In the summer of 2023, heatwaves became quite prominent in the south of Europe. Due to the extreme heat, the health of those citizens was affected. The Netherlands Meteorological Institute predicts an increase in heatwaves in the future for the Netherlands as well. The main research question is how to propose a strategy for a liveable environment by designing public spaces while mitigating heat stress for vulnerable target groups in the context of Bospolder Tussendijken in Rotterdam. This research questions also how a reproducible tool could help identify heat stress and test design interventions in Dutch cities. The research included a literature review, expert consultations, scenario planning, modelling of the urban environment and mapping techniques.
Comparing the heat stress software reproducibility, computation time, possibility to test design interventions and the scale of modelling were important. Improvements in the reproducibility of the PET map of Koopmans et al. (2020) are made by creating an open-accessible QGIS plugin applicable to Dutch cities. This helps urban designers to indicate and test their design interventions. Refinement of the wind calculation contributed to speeding up calculation times of the wind for neighbourhood and city scale areas. Future research should focus on some refinement in PET calibration to work properly, and advanced wind modelling is required for urban design practices.
The application in the Rotterdam test case study emphasizes the importance of maintaining liveability now and in the future. By enhancing social liveability and physical liveability within a network of heat-mitigating interventions liveability is guaranteed. By revealing the vulnerable groups and their social interactions on a summer day, the most frequently used routes are qualified for refurbishment. Based on the current quality of social space and walkable environment, ownership and degree of open space on the street level, the interventions are chosen for the situation.
The research emphasized the importance of identifying heat stress in public spaces and the need for urgent action to maintain the quality of life in the future. By integrating informed strategies from multiple fields like Geomatics and Urbanism a climate-adaptive and healthy environment can take shape.

Blind and visually impaired people currently have inconveniences locating themselves in the indoor environment. No standardized system exists for them yet. After an inventory of the requirements of blind people, different representations do qualify for providing specific information blind people need. The main research question is: "How can blind people localise themselves (near) real-time in indoor environments with the combination of 3 representations of reality, namely (1) LiDAR point cloud matching, (2) ArcGIS Indoors and (3) Audio dynamic tactile map as the user interface?". Room detection and positioning of the user within the room are obtained by LiDAR scanning and point cloud matching. The processed point cloud height raster grids are acquired and imported into the Esri ArcGIS platform. The rooms are geo-referenced, and data is enriched by contextual awareness. As a user interface for blind people this report proposes two deliverables: a dynamic tactile map and an added or stand-alone audible supported user interface. Preliminary results of the qualitative validation show positive outcomes. This report is a stepping stone for the possibility of integrating multiple into one device.

“Building a Fair Transition” strives for a fair circular built environment in the Dutch province of South Holland. By 2040 South Holland aims to have built 210.000 new dwellings to meet the rapidly growing housing demand. This transition in the built environment should align with current climate agreements and be as energy neutral as possible. To meet these goals, a lot of material and renewable energy are needed. However, the current linear economy creates inequalities for current and future generations. Therefore, radical changes towards circular construction and the demolition sector are needed. At the same time, energy poverty is an issue that calls for immediate actions in order to make the much-needed transition truly sustainable. Nevertheless, the country lacks a comprehensive measurement framework that considers social aspects to address the phenomenon. The main research question is how to manage the transition in South Holland towards a circular built environment while ensuring that this transition is done in a fair way. In order to make this possible, a tremendous change in organisational structures is required. An interscalar approach is needed to create a symbiosis betweenthe regional scale and the actions needed at a local level. In this work, bottom-up initiatives are encouraged and embraced within a bigger top-down mainframe. Through an assessment analysis, the goals towards a sustainable built environment are classified into three categories: materials, energy and knowledge. These goals will strengthen the social foundation of our report and fit the ecological ceiling that all development must respect. In our work, phasing of interventions is based onthe urgency needed. In that sense, actions are prioritisedin the most vulnerable areas while pilot projects serve as the research ground for testing feasibility and potential upscaling. The most urgent areas will be addressed first according to the criteria of low liveability, building energy performance, low income and ownership status.The overall goal of this strategy is to create a just sustainable built environment characterised by circular material flows and fair energy transition. More precisely, the aim is to strive for affordable and adequate housing for all, a regenerative and stable labour market and knowledge exchange. Concerning material flows, the target of closed material loops is achieved through renewable raw materials used, upcycling of wasteflows and optimal use. Finally, democratisation of energy has become a key theme. Supply and demand for renewable energy sources is controlled to minimise energy losses. A decentralised energy system enables every citizen to become a prosumer of energy leading thus to democratisation of energy.