Two research projects into Smart Urban Regions of the Future

The knowledge programme Smart Urban Regions of the Future deals with societal challenges. Two research projects from BK Bouwkunde have been funded in the latest round of the SURF knowledge programme: research into future spatial patterns of grocery shopping and research into sustainable urban riverfronts.

Kees Maat and Rob Konings received a subsidy for Future spatial patterns of in-store and online grocery shopping. Within this project, the research impacts on mobility, social cohesion and real estate, in collaboration with the platform Supermarkt & Ruimte. Supermarkets supply daily products and play a social role. Three recent trends play into this role. Firstly, the trend of upscaling, resulting in the disappearance of supermarkets from villages and urban neighbourhoods. Secondly, suburban developments are internationally proving to be increasingly attractive to hypermarkets. And finally, online supermarket services are on the rise. The consequences are an increase in car traffic, loss of social cohesion and vacancies of real estate. This study investigates these trends for different possible spatial patterns. 

Arjan van Timmeren and Claudiu Forgaci received a subsidy for Instruments for sustainable urban riverfronts (I surf), in collaboration with the municipality of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Metropolitan Solutions. I surf tackles issues of urban environmental and ecological degradation through a set of four design instruments for river space design. The instruments, tested, elaborated and refined through design workshops and participatory sessions in Amsterdam, aid designers, planners, decision-makers and stakeholders in developing spatial interventions for social-ecological integration.