New approaches to combine flood protection, soil regeneration and water management with urban design, landscape architecture and spatial planning in delta regions require knowledge on the logic of the nature-culture relationship in time. The history of reciprocities or divides between design, engineering, science and governance in the operationalisation of natural forms and processes determine the current status of delta regions and their performance. Therefore, the understanding of the palimpsest of occupation, infrastructure, and the natural strata from past to present shall be at the basis of any spatial intervention seeking for a new balance between nature and culture. In the development of cities and regions, at any time, there is the concept of Longue Durée recognising the formative forces of nature and the relevance of historic concepts to consider

How can interdisciplinary approaches of design, engineering, science and governance respond to the environmental crisis and steer upon the Longue Durée of the delta?

This JDU #2 issue is taken Longue Durée as concept to collect and connect contributions on the analysis of continuity and fundamental characteristics that form the red threat in the history of urban development in deltas. This red thread, which is the natural system, gives insight into how civil engineering and urban design relate. Such knowledge is evermore needed when envisioning a socio-ecological resilient and climate-proof urban and territorial project.