Human activities are dismantling ecosystems and eliminating genes, species, and biotopes at an alarming rate. Habitat fragmentation caused by urbanisation and infrastructure is one of the main causes of the decline in urban biodiversity. Despite challenges, project developers can enhance biodiversity in urban areas by adopting nature-inclusive design principles and engaging in collaborative efforts to share knowledge and resources. Research has demonstrated that biodiversity is currently implemented with a focus on one plot. More emphasis should be placed on implementing biodiversity within a multi-plot context. Project developers lack a framework or step-by-step plan that can support them in this challenge, including design elements and principles, stakeholder engagement, phasing, and financial prerequisites. This research contributes by developing an implementation framework that will encourage project developers to implement biodiversity in their projects in collaboration with other stakeholders. This is achieved by answering the research question ‘How can private project developers co-develop with others to enhance biodiversity across multiple plots in an area?’
The research starts with an extensive literature review of existing research on biodiversity in the built environment, establishing a foundational framework for subsequent methods. Interviews with experts are conducted to delineate the identified problem, gaining valuable insights and knowledge from ecologists. This is followed by a focus group workshop with participants from various disciplines, in which a process is designed with biodiversity guidelines and considerations. While the expert interviews focused mainly on the role of the government, the workshop discussions emphasised the role of the project developer, highlighting an observable tension between these stakeholders that necessitates collaborative alignment within the multi-plot context.
Recognising the impact of scale, the research underscores the need for collaborative efforts across multiple plots to enhance urban biodiversity. Biodiversity thrives at broader spatial scales where interconnected networks of green areas can support larger populations and facilitate species movement. Emphasising the importance of stakeholder collaboration, the developed process and implementation framework offer valuable guidance for project developers and other stakeholders. Roles, responsibilities, and priorities of stakeholders vary per urban area development project and biodiversity ambitions, which makes biodiversity enhancement complex. Biodiversity implementation in urban area development projects requires early area analysis, consistent oversight of objectives, seamless integration of biodiversity goals into the overall vision, and continuous monitoring throughout the development process.

This research explores the interdependent public-private relationship during the front-end of urban (re)development projects. During this process the municipality calls up on the developer's ability to drive change and innovation through the co-creation of value propositions. Inevitable conflicts emerge because of value pluralism and play a significant role in the co-creation of value propositions. However, in what ways real estate developers manage those emerging conflicts constructively and how this influences individual actor's value propositions is less known. Consequently, the following research question has been drawn up: "How can real estate developers manage conflicts constructively to enable value co-creation during the front-end of urban redevelopment projects?" In answering the research question this study applies a qualitative research method, using semi-structured interviews within a case study of an urban redevelopment program in the Netherlands. The findings display the dynamics of emerging conflicts during the co-creation of value propositions between developers and the municipality and the influence on individual actor value propositions. Understanding these dynamics, proactively steering on a good project environment to foster functional conflicts and utilise appropriate conflict handling styles enables developers to constructively manage conflicts during the front-end of urban (re)development projects.

Approximately 200,000 individuals travel to & from Schiphol Airport daily through various means such as cars, taxis, buses, shuttles, trains, motorcycles, scooters, and bicycles. With this perspective, Schiphol Airport is the largest mobility hub in the whole Netherlands, making accessibility a critical aspect. The Schiphol Group is responsible for providing/ensuring accessibility. Their main goal is to alleviate accessibility for Schiphol's customers, including passengers, personnel/commuters, business partners, and cargo, by focusing on different transportation modalities.
To achieve the goal of “the best airport for accessibility and sustainable aviation as well as land-side transport in Europe,” Schiphol Group works toward a car-free, emission-free vision and plans to apply on-site.
This thesis conjugates Schiphol’s and European Union’s (EU) goals (EGD, TULIPS) set for the aviation sector and further investigates the possibility of reaching the “Car-free Schiphol Centrum”. The objectives designated the reach this primary goal.
- A combined method to design and evaluate the car-free Schiphol Airport efficiency
- A system that uses the methods to display the efficiency of the car-free Schiphol Airport.
By exploring these objectives, the thesis aims to contribute to the overall goal of making Schiphol Airport a sustainable, accessible, and car-free hub for all commuters and users. The problem statement and main research question gather around this unifying goal:
“How can Schiphol Airport become car-free in its land-side areas?”
To address this question, the thesis proposes a combined method to design and evaluate the efficiency of a car-free Schiphol Airport. This method considers the goals set by the Schiphol Group and the European Union.
The methodology constitutes the combination of the literature-based frameworks to create anew the thesis as well as finding the best measurement tools to seek the results of a successful car-free Schiphol Centrum. Car-free Development and Transit-oriented development allow for discussing and creating the framework for a car-free Schiphol Airport. The evaluation of this framework will be done by implementing new modalities to the Schiphol to ensure a possible/potential modal shift of the users and assess the walkability of the land-side areas.
Along with the theoretical work, a case study for the thesis is conducted to apply the proposed methodology and evaluate its effectiveness. The case study focuses on the land-side areas of Schiphol Airport and aims to assess the feasibility of implementing car-free measures in these areas.
The case study's findings show that a car-free Schiphol Centrum is feasible and should be implemented in real life. The proposed measures depict such as improving public transportation, promoting cycling and walking, and providing efficient and sustainable alternatives to private cars (micro mobility options), can contribute to reducing car dependency and creating a more sustainable and accessible airport.
Overall, this thesis provides valuable insights and recommendations for achieving a car-free Schiphol Airport. By combining theoretical frameworks, measurement tools, and a practical case study.

The pursuit of global sustainability goals has triggered a shift in national strategies, with countries like the Netherlands adopting innovative policies to realize circular economies by 2050. Circular area development, a novel approach, is emerging as a key strategy in this transition. It focuses on optimizing resources within specific geographic zones, considering their entire lifecycle, to minimize waste and establish sustainable loops. This study addresses the underexplored dimension of inclusiveness in Dutch circular area development, aiming to formulate guiding principles through literature review and semi-structured interviews. These principles offer a roadmap for policymakers, stakeholders, and practitioners to promote circular strategies while ensuring inclusivity. The research question guiding this study is: How can inclusiveness principles facilitate and advance the implementation of circular strategies in Dutch Circular Area Development? By exploring themes like stakeholder engagement, education, access, sustainable practices, and local adaptation, the research offers a comprehensive framework for integrating inclusivity into circular strategies. The study emphasizes the importance of trust, communication, and equitable participation, highlighting their role in fostering successful circular area development. Ultimately, the identified principles pave the way for a more inclusive and sustainable circular economy.

All over the world, cities are attempting to emit less carbon to limit the possibly detrimental effects of human-induced climate change. One way to limit carbon emissions is by reducing fossil fuel car use and transitioning to forms of low-carbon mobility. Electric vehicles (EVs) are an exponentially popular low-carbon transport solution, providing similar qualities to fossil-fuel cars. The question is whether it is possible to supply the growing demand for public EV infrastructure and simultaneously have a spatial design with every function within a 10-minute walking or cycling distance of each resident. This paper studies this question in the context of the municipality of Utrecht, the Netherlands. To a large extent, policy decisions that are made now shape how the city will operate in the future. This exploratory research identifies leverage points and lock-ins on both a city scale (policy research) and a neighborhood scale (case study). Furthermore, Stakeholder behavior is analyzed by asking the most essential stakeholders how they expect to respond when the research results become a reality. They are also asked to consider policies to prevent lock-ins and utilize leverage points. The goal is to prevent any unwanted outcomes blocking zero-emission mobility. The study revealed that the current strategy for public EV infrastructure locks in the ability to utilize a significant share of the public space for the 10-minute city. The study suggests six strategy changes to improve the odds of simultaneously supplying the public EV infrastructure demand and implementing a ten-minute city by 2040.

Food waste remains a large problem globally, not only in the light of global greenhouse gas emissions, but also in the light of decreasing resource availability. Research in this area has so far mainly focused on behavioral factors influencing production of food waste, while the formal and informal institutions that relate to the management of waste play an equally important role in shaping individual and company behavior. This research focuses on how food waste can be better managed among students, one of the biggest food waste contributors in the national food waste account, and other actors, such as companies and supermarkets, which continuously produce a lot of food waste. Accordingly, this thesis asks as a main research question: How do Institutional Barriers and Drivers influence the Food Waste Management of Students and Food Waste Initiatives in Cologne?
The case study is the city of Cologne, Germany. The city of Cologne has been chosen as a single-case study due to the fact that it is one of the largest student cities in Germany and also home to many companies and initiatives that are engaging in reducing food waste. Data is collected through literature search, interviews and student surveys. The interviews have been conducted with nine different actors from food waste initiatives, supermarkets or associations. The data from the interviews has ben anonymized for the purposes of this thesis. The research follows an inductive and qualitative approach, which is why the survey that is collecting data from students is not used for statistical analysis. The aim is to find the drivers and barriers for food waste and develop a theory in the best case from it.
This research captures the informal institutions (i.e. norms, rules and strategies) that shape student behavior, in conjunction with the strategies of different waste companies and initiatives. These informal institutions are analyzed within the framing of formal rules and regulations relating to food waste. The institutional network analysis (INA) approach that is built on the Institutional Analysis Development (IAD) framework and Institutional grammar (IG) is used to relate all institutions together in one picture to identify potential institutional misalignments. The collected data from the literature, the interviews and the survey, is coded using the institutional grammar by Ostrom (1995). Additionally, this thesis develops the institutional grammar a little further by introducing some new elements. On the one hand survey data is used for the first time in the institutional network analysis, which overall gives the network analysis more credibility through a larger data base. On the other hand, expectations have been introduced to the networks as a new element next to rules, norms and strategies. By using the institutional grammar according to Ostrom (1995), five action situations were identified. Action situations, or action arenas are situations in which rules, norms and strategies through conflicts form actor’s behavior. The action situations that were identified in this research encompass Waste Prevention, Waste Disposal, Waste Treatment, Sustainability Understanding and Best-Before Date. The action situations were defined according to the waste hierarchy of German Law and the findings of the institutional network analysis.
Next to the institutional network analysis, a descriptive analysis helps identifying patterns from the collected data, which in turn helps embedding the results of the network analysis into a broader context. The descriptive analysis takes into account all gathered data that cannot be used for the institutional network analysis, but which can still provide important insights into the problem. Last, another more descriptive section provides an overview about the current German food waste management system, to be able to understand later on which parts would need improvement.
The main finding of this study is that opposing expectations about how to effectively reduce food waste by the different actors mirror a general awareness on food waste in Cologne, but also reveal a lack of rules and norms in the area of food waste management. Moreover, the combined results of the network analysis and the general observations show that institutional misalignments among expectations are often not resolved through actor’s engaging in trying to prevent food waste. The actors in contrast are remaining rather inactive and seemingly hope that the government finds solutions for their expectations. To remove the barriers to improve the food waste management in Cologne even further, nine policy recommendations were formulated. The recommendations are based on the findings of this study, but are also subject to limitations, which could not have been further investigated in this thesis.
One of the main takes aways of this study is that seemingly more orientation and clearer rules are needed for many actors, which have to come from the government. Only providing information events and education is not enough to reduce food waste, but clear regulations for customers and retail are needed. This can be achieved through providing clearer framework conditions for all actors could lead to the development of societal norms and a common understanding of food waste as a pressing issue and resolve the differing expectations. Further research should therefore focus on further solutions for removing the misalignments of the actors.

Key Words: Food Waste, Waste Prevention, Waste Treatment, Waste Disposal, Institutional Network Analysis, Institutional Interdependencies, Cologne, Differing Expectations

In 2021, many Dutch municipalities have started to transition away from fossil fuel sources towards more sustainable ones in order to achieve the goals set by the Parisian climate agreement of 2015. 2021 was also the year in which a new Omgevingswet was introduced in the Netherlands, in which citizen participation has become a very important pillar (Informatiepunt Leefomgeving, 2021). This, in combination with the increasing prominence of participation in the design field, means that citizen participation processes will be used more and more in projects across the country. Participation processes are processes in which citizens work together with local authorities and industry professionals. However, some challenges do exist in the usage of citizen participation for energy transition projects. One of these challenges is the occurrence of participation fatigue. Here, participants of the participation process become exhausted from working on the project and motivating them to still make useful contributions becomes more difficult. In light of this challenge, the research question this thesis aims to answer is the following: “What are the main characteristics and lessons learned from participation fatigue experienced by citizens in participation processes for public energy transition projects?”. The analysis of both qualitative and quantitative empirical data, resulted in the identification of five major categories of causes linked to the occurrence of participation fatigue. These findings were strengthened further through a quantitative analysis. The five categories were: 1) participation fatigue due to actions of and interactions with local governments and instances, 2) participation fatigue due to lack of results or slow progress in the process, 3) participation fatigue due to the intensity of the participation, 4) participation fatigue due to lack of enthusiasm of fellow citizens or organizations/businesses, and 5) participation fatigue due to lack of serious uptake of participants’ input. The report also delves into the possible solutions towards solving the issue of participation fatigue.

Infrastructure asset managers have the increasing challenge not only to maintain efficiently the functionalities and quality of their infrastructures, but also to upgrade them for the increasing demands and to achieve added value to their assets (Hertogh, Bakker, van der Vlist, & Barneveld, 2018). Moreover, infrastructure projects in densely populated areas, such as The Netherlands, suffer from increased complexity due to interdependencies of infrastructures which impact performance of projects (NGinfra, 2017, pp.1-3; Hertogh et al., 2018). Infrastructure operators are limited to handle such complex dependencies individually, as they need to collaborate closely with other asset owners in the entire life cycle of projects, especially in the design phase, to execute the projects successfully and add value to their infrastructures.In this light, inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) and multi-actor perspectives are driving growing attention among management scholars and practitioners to understand the complex nature of collaborative networks (Keast & Hampton, 2007; Keung & Shen, 2013; Dietrich et al, 2010; Storm, 2018). Currently, literature on IOC has many different approaches; however, its dominant focus has been within a framework of ‘problem owner’ – ‘problem solver’ relationship or an ‘owner-to-contractor’ perspective. This research project is conducted from an ‘owner-to-owner’ perspective or a horizontal collaboration perspective. The objective of this research is to investigate the required criteria to assess levels of horizontal collaboration between infrastructure owners in the design phase of projects by identifying appropriate frameworks in literature that focuses on social relationships and interdependencies, such as collaborative network and resource dependency theories. The expected result of this research study is to deliver an Inter-organizational Collaboration Assessment Tool (ICAT) to assess their levels of horizontal collaboration. The research is guided by the following research question: How can integrated collaboration between infrastructure owners be assessed on infrastructure projects? The research project will be examined through the lens of exploratory case study. The results reveal that asset managers need the knowledge of new soft mechanisms of social and cultural collaboration to deal with the increased complexity and dependencies of their infrastructure projects. Clients need to pay attention to their collaborative capacity at three different levels: individual, relational and organizational capacity to improve project performance.

This research investigates how to break through intra-organizational data silos in multinational engineering companies by analyzing data sharing networks. Data occurs in many ways like numbers, statistics, and documents in structured and unstructured forms. Companies consider data as one of their most valuable assets for decision-making and to increase performance. Still, often they do not see the direct results of their data-driven investments back into the organization. The volume of generated data increases so rapidly that it exceeds our capabilities if not managed well, leading to organizational data silos. Engineering companies have to deal with unique and complex projects, temporary teams, fragmented departments, and lots of unstructured data. Multicultural teams that work from dispersed locations increase the probability of miscommunication and misinterpretation of project data. Data sharing between employees of three selected case projects within one multinational portfolio have been analyzed. First, the quantitative social network analysis in Python programming exposed the structures of and the node types in the data-sharing networks. Secondly, supported by the extensive literature review, qualitative in-depth interviews identified enabling and limiting factors that determine intra-organizational data sharing in the project life cycle. It was found that balanced networks contribute the most to the exploration and exploitation of intra-organizational data. Also, the multinational context is not acknowledged to limit data sharing, but weaker links do exist between geographically dispersed teams. Measures to create and maintain balanced data sharing networks are suggested on organizational, portfolio, and project level. Future research can focus on network dynamics over time, the effect of data sharing on project success criteria, and the effect of cultural dimensions on data sharing behavior.

Flexible working is the trending discussion between the professionals in the field of facility management and corporate real estate management. The technological developments and the change in the need of employees have reformed the requirements of an ideal workplace. Because of these new drivers more and more organizations are opting flexibility in their accommodation strategies to gain competitive advantage. But from recent studies, flexible workplace has been receiving negative criticism from the perspective of employees. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to identify the perceived added value of adopting flexible workplace boundaries in the organizations, both directly and indirectly of how it adds value to the core business and wealth of the firm. The research design uses mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative research. However, the quantitative part is limited and used just to validate the qualitative data. To achieve this objective, the research attempts an empirical study by conducting surveys and interviews in organizations’ that have adopted these kinds of flexible boundaries. And hence the research involves study in two cases located in Amsterdam. The main goal of this research is finding out the actual added values to organization by comparing the findings between the organizations and employee perceptions. Furthermore, within the research, the potential benefits and challenges the organizations considered are also observed and relevant findings are made. These final outcomes of the research are intended to help organization make better decision while adopting flexible accommodation strategies.

Our housing market is challenged. Housing prices are rising, and the number of single-person households is increasing, which impacts the affordability of housing. Cohousing offers a possible solution to this problem. However, the level of empowerment of cohousing communities to self-organize is troubled by financial or legal barriers, among other things. Self-organization is defined as: initiatives that emerge spontaneously in civil society from autonomous community-based networks of citizens, who are part of the urban system but independent of government procedures, and that are created around a common intrinsic motivation. The concept of sharing economy might provide a solution for the current barriers to cohousing development. Sharing economy is defined as: collaborative consumption of under-utilized goods, enabled through access rather than ownership, often through the use of community-based online services. This research connects sharing economy to cohousing by looking at empowerment of self-organization of cohousing initiatives. Sharing economy and self-organization of cohousing communities are connected because both are community-based initiatives, which are built upon a common motivation, and both are not facilitated by political power. The following research question was answered by studying a cohousing initiative: How can the concept of sharing economy support empowerment of cohousing communities towards self-organization to create affordable homes? This study researches empowerment by researching the community’s social capital, research shows that social capital contributes to community empowerment. Research findings show that the studied cohousing project can be viewed as a sharing economy. This leads to both advantages and disadvantages for the community. Moreover, the project struggles with its self-organization and is largely dependent on the housing corporation. Lastly, the cohousing project possesses social capital, but some elements can be improved. Moreover, the research found that the sharing economy within the cohousing initiative can support some conditions for self-organization, as well as bonding social capital. However, the aforementioned disadvantages of the case study’s sharing economy may limit the benefits. To reduce the disadvantages of sharing economy, this study proposes a communication tool as a possible solution for improving communication in the studied cohousing project. The tool, called ‘(im)Perfection Puzzle’, uses geometric shapes to help residents explain their thoughts and ideas regarding a specific problem and as a result work towards the acceptance of the differences in everyone’s ideas. A test of the tool illustrated that the tool has potential, but future research is recommended as long term effects remain unclear. Also, research with other cohousing projects is recommended for validating the connection between sharing economy and self-organization, and sharing economy and social capital.

Through the theme of the "Festive City" the project aims to explore the qualities of the architecture of the city and offer new insights into what it could be. More specifically it looks at:

- How can the architecture of the city encourage social interactions of different scale and forms?
- How can it be enriched by gaining a theatrical character?
- How can it contribute in creating a collective memory and identity for its citizens?

The resulting proposal is a new kind of cultural institution, one that strives to respond to the complexity of the city and explore the aforementioned questions.