Boerhaavewijk needs to be renovated to meet national carbon neutral goals and improve the public space. Nature-based solutions are effective tools to tackle its urban challenges. Renovation projects rarely incorporate NBs due to their added complexity. To effectively apply NBs in the context we ask what building-integrated greenery should be used to respond to conditions and challenges? We use literature to categorize the roles NBs have in a neighborhood and the parameters that influence decisions. Boerhaavewijk is then used to put it into a context. The results show that many nature- based functions have opposite parameter preferences and neighborhood characteristics can influence the decision on the building

Due to global social and economic developments and the intensifying urbanization process, China's urban development is displaying a novel phenomenon of expansion and shrinkage oscillations. Cities dependent on natural resources are among those worst affected by China's urban shrinkage. Resource-based cities, which are essential to China's economic development, are facing the prominent challenge of urban shrinkage as a result of China's slowing economic growth, its homogenous industrial structure, and the industrial cycle of "boom and bust" brought on by resource depletion. In these cities, the gradual lack of urban dynamism results in the disadvantage in urban competition and attractiveness. The main challenge in these cities is figuring out how to achieve better sustainability and transformation.
The concept of "smart shrinkage" is a viable alternative to the conventional growth-oriented planning paradigm, which seeks to reverse the anticipated decline in the future. Smart shrinkage entails accepting the reality of shrinkage, developing policies in anticipation of urban population reduction, and investigating new models of urban intensive development under non-growth conditions. The potentials and transition based on the smart shrinkage idea are investigated in this thesis using Hegang as the study location. Hegang, a city on the border of northeast China, is on the list of resource-exhausted cities. Its population is declining, the city's mineral resources are nearly completely depleted, there is an excess of land and structures, and the quality of space is deteriorating. Does the idea of "smart shrinkage" make sense in the context of a municipality that is losing population with Chinese characteristics? Is local operationalization of shrinkage possible? In response to the long-term shrinking trend in the context of Hegang, this research develops a theoretical framework for smart shrinkage, suggests a strategic framework for urban recovery and resilience building, reconstructs Hegang's socio-economic and spatial dimensions, and recovers it to a resilient urban system. The results of a thorough investigation may serve as a point of reference for this particular group of cities' transformation and excellent development.

The image of Olympic Games is mixed. The Games are a monumental celebration, but its organisation and legacy are also seen as a threat to the sustainability of the city. This research distinguished three main actors, each with different aims for supporting the Games; The International Olympic committee, the host-city and the citizens of the host-city. Research showed that especially the wishes of the citizens are neglected in the organisation and legacy of the Olympics. This graduation project aims to enhance this citizens by researching the potentials for the Olympic legacy to enhance the social sustainability of the host city. If so, the Olympic Games can be of great additional value to the city and its inhabitants.

This research looks into the concepts of mega-event planning, Olympic legacy, urban regeneration and social sustainability and the interrelation between these concepts. Eventually it sets up a theoretical framework for enhancing social sustainability in decisions based on location, projects and legacy of the Olympic Games. To evaluate social sustainability in former Olympic Games, a case study to 2012 Olympics in London is conducted.

This knowledge is used to create a strategy and design for a future Olympic Games in the city district of Rotterdam South. The Olympic areas are located in Zuiderpark and Varkenoord North, with the neighbourhoods in-between as focus area. To counter the severe socio-economic and -spatial problems in this city district, a strategy consisting of seven proposals for a social Olympic legacy are implemented and further explored in design interventions. Eventually a design is made for Varkenoord North with use of these strategic proposals and changing the urban environment to a sport, transport and business node, creating a new identity as Feyenoord city. The area will be the representative image of a renewed Rotterdam South by using the Olympic Games for sustainable regeneration.

During the graduation research design principles for enhancing social sustainability within Olympic legacy are gathered and collected in a separate booklet “Towards an Olympic legacy for all” Book 02.