Cities are confronted with more frequent heatwaves of increasing intensity discouraging people from using urban open spaces that are part of their daily lives. Climate proofing cities is an incremental process that should begin where it is needed using the most cost-efficient solutions to mitigate heat stress. However, for this to be achieved the factors that influence the thermal comfort of users, such as the layout of local spaces, their function and the way people use them needs to be identified first. There is currently little evidence available on the effectiveness of heat stress interventions in different types of urban space.The Cool Towns Heat Stress Measurement Protocol provides basic guidance to enable a full Thermal Comfort Assessment (TCA) to be conducted at street-level. Those involved in implementing climate adaptation strategies in urban areas, such as in redevelopments will find practical support to identify places where heat stress may be an issue and suggestions for effective mitigation measures. For others, such as project developers, and spatial designers such as landscape architects and urban planners it provides practical instructions on how to evaluate and provide evidence-based justification for the selection of different cooling interventions for example trees, water features, and shade sails, for climate proofing urban areas.
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Over the next 10 years, the City of Amsterdam plans to develop major housing schemes provide 90,000 new homes within the existing urban fabric. At the same time, an urban renewal program is being launched to revitalize the most deprived neighbourhoods. Together, these challenges call for more evidence based designprinciples to secure liveable places. Recent development in neuroscience, provides innovative tools to examine in a measurable, cause-effect way, the relationships between the physical fabric, users’ (visual) experience and their behavior in public spaces. In neuroscience, eye-tracking technology (ET) complements brain and behavioral measures (for overview see Eckstein et al. 2017). ET is already used to evaluate the spatial orienting of attention, behavioral response and emotional and cognitive impact in neuroscience, psychology and market research (Popa et al. 2015). ET may also radically change the way we (re)design and thus, experience cities (Sita et al. 2016; Andreani 2017). Until now, eye-tracking pilot studies collected eye fixation patterns of architecture using images in a lab-setting (Lebrun 2016).In our research project Sensing Streetscapes, we take eye-tracking outdoors and explore the potential ET may offer for city design. In collaboration with the municipality of Amsterdam and the local community, the H-neighborhood is used as a single case study. The main focus for urban renewal lies in the “transition-spaces”. They connect the neighborhood with the rapidly developing adjacent areas and are vital for improving the weak social-economic status. The commonly used design principles are validated (Alexander et al. 1977; Gehl 2011, 2014; Pallasmaa 2012) and the consistency of ET is tested, alongside (walk along) interviews and behavioral observations. In the next phase, the data will be analyzed by a panel of applied psychologists and urban designers. The initial results provide valuable lessons for the use of eye-tracking in urban design research. For example, a visual pattern analysis offers more accurate images of the spatial key-elements that matter when moving through transition spaces. More sensory-based city design research is needed to gather a full understanding of the relationships between the configuration of space, users’ (visual) experience, behavioral responses and in turn, perceptual decision making.
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Comprehensive understanding of the merits of bottom-up urban development is lacking, thus hampering and complicating associated collaborative processes. Therefore, and given the assumed relevancies, we mapped the social, environmental and economic values generated by bottom-up developments in two Dutch urban areas, using theory-based evaluation principles. These evaluations raised insights into the values, beneficiaries and path dependencies between successive values, confirming the assumed effect of placemaking accelerating further spatial developments. It also revealed broader impacts of bottom-up endeavors, such as influences on local policies and innovations in urban development.
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Een holistisch perspectief op binnenstedelijke herontwikkeling Spatial Planning http://www.uu.nl/agenda/promotie-een-holistisch-perspectief-op-binnenstedelijke-herontwikkeling Promovendus Rien van Stigt onderzoekt waarom het moeilijk is om milieukwaliteit een prominente plaats te geven in de besluitvorming over ruimtelijke plannen. In zijn proefschrift ontwikkelt hij een holistisch perspectief op het complexe proces van compacte binnenstedelijke herontwikkeling. De kwaliteit van de stedelijke leefomgeving is essentieel in duurzame stedelijke ontwikkeling. Die kwaliteit staat met name bij compacte binnenstedelijke herontwikkeling onder druk, en daarom is milieukwaliteit een belangrijke factor in het plannen van zulke ontwikkelingen. Uit de literatuur over de integratie van milieubeleid blijkt dat dit, vooral op lagere bestuurlijke niveaus, niet altijd goed lukt. Er is nog geen overtuigende verklaring waarom dit zo is. Promotor(es): Prof.dr. P.P.J. Driessen en Prof.dr. T.J.M. Spit
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This report is the second in a series of three reports named Value Added Planning, consisting of three unique, but interconnected tools, namely the Green Credit Tool, the Workbench Method and Value Added Planning, These tools have been developed and/or tested in the context of the European INTERREG programme: VALUE (INTERREG IVB North West Europe - Valuing Attractive Landscapes in the Urban Economy), in which the municipality of Amersfoort is involved. Aim of this programme is to understand how green space in urban centres can become more competitive with other urban functions. In this context, the municipality of Amersfoort has introduced the interactive method named Workbench Spatial Quality (Werkbank Ruimtelijke Kwaliteit in Dutch) in their spatial design in several areas in their municipality. The Workbench Spatial Quality (to be referred to as Workbench) has been applied on two cases in Amersfoort: Park Randenbroek and Vathorst NW. In this report the Workbench as applied in Amersfoort is evaluated. Research was done on the basis of literature research, case-material and interviews performed with several experts. Furthermore, research was done by students at the Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR). Part of the evaluation in this report makes use of a quick scan of 19 Dutch cases. The question addressed in this report is: 1.How was the Workbench Spatial Quality applied in Amersfoort? 2.Can the Workbench contribute to sustainable spatial planning?
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Contribution to the conference: International Conference on New Pathways for Community Energy and Storage, 6-7 June 2019ABSTRACTThe community renewable energy is often seen as the way to address the societal challenge of energy transition. Many scholars foresee a key role for community energy in accelerating of the energy transition from fossil to renewable energy sources. For example, some authors investigated the transformative role of community renewable energy in the energy transition process (Seyfang and Smith, 2007; Seyfang and Haxeltine 2012; Seyfang et al. 2013; Seyfang et al. 2014; Smith et al. 2017; Martiskainen, 2017; Ruggiero et al. 2018; Hasanov and Zuidema, 2018; de Boer et al. 2018). Recognising the importance of community energy many scholars studied different internal and external conditions that contribute or hinder the success of local renewable energy initiatives (Walker et al. 2007; Bomberg and McEwen, 2012; Seyfang et al. 2013; Wirth, 2014; Hasanov and Zuidema, 2018; Ruggiero et al. 2018). One of such conditions contributing to the success of community energy initiatives is the capacity to adopt and utilize new technologies, for example, in the area of energy storage, which would increase flexibility and resilience of the communal energy supply systems.However, as noted by Ruggiero et al. (2018), the scholarship remains unclear on “how a very diverse and relatively small sector such as community energy could scale up and promote a change in the dominant way of energy production”. What is then the real transformative power of local renewable energy initiatives and whether community energy can offer an alternative to the existing energy system? This paper aims to answer these questions by confronting the critical review of theory with the recent practice of community energy in the Netherlands to build and scale up independent and self-sustaining renewable energy supply structures on the local and national scale and drafting perspectives on the possible role of community energy in the new energy system.
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The emergence of organic planning practices in the Netherlands introduces new, non-conventional, local actors initiating bottom-up urban developments. Dissatisfied with conventional practices and using opportunities during the 2008 financial crisis, these actors aim to create social value, thus challenging prevailing institutions. Intrigued by such actors becoming more present and influential in urban planning and development processes, we aim to identify who they are. We use social entrepreneurship and niche formation theories to analyse and identify three types of social entrepreneurs. The first are early pioneers, adopting roles of a developer and end-user, but lacking position and power to realize goals. Secondly, by acting as boundary spanners and niche entrepreneurs, they evolve towards consolidated third sector organizations in the position to realize developments. A third type are intermediate agents facilitating developments as boundary spanners and policy entrepreneurs, without pursuing urban development themselves but aiming at realizing broader policy goals. Our general typology provides a rich picture of actors involved in bottom-up urban developments by applying theories from domains of innovation management and business transition management to urban planning and development studies. It shows that the social entrepreneurs in bottom-up urban development can be considered the result of social innovation, but this social innovation is set within a neoliberal context, and in many cases passively or actively conditioned by states and markets.
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In the floodplains of the Rhine branches in the Netherlands, many so called ‘flood free’ areas can be found. These areas remain dry during extreme river discharges. In the province of Gelderland alone, over 80 of such areas exist. The province of Gelderland and Rijkswaterstaat have formally agreed to investigate the possibilities to redevelop these (mainly) former stone brick factory terrains. In this project, multiple stakeholders combine their views on the redevelopment of these areas: flood safety (Rijkswaterstaat), economic development (KNB, for the ceramic industry), nature and maintenance (Staatsbosbeheer, owner of several areas), cultural heritage (RCE, government institution for cultural heritage) and three educational institutes (VHL/HAN Universities of Applied Sciences, MBO Helicon Velp).
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As in many large European Cities, Amsterdam is confronted with a large housing boom, partially fuelled by shortcomings in (affordable) housing development. Simultaneously, there is a persistent need to improve neighbourhoods with a weak socioeconomic status. The municipal government aims to both, develop major housing schemes and designate redevelopment areas. In 2017, Amsterdam presented a new urban renewal program for 32 designated deprived neighbourhoods in three boroughs. The program sets out physical housing ambitions, but also intends to anticipate and integrally address social, economic and ecological challenges. To ensure the developments are inclusive, the active involvement of local communities in the decision making process is central part of the new policy. However, a large body of planning literature emphasizes the tendency of large redevelopment processes to become exclusive rather than inclusive. To avoid these pitfalls, new spatial and programmatic governance arrangements may need to be developed. In close collaboration with the municipality and local communities, we conduct empirical action-research on Amsterdam’s urban regeneration program to develop and test promising solutions with practice. The paper analyses the planning process as it evolves. Based on framing theory, we structure and analyse the expected governance barriers hindering the inclusivity during the course of the planning process. The insights gathered regarding inclusivity provide critical input in the conceptualisation of new more forceful inclusive spatial planning strategies. In conclusion, a variety of spatial and programmatic governance arrangements are presented to reinforce the inclusivity of planning processes for a sustained impact of large-scale urban renewal programs.
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The role of expert knowledge of the environment in decision-making about urban development has been intensively debated, largely in terms of a so-called ‘science-policy gap’. Most contributions to this debate have studied the use of knowledge in the decision-making process from the knowledge providers’ point of view. In this paper, we reverse the perspective and try to unearth how decision-makers use scientific knowledge in decision-making about an urban plan. We confronted municipal administrators, responsible for local urban development, with conceptions of the use of knowledge that were derived from the literature on this issue. From the reactions obtained, we conclude that, in the context of urban redevelopment, local administrators hardly perceive a barrier between themselves as decision-makers and experts – both environmental scientists and urban designers. They do, however, acknowledge that experts and decision-makers have distinct roles: unlike experts, local administrators have to balance all interests relevant to an urban plan. It is argued, therefore, that experts should engage in providing better decision frameworks rather than more or better knowledge.
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