As the urban population grows worldwide and cities are becoming increasingly unequal and segregated, Urban Commons emerge as a potential driver of inclusion and resilience for city dwellers. According to Feinberg et al. (2021), Urban Commons can promote social, environmental, and economic resilience, and Park et al. (2020) suggest they can act as a haven for the excluded. Commons could, therefore, become a policy alternative to address the grand urban challenges of the 21st Century.
However, it is still unclear whether the benefits of Urban Commons are ultimately accessible to the culturally and socioeconomically vulnerable. For instance, in a literature review study, Huron (2017) found significant uncertainties in how Urban Commons relate to feminism, race, gender, and ethnicity – factors that could constitute immaterial barriers of access, following Vrasti & Dayal’s (2017) terminology. In fact, while several studies have investigated the commons’ role in promoting urban justice, explorations of whether access to the commons itself is just have been neglected.

This master’s thesis explores what constitutes material and immaterial barriers to accessing Urban Commons to understand whether these initiatives can work, policy-wise, as a driver of social inclusion. 29 Urban Commons in Amsterdam were selected as a case study. A quantitative geo-spatial analysis was conducted to evaluate the material accessibility to each initiative. In parallel, commoners were surveyed about their perception of immaterial barriers and benefits of commoning. Finally, a representative of the municipality of Amsterdam was interviewed to assess the potential challenges and benefits of policies involving Urban Commons.

Concurring with Park et al. (2020), the case study findings suggest commons could indeed promote social inclusion. Moreover, it was also found that the excluded could face, in addition to the initially proposed material and immaterial walls, an ecosystem barrier to access commons. Yet this could be addressed from a policy standpoint with the development of a commons ecosystem that is capable of scaling the benefits of commoning across an entire city.

The results have academic and societal relevance. This study provides a new theoretical framework to research the factors influencing access to commons and also contributes to literature with a unique city-wide case study. It can also function as a reference for policy-makers who wish to learn about the commons landscape in Amsterdam and who interested in understanding the factors that contribute to participation in a commons.

This graduation project is focused on a re-interpretation of the design of a high-rise building from an urban design perspective, to contribute to a more inclusive city. This is captured by the main research question: In which manner could the design of a high-rise building in the context of the Binckhorst The Hague, from the perspective of urban design, contribute to the development of a more inclusive city? The urgency of the subject follows on the trend of high-rise developments in Europe, The Netherlands and The Hague. The Hague is predicted to grow substantially in population until 2040. The municipality has chosen a strategy of high-rise developments, to house the increasing population and to improve spatial quality. The Binckhorst plays an important role in this strategy. In the design of high-rise buildings there is a set of social challenges that should be accounted for: a rigid structure, homogeneity; and vertical segregation. The lack of a humanistic approach and the high amount of residents per building create the urge to approach the design of high-rise buildings from an urban design perspective. The Hague is dealing with a set of social challenges like segregation, loneliness, and social exclusion. This should be understood in the light of a hyper-diverse population with the nature of constantly changing needs and values of the residents. The main design value is inclusivity, as a part of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, it answers to the most fundamental ethical consideration for the development of our cities. Related to the theories of Just Diversity and the Open-City, the sub-design values that contribute to a more inclusive city and answer to the social context of The Hague are formulated. The design values taken from these theories are recognition, encounter and adaptability. Recognition addresses the different needs and values of people, adaptability responds to the changing needs and values and encounter is aimed at facilitating interaction between like and unlike individuals. Continuing on the design values a set of urban design principles and related elements guide the projects towards a more concrete form. These principles are tested by observations in and around existing high-rise buildings in The Hague and interviews with residents. The project concludes in a high-rise design in the Binckhorst The Hague. The design consists of urban design elements like a vertical living street, public spaces (pockets) along the route and a configuration of volumes and program. This project has set a clear framework of design values and principles that contribute to an inclusive high-rise design. While the fieldwork and the design constituted to an evaluation of these principles, more experiments in design or a wider target-group for interviews could help better ground the principles. Here extensive research in the context of one or a few of the innovative projects mentioned could help to better understand the social implications of design decisions taken. Next to the academic work there remains a need for visionary and experimental high-rise projects to explore new design approaches.