Early Adaptation Of Water In Urban Plans

Abstract

There is a gap in the discourse between
urban designers and civil engineers, within the field of urban water
management. The gap is caused by the different educational background,
perspective, approach and language used in the respective fields. It causes
multidisciplinary projects like the redevelopment of Schieoevers Noord in Delft
to be unnecessarily difficult or inefficient.

This thesis studied the effect of the gap
in discourse on the redevelopment plans of Schieoevers Noord, with the aim of
bridging the gap and making the plans more water inclusive. To achieve that,
the area and plans were thoroughly analysed and research was done into the
principles behind healthy surface water systems in the Netherlands and climate
adaptation measures. Using the data from these analysis five evaluation criteria
were set up.

Next using the principles of water
management and the climate analysis of Schieoevers Noord, four strategies for an
improved water system in the area were made. The evaluation criteria helped
define the strengths and weaknesses of these strategies. This made it possible
to take the strong points and combine them into a final proposal for the water
system in Schieoevers Noord. The proposal was also tested using the evaluation
criteria and the results showed that it held up really well in all
categories.    

The lessons learned from going through this
process for Schieoevers Noord, are that bridging the gap between urban
designers and civil engineers within urban water management is achievable. But
it requires effort from both parties to go back and forth between the two
fields, while using existing tools to ease communication. A very useful tool
for this would be the Climate Resilient Cities Toolbox. With some further
research into quantifying design goals this toolbox can be improved even more,
and therefore become a great tool for bridging the gap between the two fields.

Another important lesson learned from this
research is the importance of thinking about the water system in a very early
stage of the planning process. Surface water systems are often complex and
adding to them will take up a large amount of space. However, a healthy surface
water system is more efficient than only using climate adaptation measure, when
combatting the negative externalities of climate change. Because the effects of
climate change are rapidly increasing, it is imperative that developers,
municipalities and other stakeholders prioritise healthy water systems in their
development plans.