This master’s thesis investigates the vulnerability and fragmentation of natural territories in the context of Moscow’s intensive urban expansion. The study critically examines existing urban planning approaches, which rely on large-scale master plans and major development projects that often overlook local natural processes and socio-cultural contexts. The research raises the question of an alternative model of urban development in which natural territories are treated as active actors, possessing agency and the capacity to influence spatial and governance decisions.
The study is based on a critical analysis of historical and contemporary urban planning documents and management tools for Moscow’s natural territories, with the aim of evaluating their effectiveness and degree of implementation. Building on identified gaps in current approaches, the research draws on theories of systems of care and rights of nature, rethinking the management of natural territories through recognition of their vulnerability, local processes, and spatial identity. The theoretical analysis is complemented by spatial interpretation aimed at identifying critical areas for potential interventions.
The anticipated outcome of the research is the development of a conceptual framework that proposes a sustainable alternative to dominant large-scale development models. This approach emphasizes the support of local actors, bottom-up initiatives, and mechanisms of local governance, while unlocking the socio-cultural and ecological potential of territories through spatial solutions grounded in principles of care and restoration.

Keywords:
Urban expansion, Natural territories, Fragmentation, Systems of care, Rights of nature, More-than-human urbanism, Moscow, Urban palimpsest, Morphodynamics, Environmental governance, Non-human actors, Spatial justice, Liminal spaces, Metropolitan regions.
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The model of the Randstad as a delta metropole with the Green Heart inside the urban ring is outdated, and a new spatial model and form can be seen emerging nowadays. A model with a North and South Wing. However, authorial decision-making still recognise the initial Randstad model as it was described a century ago.
The misuse of the actual unrecognised model, together with climate change, hydro-geomorphological alterations and unaligned sectoral approaches, have resulted in that nature and its regeneration capacity has started to decay in the Randstad, accelerating the diverse risk and posing complex conditions for its current development.

The thesis explored a renewed identity for the Randstad / Green Heart region that fosters socio-environmental fellowship, through a spatial planning approach from a bioregional perspective. The project steps away from the Green Heart paradigm and identifies three bioregions; the Coastline, Rijnmond–Drechtsteden and Central Holland, that require unique planning measures based on their hydrogeomorphological and ecological conditions. Using scenario-based planning, the project examined alternative spatial futures for the Randstad towards 2100. Furthermore, the project looks into the framework of European territorial governance, which needs reconsideration from a bioregional perspective.
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The Strait of Malacca is a maritime strait of global importance, yet its role as a living natural system is not recognised within current planning frameworks. Further amplified by growing uncertainty, driven by climate change, this calls into question how conventional practices of spatial planning deal with socio-environmental justice.
The Strait of Malacca is one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors, resulting in conflicting perspectives, with on the one hand a critical global infrastructure, and on the other a complex natural system that sustains life for both human and more-than-human inhabitants of the Strait.
This conflict of values, of global socio-technical and economic perspectives versus ecological and social significance are seen throughout the scales. With the dominant approach imposing more and more on the socio-environmental realities that recognise and depend on the Strait as a dynamic intertwined system, shaped by interdependent ecological, cultural and social relations.
Projected increasing shipping traffic heightens the further risks of marine pollution, erosion, and marine ecosystem decay, while land-based sources of pollution driven by urban and infrastructural development constitute a major cause of environmental deterioration (Rusli, 2011). This intensification will not only increase spatial affectations but also further drive the dichotomy of perspectives and values on a global stage (Meer, 1999). Resulting in coastal and wetland areas within the Strait to be at increased risk.
This disruption and degradation of the natural systems expose the limitations of current short-term adaptive planning practices, remaining reactive and unable to address the complexity of conditions, further driving degradation and inequality.
Rather than proposing adaptive planning practices, this thesis proposes to transform the way of managing these issues, going towards a new balance which is robust, to respond to future conditions and recognise the complexity of natural systems and human dependency within the Strait of Malacca. Drawing on the concepts of critical proximity, critical zones, river basin governance and Rights of Nature, this research investigates how local reality can become operational within governance structures, that is able to respond through time and scales. This is enabled through the implementation of a new governance scale of the river basin, relating better to ecological processes shaped by water, enabling situated practices of care to inform the management of the place.
Driving recognition of the networks that have and currently shape it, to go towards a long-term transformative future which is socially equitable and robust. It is not about “fixing” an issue but about finding a new balance that tends to the Strait as a natural system where both users and inhabitants are recognised. ... Read more

Climate change is transforming the Mediterranean Sea, pushing it toward increasingly tropical conditions. This process entails challenges and risks whose intrinsic complexity spans natural and cultural dimensions, as well as the lives of human and more-than-human inhabitants. It raises questions about forms of cooperation and inclusive politics that have yet to be established.
Starting from a working hypothesis that recognises Mediterranean eco-regions as biopolitical subjects, this thesis first seeks to understand the Adriatic eco-region as an entity - mapping its body through the combined lens of its biophysical and cultural dimensions, identifying five operative transects, the Bastards, and understanding the risks brought by tropicalisation to them.
Using the Adriatic eco-region and the Po/North Adriatic transect as a laboratory, the research proposes Padania Tropicale - a transformative framework that envisions pathways of co-evolutionary transformation alongside the new conditions brought by climate change, rather than the protection of a "natural" order oriented exclusively toward human productive activities.
The thesis concludes with a methodological reflection on the biopolitical dimension of spatial planning, exploring how eco-regions and transects can operate as devices for spatialising the Rights of Nature and for building governance frameworks grounded in a co-evolutionary stewardship between humans and nature. A reflection that is still open by necessity, but sincere in its ambition to seed further research and design at the scale of the Mediterranean basin. ... Read more

Zeeland offers significant opportunities for a sustainable energy transition. However, Zeeland is often treated as “the battery” of the Netherlands, supplying energy to more populated regions while receiving fewer resources in return. The province is also physically and socially disconnected, both from the rest of the country and internally, which results in a strong dependence on car-based mobility. This makes for the main spatial tensions of Zeeland’s future: accessibility, industrial activity, and its fragmented energy landscape.

This strategy addresses the question: How can endogenous renewable energy production in Zeeland be spatially structured to support sustainable industry and mobility transition across its communities? Our theoretical framework is grounded in socio-environmental spatial justice, with a focus on distributional, recognitional, and operational dimensions.

The proposed vision organizes renewable energy into clustered landscapes located near industrial sites, supported by an expansion of offshore wind to minimize landscape disruption. To improve accessibility and local energy production, an integrated hub system is introduced, combining shared mobility and public transport to connect dispersed villages with larger cities while embedding energy systems within mobility infrastructure. New forms of renewable energy, such as tidal and kinetic energy, are incorporated in existing infrastructure, and industries are encouraged to adopt more sustainable practices.

It is important to understand how landscapes, like the one in Zeeland, can adjust and contribute to the energy transition, without overpowering the landscape and respecting its communities. It teaches us how to not only view the energy transition as a technical challenge, but also a social one. The energy transition can contribute to increasing the accessibility of a disconnected area. This strategy can help designers understand how to include the voices of communities and stakeholders in designs.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly expanding industry and an increasingly significant consumer of energy. Its growing electricity demand poses challenges to Dutch and European Union ambitions for a renewable energy transition. In Groningen, plans to develop an AI supercomputer present both opportunities and risks. This paper examines how such a project can be implemented in ways that avoid extractivist practices while fostering socio-ecological accountability and stewardship. The report explores how democratic procedures and participatory processes can involve urban and rural communities, as well as more-than-human actors, in the just development of AI data centres in Groningen. Drawing on the work of Latour and Haraway, we investigate how technological systems might be designed to remain accountable to Gaia. The political dimensions of AI are further analysed through the perspectives of Morozov, Hao, and Suleyman, while their spatial implications are considered with reference to Otero-Verzier. To understand the regional context, we combine media analysis with situated fieldwork and interviews. Scientific literature is used to assess the energy demands of AI, while its broader political implications are examined through Winner’s work on technological systems. Based on this analysis, we propose a decentralised model for data centre development, alongside the establishment of energy communities along a corridor between Eemshaven and Groningen. In this model, the data centre acts as a catalyst for regional development in energy infrastructure, mobility, and spatial densification. Technological operations are aligned with the temporal variability of renewable energy generation, while decisions regarding energy use and job prioritisation are made democratically within these communities. Rather than pursuing artificial general intelligence, this approach emphasises the development of specialised AI for the public good, in collaboration with industry experts based in Groningen’s excellence centre. Given the rapid pace of AI development and its substantial resource demands, this paper argues for governance models and spatial designs that prioritise stewardship of both technology and the landscape. ... Read more

“Conquering Water Flows” investigates the layered relationships between water, territory, and cosmological worldviews in the Basin of Mexico, tracing how, during the Spanish occupation, water strategies on hydrological systems shaped today’s socio-environmental crises. Anchored in Aztec circular water infrastructures and sacred understandings of landscape, the project reframes water not only as a technical challenge, but as a cultural and spatial force. Through fieldwork in the Chalco Valley—visiting the Tláhuac-Xico lake and engaging with local actors—the research connects historical knowledge to present-day conditions of over-extraction, flooding, subsidence, and infrastructural dependency.

The design proposes “The Tianguis Project”, a spatial and material framework that reclaims Aztec ecological logic to develop regenerative, adaptive architecture. Integrating regional, bio-based materials and layered soil-water systems inspired by chinampas, the project supports a resilient public program responsive to shifting ground conditions. Rather than treating architecture as a static object, it is conceived as an evolving interface—between water and land, history and future, infrastructure and culture.

Ultimately, the project offers a critical lens on Mexico City’s hydrological legacy while proposing a grounded design approach that bridges pre-Hispanic knowledge, ecological resilience, and Mexico City’s contemporary society.
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The Earth has entered the Anthropocene—an epoch in which human activities have become the dominant force shaping planetary systems. Anthropogenic actions such as deforestation, overexploitation and rapid urban expansion have significantly accelerated global climate change. The consequences of this transformation, including more frequent extreme climate events and environmental degradation, have had profound negative impacts on human life and livelihoods. Moreover, environmental issues have exacerbated broader social challenges, which intertwined with ecological crises, leading to reduced social stability and diminished adaptive capacity.
As one of the most ecologically resilient terrestrial ecosystems, forests have played a vital role in Europe's sustainable development strategies. Moreover, forests serve as cultural and economic landscapes, historically embedded in traditional livelihoods and social practices. As such, increasing attention has been directed toward integrating reforestation strategies with socio-environmental adaptation goals, using landscape interventions to enhance territorial resilience and sustainability.
Post-industrial regions, characterized by environmental degradation and economic decline, exemplify spaces where socio-environmental challenges are most acute. This paper focuses on how forest-based ecosystem services can be mobilized to recast such landscapes. Using the former mining basin of Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern France as a case study, the research explores how forests can be reinterpreted, planned, and developed as strategic instruments for post-industrial territorial transformation. ... Read more

The agricultural plains of Thessaly in Greece have been historically sensitive to flooding. These floods result in extreme socio-economic, spatial and environmental consequences, whose severity is heavily impacted by human actions manipulating the natural ecosystems of the region. Specifically, the extensive urbanization of Thessaly’s agricultural landscape – one of the main productive agricultural cores of Greece – combined with the anthropogenic alteration of the hydrological system to address the region’s water scarcity problem, are leading towards the appropriation and exhaustion of the water ecosystem. This has contributed to the extent of the negative consequences in extreme cases of flooding, such as this of September 2023, and to the system’s inability to cope, recover and adapt to these events. Therefore, there is an imperative need for the reconfiguration of the existing water and land management framework through transformative actions grounded on ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) and nature-based solutions (NBS), in order to enhance the system’s adaptive capacity to flooding. An area near the Karla Reservoir is used as a case study. The proposed transformations both inform and are informed by local practices, and are supported by land policies, aiming to create an integrated framework for environmental co-management with the intention of activating a process of evolutionary resilience of the Thessalian plain to flooding.

This project proposes a new conceptual framework for understanding risk and its components and a methodological approach for defining how the conditions of different systems affect risk and contribute to the systems’ biophysical and socio-technical limits. A set of criticality and transformability criteria is defined to locate the crucial areas – the critical zones – with the potentiality of transformation. This process is executed by superimposing the biophysical and socio-technical limits and taking into account the current coping and recovery capacities as expressed by the current centralized processes and local adaptation practices. Then, a set of transformative actions is proposed, consisting of biophysical measures drawing from soil and landscape-related nature-based solutions and of socio-technical measures aiming to enhance the learning capacity and preparedness of the community. These actions are subsequently implemented in a critical zone adjacent to the Karla Reservoir, through strategic, systemic, sub-systemic and specific design explorations, with the aim to concretely spatialize the proposed measures by showcasing possible negotiations between agriculture, water and nature. Finally, an adaptation framework and phasing through adaptive design pathways showcases and evaluates the operability of the proposed transformation. The overall goal of the project is the creation of a successful model for environmental co-management, integrating coping, recovery and adaptive capacity, and resulting in fostering evolutionary resilience. ... Read more

In the face of increasing uncertainties and heightened frequency and intensity of natural disasters, questions arise on how societies can enhance their ability to adapt and transform both behaviourally and structurally to increase disaster resilience. Current risk management approaches fail to address the evolving nature of risk and tend to overlook how processes of urbanisation and landscape transformation actively contribute to its accumulation.

The rapid urbanisation patterns in the Mediterranean coastal zones and the dispersed territories with conflicting land-uses that they formed are examples of how mismanagement of land alter environmental conditions and structure peri-urban systems that contribute to the evolution of risk. Their organisation predominantly through conflicting land-uses poses a challenge on convergence of actors and taking transformative actions that could reorganise territories to align better with natural processes and mitigate disaster risk.

This research aims to introduce process-based risk in spatial planning and design and to investigate how they can influence local practices and acts of care in peri-urban coastal Mediterranean zones to build transformative capacity, promote convergence and reorganise territories for disaster-resilient futures. It proposes a framework to develop new values in local decision-making and governance recommendations to enable local communities to become the agents of change by fostering attentive land management and coordinating across catchments.

The thesis conducts a literature review, defining the role of evolutionary resilience in the process of risk mitigation, and a history informed analysis in the case study of Marathon to identify how risk evolves in the territory. A reinterpretation of the territory through risk-based values is suggested and provides strategic directions for employing attentive land management and design principles. Through projective design explorations the thesis reimagines actor interrelations in peri-urban territories to establish alignment between natural and societal systems and sets conditions for the region to address in its development strategies in order to build transformative capacity and mitigate risk.

The thesis provides an alternative narrative in the role of local communities and the support provided by the region in risk mitigation strategies. Focusing on land management and actor interrelations, while adopting a long-term perspective, it raises questions on how multi-level governance and interdisciplinary planning, research and design can contribute to shaping disaster-resilience.
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With the Green Deal, Europe has the ambition to become the first climate neutral continent in the world in 2050. The current energy system, responsible for 75% of the greenhouse gas emissions, faces challenges including dependency on foreign sources and affordability. Furthermore, the energy system is dehumanized, while people play a pivotal role in the energy transition. The communities and stakeholders of South Limburg are in a constant conflict of space with overlapping functions, yet they are fragmented. The project aims to answer the question ‘How can we achieve a coherent South Limburg through an energy community collective?’ by examining the social, spatial-environmental and energy transition, with a focus on the role of young farming community through the strategy. Interviews with farmers revealed that farmers are open to adopting future-proof practices and emphasized the need for long-term policies and profitable business models.
This project looks at a new energy system which aims to be affordable, resilient and renewable and is integrated in the adapted landscape. Through decentralized energy collectives in the region’s stakeholders and communities will be actively involved in the energy production, distribution, storage and consumption. Farmers will transition to diversified practices which integrate the energy production in their business models. The new energy system requires balancing capitalism and individualism with collectivism and connection, prioritizing the common good over constant growth. Success in South Limburg could serve as a model for other energy collectives across the Netherlands and Europe, significantly advancing the goal of climate neutrality.
In the strategy there is a fine balance between the interconnectedness of the interventions in the strategy and the independence of the project. The interventions have to follow each other, and be connected to form an integrated strategy, but at the same time they have to be no-regret decisions that are valuable on their own. Key projects and policies have an immense value standing on their own and are independent from the rest. However, other interventions add more value to these, to strengthen the strategy as a whole. In the first phase, the collective mainly consists of farmers producing, and consuming energy. Over time residents, industry and others will be added to the collective to slowly establish an independent regional energy system. ... Read more

The energy transition is advancing, and the share of renewable energy is increasing. The intermittent nature of these energy sources is introducing problems with energy security throughout the day and putting extra pressure on an already heavily congested electricity grid. To alleviate these problems, heavy investments in battery energy storage systems are necessary. But it is important that the energy transition is equitable, and all social classes benefit from it.
This study investigates how we can implement spatial strategies for renewable energy in the U16 region in order to promote an inclusive energy transition. Four communities were identified, and their profile was developed through street interviews, semi-structured interviews and literature review. Through spatial analyses the communities were identified in the U16 region. By connecting different communities in close proximity, clusters were identified which have high potential for collaborative energy strategies. Existing policy and regulation measures to promote sustainability measures were analyzed, and policies were developed to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy, alleviate congestion on the electricity grid and kickstart investments in large-scale battery energy storage deployments.
Two scenarios were developed, one scenario to reach the goal of becoming net carbon neutral in 2050, and one for the timeframe after. The scenario until 2050 includes technological strategies like large scale deployment of sodium-ion batteries, and plug-in solar panels to be installed on balconies and facades. Other strategies include investments by public and private parties in battery storage, and policy recommendations like building mandates and incentives for dynamic energy contracts. The interrelationship between communities is the core of these approaches, creating an interplay between the strengths and weaknesses of these groups. After 2050, strategies are suggested to develop large scale hydrogen production and storage to provide seasonal energy storage. Also, the development of an intercontinental energy grid is suggested, to deploy solar installations in countries around the equator. Using these methods, renewable energy can power society, while benefiting all demographics and communities.
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To meet the United Nations’ target of global energy neutrality by 2050, a fundamental shift is needed in how we produce and consume energy. Though governments currently focus mainly on adapting, while mostly maintaining systems as they currently are, it becomes increasingly more clear that adaptation alone will not suffice. A systemic, structural transformation that redefines systems and industries is needed.
In the Netherlands, the energy transition is stuck, with political and private actors pointing fingers at each other. This is particularly evident in the horticulture sector, where environmental cost and energy consumption have long reached unsustainable levels. Westland, a municipality where nearly a quarter of Dutch horticulture is located, serves as the focal point in this research project. Within this theme, the focus lies on floriculture in particular, as it represents almost half of the greenhouses in Westland.
This project critically examines the current floriculture system and proposes a future-oriented alternative: a vision in which flower and energy production go hand in hand. In collaboration with conventional greenhouse owners and organic farmers, the project explores how these communities can be brought together to form one unified community of fully organic, energy-positive floriculture.
Methods used in this project include literary review, spatial analyses using QGIS and PDOK, interviews, and research by design. The energy transition is used as an opening for reimagining the floriculture landscape.
The analysis reveals three guiding themes: spatial quality, energy landscapes, and organic floriculture. These were linked to overarching goals of decentralisation, integration, identity and spatial and systematic openness. These inform two visions: one for Westland and one for the province of South Holland. A strategy in three phases outlines the implementation of the vision through policy, funding, agreements and key processes.
By 2060, the envisioned future sees Westland as a global pioneer in innovative and regenerative organic floriculture, where sustainability is not just a goal, but a lived reality. ... Read more

Zeeland is a land of production of food, energy and resources. Its very nature is deeply rooted in the Dutch people‘s historical ability to reshape the landscape and harness its potential for economic benefit. Today, it faces slow demographic decline, is largely covered by agricultural land and sits at the heart of a thriving transnational port economy and embedded within the Delta region, an area defined by dynamism and uncertainty.

Complex processes driven by climate change - such as sea level rise, soil salinization and the depletion of soil quality - raise urgent questions about the future of many agricultural zones and the rural communities that depend on them. These are farming communities that have inhabited the region for centuries, now thrust into a structural condition of uncertainty, shaped by evolving ecological processes that are often hard to predict or fully understand.
At the same time, they are communities with clear socio-economic needs and aspirations, which sometimes clash with broader environmental pressures and global dynamics. Yet, they also hold significant potential: as landowners, they are well-positioned to convert or diversify their agricultural practices toward renewable energy production, carving out a vital role in the green economy of the future.
“What’s missing is a clear and stable vision for my future and my farm,” says Peter, a Zeeland farmer. That is exactly what Performative Landscape: A New Paradigm for Energy Transition Through Farmers’ Community Engagement and the Transformation of the Zeeland Delta Landscape seeks to offer.

Our team of designers and researchers developed a new long-term vision, ambitious yet grounded, that emerged from an intensive and focused process of research and designs. It aims to sustain regional productivity, reinforce the economic resilience of farming communities, address environmental challenges, and unlock the full potential of the land for renewable energy. It proposes a new model for productive landscapes, rooted in local consumption, circularity, economic autonomy and the integration of agriculture with clean energy generation. ... Read more

The current condition of urban fragmentation in Bogotá is the result of a long and complex historical process that (due to both external pressures related to the urban planning paradigms of modernity, as well as internal pressures from the Colombian armed conflict) has ended up defining a certain stance in the city’s development, both towards its natural environment and towards the various social groups inhabiting it. On one hand, the constant imposition of progress models has ended up disintegrating the relationship that the urban fabric has with ecological structures, generating a city that occurs on the margins of landscape dynamics. On the other hand, within the city planning process, the extensive internal cultural diversity of Bogotá has not been taken into account, resulting from forced displacement generated by the armed conflict, which led during the second half of the 20th century to a growing concentration of different communities (originating from different regions) of the country in the main cities.
This thesis contemplates a series of strategies, both participatory and urban renewal, aimed at the urban cohesion of Bogotá. Through the implementation of the theory of “Design for the Pluriverse”, social and ecological diversity is embraced as a potential for city planning. This thesis focuses on a historical and spatial analysis of the conditions that led to Bogotá’s current condition through a literature review and the use of GIS tools, resulting in a two-part proposal. The first part is a Participatory framework (Bottom-Up) to promote community-led land management. The second part consists of an Urban Design (Top-Down) aimed at rehabilitating the ecosystem in which these communities reside. ... Read more

Piura is a land of drastic, and even deadly, contrasts. It’s inherent desertic conditions makes water a scares resource; on the contrary, during El Niño phenomenon, heavy rainfalls are 60 times it’s average annual precipitation, resulting in oscillations between floods and droughts. Consequently, as the second biggest city of the country, over 2 million people are affected directly. The underlying issues arise from the disassociation between the natural environment and its habitation, resulting in a cycle of recurrent disasters. This research explores the intersection of urban morphology and geomorphology in order to find spaces that can mediate between them. Employing the longue duree theory and principals of evolutionary resilience, the project aims to understand and address the enduring geographical and urban structures in Piura. Above all, it recognized the fragility of the ecosystems for critical design and embraces an interdisciplinary approach across various scales, from the territorial to the material in order to integrate the changing water events within everyday life. ... 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

Desertification and depopulation are mutually reinforcing processes that cause global socio-ecological ecosystem vulnerability through land degradation. The dehesa landscape in Spain is especially vulnerable, facing severe threats from these combined pressures and urgently needing strategic intervention. This research explores the potential of adaptive strategic planning to mitigate the socio-environmental impacts of depopulation and desertification in the rural regions of northern Extremadura, Spain, particularly focusing on the dehesa landscape. By integrating a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, this study analyses historical conditions and forecasts future scenarios, providing a holistic approach to environmental, ecological, social, economic, and political factors.
The use of cartography and GIS tools enhances spatial understanding and visualisation of impact distributions. The fieldwork, characterised by landscape photography and semi-structured interviews establishes a baseline understanding of the landscape’s health and land management practises. Furthermore, surveys delve deeper into community- and landscape identity, offering insights into local values and potential engagement in future scenarios.
These narratives reveal a strong community willingness to restore landscapes, dependent on clear visions for change, structured help in the form of technical knowledge of nature-based solutions, and incentives for ecosystem services. The findings suggest that an adaptive strategy, focusing on the active regeneration of the trees in the dehesa through a framework that integrates diverse actions over time, can reverse negative trends in landscape restoration. This research contributes to existing knowledge by highlighting the importance of community-engaged fieldwork and sustainable land management on a local scale to minimise effects of global processes. ... 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

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) Metropolitan Region faces significant challenges, including drought, severe precipitation, floods, subsidence, societal disparities, air pollution, and an aging population. Fragmented spatial and institutional frameworks hinder effective responses, perpetuating vulnerabilities. This study focuses on enhancing water resilience with an emphasis on environmental justice in vulnerable areas between major cities. The proposed low-density development approach aims to balance economic productivity with ecological sensitivity, creating a decentralized, self-reliant, and resilient region.
The strategy integrates ecosystem-based adaptation, integrated water resources management, and water-sensitive village reorganization. A shift from a profit-centric model to one prioritizing water risk reduction in vulnerable areas is crucial for achieving environmental justice. The research employs pattern languages and the dynamic adaptive pathway method to organize potential measures, integrating future objectives, intervention patterns, and scenarios to feasibly implement actions by 2060.
Ultimately, the research envisions self-resilient units contributing crucial ecosystem services to urban centers and receiving support through knowledge exchange and economic assistance. This transformation will turn these units from sacrificial entities into integral components of sustainable development in the BTH region. Validated by both quantitative and qualitative assessments, this shift is anticipated to strengthen the water resilience of individual units and enhance the overall resilience of the metropolitan area. ... Read more