Delta Urbanism is an interdisciplinary research program at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) which investigates the possibilities to combine flood protection, soil and water management strategies with urban design, landscape design and spatial planning, aiming to improve spatial forms and structures and innovate urban systems in urban and metropolitan delta regions.
Founded on an interdisciplinary approach, in which designing and engineering disciplines activate innovation in design, technology and governance, the ambition is to have international impact as a specific interdisciplinairy field of work. Characterized by a body of knowledge, the work is organized in four research premises within which research, design, planning and visualization approaches and methods are developed to contribute to the making of more sensible and informed decisions within the fragile context of urban delta landscapes.
Research premises
Extremes adopt a systemic approach to understand territories undergoing simultaneous dynamics of degeneration and regeneration. This line of inquiry delves into the intricate interplay of soil-water-atmosphere, exploring a continuum (from the micro-scale of individual sites to the macro-scale of entire ecosystems) to develop a holistic understanding of the territory. The project is grounded in the ethos of designing for, with, and in response to the changing socio-ecological landscapes, where degenerating aspects such as submerging, floating, eroding, and drying are juxtaposed with regenerating elements encompassing resources, social structures, economic systems, and environmental vitality.
Taneha Bacchin
Deltaic Systems is the line of inquiry of Delta Urbanism that moves the notion of the delta to the one of a deltaic to cross the boundaries between the delta-related specialisms. Traditionally, the geoscience field has dominated the understanding and subsequent management of deltaic areas around the globe. Today, the changes in sea levels, sedimenta-tion processes, rainfall patterns, riverine discharge, polder constructions, groundwater tables, and urbanization are all intertwined layers that depict the growing complexity of the land-water dynamism. These need to be aligned when doing research and design to envision climate adaptation strategies and measures for the urbanized deltas.
Luca Iuorio
Flow is the branch of Delta Urbanism that challenges the static notion of architecture and urbanism and explores non-static approaches of inhabiting space within the delta condition. It investigates how we can live differently in water and land dynamics. Flow involves research and design in a new, floating condition, as a means of long-term adaptation, synergized with the dynamic environment of the delta. It focuses on flexible strategies and planning for change aiming at providing tangible solutions to climate challenges through large-scale flexible and adaptable projects in urban environments. In the context where the largest urban settlements are located at delta conditions, the notion of Flow becomes crucial to recon-ceptualize in theory and practice our ways of living with water.
Barbara Del Bo Zanon
Refers to the impact of the territory on how people deal with it with their traditional vernaculars and arts. The ‘cultural’ aspect in the context of landscapes and deltas finds its roots in the rich tradition of Dutch landscape painting, emerging from the 16th century. During this period, artists began emphasizing expansive regional vistas in their works, diminishing the prominence of human figures within these scenes. The term “cultural landscape” is employed across geography, ecology, and heritage studies to describe the dynamic interplay between human activities and the environment. Defined by the World Heritage Committee, it encompasses “cultural properties that represent the combined contributions of nature and humanity”.
Inge Bobbink
The first strand relates to political ecology and the role of governance in the climate transformative approach. Realising the age-old interaction between the earth and the human species within the broader natural eco-system, our work in this line of inquiry is premised on the idea that risk and crises/disasters can be triggered by humans’ interference with the natural ecosystem23. This is notwithstanding the fact that some disasters can be purely natural. On the other hand, different perceptions and inter-pretations of crises/disasters and the processes that bring them about exist among people depending on their backgrounds and experiences. These perceptions and interpretations inform the adaptation approaches and how they are governed. This can relate to whether they are disciplinary, top-down, and myopic or interdisciplinary, network-based, and comprehensive. In turn, the adaptation approaches and how they are governed determine the levels of resilience that can be built. Thus ques-tions should be addressed on the consequences of our actions on the natural environment with regard to risk and disasters, our interpretations and perceptions, the approaches we use to tackle the risk and respond to disasters, how we organise ourselves, and the effectiveness of our efforts within that prism.
Marcin Dabrowski
Urban Earth focuses on the de-reconstruction of nature for human and non human habitation, with the overarching goal of rejuvenating urban tis-sues and fostering overall urban health. At its core, the approach involves a process of reverse engineering with nature, seeking to understand and replicate natural systems to enhance the vitality of urban spaces. This is achieved by unlearning the purely technical approach of urbanizing Earth to tune technological interventions with the aim of giving the ecological systems more space and impact. The research extends its focus beyond theoretical realms, engaging with real-world challenges and opportunities. By integrating these crucial elements, Urban Earth not only addresses the immediate concerns of urban development but also strives to create sustainable, resilient, and healthy urban environments. The emphasis on de-reconstruction underscores a departure from conventional urban planning paradigms, signaling a paradigm shift towards holistic and nature-inspired approaches for the betterment of urban life. The role of soil, for example, gained enormous attention today as an urgent issue in keeping the earth healthy. Healthy soils should be recognized for their quality, quantity, and performance for healthy urban life. This line of inquiry focuses on the urban scale and its interdisciplinary character.
Fransje Hooimeijer
Methods
Delta Design requires frontier research from diverse disciplines. The act of spatial design is inquisitive by definition where creative experiments and ‘trial and error’ play a crucial role. Delta Urbanism stimulates this research oriented approaches to design – always related to the development of spatial, site, and cultural specific design proposals – based on the rigorous analysis of the ever-changing interrelations between spatial, juridical, environmental and geopolitical systems.
Designing in urbanising delta means that we should take several uncertainties into account: the uncertainty concerning the exact future climate and the effects of climate change, and the uncertainty concerning the future economic, demographic and urban developments. For this reason, we research and design methods which aim at dealing with those uncertainties. By so doing, we aim at addressing short-term needs and long-term urgencies across scales, systems, and subjects.
By focusing on the critical aspects of territories at sea, in deltas and in riverine landscapes we develop theory and methods that explore the meaning and scope of action of new ecologies, forms of living and productivity in highly dynamic landscape. At the core is the deployment of design in disclosing historical processes and political decisions and in projecting new spatial interventions that address the state of criticality and risk.
Drawing isn’t merely a way to represent crystallised ideas. It is an instrument to research and develop potential relations between problem-statement and spatial interventions. It is a mean to get grasp on the intrinsic qualities of space. Eye, brain and hand cooperate. It is a way of thinking.
Drawing helps to connect generic planning concepts and strategies with spatial interventions that are context-bound.
Deltaic landscapes challenge drawing even more because they are so dynamic, elusive and scale transcending.
We consider urbanising deltas as complex systems which are composed by several sub-systems. These subsystems influence each other continuously which leads to an on-going evolution of the spatial form of the delta with different effects on different scales. The sub-systems can be summarised in three ‘layers’: the layer of the natural system of territory and water (substratum), the layer of networks of infrastructures, and the layer of occupation (urban patterns, agriculture). Each layer is characterised by its own dynamics and speed.
In our research and education we try to apply a ‘3 x 3 x 3’ system-analysis of each delta, by analyzing 3 layers in 3 different periods at 3 different scales.
This analysis delivers a basic understanding of the driving forces and the speed of change of each layer, resulting in an understanding of the contradictions, paradoxes, problems, as well as the challenges, opportunities and hidden beauty for the future of the delta.