TU Delft receives NWO grant for Better Airport Regions

During this two-year research project TU Delft in cooperation with ‘Airports and Cities’ by ETH Zurich and TU Munich  will design a new regional (metropolitan) development for airport regions as the hub for sustainable development based on sustainable mobility, closed material, water and energy cycles.

Better Airport Regions

Airports are often situated near towns and cities and significantly stimulate further urbanisation in the surrounding region. ‘Better Airport Regions’ looks at the urban regions surrounding international airport hubs and examines how airports could contribute to more sustainability, resilience and flexibility in major urban regions. The project aims to develop guidelines for the integration of airports and urbanised areas and for the transformation of current airport regions. ‘Better Airport Regions’ is specifically examining the cycles (energy, water, food and traffic), urban development and management of the airport regions of Schiphol and Zürich.

Consortium of universities

TU Delft is the coordinating university for the ‘Better Airport Regions’ research project. Prof. Andy van den Dobbelsteen and Dr Arjan van Timmeren (TU Delft Faculty of Architecture) are leading the research focused in research group 1. Next to a team of researchers from the Architecture faculty departments Architectural Engineering & Technology and Urbanism, Dr. E.M. van Bueren from the TU Delft’s Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management and dr. Marco Te Brömmelstroet (University of Amsterdam) are involved as well. Prof. Kees Christiaanse and Dr Christian Salewski (ETH Zurich), Prof. Mark Michaeli (TU Munchen) will collaborate in Better Airport Regions’ research group 2. ‘theGROUNDS’ – knowledge institute for sustainable development airport Schiphol – is cooperating in research group 3. Furthermore, public actors participate: the Municipality of Haarlemmermeer, the SADC Schiphol Airport Development Cooperation (which includes the City of Amsterdam and other public bodies), the City of Kloten, the City of Zurich, and the Kanton Zurich.

Second NWO grant for Faculty of Architecture

NWO has awarded two major grants to the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture within a short space of time. In June 2011 TU Delft received a grant of 1.1 million euros for research into planning and design methodologies in the South-Western Delta, conducted by the Faculty of Architecture. This research project and the ‘Better Airport Regions’ project will be funded from the NWO programme ‘Urban Regions in the Delta’. This programme is aimed at sustainable regional policy and integrated area development in urban networks.

Further information

‘Better Airport Regions’ research project

• Prof.dr.ir. Andy van den Dobbelsteen
• Dr.ir. Arjan van Timmeren
• Airports and Cities ETH Zurich/TU Munich
• theGROUNDS

NWO programme Urban Regions in the Delta