At this juncture of climate crises design is crucial to secure a resilient future of fragile urban delta landscapes. Design is at the core of the interdisciplinary approach in which the scopes from spatial design, ecology, engineering and policy are united in strong and visionary strategies and tactics. 

The conference is dedicated to discussing future design as a collaborative enterprise of the disciplines of spatial design, ecology, engineering and policy and as leading method within the research premises of the Delta Urbanism research group. These research premises examine the multi-layered phenomenon of urbanization between land and water and thus the scope of design in highly dynamic landscapes. What we are now experiencing as the era of climate crises – the effects of the antropocene – aggravates this condition, requiring to look at urbanization in delta, coastal and river landscapes as a formative, operational and performative process. Therefore delta design is discussed here not only as an approach to highly dynamic landscapes but rather as a fundamental shift in the way urbanization is addressed by design — as a driver of environmental change. 

The conference aims at exploring the scope, representation and future of delta design in times of climate crises, looking through the lens of four research premises.

The scopes of spatial design, ecology, engineering and policy will be presented by keynote speakers during the morning sessions. In the afternoon the research premises will be at the centre of the discussion.

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Delta Urbanism—Four Research Premises

Systems Ecologies

At the territorial level, changes in any system, whether spatial, legal, economic, or environmental, manifest themselves in consequences that are often unpredictable for other systems. This ecology of interactions is even more complex in a highly dynamic space characterized by risk and emergence such as delta, coastal and river landscapes. As a overarching premise, the objective is to research the agency of design at the territorial (systems) level for better sensitivity towards risk, integration between systems and potentials of urbanisation. 

Drawing the Delta 

The explosive character of urban development, especially in delta regions, often leads to chaotic and fragmented urban patterns, combined with increased risk of flooding, land depletion and ecosystem degradation. The question is how a new (and necessary) organisation of the transitional space between land and water can contribute halting the erosion of the territory and reducing flood risk, while improving spatial coherence and ecological quality.

Reversed Engineering with Nature 

On the scale of the urban district, the city is considered as a hybrid performative landscape which requires carefull re-balancing and fostering new cooperation between the indigenous landscape and the techno-sphere of the urban systems. Synchronisation (in time, space, technology and interests) is at the core of this research premise.

Extremes

Deep uncertainty on the acceleration and aggravation of extreme scenarios of climate crises introduces a new level of complexity. This calls for ingenuity and letting go of what is considered to be established. By exploring the missing means of political, cultural, economical, spatial and technological representation, light is shed on viable futures in spaces at risk. The aim is to highlight the urgency for change and put forward visualisations which can drive transitions towards a new territorial order.