Cities face enormous challenges: The energy transition, climate adaptation and, the enormous challenge to build houses for growing populations. As more and more people live in cities, we consider how architecture and landscape design can be adapted to their needs.
Pleasant densification requires imagination and vision from designers and architects. In city planning, the emphasis is traditionally on 'building additional houses' by increasing the housing stock on the outskirts of the cities. But there is still plenty of space in the city. Experts claim that, if the existing residential areas in the Netherlands are densified by 10-15%, one million homes can be built. The absorption capacity of existing cities for additional housing is enormous.
In addition, densification offers opportunities to link the challenge of housing to other major spatial challenges. With the reality of climate change, sustainable urbanization is the real challenge here. Residential areas must not only offer living comfort but must also be nature-inclusive, circular and climate-proof.
