Hannah Bos
Leto Demetriadou
Marieke van Esch
Ioanna Karadimitriou
Bowen Yuan
Tutors: Caroline Newton, Lei Qu and Alexander Wandl
Key words: circular economy, social justice, inclusive energy transition, material flow, South Holland
‘Building a Fair Transition‘ strives for a fair circular built environment in the Dutch province of South Holland. By 2040 South Holland aims to have built 210.000 new dwellings to meet the rapidly growing housing demand. This transition in the built environment should align with current climate agreements and be as energy neutral as possible. To meet these goals, a lot of material and renewable energy are needed. However, the current linear economy creates inequalities for today’s and future generations. Therefore, radical changes towards circular construction and the demolition sector are needed. At the same time, energy poverty is an issue that calls for immediate actions in order to make the much-needed transition truly sustainable. However, the country lacks a comprehensive assessment framework that considers social aspects to address the phenomenon. The main research question is how to manage the transition in South Holland towards a circular built environment while ensuring that this transition is done in a fair way. In order to make this possible, a tremendous change in organisational structures is required. An interscalar approach is needed to create a symbiosis between the regional scale and the actions needed at a local level. In this work, bottom-up initiatives are encouraged and embraced within a bigger top-down mainframe. Through an assessment analysis, the goals towards a sustainable built environment are classified into three categories: materials, energy and knowledge. These goals will strengthen the social foundation of our project and fit the ecological ceiling that all development must respect. In our work, phasing of interventions is based on the urgency needed. In that sense, actions are prioritised in the most vulnerable areas while pilot projects serve as the research ground for testing feasibility and potential upscaling. The most urgent areas will be addressed first according to the criteria of low liveability, building energy performance, low income and ownership status. The overall goal of this strategy is to create a just sustainable built environment characterised by circular material flows and fair energy transition. More precisely, the aim is to strive for affordable and adequate housing for all, a regenerative and stable labour market and knowledge exchange. Concerning material flows, the target of closed material loops is achieved through renewable raw materials used, upcycling of waste flows and optimal use. Finally, democratisation of energy has become a key theme. Supply and demand for renewable energy sources are controlled to minimise energy losses. A decentralised energy system enables every citizen to become a prosumer of energy leading thus to democratisation of energy.