Between the Wings

A bioregional landscape mosaic within a changing Randstad

Master Thesis (2026)
Author(s)

X.R.H. Kioe-A-Sen (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)

Contributor(s)

D.A. Sepulveda Carmona – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)

L.M. Calabrese – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)

Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment
More Info
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Publication Year
2026
Language
English
Coordinates
4.8951679, 52.3702157
Graduation Date
22-06-2026
Awarding Institution
Delft University of Technology
Project
Critical Environments: Rights of Nature:
Programme
Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences, Urbanism
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment
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Abstract

The model of the Randstad as a delta metropole with the Green Heart inside the urban ring is outdated, and a new spatial model and form can be seen emerging nowadays.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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