INAUGURAL LECTURE The world is in disarray. Species are extinct, climates are changing, we are becoming unhealthier. To liberate ourselves from this doom scenario we need to take care of ourselves and our environment. The solutions of former generations offer no future solace. Moreover, these caused …

The city is nature. In many ways this bold statement can be contested, but at the same time wildlife is so abundant Rotterdam is called a wilderness park (Reumer, Wildpark Rotterdam. De stad als natuurgebied. Historische Uitgeverij, Groningen, 2014). One can discuss whether this is true or not, but more …

Urbanization around the world has taken a flight towards rapid, sometimes uncontrolled growth. Megacities expanded, whilst erasing the developable area and adjusting the existing landscape to artificial water and nature systems. This rampant expansion often leads to monotonous new neighborhoods, often …

In this chapter we move back in time, to when it was not an usance to base our city designs on the natural systems of water and ecology. By the end of the 1980s the dogma of separation of functions, and dividing the city in areas for working, living, leisure and traffic was slowly abandoned and especially …

Current urban design and urban planning aim to facilitate global, regional and local urbanization programs. This implies most of the planning documents give room to the types of land use that seem to require space ‘here and now’. The amount of new housing, office and other industrial and commercial space, …

Although Grodzka Island is located in the heart of the city, many citizens of Szczecin have forgotten this piece of land. The island is surrounded by a very strong historical context of the popular cultural centre and an upcoming new hotspot in the city: the post-industrial harbour. Today, the city of …

In deze rapportage wordt verslag gedaan van het project “Kunstmatige intelligentie in de Publieke Ruimte”. De Haagse Hogeschool deed, in samenwerking met lokale creatieve ondernemers, onderzoek naar de mogelijkheden en toepassingen van kunstmatige intelligentie in de publieke ruimte. Aanleiding hiervoor …

Small urban water bodies, such as ponds or canals, are commonly believed to solve urban heat problems but recent research shows that the cooling effect of large urban water bodies on hot summer days is quite limited and can actually induce a night-time warming effect. However, shading, vaporising water …

The smart city infrastructure will soon start to include smart agents, i.e., agentic things, which co-exist and co-perform with human citizens. This near-future scenario explores the flexible types of collaborations and relationships between the human and nonhuman citizens. Drawing on current technology …