Ongoing 2019-2023*

The Future Ground: Urban Planning Under Climate Uncertainty

Ph.D. Project at TU Delft TPM Resilience Lab

The Future Ground explores the role of spatio-temporal thinking in urban planning to address climate challenges. Our methodology employs theoretical building, empirical methods (surveys, interviews), model-based urban land-use simulations, and design thinking to analyze planning scenarios for urban regions. Our objective is to establish robust spatial evidence that informs risk-informed urban planning, assesses undesirable lock-ins, and evaluates long-term trade-offs. The research employs case studies in both the Global North and Global South, spanning diverse cultural and data contexts and levels of complexity, thus contributing to the broader discourse on resilience and urbanization. Specifically, we focus on Mumbai and Amsterdam as case studies. The project poses a critical question: How do discussions surrounding resilience objectives vary across urban regions at various stages of development? We investigate the long-term objectives of advanced economies that have already met their basic infrastructure needs, in contrast to emerging economies that are heavily investing in new infrastructure assets.


Featured ︎
Stories of Science by TU Delft (Click here)


Publications


Talks:
  1. RISE-UP: Resilience in urban planning for climate uncertainty-empirical insights and theoretical reflections from case studies in Amsterdam and Mumbai . Reinventing the City , Amsterdam, 2024.
  2. Risk to Resilience: Dealing with Uncertainty in Urban Planning. Global Coastal Cities Summit, Mumbai, India, 2023 (Speaker & Session Moderator).
  3. Predicting Land-use for Urban Resilience: The knowledge divide between the Global North and Global South. International Conference on Resilient Systems, Mexico, 2023. Slides here︎.
  4. WHEN TO PLAN? Understanding temporality for urban planning for an uncertain future. Society for Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty, Mexico, 2022
  5. Exploring Resilient and Equitable Urban Scenarios. TU Delft Summer School on Planning and Designing the Just City, Netherlands, 2022.
  6. Geospatial Tools for Urban Resilience. Geospatial World Forum, Netherlands, 2022.
  7. Planning for a Resilient Mumbai. Dutch Answers to Flood Management & Land Subsidence, Netherlands Consulate Mumbai & Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, 2021.
  8. Planning Support Systems for Long-Term Climate Resilience. International Conference on Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management, Finland, 2021
  9. Towards a framework for long-term climate resilience in complex urban environments. Joint Resilience Engineering Conference, Delft, 2020.
  10. The uncertainty space in urban planning. Society for Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty, Delft, 2019.


Experts Consultation:


RE-GROUND: Exploring resilient future land-use scenarios for the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam, Consultation with experts from the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam, 2021.

Core Team:



Collaborators & Student Researchers:




Supported by: