Cities provide access to health, education, and economic opportunities; however, children face unique urban challenges such as pollution, traffic, and limited services. The Child-Friendly cities (CFC) framework advocates for urban planning that prioritizes children. Despite national governments' commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), local governments are responsible for implementing urban planning actions. Guided by agenda-setting theory, we conducted surveys and in-depth interviews with local government representatives from forty cities in diverse contexts. The findings highlight key factors supporting CFC integration into local spatial agendas, recognizing urban planning as a means to advance children's rights.

Many contend that end-state planning is no longer either acceptable or feasible. However, outside the formal planning system, communities do conceive radical proposals for the places they live in. Our paper makes a plea for a renewed appreciation of Utopias by revealing the diversity of such imagined futures of a place. By means of a review of the nature of 12 locally emerging Utopias in the Netherlands, combined with a literature review, we propose to use spectra to characterise imagined futures, bringing nuance to the debate and a re-appreciation of the transformative power of Utopian stories about futures of places.

Urban designers and landscape architects increasingly take up boundary spanning as part of their broadening role towards designing processes, policies, narratives and becoming design-led entrepreneurs. This study mapped the competencies and individual characteristics of boundary-spanning spatial designers in urban climate adaptation planning and revealed that in addition to 'known' boundary spanning skills, design-related skills and competences have strong boundary spanning potential. However, boundary spanning is conditioned by the position of the boundary spanner, as well as other organizational, institutional, and environmental factors. These insights are helpful for developing (re)new(ed) educational design-curricula, and aiding spatial designers in becoming competent boundary spanners.

This study examines the dynamics of collaborative rural planning through an in-depth single case study of participatory land consolidation. It argues that while complete consensus might be considered a utopia, effective collaboration among stakeholders requires a certain degree of alignment in perspectives. By analyzing how stakeholders' perspectives evolve, this study investigates how this convergence occurs. Furthermore, it explores how planning professionals try to promote convergence, focusing on a project manager's approach and insights from a focus group. The findings emphasize the complexity of achieving joint understanding for fostering cooperative decision-making. The paper proposes clear process parameters to stimulate this convergence.

It is widely recognized that industrial activities exert a significant impact on the development of urban form; further research is still needed to understand how industry influences urban form during the extensive process of urban evolution. Traditional frameworks such as historical geography and Marxist political economy fall short in providing a definitive answer to this complex question. Using Shengze, a traditional Chinese silk industry town, as a case study, this paper explores the concurrent evolution of industry and urban form. The study introduces a nuanced analysis on the mechanisms of co-evolution through the lens of path-dependency concepts, including critical juncture, driving mechanism, and lock-in impact, shedding light on the multifaceted phases of the city's development. It unveils the context-dependent influence of industry on urban form at each phase and reveals a coexistence of self-reinforcing and reactive modes in the urban evolution process. The application of path-dependency analysis adds a sophisticated to established historical geography method.

As campuses wish to stimulate interactions among different campus users, we aim to identify why some locations are successful in fostering unplanned meetings while others are not. This can help campus managers, directors, and other practitioners to optimize their campus to facilitate unplanned meetings between academic staff and companies. Findings of a previous survey were discussed in five focus groups, which were transcribed and thematically coded. Three separate theme groups were identified: function (food, drinks, events, work, facilities), space (distance, experience, accessibility, characteristics), and organization (coherence, culture, organization). Time was an overarching constraint, influencing all other themes. There were three natural moments for unplanned meetings: during short breaks, lunch breaks, and events. The outcomes suggest a 5-minute campus as the environment of interaction; a campus where natural moments, locations, and travel time for unplanned meetings are designed and aligned: (1) under 5 min walking for short workplace breaks, (2) approximately 5 min travel time for lunch breaks, and (3) over 5 min travel time for events, depending on the event length and anticipated knowledge gain.

In complex area transformations, strategic planning tends to include a collaborative approach that invites a wide range of stakeholders. But because the perspectives and interests are diverse, partly conflicting, and dynamic, a unifying plan of action will not emerge without good process design and proper facilitation for dialogue. Designers are increasingly considered as helpful for pursuing a shared vision of a complex challenge, as they are expected to unify across organizational and cultural boundaries. We interviewed 11 professionals who worked on the Rebuild by Design programme (restoring hurricane Sandy damage in and around New York) for more than five years. The interviews reveal how these designers supported reaching across boundaries as well as the conditions that are vital for designers to achieve their intended added value in a collaborative strategic planning process.

With more than one-third of children worldwide living in urban areas, the call for child-friendly cities (CFC) has increased in urgency; however, many cities are still largely unfriendly to children. This paper uses a systematic literature review and bibliometric tool to identify papers from Scopus between 2001 and 2020. It reviews the existing knowledge and gaps about child-friendliness within the sphere of socio-spatial urban planning. The findings reveal a three-dimensional perspective of the concept of child-friendly cities: rights, physical environment, and governance. Moreover, it shows that existing knowledge appears rather limited in its explanation of the governance processes that lead to translating children's rights into suitable physical environments. In the conclusions, a research avenue is proposed to close the existing gaps that can contribute to achieving CFC.

Promoting adequate physical activity (PA) such as walking and cycling is essential to cope with the global health challenge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Much research has been conducted to analyze how the built environment can promote PA, but the results are not consistent. Some scholars found that certain built environments such as green spaces generated positive impacts on PA, while some other studies showed no correlations. We suspected that the built environment should be measured in a deeply holistic nuanced way in order to properly reflect its impact on PA. Therefore, our research adopted an integral urban-analysis comparing three typical neighborhoods in Beijing, China. Our data show that the highest PA occurs in the neighborhood with the lowest density, amount of green space and street connectivity, apparently compensated by its low-rise housing type and high appreciation of the quality of sidewalks and street safety. This indicates that dimensions impacting PA have to be considered in context, and the peoples’ perception of the built environment matters.

With companies locating on university campuses more and more, many universities are designing interactive places where different campus users can meet, such as faculty, company employees, and students. By increasing interaction between these campus users, it is pre-supposed that this will lead to more cooperation and knowledge sharing, resulting in more innovations and knowledge valorisation. A campus’ spaces and services have a significant impact on interaction. These may block or facilitate interaction between different campus users. Adding to the body of knowledge of critical success factors (CSFs) for campus interaction, a survey was distributed under campus users of three Dutch university campuses. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the survey was distributed online, through the university email addresses of 4.312 campus users. This resulted in 492 responses, identifying 224 location points where meetings between companies and knowledge institutions took place. Respondents were specifically asked to indicate only unplanned meetings, where a connection was made that was beneficial for knowledge sharing. Respondents also indicated what space and service factors were most important in facilitating this meeting (critical success factors). After analysing the results, the indicated locations show that most meetings take place within the respondents’ own buildings, regardless of the indicated quality of the spaces or services. This may be due to time and travel constraints. There are however some buildings that do successfully attract these type of meetings: buildings with a strong theme (e.g. Energy) and company buildings. A regression analysis, conducted in SPSS, also showed that there a no or only very limited differences between different types of campus users, and that general conclusions can be drawn from combining the data of the three different campuses. These critical success factors were compared with those found in the literature and show that there is a match between the CSFs identified by practitioners (Campus facility directors) and campus users. Comparing CSFs from literature, practice and campus users, this study allows for more effective application of CSFs in campus design policies. A framework for future studies on CSFs for interaction on campuses is provided. The study is limited as only campus users from knowledge institutions respondent to the survey, a follow up study with respondents from companies is recommended.

Numerous scientific studies, applying different approaches, have provided evidence of the links between the environment and people's health. Green spaces have been the subject of research aimed at exploring their benefits as components of the urban environment. We investigated possible causal relationships between green spaces and health, with the aim of addressing the following question. Does the mere material presence of green spaces contribute to the health of people who live in its vicinity, or are the health-promoting qualities of green spaces attributed to the ability of people to actually see, access, and enjoy them? The latter view highlights the relational dimension of places, and it entails personal relationships with places which are imbued with psychological meaning and significance for those who visit and experience them. We reviewed relevant literature, comprising a total of 189 papers on this topic that have been published over the first two decades of this century. Our findings showed that the material aspects of green spaces, such as their abundance and proximity to residences, received much more attention in studies than their quality and characteristics. However, relational rather than material measures of green spaces demonstrated statistically greater positive impacts of green spaces on health. These findings indicate that both sensory stimuli and activities and feelings attached to green spaces are essential for better health outcomes. Incorporating a relational perspective of green place-thinking into the existing literature on green spaces and health could contribute to optimizing the positive effects of green spaces and thus to the creation of healthy and livable cities.

With campuses opening up and stimulating interactions among different campus users more and more, we aim to identify the characteristics of successful meeting places (locations) on campus. These can help practitioners such as campus managers and directors to further optimize their campus to facilitate unplanned or serendipitous meetings between academic staff and companies. A survey on three Dutch campuses, including questions on both services and locations, was analyzed both spatially and statistically using principal component (PC) and regression analysis. Four PCs were found for services (Relax, Network, Proximity and Availability) and three PCs were found for locations (Aesthetics, Cleaned and Indoor Environment). Personal characteristics as explanatory variables were not significant or only had very small effect sizes, indicating that a campus’ design does not need to be tailored to certain user groups but can be effective for all. The pattern of successful locations is discussed, including the variables in each PC. These PCs provide a framework for practitioners who want to improve their campus’ design to further facilitate unplanned meetings, thus contributing to cooperation between campus users, hopefully leading to further innovation.

In the Netherlands, many universities are opening up their campuses to companies. Universities design interactive places where different campus users can meet, such as faculty, company employees, and students. It is pre-supposed that increasing interaction between these campus users will lead to more cooperation and knowledge sharing, resulting in more innovations and knowledge valorisation. A campus spaces and services have a significant impact on interaction. These may block or facilitate interaction between different campus users. Some studies identified critical success factors (CSFs), but no study has yet included the perceptions of facility directors (FDs). FDs are of particular interest as their objective is to integrate people, place and process within the built environment with the purpose of improving the productivity of the core business (NEN/ISO 41011). Expectedly, they are the gatekeepers of the current campus design policies, developing their own CSFs in practice, as opposed to CSFs identified in the literature. FDs of the 13 Dutch universities were interviewed. Interviews were conducted first in an office setting (to ensure confidentiality) and continued in a walkthrough location chosen by the FDs. The interviews focused on the identification of practice-based CSFs for interactive spaces and services. After transcription and coding in Atlas.Ti, an inductive thematic analysis was conducted. This approach allowed for comparison between empirical and previous theoretical findings. Main findings show six clusters: constraints, motivators, designing spaces, designing services, building community, and creating coherence. The campus is seen as a system containing subsystems, and is itself part of a wider system (environment), forming a layered structure. Constraints and motivators are part of the environment but cannot be separated from the other four categories, as they influence their applicability. This placement of CSFs in a systems thinking approach creates a relevant addition of empirical to theoretical findings. This study provides a comprehensive overview and comparison of CSFs from both literature and practice, allowing more effective application of CSFs in campus design policies. A framework for future studies on CSFs for interaction on campuses is provided.

Dit sectorbeeld van de ontwerpende ingenieurswetenschappen beschrijft de grote gemeenschappelijke deler van de verschillende ontwerpdisciplines in Nederland. In aanloop naar het schrijven van dit sectorbeeld hebben we gezamenlijk bepaald waar onze sterkte ligt, en waar we concreet kunnen bijdragen aan het oplossen van maatschappelijke knelpunten. Implementatie van technologische innovaties in aansluiting op maatschappelijke uitdagingen omvat een ontwerpopgave. Dit vereist in toenemende mate wetenschappelijk onderbouwde ontwerpmethodieken. Het brede Nederlandse ontwerplandschap kan hierbij de rol van verbinder goed vervullen. Teneinde deze brugfunctie optimaal te versterken worden drie gebieden voor verdere investeringen gezien: Onderzoek Er is meer onderzoek en onderzoeksfinanciering nodig voor het volbrengen van ontwerpuitdagingen die in de Nederlandse maatschappelijke missies worden gesteld, evenals voor de verdere ontwikkeling van Key Enabling Methodologies als basis voor effectief ontwerp. Onderwijscapaciteit Er is een ruimere onderwijscapaciteit en verdere ontwikkeling van ontwerp gestuurde didactiek nodig om te kunnen voldoen aan de groeiende vraag naar ontwerpers, een vraag die voortkomt uit de opkomende behoefte aan ontwerpaanpakken in nieuwe onderzoeksprogramma’s binnen Horizon Europe en NWO. Toegang tot technologie Er moet voortdurend toegang gegarandeerd zijn tot de zich snel ontwikkelende technologische disciplines voor professionals die zowel de technologie doorgronden als de onderzoekende ontwerpuitdaging aankunnen. Dit sectorbeeld van de ontwerpende ingenieurswetenschappen beschrijft de grote gemeenschappelijke deler van de verschillende ontwerpdisciplines in Nederland. In een toekomstig sectorplan zullen bovenstaande inversteringsgebieden verder en doelgericht worden uitgewerkt.

Strategic spatial planning is a governance practice pursuing coordinated improvement of mobility, housing, food production and other functions with a spatial impact. The institutions in this practice marry long-term thinking in the light of societal challenges with strategic action. These activities are intertwined, visionary and pragmatic at the same time. The currently prevalent association within strategic planning of long-term polical determination with rigid, top-down blueprints has prompted reduced national and regional planning efforts in the Netherlands and other European countries. Adaptivity and resilience within planning processes are promoted as novel and more suitable ways of steering spatial conditions within societies today. Adaptive is defined as 'being open for reconsideration'. Choices that were considered good yesterday, may need to be reconsidered tomorrow. The notion of adaptivity in planning, and the desirability of it, needs more nuance. Because, (1) Do changing long-term perspectives imply a need for adaptivity in the strategies used? (2) To which precise aspects of deliberate strategies can adaptivity apply? (3) Does the pursuit of adaptivity require a new planning approach, as is often claimed? We applied these questions within a critical case study: the creation of the Dutch IJsselmeerpolders, prototypes of rigid rather than adaptive planning, a strategy pursued for over 50 years. Despite radically shifting long-term perspectives, the governance practice of plan-making appears to have been capable of serving evolving purposes. Within this masterplanned mega-project we identify five forms of adaptivity associated with different geographical and time scales. We conclude that an enduring strategic governance effort can support shifting long-term perspectives when it is applied pragmatically with regard to selected topics. Rigidity and adaptivity are equally indispensable and inevitable for strategic action.

This article critically discusses the premises underpinning the collaborative ideal, which has become central to Western spatial planning practices. With their emphasis on a structure which focuses on the problem, actors, deliberation, agreement and acceptability, collaborative processes produce conservative choices. However, this approach might not effectively address the big challenges confronting our metropolitan areas and regions today. Instead, the essence of choosing how to respond in the face of long-term challenges is a thorough analysis of the situation (beyond just the actors’ wishes), generation of a wide array of possible actions (more creative than mere compromises), and arriving at decisions which demonstrate vision and leadership. This resembles the design cycle, which we claim enriches the collaborative model. We propose principles for a more creative governance which suggest emphasizing the exploitation of an area’s full potential instead of solving its specific problems.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate which critical success factors (CSFs) influence interaction on campuses as identified by the facility directors (FDs) of Dutch university campuses and to discuss how these compare with the literature. Design/methodology/approach All 13 Dutch university campus FDs were interviewed (office and walking interview), focussing on CSFs relating to spaces and services that facilitate interaction. Open coding and thematic analysis resulted in empirically driven categories indicated by the respondents. Similarities and differences between the CSFs as previously identified in the literature are discussed. Findings The following categories emerged: constraints, motivators, designing spaces, designing services, building community and creating coherence. The campus is seen as a system containing subsystems and is itself part of a wider system (environment), forming a layered structure. Constraints and motivators are part of the environment but cannot be separated from the other four categories, as they influence their applicability. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to interviews with FDs and related staff. The richness of the findings shows that this was a relevant and efficient data collection strategy for the purpose of this study. Practical implications By viewing the campus as an open system, this study puts the practical applicability of CSFs into perspective yet provides a clear overview of CSFs related to campus interaction that may be included in future campus design policies. Social implications This (more) complete overview of CSFs identified in both literature and practice will help FDs, policymakers and campus designers to apply these CSFs in their campus designs. This improved campus design would increase the number of knowledge sharing interactions, contributing to innovation and valorisation. This could create a significant impact in all research fields, such as health, technology or well-being, benefitting society as a whole. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive overview and comparison of CSFs from both literature and practice, allowing more effective application of CSFs in campus design policies. A framework for future studies on CSFs for interaction on campuses is provided.

Community resilience policies continue to grow in popularity as a strategy to prepare for the local impact of forecasted environmental uncertainty, however, criticisms of community resilience discourse remain. This paper takes forward these criticisms, specifically addressing the issue of representative power over key natural resources, using Gaventa's [Gaventa, J. 2006. "Finding the Spaces for Change: A Power Analysis." IDS Bulletin 37 (6): 23-33] power cube as a conceptual framework to examine power relations. Our objective is to advance current critical community resilience literature from acknowledging local power relations as a component of any community resilience strategy to situating the devolvement of representative power over key natural resources as a mandatory pre-requisite before any community can be considered "resilient". The paper adopts a case study approach and draws on a grassroots-led resilience project in the Scottish Highlands that utilises traditional land practices and local cultural history to educate people on land sustainability. We explore the potential of the project to construct deeper cultural and historical understandings of local environments and whether projects like these can serve an additional purpose of motivating people to pursue greater influence in land decisions. The analysis reveals emerging links between power, culture and land representation that could foster new forms of local resilience. However, perceptions of systemic barriers such as insecure land tenancies and democratic deficits stymied the potential of this raised motivation. As normative community resilience strategies continue to devolve responsibility over resources without devolving power, a new resilient settlement is required to confront an environmentally uncertain future.

This sector portrait of the design engineering sciences describes the common denominator of the various design disciplines in the Netherlands. In a future sector plan, the above investment areas will be further explored and purposefully developed. The implementation of technological innovations aligned to societal issues encompasses a design challenge. This increasingly demands science-based design methodologies. The broad Dutch design landscape can fulfil the role of connector well in this regard. In order to optimally strengthen this bridging function, three areas for further investment have been identified: Research More research and research funding are needed to meet the design challenges posed by Dutch societal missions, as well as for the further development of Key Enabling Methodologies (KEMs) as the basis for effective design. Educational Capacity Expanded teaching capacity and further development of design-driven didactics are needed to meet the growing demand for designers, This demand stems from the emerging need for design approaches in new research programmes within Horizon Europe and the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Access to Technology Continuous access to the rapidly evolving technological disciplines must be guaranteed for professionals who can both understand the technology and meet the investigative design challenge.