Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh and a bustling metropolis, is surrounded by five rivers that are an important lifeline for the people and economy and play a critical role in supporting the city. However, rapid urbanisation, often encroaching the city’s vast flood plains, has jeopardized its unique riverine morphology and its lifeline. The Government of Bangladesh has approved the Dhaka River Master Plan in 2019, in line with the Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP2100). However, there is a pressing need to step up the efforts towards the recovery of the Dhaka rivers, the restoration of its public services and enhancement of the ability of the rivers to rejuvenate and drive Dhaka’s economy and improve the lives of the people of Dhaka.

Together with Royal HaskoningDHV, Delta Context and DevCon, we are developing an Umbrella Investment Program Design to Prioritize Investments for the Restoration of the Rivers surrounding Dhaka City (UIP Dhaka).

Due to climate change, the sea level is rising and increasing the risk of flooding in the port of Rotterdam. Due to the great economic importance and the presence of vital and vulnerable functions within the port area, it is important to already anticipate on the rising sea levels. For each port area potential adaptation strategies have been developed.

Together with the Port of Rotterdam, we developed a digital toolbox where companies can find appropriate measures they can take, depending on the type of assets that need to be protected, the size of investment and the permanence of the intervention.

Have a look!

It is going to be a hot day today, so have a look at our map of cool spaces in Rotterdam to see where you can escape the heat. If there are no cool spaces nearby (or you are not from Rotterdam), we also developed a toolbox so that you can create your own cool space for the next heat wave. Read more about the project.

Climate change and sea level rise changes might be faster and more extreme than the currently used scenarios anticipate. In the explorations for addressing sea level rise, ‘adaptation’ (meebewegen) is still underexposed in the debate. To fill this gap, we developed a vision map for Central Holland, demonstrating how this development direction could look like in this area and what dilemmas and possible futures this could create.

This research by design study was part of the open call for spatial design ‘space for climate adaptation and energy transition’ from the Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, in collaboration with the staf Deltacommissaris and Waternet.

Heat is one of Rotterdam’s urgent climate challenges. The ‘urban heat island effect’ is increasing, especially in the centre and the old city districts. To address this challenge, we developed a strategy for greening and cooling urban public spaces to reduce the urban heat island effect.

We inventoried and analysed the temperature of existing public spaces, the opportunities for cooling and to create new public spaces in areas with too much distance to (potential) cool spaces. In addition, we created a toolbox with measures that can cool down spaces or create places to stay, to be able to make use of the cities potentials and create cool spaces in close proximity to all residents of the city.

This project was carried out in collaboration with the Municipality of Rotterdam under the voucher scheme for spatial design financed by the Stimuleringsfonds.

You can read more about the project here.