People across the world, identifying beyond the binary notion of gender and sexuality are often limited to freely access and appropriate the city and feel a sense of belonging. A general problem is that notions about gender are strongly embedded within the design of the built environment. To be specific: gender relations in public space are normatively coded as masculine and heterosexual. Whereas masculinity is understood as a man who is dominant and refuses to acknowledge vulnerability. The multitude of masculinities are mostly subordinate in the patriarchal urban environment as well.

The largely residential neighbourhood Gaasperdam in Amsterdam’s South-East will be studied in greater depth to address and illustrate the spatial consequences. To be more specific, this thesis expands on the following research question: How can we reshape heteronormative spaces in Gaasperdam to facilitate legitimacy to diverse masculine identities?
To answer this question, a research-by-design approach is used to identify the challenges at hand and propose various spatial design interventions. In addition, the use of personas is critical for imagining and addressing different demands and appropriations of space.

This research made clear how the current built environment of Gaasperdam does not facilitate interactions between different masculinities, while these are very essential. Therefore, this thesis proposes to increase the diversity of public spaces in Gaasperdam, which safeguards individual needs. Secondly, more space for collective use should be developed which allows diverse masculinities to interact. The insights of this thesis are valuable to research fields which focus on spatial issues, such as urban design, urban planning, and architecture since it offers design principles to reshape our built environment to include diverse gender identities.

The province of South Holland is one of the biggest drivers of the Dutcheconomy with almost a quarter of the gross national product earned in thisregion. The agrifood sector is the largest contributor with an annual turnover ofabout € 5.5 billion. About half of the surface of the province is dedicated to thissector, entailing many jobs and steering innovation worldwide. In line with theambitious target of the Dutch government the province aims to be fully circularin 2050. This means the agrifood sector is facing an enormous transition.However, the sector faces several major socio-spatial and environmentalchallenges. The current monoculture food landscapes contribute to 20% ofGHG emissions, consumes 67% of fresh water, and results in subsidence,salination and lack of biodiversity. Additionally, with the challenge to build230.000 houses and the space needed for energy transition and nature,the pressure on space increases. The distribution of these negativeexternalities results in socio-spatial inequality, placing a burden on mainlylower income communities, including a lower socio-economic positionfor farmers. Nature-inclusive agriculture has the potential to tackle theseissues as an overarching framework. How can the agrifood sector in theProvince of South Holland transition to a nature inclusive circular system?This project aims to have a 100% nature-inclusive agrifood sector in 2050.To reach this goal, this project starts by further investigating the currentlinear system and its environmental social and spatial issues. It can beconcluded that the socio-spatial challenges are most present in the fringeswithin the province. Hence, a regional vision and strategy are proposedthat transform the linear-manufacture-waste model into a circular andnature-inclusive agrifood sector, through re-activation of the fringes inthe province. The fringes offer a high potential for implementation of avariety of nature-inclusive and circular functions, that can be establishedthrough stakeholder engagement, co-creation and participation of localresidents. Part of the strategy are 3 fringe typologies, that can be expandedthroughout the region. As a result, the agrifood landscapes become morenature-inclusive and resilient, with a shorter and more just food chain, whilstsimultaneously providing equitable access to healthy and accessible food.This report is interesting for governance parties or businesses in theagrifood sector that aim to transition to a circular economy. It could alsobe valuable for knowledge or educational institutions related to agriculture,food, nature-inclusive or transition methods, and regional spatial planning.