Sustainable Cities

Sustainable cities addresses the need to transform current cities not only to climate mitigating- (substantially lower CO2 and environmental footprint), climate resilient-(adaptive to future climate changes) and circular- (minimal requirement of primary resources and minimal damage to environment) but simultaneously to desirable ones, meaning that they support overall wellbeing of its inhabitants. Some and specifically larger Dutch cities are currently characterized by the presence of aged and desolate city blocks, quarters and infrastructures with often co-occurring environmental and social problems which negatively affect wellbeing of inhabitants. Challenges to overcome are clearly manifold and solutions should therefore be integral in order to be both economically and functionally effective. The indicators that cover the four targeted sustainable (wellbeing) built environment performance criteria (climate mitigation, climate resilience, circularity and wellbeing) and addressed in this module are the following seven:

1. Quality (chemical composition) of outdoors air, water and/or soil (including presence of litter),

2. State of maintenance and quality of present buildings and infrastructure (service life-, circularity-, energy- and environmental performance),

3. Risk of heat stress occurrence (specifically in summertime),

4. Risk of flooding (specifically during intense rain showers),

5. Noise occurrence,

6. Recreational- and social interaction opportunities (quantity and quality of present public spaces),

7. Quality and quantity of present nature (natural capital) comprising biodiversity and beneficial goods and services that nature can provide to city inhabitants.

These seven living quality indicators are specifically addressed in this module as these are considered to be representative for liveability in and desirability of sustainable cities. In this Cross Over module specific Dutch city quarters will be analysed both for the qualitative and quantitative state of these seven wellbeing indicators, followed by reviewing available and potential technical solutions for improvement of shortcomings related to individual indicators, and finalized by defining and designing integral solutions for often co-occurring problems. Specific focus of this module will be on the potential of nature-based solutions as these can typically provide integral solutions to multiple climate mitigating-, climate resilience- and wellbeing-related problems. E.g. the Dutch PBL (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency) states in their every two-years updated report that more public green (vegetation) in cities is required to increase wellbeing of its inhabitants, and that this can be achieved in balance and in concert with other urgent and space-requiring activities. Latter relate to the societal challenges for the need for more houses and residences, renewable energies, and climate resilience of- and circular building performance in cities. The module Sustainable Cities is practice oriented and case based. Each year specific city quarters will be designated for analysis. Although for practical reasons Dutch cities located close to Delft will be investigated, the problem of insufficient climate mitigation, climate resilience, circularity performance, and lack of wellbeing of inhabitants is relevant for metropolitan cities worldwide. Integral solutions found for Dutch cities are therefore also expected to be applicable to cities worldwide.