Background and aim – This paper studies urban decline, the process in which the built environment suddenly or gradually loses its practical, technical and economic functionality, resulting in it being abandoned by its legitimate occupants and neglected by its owners for an extended period of time. Recent …

Purpose – Most people live in cities and work in offices, two contexts offering many lifestyle-related and environmental health risks. To advance their health, this paper aims to introduce an analogy between urban design and facility design to explore whether health-directed design interventions in cities …

The need for a shift toward healthier and more sustainable diets is evident and is supported by universalized standards for a “planetary health diet” as recommended in the recent EAT-Lancet report. At the same time, differences exist in tastes, preferences and food practices among diverse ethnic groups, …

The surge of smart city technology, thinking, publications and consultancy offerings is significant. This implies there is something seriously developing. But to what extent is this a new development? In this paper the case will be made that urban design has always had to include new technologies and …

Presentation in the frame of IMPETUS project about the HUAS

Increasingly, adding trees to the city is a new goal on the urban agenda in order to fight climate change. There is an interesting contrast when looking at the average lifespan of trees in the city: 30 years. The reason is that trees are still being seen from a utilitarian perspective and as urban furniture …

It’s no secret that cities are booming. They continue to attract the world’s top talent, stimulate the economy, act as hubs of innovation, and remain the cultural melting pots of all nations. Yet, we must ask the question, do the inhabitants of our ever-popular cities really feel at home in them? Furthermore, …

Worldwide, sedentary behaviours and overweight are major health concerns. Most adolescents are insufficiently physically active and have overweight. Moreover, most work is sedentary or requires only light activity. And most people live in cities, a context which discourages participation in physical …

Across European cities local entrepreneurs are joining forces in new ways, forming collectives to stimulate business growth and innovation and to create a more attractive business environment. The value of such collectives is increasingly recognized by local governments and policy measures to stimulate …

The municipality of Rotterdam has the ambition to realize a healthy city by 2020. A healthy diet is high on the list of priorities and the municipality is supporting initiatives to ensure that healthy food is available for resident of Rotterdam. The Oude Westen district in the city center of Rotterdam …