In the past two decades, two big processes have changed the urban configuration of Jerusalem: The construction of the West Bank separation barrier, leaving the majority of the Palestinian neighborhoods of the city completely cut out from their hinterland and neighboring Palestinian cities, and the ongoing planning and construction of the light rail project in Jerusalem. The light rail project is a part of a transportation infrastructure upgrade that came as a response to the city’s urban sprawl and its heavy traffic problem. These two processes seem to be of a contradictive nature: one is of absolute separation and segregation, and the other is of interconnection and integration. The truth, as always, is more complex, and these two processes are deeply rooted in the colonization of the city. This thesis researches the relations between urban planning and the process of colonization, and, in particular, the role of transportation infrastructure in manifesting colonization patterns in the urban space in the city of Jerusalem. It analyzes the dynamics that influence urban planning in a divided city that is subjected to urban conflict and examines the problems, urban damage, and social injustice that are caused by it. The design part of this thesis explores the potential of urban planning and design as a means of a decolonization and reconciliation process and proposes a transition to a transit-oriented development framework to support it. From the understanding of the powerful role that transportation infrastructure plays in the colonization and segregation of the city, the main research question of this thesis is: How could Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) serve as an instrument for decolonization and inclusion in Jerusalem? To answer this question, this thesis takes the approach of alternative planning – grounded on the existing spatial and social conditions of the city while exploring alternative urban planning and design given a different political framework. This approach enables a critical debate about existing narratives and assumptions, stimulates discussion, and imagines a different future beyond existing political constraints. The design part of the thesis consists of three levels: Strategic planning, in the form of a city-scale urban vision that explores a transit-oriented development framework to the city as a means for decolonization. Governance design, exploring implementation strategies and governance transformation to support the urban vision and implement it on the local scale. Urban design: Two key projects on a local scale are designed in important nodes of the urban vision. The design of the key projects examines the implications of the urban vision on the local scale and explores the potentials of decolonization on the urban form and public space.

t seems that urban shrinkage has become a very 'normal' stage of urban development process in Europe. Starting in Germany during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and then slowly but surely spreading across most of Europe (Bontie and Musterd, 2012). Nearly half of Europe's cities home to one-third of the continent's population- are shrinking in one way or another. Shrinkage is a very diverse and complex process in urban development, but one of the most intuitive phenomena is structural population loss, constant and considerable. Whether the reason for shrinkage is deindustrialization or postwar politics, urban lifecycle is the spatial effect of economic circular development (Martinez-Fernandez at el, 2012).In a shrinking city or more generally, a shrinking area, social problems and economic problems are eventually affecting local residents' life, causing decrease in security, amenity, comfort, social vital ity, etc., reducing economic circulations and putting the future of the region into worrying uncertainty. Parkstad Limburg, in south part of Limburg Province in the Netherlands, has a long history, and experienced rapid urbanization and development in 20th century due to mining industry. However, after shutting down of mine sites, this region has been facing shrinkage even till now. Before Industrial Revolution, Parkstad has an agricultural-based history since Roman time; although urbanization and expansion reduced farming area significantly, there are still many heritages of ancient natural landscape and agricultural production existing in Parkstad. The unique hilly landscape being found nowhere else in the country also makes the region a really popular tourism destination for visitors from home and abroad. Currently Parkstad is undergoing economic restructuring in this post-mining period and it's looking forwarding to a sustainable regional economic development using its tourism resource which has great potential. Shrinkage has brought challenges as well as opportunities to Parkstad. In this post-industrial era, with the background condition of shrink age, how to promote economic circulation and social vibrancy using local material to trigger new types of spatial programming? This landscape architecture design project, taking Parkstad as an example, proposes reintroduction of agricultural landscape elements in order to reproduce the idyllic beauty and attract tourists. In small scale, a typical South Limburg farmhouse is transformed into a green care farm for the elderly with traditional agricultural elements such as high-stemmed orchard. How reintroduction of agricultural landscape elements can improve attract tourism and investment in a regional scale is also explained. This project is hoped to explore how adaptive reuse of landscape heritage especially agricultural heritage can improve living quality, boost economic activities, stimulate social vitality to present Parkstad with a regional development of positive circulation

In recent years, with the deepening of the urbanization process, high-density urban development models have led to a series of climatic problems such as poor urban ventilation and air pollution. Urban morphology forms a unique microclimate in the city, which has an important impact on the diffusion and distribution of pollutants inside the urban boundary layer. Chengdu, as a large central city in the southwestern of China, has developed rapidly, with numerous sources of atmospheric pollution. At the same time, its basin topography and climatic conditions make it difficult to dilute and disperse pollutants. In this thesis, the background of Chengdu was introduced, and the severe trend of urban development and air pollution was stated at first. Secondly, further understanding of the relationship between urban morphology, urban microclimate and air pollution will be involved. And a city-scale risk assessment was conducted to define the most vulnerable areas. Thereafter, it is possible to evaluate the microclimates represented by the wind and heat environment in these areas. Then integrating pollution abatement and microclimate design into the urban design process by using a maximization approach. From the aspects of street canyon morphology, surfaces and urban trees, proposing wind-heat coupled optimization solutions to reduce air pollution. The guidelines and design method are aimed at improving the scientificity of urban design and providing a reference for the creation of sustainable and healthy cities.

Heat waves are a leading cause of weather related fatalities world-wide. Due to increasing urbanisation, climate change and an ageing population, health risks for urban populations will continue to increase in the coming years. The effect of urban heat islands on the health of vulnerable groups where especially the elderly population is hit the hardest, is widely recognized in literature. In past studies the effect of heat has been modelled for the entire population of a city or state where outside temperature measures or land surface temperature is the hazard. Research on specific vulnerable groups such as the elderly is relatively sparse to this date. In this study various datasets have been combined with the aim of providing a method for the development of a heat-related elderly risk index (HERI) for the elderly population of The Hague. The final composite risk indexes have been constructed for three moments in the day on the 27th of July which was the hottest day of the heat wave of 2018. The structure of the index is based on Crichton’s Triangle of Risk, which states that risk is a function of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. By selecting the following indicators to represent the spatial layers: physiological equivalent temperature, indoor temperature, facade orientation, being 75 years or older, loneliness among people over the age of 75, and population density. The indicators are assigned a weight trough the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), after which the indicators can be combined into a HERI maps for the three timestamps. Different configurations of indicators have been used for creating the HERI maps, yielding different weights for each set. This resulted in two types of HERI maps: HERI-2 and HERI- 3. HERI-2 exists of physiological equivalent temperature, being 75 years or older, loneliness among people over the age of 75, and population density. HERI-3 is composed of the same indicators as HERI-2 but instead of physiological equivalent temperature, indoor temperature is used as the hazard. The HERI maps for the three timestamps have been validated by performing a Pearson Correlation between the HERI maps and the mortality numbers among the elderly in the days after the heat wave. The indicators and mortality are non correlated except for the indicator ’being 75 years or older’. However when the indicators are combined into the HERI index maps a weak positive correlation with mortality can be seen. The results indicate that it is necessary that the indicators have to be re-evaluated and several weighting methods have to be considered in order to improve the HERI.

This thesis proposes the development of a new centrality outside of Central London in order to combat the increasingly evident problems generated by London’s mono-centric model of development. In doing so, special attention is paid to understanding the region of Greater London as a networked urban system. Following a diagnosis of the current condition and the processes that have led to its existence, this thesis generates, optimizes and evaluates several options for a new centrality and the transit links needed to support them. In this process, a network analysis carried out in Python forms a central element to concretely understand the complexity of London’s system of station areas. Subsequently Woolwich, the most fitting of the options reviewed, is further elaborated through a development strategy comprising the local, regional and governance actions needed to create the conditions for, and providing guidance of, its development into a new centrality.