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TU Delft Department of Urbanism
CALL FOR PhD APPLICATIONS 2014
Call for applications
The Urbanism Research Programme in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built
Environment will be pleased to receive applications for PhD study.
The Urbanism programme is generally unable to fund PhD candidates from its
own resources. Opportunities may arise for specific projects funded by the Dutch
National Research Organisation (NWO) or other funding bodies in which case the
PhD candidate will be employed by TU Delft to undertake a specific project.
However, most candidates find their own funding. In this case TU Delft offers
supervision and an academic environment and the candidate performs research
in the university on a daily basis based on hospitality to enable him/her to write
a thesis within four years. The PhD candidate may be granted time or financing
by a) a foreign university; b) personal grant-issuing organisations such as
national research councils, or c) his/her employer.
If the Urbanism Programme decides to preliminary accept applicants who have
not already secured funding, supervisors are able to assist with the
prepararation of applications for grant funding, but the primary responsibility
for finding funding rests with the applicant. Applicants will need to explain on
their application where they expect to gain funding. We do not accept applicants
who are self-financed from personal funds.
Applicants should be aware that there is great competition for research funding
and certainly no guarantee of success.
Invited topics
Process of consideration of applications
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Invited topics
The Urbanism Research Programme has capacity for supervision in the topics
given below. Applicants must address their application to these topics as we do
not have competence and/or capacity to supervise in other topics. There should
be a clear link between the topic and your research proposal. Your curriculum
vitae should provide evidence that you are competent in the topic.
The deadline for applications for the following topics is 30th November 2014.
New topics will be posted periodically on this website.
The overall Urbanism Research Programme can be viewed at
http://www.bk.tudelft.nl/en/about-faculty/departments/urbanism/
Topic 1:
Cross-national comparison of territorial governance, spatial planning and
regional design
The Urbanism Research Programme conducts research on the theme of
international comparative planning and regional design. We aim to take forward
comparative research that builds knowledge of the key factors that determine
the performance of regional and urban planning and design, and which supports
more responsive and progressive planning that can influence spatial
development in more sustainable directions. We are keen to develop our
comparative knowledge of spatial planning in China in collaboration with
colleagues at South China University of Technology through the joint Centre on
Urban Systems and Environment. The theme will continue to build on previous
work, for example, Nadin, V. and Stead, D. (2008) European spatial planning
systems, social models and learning, DISP 172, January, 35-47; Nadin, V. (2013),
and International comparative planning methodology: introduction to the theme,
Planning Practice and Research, 27(1): 1-5.
Potential supervisors include Vincent Nadin, Dominic Stead, Wil Zonneveld and
Marcin Dabrowski.
Topic 2:
The meaning and role of ‘spatial planning’ and ‘territorial governance’
under difficult and adverse conditions
Urbanism has an excellent record of education in developing regions where the
conditions for effective spatial planning and territorial governance are very
unfavourable. We are developing research that focuses on the effectiveness of
planning and design intervention at the local and regional scales and informs
understanding of the role of planning and the design of more effective tools,
particularly collaborative approaches involving international agencies. This
research involves comparative assessments. The research will build on current
work including Van Ballegooijen, J. & Rocco, R. (2013) The Ideologies of
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Informality: informal urbanisation in the architectural and planning discourses,
Third World Quarterly 34(10): 1794–1810; Fernández Maldonado, A. M. et al.
(2013) Polycentric Structures in Latin American Metropolitan Areas: Identifying
Employment Sub-centres, Regional Studies, DOI:10.1080/
00343404.2013.786827; and Zagare, V. & Sepulveda, D. (forthcoming) Scenarios
for an integral approach to urban and environmental dimensions in the Lower
Parana Delta.
Potential supervisors include Ana Maria Fernández Maldonado; Roberto Rocco,
Diego Sepulveda.
Topic 3:
The performance of regional design in complex governance settings
Many recent spatial planning reforms across the world have led to shifts in
planning regimes: often from statutory plan-led to development-led approaches.
In various countries regional design and the ‘art’ of making spatial
representations and the imagination of spatial metaphors has emerged as a
powerful tool in capacity- and consensus building in multi-actor settings. It is
often used as a way of overcoming conflicting rationales and images of desired
spatial development and spatial futures. In practice, regional design fulfils
different roles in different situations, depending on the actor settings and the
nature of the issues at hand. We would like to develop research that focus on the
performance of regional design in various institutional settings in different
countries and (urban) regions. This research will continue current research
including: Balz, V. & Zonneveld, W. (2014) Regional Design in the Context of
Fragmented Territorial Governance: South Wing Studio, European Planning
Studies, OnlineFirst doi 10.1080/09654313.2014.889662.
Potential supervisors include: Wil Zonneveld, Vincent Nadin, Dominic Stead
Topic 4:
The process of metropolisation in polycentric metropolitan regions
Metropolisation is understood as the process through which a loose collection of
proximally located cities starts to become more functionally, culturally and
institutionally integrated. It can be assumed that in theory metropolisation
enhances performance, and indeed this conviction underlies many European
metropolitan development strategies. Yet little is known about how this
potential is realised in practice, nor has the relationship between the level of
metropolisation and performance of polycentric metropolitan areas been
explored. Issues that can be addressed include the development of regional
identity alongside urban identities, overcoming governmental fragmentation in
polycentric metropolitan regions and the development of functional
relationships within such regions. Also, from an economics perspective, the
concepts of ‘borrowed size’ and ‘agglomeration shadows’ within polycentric
metropolitan regions deserve further exploration. This research builds for
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instance on Meijers, E., Hoogerbrugge, M & K. Hollander (2014) Twin Cities in
the Process of Metropolisation, Urban Research & Practice, 7(1), 35-55 and
Burger, M., Meijers, E., Hoogerbrugge, M & J. Masip Tresserra (2014) Borrowed
Size, Agglomeration Shadows and Cultural Amenities in North-West Europe –
European Planning Studies; available online first DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2014.905002.
Potential supervisors include: Evert Meijers, Wil Zonneveld.
Topic 5:
The relationship between the spatial and socio-economic performances of
built environments
Urbanism is concerned with the relationship between the spatial structure of the
physical built environment and social and economic life. However, there is a
great uncertainty about the effect of the physical world on society and how it
varies according to the local cultures and planning laws or regulations. This
hinders effective intervention though planning and urban design.
Our research aims to improve understandings of the variable performance of the
physical arrangement of the built environment, the spatial structure of the
transport networks at varying scales from neighbourhood to regional levels, in
terms of economic vitality, social cohesion and environmental sustainability
(Van Nes, Akkelies, 2011, “Measuring spatial visibility, adjacency, permeability
and degrees of street life in urban areas. The one- and two-dimensional isovists
analyses in Space Syntax”, in: S. Nijhuis, R. van Lammeren, F. van der Hoeven
(eds) ”Exploring the visual landscape; Advances in Landscape physiognomic
Research in the Netherlands”, IOS press, Amsterdam, Ye, Yu, and Van Nes,
Akkelies 2014, “Quantitative tools in urban morphology: Combining space
syntax, spacematrix and mixed-use index in a GIS framework” in: Journal of
Urban Morphology (forthcoming); Van Nes, Akkelies and Lopez, Manuel, 2010,
“Macro and micro scale spatial variables and the distribution of residential
burglaries and theft from cars: an investigation of space and crime in the Dutch
cities of Alkmaar and Gouda”, in: Journal of Space Syntax, no 2.). We examine the
extent to which planning and other urban interventions take account of
knowledge of these relationships and with what effects.
Future research will explore the relationship between physical layout, building
functions and social life, comparing historic districts with contemporary
developments in different cultural (national) contexts. We are particularly
interested in the effects of the spatial morphology of built environments on
society in terms of the incidence of crime, vitality of shopping areas, livability of
housing areas and land values. This requires developing or improving existing
analyses tools, to test combination of existing tools, and to deal with the
possibilities of improved computer capacities and software development useful
for handling research on built environments. Other methods for analyzing the
spatial properties of built environments needs improvement, from a
phenomenological as well as from a morphological and
topological/configurationally approach.
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Potential supervisors include Akkelies van Nes.
Topic 6:
Planning and Designing for Development: Spatial Strategies for Urban
Development in Rapidly Growing Economies
The Urbanism programme undertakes critical analyses of urbanization
processes in the developing world, including the comparative study of planning
frameworks, tools and cultures, governance structures and the dynamics of
spatial form, as well as issues arising from the interactions between planned and
unplanned, formal and informal and legal and extra-legal urban development.
We examine the interactions between spatial planning, political structures, social
struggles and the built environment. This research cluster relies on expertise of
several staff members and builds on previous research and education programs
carried out in the Department of Urbanism of TU Delft. Prospective PhD
candidates must be able to conduct research aimed to inform the preparation of
plans and strategies that tackle issues associated with international urban
development. Research in this area must also underpin education offered at
Master level in the Department of Urbanism. Our recent work includes:
Ballegoijen, J. V. & Rocco, R. 2013. The ideologies of informality: Informal
urbanization in the architectural and planning discourses. Third World
Quarterly, 34, 1794-1810; Fernández-Maldonado, A.M. (2014) Incremental
housing in Peru and the role of the social housing sector, in: van Lindert, P.,
Smets, P. & Bredenoord, J. (eds) Affordable Housing in the Urban Global South,
London and New York: Earthscan; Fernández-Maldonado, A. M. (2011) Trends
toward Urbanization in the Americas, in: H. M. Tarver (ed.), World History
Encyclopedia, Era 8: Crisis and Achievement, 1900-1945, Santa Barbara, CA:
ABC-CLIO; and Pojani, D. 2013. “From Squatter Settlement to Suburb: The
Transformation of Bathore, Albania.” Housing Studies 28 (6): 805-821.
Potential supervisors include: Ana María Fernández Maldonado, Roberto Rocco.
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Process of consideration of applications
1. Applications are made through the Graduate School AB+E and follows the
process of the Graduate School which his given in detail at
http://www.bk.tudelft.nl/onderzoek/graduate-school-a-be/admissionselection/
2. Please state clearly at the top of your proposal which topic your proposal
addresses.
3. A panel nominated by the research leaders will assess the applications and
create a shortlist. The criteria are the same across the Faculty:
a)
b)
c)
d)
the scientific quality of the research proposal/idea;
the societal relevance of the research proposal/idea;
the quality of the curriculum vitae including academic qualifications;
meeting specific requirements, particularly funding and English
language competence.
4. In addition we will pay particular attention to your ability to develop
knowledge in the relevant topic and evidence of writing skills.
5. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed, if necessary by video link or
telephone.
6. Subject to funding, the successful applicants will be given hospitality for 18
months, during which they will undertake a formal progress review (a go,nogo). Following a successful review the candidate will register with the
University for the PhD.
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