Research Programme Urbanism

Vision

The Urbanism research programme’s core task is to mobilise its multidisciplinary knowledge, skills and reputation to create more sustainable living environments. The priority is to contribute solutions to the urgent challenges of urbanisation in the context of climate change. We must achieve excellence in research, international recognition for the quality and value of our scientific work, and raise the standing of urbanism as an academic research discipline in science and society.

Mission

The Urbanism research programme aspires to make a major contribution to urbanism research and practice in the Netherlands, and to be among the very best in its peer group. We will exploit the worldwide prestige of the Dutch tradition of urbanism to maintain active international -knowledge exchange, lead research consortia and attract eminent guest professors and high-quality PhD and Master’s students. The truly international composition of the programme will create a rich academic environment for investigating the physical, social and cultural variations in which urbanism is -practised. The research programme will provide a flagship for the internationalisation of TU Delft in the European Research Area, Asia and Latin America.

Objectives

The substantive research objective of Urbanism is to strengthen the group’s reputation for excellence in research, especially in delta urbanism and urban resilience, design support systems, mobility and networks in complex city regions, the urban landscape and cross-national comparisons. The aim is to deepen our contribution to know-ledge in our specific disciplines and methodologies whilst also enabling interdisciplinary research.

The programme is committed to an international perspective, sharing expertise, research and education with partners in other countries. Our strong networks at the European and global levels will continue to be an important means for developing and disseminating knowledge. Our research focusses on:

• developing and testing new instruments, methods and principals for urban and landscape analysis and design;
• delta climate adaptation;
• evaluating and formulating strategic projects, accelerating the sustainable development of the Dutch Metropolis;
• developing and comparing planning instruments and strategies;
• design & history.