BOSS’ largest yearly activity is the Study Trip: a research-based summer trip of two to three weeks to one or more destinations around the globe to study a relevant trend in the real estate industry. Every year, around twenty-five students get selected to join the trip. Although there are no ECTS associated with the trip this year, students will follow presentations and visit related companies to execute research on the subject:
Future Proof Cities: Addressing climate adaptability and densification
The world as we knew it is becoming increasingly obsolete. The new NOW is one that is increasingly frequented by climate extremes, energy crises and unforeseen technological advancements. Global emissions of greenhouse gases are still on the rise. Despite our efforts to cut net global emissions to zero by 2050, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will continue to increase in the coming decades, and average global temperatures will climb. This increasing global temperature brings with it all kinds of risks – ranging from more frequent extreme weather events like heat waves, droughts or floods, to coastal erosion from rising sea levels.
The impacts will affect everyone. As a consequence of this, we are looking at a future that will heavily feature rapidly evolving boundaries for cities, geopolitics, economies and demographics.
The European commission defines climate adaptability as ‘taking action to prepare for and adjust to both the current effects of climate change and the predicted impacts in the future.’
While our planet suffers this extreme duress, our cities are also forced to navigate a sudden and overwhelming influx of large amounts of people in search of a better life. Suburbanization was a dominant force for most of the 20th century but there has been a renewed attraction for urban centres in recent years, with both dwelling and population densities becoming steeper over time and in direct contradiction to many standard economic predictions from literature.
The Netherlands and Japan, two seemingly opposing cultures share one common thread – a high concentration of historic cities with many amenities for young urban dwellers, who want to be close to leisure and cultural facilities facilitated by easily accessible public transport.
While high density urban patterns have several advantages in terms of more effective land use, improved social fabrics and transport sustainably, if left unchecked, further exacerbate the increasing pressure our cities are already facing. It is thus worth exploring the extent to which crowds enhance or deter the appeal of urban living and how this densification ties into the construct of a city in the future.
Given this extreme duress our cities are forced to deal with, how do we as MBE students and (future) practitioners in the built environment respond to this?
How do we equip our buildings to respond to this dynamism with resiliency? How do we protect our built environment from the inevitable shocks and stresses of future events?
How do we ensure our cities are future proof?
We invite you to take action!
Join us as we visit the beautiful country of Japan, a country rich with culture but also with a rich and dense urban fabric, giving us students a new and different vantage point for observing how these topical issues affect them and to understand their methods of tackling it.
Want to learn more about the study trip and the cities we will be visiting? You can now watch our promo video: https://youtu.be/CVCqOjq0RwI
Follow us on Instagram: @bossstudytrip
Or send us an email: studytrip@bosstudelft.nl
Enroll now! https://forms.office.com/e/WP45kMvKEv