Research group Building Future Cities
Our research group contributes to sustainable and efficient urban construction. We develop innovative solutions for smarter and more sustainable collaborative projects in the built environment. This results in a more conscious use of available raw materials and urban facilities.
Lines of research within the research group
This research topic is aimed at finding effective and efficient ways of using building materials and raw materials, as well as smart recycling and upcycling of construction and demolition waste. The construction sector uses a huge amount of raw materials. It therefore has both the duty and opportunity to reduce this demand and to reuse existing materials.
Projects
- Interreg Europe: REthinking Sustainable Development in European Regions by Using Circular Economy Business ModelS
Thirty percent of the traffic in cities is related to construction. To relieve the strain on infrastructure and to reduce the negative impact on air quality in cities, construction companies and transport companies need to find logistical and IT solutions.
We are researching collaboration in and innovative area development of urban projects. The skills and ambitions of people and organisations are changing. This means that urban projects are composed of a different variety of people than they were in the past. In order to realise neighbourhood and urban real estate projects, public and private parties increasingly need to work with private individuals. How should we interpret these new forms of collaboration and steer them in the right direction?
Projects
- Flexible,bottom-up urbanism: new opportunities for co-creating future cities?
- Designing curricula to develop relevant competences for project management in higher education.
How can we apply data to reuse construction materials more often and more efficiently? To this end, we are looking for ways to promote smart logistical management in cities. IT tools and city modelling derived from big data is needed to determine both the quantity and value of potentially reusable construction and demolition waste.
Projects
- Sensor-based motion, health and safety monitoring on construction sites
Increasing construction labour productivity using prefabrication
In this study we forecast the labour productivity of prefabricated building parts and compare them with onsite construction.
Bottom-up initiatives in urban area developments
The development of insights and advice to promote bottom-up area developments.
Publications
- How to identify root causes of low construction labor productivity
- Identifying the merits of bottom-up urban development theory-based evaluation using a value map model
- Towards Climate Resilient Freight Transport in Europe
Education
In this research group, lecturers function as researchers in research projects. These lecturer-researchers also involve their students in these research projects. The research group works to formulate student assignments and to contribute to the development and quality of education. Another of its tasks is to develop and teach certain educational modules.
“Thanks to new generations of employees, a cultural change is taking place. Moreover, policy makers are tackling things in a serious manner these days. And due to public opinion, builders are having to make choices.”
Ruben Vrijhoef Professor of Building Future Cities
Collaboration
The research group works together with other knowledge institutions and with organisations and companies from professional practice. Together, we work to convert issues and questions into innovative project proposals and research grant applications. The research is jointly conducted by our researchers, students and the parties we collaborate with.
