This research delves into the intersection of collective trauma and urban design within the micro-districts of Alytus, Lithuania. It aims to understand how participatory urban design can facilitate the healing of collective trauma while enhancing public spaces. The research focuses on the long-term renovation of buildings constructed during the Soviet occupation, a process impacting 60% of Lithuania's population. Alytus, our case study, has an urban fabric that was marked by the stamp of modernistic prefabricated blocks, that presents a unique challenge and opportunity for addressing collective memory and trauma.

Employing a multi-method approach, this research integrates literature reviews, case studies, spatial analysis, and participatory design exercises to explore the spatial dynamics of trauma recovery. Central to the study is the development of an engagement strategy based on trauma research, and the design of a participatory tool and process to test the initial phase of this new strategy. This strategy emphasizes the need for trust-building, safety, inclusivity, and community connectivity in micro-districts.

Key findings suggest that examining the process of building and public space renovation through the lens of trauma necessitates rethinking and challenging the existing tools and methods used in participatory design sessions involving public, private, and civic stakeholders. The project proposes a new three-step participatory strategy for designing public spaces in micro-districts. In addition to identifying the urban and social issues of the Vidzgiris micro-district, the research presents a vision for transforming public spaces. This transformation proposes a new hierarchy and identity for various public spaces, aiming to facilitate both individual and collective trauma recovery.

The research proposes that reshaping the existing participatory process can aid in acknowledging and recovering from collective trauma caused by the soviet occupation. This participatory process fosters learning, exploring and transforming together, and aims to enhance shared spaces to promote social cohesion among residents. The focus is on three distinct public spaces: the courtyards, the green corridors, and the railway park. These areas are examined for potential spatial interventions aimed at promoting both individual and collective trauma recovery, while also enhancing the spaces through the lens of climate mitigation.

Contributing to the broader discourse on urban resilience, this study offers insights into how cities can address historical traumas through thoughtful urban planning and design. It underscores the potential of urban design as a tool for recovery and community rebuilding, providing a framework adaptable to other post-traumatic urban contexts globally.

This urban design project addresses the critical issue of homelessness by bringing it to the forefront of societal discussion and professional design consideration. It asserts that homeless individuals should not be rendered invisible but actively included in urban planning. There is a growing and very pressing issue of homelessness in the Netherlands, specifically in Rotterdam, where homeless people are often ignored by the public and pushed into invisibility. The project focuses on the spatial and social dynamics of homelessness in Rotterdam, aiming to understand and visually depict these complexities. It seeks to answer the question: ‘How can an urban transformation in Rotterdam promote recognition of the homeless population and create awareness of their presence and needs?’ Through literature reviews, analytical research, and ethnographic fieldwork, particularly focusing on rough sleepers and women in shelters, the project identifies movement patterns and spatial dynamics of the homeless. It advocates for a network approach on the neighbourhood scale, specifically in Oude Westen, using two key squares to design spaces that meet daily needs while balancing privacy and exposure. By opening up a broader discussion through both its research and design outcomes, this project marks a significant step towards the spatial inclusion of the homeless population.

In Greece, the prevailing growth-paradigm has been manifested in the commodification of rural areas through tourism, and the continuous neglect and abandonment of the non-touristic territories. This has resulted in their societal and environmental degradation, exemplified through the recent devastating floods and wildfires, that also stem from the pressures of climate change. Within a context of intense political corruption and tardy governmental response, the nuanced topic of rurality is failing to be addressed adequately. We cannot continue business-as-usual, but should aim instead towards transitioning to a post-growth society. However, there are significant barriers present, like the limited societal acceptance, lack of alternative spatial imaginaries and intense bureaucracy. To bypass such hurdles, bioregionalism proposes the formation of a place-based administrative body - researched here through the case-study of the Spercheios river basin. Considering the overwhelming and ambitious nature of the post-growth agenda, in combination with the lack of adequate communication tools to engage disinterested stakeholders that are locked-in-growth, traditional planning approaches would not suffice. Alternatively, after the exploration of the site-specific conditions and a tracing of growth in the landscape itself, a contextual spatial imaginary is formed, conducted through a combination of fiction writing, speculative design interventions and physical artefacts. This narrative is explored through the perspective of a rural dweller of the bioregion of Spercheios, who meanders along the region in the scope of one day. They explore the adaptation to energy and water sufficiency from the scale of one individual house, to the neighbourhood, to the village, and reckon with food production through extensive agroforestry practices. They engage with bioregional decision-making processes in a weekly meeting, and observe nature-based solutions along the river as they commute towards the coast. There, they explore the restoration of the wetlands and the adaptation towards living with more water in the lowlands. Finally, they end their day back at the square of the village, reflecting, sharing stories and bonding with others. Through this narrative, implications, opportunities and limitations of the post-growth approach are investigated, while also exploring experimental methods of communication and engagement - ultimately attempting to imagine the post-growth future tangible, within grasp.

This thesis examines the dramatic transformation of Sarajevo’s Olympic landscape following the Bosnian War, which erupted just eight years after the city hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, an event that initially symbolized unity and international cooperation. The war led to the destruction of both physical infrastructure and the cultural and social values that characterized the city. The primary objective of this research is to contribute to the revitalization of this landscape. The Olympic landscape is understood as a layered entity, comprising physical, social, and cultural components. Sarajevo continues to struggle with social and cultural divisions, underscoring the need for initiatives aimed at bridging these gaps and fostering community spirit. Central to this study is the redesign of the abandoned bobsleigh track on Mount Trebević, which serves as a symbol of both glory and devastation. By incorporating sports and cultural programs, the revitalization efforts seek to rediscover the Olympic spirit, restoring social cohesion. Ultimately, the thesis argues that landscape architecture can play a vital role in revitalizing Sarajevo’s Olympic landscape by restoring physical elements and creating spaces that could heal the social and cultural scars of war, thereby helping the city reclaim its identity as a symbol of peace and unity.

Engagement with the city in provincial Russia is currently lacking a framework of care for the historical urban fabric. Listed buildings decay with no revitalisation plans made by the municipality or the citizenry. On the other hand, theatre in modern-day Russia is an acknowledged political entity – a pocket of free(er) thinking and civil engagement. This research studies the historical trends in theatre to define the spatial qualities of audience engagement. The goal is to harness such qualities and apply them to a dilapidated building in Rostov-on-Don, reconnecting it with the city and the citizens, and hopefully begin a revival process all over the historic city centre.

The complex relationship between humans and the natural world is still visible in 2023s urban planning: a city is a place for humans, and nature gives space to all non-human species. The anthropocentric perspective within the urban environment puts humans above non-human nature. This is also the case within urban renewal in the Netherlands, which aims to improve human liveability. This aim is reflected within the ongoing urban renewal in Carnisse, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, under the leading plan of NPRZ as well. However, considering non-human species might have positive effects for both human and non-human species. This thesis addresses the research question: "How can values of ecological justice contribute to a spatial design that improves urban renewal in Carnisse, Rotterdam?" to investigate the impact of non-human species liveability on urban renewal concepts and spatial plans in Carnisse. The study conducts a systematic liveability analysis of several target species representing circa 80% of the species currently present in the neighbourhood. Based on the analysis, a toolbox is developed, which is the foundation of integrating human and non-human demands within urban renewal. With a combination of consideration of the existing structure, context consideration, the implementation of zoning, biocentrism and nature-inclusive thinking, the translation towards a spatial plan based on ecological justice values for the neighbourhood Carnisse is created. Comparing the current NPRZ urban renewal plan and the ecological justice values-based plan reveals that if ecological justice is included, the concept of urban renewal should be revised and that there is a case for a more integrated approach to the physical and social domain within urban renewal. Besides, the focus on ecological justice values might reduce the in-depth focus on human liveability compared to the approach to urban renewal. Nevertheless, the spatial outcomes of the focus on non-human liveability will (indirectly) positively affect human liveability by improving health, lowering crime rates, improving interaction between humans and non-human species, and increasing climate adaptation of the area. Therefore, implementing ecological justice values will improve urban renewal concepts and spatial plans from an Arcadian perspective by improving the non-human species' liveability and from a resource standpoint, by improving human liveability.

The scarcity of resources is increasing, resulting in the transformation of entire regions. People take a lot of the resources on Earth for granted. This calls for a transition from the current ‘throw-away’-economy to a ‘circular’ economy. The constant circulation of materials and products in this type of system preserves the value of materials. Academics and practitioners are addressing this transition, but they frequently ignore its social and spatial aspects. A socio-spatial framework for reorganizing a district towards a circular system is proposed in this thesis. The solution presented is fundamentally utopian, aiming to challenge established ideas about the current system. In this thesis, the public space’s redesign serves as an entry point to the private and communal spaces.

The design location for this thesis is the Indische Buurt. This district is located in east of Amsterdam. With a large proportion of social housing, the area’s primary use is residential. Additionally, there are a few shopping streets nearby. The approach used in this thesis was context-specific. The three main approaches used were literature reviews, field research, and ‘research by design’.

According to the analysis, residents are crucial in deciding whether and how to dispose of things. But at the moment, the area doesn’t have many resources supporting circular behavior. The issue of waste disposal in public areas is one of the effects. In addition, the district has a high proportion of minima-households, little greenery, and roadways that are mostly occupied by parked cars. The primary observation about governance analysis is the lack of emphasis on the spatial implications necessary for the shift to a circular system.

The district is reorganized using a spatial framework that was constructed using the R-ladder. The R-ladder is a circularity model made up of ten R-strategies for reducing the amount of materials and resources used in product chains. The higher up the strategy is on the ladder, the more value is retained. Following that, a spatial design for a square and its surrounding streets is proposed. The visibility of circularity is prioritized in this design to enhance public awareness. Furthermore, the design aims to maximize the value retention of materials or products by selecting the solution that best retains value. In addition to the design, recommendations will be made to the governance of the Netherlands and Amsterdam. This will improve the existing circular strategy and policy.

The Anthropocene necessitates us to rethink the way in which care for and take care of the world we are part of. To acknowledge our entanglement with biotic and abiotic beings, but also our dominance over them and with that our responsibility for them. Employing this notion of responsibility, as well as care thinking as critical concepts for the built environment has manifold consequences for how we conceptualize, approach, and transform it. Regarding landscape and landscape architecture three realms of caring emerge as especially relevant: Repairing (reviving ecosystems humans have damaged), Relating (strengthening the human-nature and landscape-city relationship) and Reducing (limiting the anthropogenic impact on the environment).

Starting from this conceptualization of care, this graduation project is a speculative exploration of how the forest and forestry could be utilized to imagine a more caring relationship between human and landscape within the Zwischenstadt of Parkstad in Southern Limburg (NL). Forestry here is employed due to its multiscale and multidimensional characteristics – it has spatial, environmental, ecological, socio-cultural, and economic benefits. While the Zwischenstadt is chosen as a test case due to its ubiquity in the European, as well as global context. This dispersed type of urbanization is furthermore in need of alternative development strategies and trajectories, which careful and caring design can answer to. By working out a territorial forest strategy and masterplan, as well as localized design projections, the aim is to understand how forest infrastructure can revitalize the Zwischenstadt as an agent of care.

The result is a design proposal that reimagines the whole territory – from residential areas to industrial terrains etc.- as a forest, which can take on a variety of ecological and spatial forms. This forest becomes the principal agent of development for the Zwischenstadt, not only transforming the region environmentally and ecologically (Repair), but also reframing it spatially (Relate), while providing alternatives for the current shrinking condition (Reduce). Through this “all forest” approach the project questions supposed distinctions between landscape and city, the nature of urbanization and urbanity, the human commitment to landscape and ecosystem in the 21st century, as well as representation methods in (landscape) architecture.

The performance of a city is dependent on the performance of its infrastructure. As a result, the surface-level world is inseparable from the subsurface world. However, cities around the world are facing a shortage of available space both aboveground and belowground. The existing urban fabric has over time become unfit for the addition of new infrastructure systems that are required for the future. Spatial conflict problems are arising between necessary urban infrastructures, in Antwerp specifically regarding green, blue, place, and memory systems. Nevertheless, Antwerp has an opportunity: a decommissioned canal network that lies beneath the city as tunnels that can act as a spatial mediator. Establishing this potential, the main research question asks: how can the reappropriation of the decommissioned underground canal system in Antwerp spatially mediate the city’s urgencies regarding environmental and social infrastructure? While the research question calls for the implementation of four infrastructural themes (green, blue, place, memory), an exploration of background theories on urban infrastructure implementation indicates a research gap regarding a systems-thinking approach. In this case, the Environmental Maximization Method (BOOM-Duijvestein, 1998), with its five design phases (inventory, analysis, maximization, optimization, integration), is useful. Together, the four infrastructure themes and the five design phases form a matrix that offers an appropriate design framework in the context of Antwerp. Antwerp Unearthed, as a plan, provides two answers to the research question of this report. The decommissioned underground canal system in Antwerp spatially mediates the city’s future urgencies regarding environmental and social infrastructure by pairing external problems with internal potentials and by forming a singly functioning infrastructure system. Next to this, the plan is embedded in other aspects of the urban fabric. The findings are societally relevant because they show how to work toward adaptivity and resiliency in the context of climate change and densification. The findings are scientifically relevant because they show how to work toward a justifiable and balanced implementation of different infrastructure systems. The findings are professionally relevant because they show how to work toward integral and interdisciplinary design principles for multiple infrastructural themes.

The thesis aims to unveil and challenge institutionalized gender hierarchical relations between the military and women in conflict environments. It critically examines the military as an institution inherently intertwined with conflict in periods of war and during periods of conflict. The thesis argues that the military plays a significant role in shaping and maintaining gender power structures, through institutional perceptions and spatial practices. It explores the relationship between the military and women and how institutionalized gender perceptions contribute to the widening gap between them, using Cyprus as a case study. Through the use of visual ethnography as a primary methodology, the thesis seeks to shed light and challenge the oppressive prescript narratives and power dynamics imposed on women by the military.
Using Nicosia and Pyla as a case study, conflict environments where inhabitants have normalized the experiences of living with the constant presence of the military, the thesis spatializes its theoretical framework. It utilizes tools and insights gained from theoretical and artistic analyses, to make visible and challenge the gender institutional perceptions, fixed gender roles, and spatialities that feed gender hierarchical structures. The ultimate goal is to expose this issue in various existing and ongoing conflict environments.

In the last few decades, income inequality has globally grown. Over two-thirds of the urban population lives in cities where the income gap has widened. Especially in urban areas this has resulted in socio-spatial segregation.
This is also visible in Vlissingen, a coastal city in the Netherlands. The differences between residential neighbourhoods are huge (over 18.000 euros) when looking at the average income per person per year. This results in socio-spatial segregation between neighbourhoods. Socio-spatial segregation describes the concentration and residential separation of different social groups. The focus of the thesis is on poor social groups.

Socio-spatial segregation leads to negative (neighbourhood) effects that affect the living environment en opportunities of poor social groups, such as economic and educational disadvantages, unemployment and crime. Therefore socio-spatial segregation is a problem that needs to be reduced.

The outcome of the graduation project is a combination of design interventions on the city scale to reduce segregation between neighbourhoods and design interventions on the neighbourhood scale of the most deprived neighbourhood of Vlissingen (Bloemenbuurt) to improve the living environment and opportunities of poor social groups. To do so, the main goal of the project is to create an urban design for integration. More specifically, the urban design needs to stimulate diversity and interaction to counteract segregation. Theory about diversity and interaction have led into guiding principles that are needed to reduce socio-spatial segregation. These guiding principles are used in the final urban design for both the city and neighbourhood scale and consist of; indistinguishable side by side tenures, clear hierarchy between private and public, urban parks, mixed use neighbourhoods, walkability, accessible public transport, connected neighbourhoods, activity in public spaces, and eyes on the street. Together with the participation of inhabitants and general urban planning conditions it forms the input for the design.

Thus, this thesis aimed at reducing socio-spatial segregation between neighbourhoods and improving the living environment and opportunities of poor social groups, through design interventions that take into account the guiding principles about diversity and interaction, the general urban planning conditions, and the participation of people living in Bloemenbuurt.

This research and design project explores the use of the Pattern Language method to transform Moluccan neighbourhoods in the Netherlands into inclusive areas while enhancing their cultural heritage. The study focuses on the Moluccan neighbourhood in Barneveld for renovation and the Lloydkade in Rotterdam as a site for creating new places of heritage. The main question addressed in this study is how Moluccan neighbourhoods can become inclusive areas through urban design while enhancing their cultural heritage.
The first part of the study, "Spatializing Moluccan Heritage," examines the emergence and development of Moluccan neighbourhoods over time. It investigates the unique spatial characteristics of these neighbourhoods and identifies spatial patterns that showcase their identity. The analysis reveals that community facilities play a crucial role in maintaining the unity of the Moluccan community. The desired spatial layout of neighbourhoods reflects the organic and wandering nature found in Moluccan islands. Public spaces are primarily used for ceremonies and brief interactions, while most social activities occur within the private realm. The kitchen, located at the back of the house, serves as an important space for transmitting Moluccan culture. Recognizable elements such as street names and entrance indications contribute to identifying a place as a Moluccan neighbourhood.
The second part, "Forming Scenarios," examines the perceptions of Moluccan neighbourhoods among different generations and non-Moluccan society. It explores the evolution of the Moluccan society and its culture. The study reveals that younger generations exhibit less attachment to these neighbourhoods, preferring larger cities and a more individualistic approach. However, the majority of generations express a desire to preserve the Moluccan neighbourhoods. To ensure their preservation, it is important for these neighbourhoods to evolve and become more diverse, accommodating the changing needs and preferences of younger generations while maintaining their cultural heritage.
The third part, "Designing the Urban Form," proposes strategies for transforming Moluccan neighbourhoods into inclusive and porous areas. Strengthening the network of alleys and creating intimate public spaces can address the desire for informality and reduce social control pressures. Introducing greater housing diversity and types that cater to the preferences of the Moluccan community can make the neighbourhoods more inclusive and attractive to younger generations. The tangible and intangible Moluccan heritage can be preserved through the creation of spaces such as community buildings, flagpoles, paths and alleys, and the integration of water elements.
In conclusion, this research highlights the importance of urban design in transforming Moluccan neighbourhoods in the Netherlands into inclusive areas while enhancing their cultural heritage. It emphasizes the need to not only preserve and celebrate existing cultural heritage but also to create new places for cultural expression and engagement, particularly for younger generations. By incorporating these findings into urban design practices, Moluccan neighbourhoods can thrive as inclusive and vibrant communities that cherish their cultural heritage.

Campuses have recently drawn attention from governing organisations in the Netherlands and are identified as promising types of office- and university development on national, regional and company levels (Wiebes, 2019). Millions of dollars are invested in campuses by local and regional governments in order to attract businesses and jobs towards the respective regions and to stimulate innovation and Research & Design (Baggerman, 2020; Gruijthuijsen, 2020; Knop, 2020; Wiebes, 2019). However, the title ‘campus’ is not protected nor has an undisputed definition and therefore is subject to inflation (Magdaniel, De Jonge, & Den Heijer, 2018). This leads to the contradiction that public money is invested in initiatives that can differ in various ways and therefore remain unclear in how they should be managed successfully and what they deliver for their users. Researches state that clustering people and businesses leads to more innovation (Belso-Martínez, Mas-Verdu, & Chinchilla-Mira, 2020; Bolter & Robey, 2020; Glaeser, 2010; Guzman, 2019). Campus developments rest on the same principles. However, when approaching a campus from the demand side a campus should deliver the user preferences demanded by real estate users. This in order to attract them to the physical location and play a positive role in incubating and facilitating the respective real estate users (Ng, Junker, Appel-Meulenbroek, Cloodt, & Arentze, 2020; Remøy & van der Voordt, 2014). In order to reduce uncertainty surrounding campuses for policy makers, managers and users, these developments have to be redefined on what they are, what they intend to deliver and if that what is supplied matches the demand. Therefore the following main question will be answered; What are the perceived benefits campuses deliver for its real estate users? This will be answered by making use of literature study covering the definition and theoretical benefits. Secondly a case study towards four different campuses will be executed. This case study will consist of semi-structured interviews with both start-up and scale-up companies and the respective campus management teams in order to establish what benefits are delivered by locating on a campus. Followingly these results will be analysed and compared in order to build conclusions.

The constant manipulation of the Dutch delta system and the resulting creation of hard borders between the natural river landscape, the harbor and the city has led to a destabilized delta system(Hein, 2021; Meyer et al., 2015). The spatial and ecological challenges resulting from population growth and the resulting urban growth, as well as climate change, are becoming increasingly urgent. To densify already urban areas, municipalities are transforming more and more inner-city port areas, which as a result of the relocation of the port to the North Sea are increasingly becoming available. However, this trend presents increasingly apparent challenges as these areas are outside of dike protection and exposed to natural influences (Breś & Krosnicka, 2021). On the one hand, they offer the opportunity for housing, which is urgently needed in Rotterdam, but on the other hand are highly vulnerable due to the enhanced risk of flooding resulting from sea-level rise and higher river discharge. 
The research project "Accepting the current(s) - A porous approach for the revitalization of a former port area in the Rhine-Meuse Delta" explores a new nature-based approach for these areas. The resulting design aims to combine the natural and urban processes in an adaptive and urban tidal landscape, working with and benefiting from the natural processes of the Nieuwe Maas and the Delta. It seeks to balance the various entities by enhancing the natural environment in the urban delta.
The permeable approach enables the provision of a collaborative zones for different flows and connections. This facilitates a transition from water to land and from port to city, where people, resources and ideas can move smoothly (Höller, 2021). Leading to better exploitation of potential and a better activation and integration of the previously segregated outer dike areas into the urban context. An adaptive hotspot is created within the dynamic landscape that is continuously evolving and able to accommodate future changes. In addition, the creation of tidal habitats provides an important natural habitat for different species of animals and plants that have been displaced by the previous water management of the region, thus creating a place of migration. For both humans and animals.
The work includes a design catalog for the creation of an urban tidal landscape to show decision-makers the various options available to create an adaptive wetland neighborhood. It allows the project to be more comprehensible and regionally transferable. In the end the suggested design strategies are applied to the study area of the waterfront of Nieuw Mathenesse/Merwe-Vierhavens to give a more specific outlook and to better demonstrate the potentials the design is intended to offer.

De Wallen is the most famous and valuable urban area for showing the body and carnal desire under the circumstance of the society going on the way of spectacle. After years of regulation, overtourism and discipline, now the over-concerntrated prostitution windows have caused both social and environmental pressure in a small historical neighbourhood. This thesis aims to demonstrate how can urban design be used to propose an intense, theoretical and experimental city model for areas like De Wallen. The research proposed a multi-scalar strategy system from theories to analysis, and finally to design to help keep prostitution industry while reconciling the social conflicts between main stakeholder. However, the comprehensiveness of design across various scales and follow-up detailed consideration still need to be improved. Toward City of Enjoyment can be a continious topic to rethink about our life sphere, public space and city!

The river Rhine is Europe’s economic powerhouse. Without the Rhine, the Ruhr area and the port of Rotterdam wouldn’t have developed into the economically leading industrial regions they are today. The economic power of the Rhine comes forward from the ability of humans to control the river. By rectifying and canalizing the river and constructing dams and locks, the ships’ ability to navigate the river increased. This focus on economic development has caused critical environmental problems. Floods, droughts, and pollution are the most notable environmental threats to humans. This is intensified by climate change as extreme rainfall events and periods of drought will become more severe. Our current paradigm in flood risk management tells us to endlessly keep heightening our dykes, which is not a sustainable path to deal with flood risk. Heightening dykes also leads to shifting the problems elsewhere. If a river is not given space to flood its natural floodplains, it is forced to flow downstream more quickly, leading to a higher peak water level and potential floods downstream.

This master thesis introduces the concepts of socio-ecological symbiosis and clearance as means to improve water safety, the connection between humans and water, and the natural habitat. The central question of this research is: How could water safety downstream be supported by upstream design interventions in the Northern Upper Rhine Valley, based on methods in which socio-ecological symbiosis and clearance are central? As upstream water management strongly influences the downstream water safety, design exercises are executed in the Northern Rhine Valley with the goal to improve the water safety both downstream and locally. Three typological design exercises are set up which together form the proposed future water management strategy of the whole Rhine Valley.

The increasing popularity of the city of Rotterdam has resulted in a number of spatial and ecological challenges. Public space is already scarce north of the Nieuwe Maas, with demand increasing due to densification, and the large amount of paved surface results in heat stress. Despite harbour functions having shifted from the city centre towards the North Sea, quays within the centre remain paved; creating a hard boundary between people and river. Additionally, main city boulevards are intersected by the traffic barrier of Westblaak-Blaak, which contains eight lanes of car traffic and subsequently results in dangerous and unattractive intersections (e.g. Eendrachtsplein). Furthermore, natural habitat loss has resulted in a biodiversity crisis affecting the entire ecosystem.

This research project, Rotterdam as Urban Tidescape, explores the potential of exploiting the unique tidal characteristics of the Nieuwe Maas within an urban design for Westblaak-Blaak, Rotterdam, with the goal of transforming it into a resilient and dynamic public space for people and animals alike, whilst contributing to the mobility transition and restoring biodiversity.

Through the design process, researching an integral solution to the aforementioned challenges, it was found that incorporating tidal nature within the urban area would benefit people in a variety of ways (e.g. providing healthier public space, creating unique experiences, and reducing heat stress). Natural gradients as a result of tidal cycles provide an array of animals with more and unique (tidal) habitats, which contributes to countering the biodiversity crisis. By adding to the mobility transition of Rotterdam through a significant reduction of (the surface for) car traffic, the resulting freed up space can be transformed into a healthier urban environment - from rooftop to underwater.

With the unique tidal habitats, the migration of animals, and the increasing salinity of the river water over time, Westblaak-Blaak has the potential to become a resilient and dynamic hotspot which evolves along the day, throughout the seasons, and over the years. Key findings have been collected into an Urban Tidescape Toolkit for reference within similar urban landscape design assignments, and an overview of essentially endangered red-listed and icon species along with their respective habitats has been enclosed.

Throughout humanity, we have told each other stories to explain the world around us. Stories of myths, folklore and legends, used to connect us with our physical environment, their objects, events and processes. Nowadays we mostly use scientific stories to explore our landscape.

In landscape architecture we also use scientific stories to justify our designs. But even though these stories prove an urgency and credibility for our interventions in the landscape, they sometimes have difficulty connecting with people. Kagan, et al. (2019) argues that a more imaginary approach to narrative, instead of purely scientific, would help people connect to these stories.
In this graduation project this question is explored in the city of Delft in the Netherlands through the narrative approach of myths. The three most important spatial stories in Delft are dissected using the narrative realms as posed by Potteiger and Purinton (1998). These stories are then transformed into the imaginary narrative of myths. These stories are: The story of Delft and the water. The industrial story of Delft and the royal Yeast factory. The ecological story of the urban forests and nature in Delft. These myths formed the basis for an exploration into the landscape and their design.

I found that narrative realms allowed for an approachable method of reading and writing stories in the landscape. Understanding how the story and its parts are interacting in the landscape is crucial for us as designers, because this allows us to know exactly where and what we can change of the stories in the landscape.
The imaginary narrative of myths simplifies and abstracts the elements of the story to their most essential form while still respecting the technical depth behind them. I think that myths offer great potential to be a way of communicating complex stories and meaning to the common layman.

Urban shrinkage, as predicted for Schouwen-Duiveland, leads to a less attractive living environment and is seen as a burden rather than a potential, often resulting in an aim for unrealistic growth. The recommended context-specific approach is spatially underdeveloped and takes too little account of the distant future. This project therefore generates a spatial approach for the acceptance of urban shrinkage in Schouwen-Duiveland, making use of the local qualities in order to show that shrinkage can also offer opportunities. The local qualities in the case of Schouwen-Duiveland are heritage to guarantee the quality of life and the increasing target groups, holidaymakers and the elderly, to maintain a certain degree of liveliness. Since shrinkage is a nuanced phenomenon and a zoom was needed to illustrate the interventions, three different types of interdependent settlements were examined. The shrinking and highly regarded Brouwershaven has the most complex and extensive approach. In the event that Brouwershaven shrinks extremely, the pre-war buildings can be used as an elderly or holiday home, the expansion neighborhoods can be demolished, freeing up space to restore the historic fortifications. In this way, shrinkage does not have to be a disastrous development and added value can even be created. Shrinkage thus certainly does not have to be imposed, but it is useful to take such a possible future into account now and to have flexible interventions ready.