Examine, through living lab research, how the redevelopment and densification of urban neighborhoods into healthy and socially sustainable living environments can be shaped together with residents and locally embedded stakeholders.

The Netherlands faces major challenges in the domains of housing, healthcare, and energy transition. Increasing the housing stock and improving existing residential environments in the coming years, while ensuring a healthy and physically and socially sustainable living environment for residents, is essential to address these pressing issues simultaneously. Much of the construction and improvement of housing will take place in large cities through redevelopment and densification. This research project aims to investigate how these redevelopments in an existing urban neighbourhood can best be approached through adequate involvement of its residents and other locally embedded stakeholders. It will employ a living lab research approach in Overvecht, a residential area in Utrecht that will be redeveloped and densified over the next two decades. The PhD candidate work on the crossroad of different disciplines, including Human Geography, Social Design, and Public Health.

This PhD research is part of Gezonde Leefomgeving Utrecht Kennisconsortium (GeLUK), which consists of Data- en Kennishub Gezond Stedelijk Leven. The objective of the research is to contribute to 'Werkplaats Overvecht' through scientific knowledge. This Werkplaats is a private initiative of housing corporations, large construction companies, investors and developers, working together over the next 20 years to improve the neighbourhood, leading to a healthy, and physically and socially sustainable living environment. Werkplaats Overvecht is an important partner with which the Municipality of Utrecht cooperates within the neighbourhood approach Samen voor Overvecht.

• dr. ir. Indre Kalinauskaite
• dr. Gideon Bolt
• dr. Gerald Mollenhorst
• dr. Irina van Aalst