Sustainable Urbanism: The Green-Blue City

Dutch cities have to deal with urgent environmental problems. Climate change has become a visible problem in the urban environment of the Netherlands. Cities cope with heavy rainfall in short periods of time and heat stress occurs more often, even leading to more casualties. At the same time, it is clear that both the structure of our cities and their (public) spaces cannot be changed at will. They have a long term life span, creating a friction with necessary social and environmental changes. How to achieve this is the aim of this minor.

An important task of the urban planners and designers is to introduce and design sustainable urban interventions, creating future proof neighbourhoods within the framework of a green blue city. In the Sustainable Urban Design studio ‘Systems in the City’ of this minor a sustainable urban system design is the main subject. In this studio the minor students will develop system design proposals, in interdisciplinary teams. Focus in the studio is on concrete sustainable design exercises. The course Basic Techniques for Sustainable Urban Design will make the minor students equipped and prepared to perform well in the design studio. They will apply theory and use their knowledge background in the group design process.

For the first quarter, the minor The healthy inclusive city (15 ECs) is recommended.

Focus in the studio (BK7575) is on concrete design exercises. The students will develop design proposals in interdisciplinary teams. In the basic course (BK7215) students work in on individual assignment. The use of visual means at each stage of the research and design process will be discussed.

Admissible students will be selected based on their BSc programme to achieve an even interdisciplinary group.

Student at Leiden University, TU Delft or Erasmus University Rotterdam?
Check the eligibility matrix to see if your bachelor’s degree programme offers access to this and other minors at https://www.tudelft.nl/minor

Student at another educational institution?
External students cannot register via EduXchange. Interested in this minor, read the whole registration procedure at https://www.tudelft.nl/minor

Students from other Dutch universities? BSc students with a background in urban planning, urban design, regional planning, landscape architecture, social sciences, social geography, future studies, and other studies related to the topic of climate change are admissible.

For information about the courses, visit the TU Delft study guide.
For additional information on this minor, visit the TU Delft minor page.

For the first quarter, the minor The healthy inclusive city (15 ECs) is recommended.

The programme takes place in the second quarter. and consists of two courses of a total of 15 ECs:

• Systems in the City: Sustainable Urban Design (BK7575) 10 ECs, and

• Basic Techniques for Sustainable Urban Design (BK7215) 5 ECs

In the Sustainable Urban Design studio 'Systems in the City' (BK7575) of this minor a sustainable urban design is the main subject. The students will develop design proposals, in interdisciplinary teams. Focus in the studio is on concrete sustainable design exercises. Teaching method: Design studio.

In the course 'Basic Techniques for Sustainable Urban Design' (BK7215), students work on an individual assignment. The use of visual means at each stage of the research and design process will be discussed. Students will work on visualisation assignments, such as: sketching to develop and share our ideas; mapping to understand the conditions, the history and to orient ourselves; and info graphs to explain an idea or to present statistics. Teaching method: Series of lectures, workshops and field trips (in Delft by bike), combined with self-study (e.g. edX MOOC Sustainable Urban Development).