platform thinking and improving organizational routines. These insights address the lack of managerial perspective on navigating tensions during platform transitions and are applicable to other construction companies. The findings will be shared with VORM 2050 and broader stakeholders, ensuring privacy while making the outcomes available through the TU Delft repository.

This research addresses the question: How can strategic scenario thinking be integrated into Rotterdam's urban development process, and what potential does it hold for addressing politically sensitive urban development projects, particularly in the case of Feyenoord City?. The study employs a methodology that combines literature review, case study analysis, stakeholder interviews, and interactive sessions. This combination takes elements from the method of ‘action research’ (Coghlan, 2019), which is chosen for its ability to reflect upon the implementation of new tools within existing organisations and its processes. The interviews with municipal project managers, urban planners, project opposition, and academic experts provide qualitative insights into the challenges faced during the Feyenoord City project. The data is analysed through coding and a cross-reference method to identify gaps for the implementation of scenario thinking within Rotterdam’s municipal strategic urban development process.

By answering the main research question, this research developed a framework for implementing strategic scenarios, which are grounded in the theories from Börjeson et al. (2006) (scenario definitions) and Lindgren & Bandhold (2009) (scenario formulation). The data analysis reveals key gaps where scenario thinking could improve the strategic urban development process. These gaps include the lack of clear scenario definitions and a focus on short-term outcomes over long-term strategic thinking. These gaps highlight the need for clearer frameworks and more inclusive decision-making processes, especially for a politically sensitive project like Feyenoord City.

The case study demonstrated that scenario thinking could enhance adaptability, mitigate risks, and address community opposition and regulatory complexities. The research concludes with a proposal to integrate strategic scenario thinking into Rotterdam’s urban planning process, emphasizing iterative reflection and improving stakeholder collaboration to manage political sensitivities and uncertainties, offering a replicable model for other cities.

Existing buildings are changing assets, altered in response to various external or internal triggers for change. Often, change can occur in the form of adaptive reuse – also known as building transformation. Therefore, promoting adaptability in transformation is necessary to cope with the inevitability of building changes. Building transformation is considered an effective practice contributing to the circular economy (CE) and building adaptability as a prerequisite for circular design. However, previous research pointed out that building stakeholders lack knowledge about the alignment between CE and adaptive reuse.
This study aims to provide building and real estate practitioners with a guiding framework for promoting circularity and adaptability in adaptive reuse projects. A quadrant research design was used in this study to develop and apply the framework in practice. The four components of this research are four stepwise studies, namely theoretical – an integrative literature review, empirical – multiple case studies, participatory – framework co-development, and actionable – framework implementation.
First, the integrative literature review contributed to theoretically conceptualizing the underlying concept of this research – the circular building adaptability (CBA), which brings together circularity and adaptability. Second, the multiple case studies contributed to extracting lessons learned about applicable CBA strategies in adaptive reuse and their enabling and inhibiting factors. Third, the participatory study contributed to co-developing a descriptive framework for CBA in adaptive reuse (CBA-AR). Finally, the action research study contributed to testing and improving the usability and effectiveness of the CBA-AR framework based on observing, acting, and reflecting on a case project.

Globally, the aging population results in a large group of elderly people and not enough healthcare employees to take care of this group. Aging-in-place, the goal for older individuals to age in their homes is considered vital for their quality of life and to unburden the healthcare facilities. The demand for age-friendly houses is growing, necessitating a proactive approach to renovating homes for the elderly. Housing associations are expected to take the lead in the energy transition of the existing building stock, necessitating renovation of their portfolio to meet the energy requirements. Integrating aging-in-place features in the renovation plans of housing associations can help motivate the elderly to cooperate and approve of these plans continuing the energy transition, since 70% approval needs to be reached according to Ministerie van Algemene Zaken (2023), and responds to the needs of the aging population. This research will answer the question: how can aging-in-place features be integrated in energy renovations of social housing in The Netherlands? This study is researched through a literature study and (expert) interviews. The goal is to balance the needs for aging-in-place and energy improvement renovation projects to maximize the impact on the housing association and the elderly. The following strategy is proposed to overcome the barriers identified in the process of integrating aging-in-place features in energy renovations (1) collaboration with municipalities, elderly care providers, and housing associations to create urgency and align ambitions; (2) living coach and counseling to prepare aging social tenants for the future; (3) extra communication and guidance effort for elderly to mitigate resistance towards energy renovations; (4) collaboration and alignment with municipality and market parties to reduces barriers to implement aging-in-place initiatives and innovative care technologies.