Opportunistic Urbanism is a two-way exchange between two contrasting metropolises: Southern Randstad, a polycentric urban region with a state led and well-regulated model, and Melbourne, a sprawling monocentric city with a more flexible and 'spontaneous' city development model.

Opportunistic Urbanism is a collaboration between Deltametropolis Association, Melbourne School of Design and TU Delft.
![]() ![]() |
releted projects:
General info:
| Opportunistic Urbanism brochure 2018 |
| contact |
Introduction
Deltametropolis Association 'opportunistically' invited the students of Melbourne University to work together on selected unconventional sites in the Southern Randstad and propose design solutions for new futuristic metropolitan living environments in the Netherlands.
Opportunistic Urbanism is a collaboration between Deltametropolis Association, Melbourne School of Design and TU Delft University. |
Melbourne vs Southern Randstad
Melbourne is | the world's most liveable city | and offers a promising example regarding urban development challenges, with less government control and a more flexible planning system. Set within the context of rapid population growth and a strong economy, a dynamic, opportunistic approach to development has emerged. This opportunistic approach leaves space for diverse actors, citizens, designers and entrepreneurs to come up with creative and innovative solutions to meet the challenges that this and other global metropolises are facing.
In the Southern Randstad by contrast, careful state-led planning – has led to high quality urban development offering affordable housing to a wide range of the Dutch society. However, during the crisis the role of the central government was challenged allowing more actors to be involved and creating space for more experimentation in the urban environment. Now that the crisis is over, Netherlands is catching up with the big need for new housing, mainly close to the existing cities. One million new houses need to be built till 2030 and one quarter of this demand needs to be accommodated in the area of Southern Randstad. This becomes a significant opportunity to use this big investment that will be done in the cities and urban landscapes in order to craft a more dynamic and resilient Dutch Metropolis.
The challenges of Southern Randstad invite the question as to whether lessons can be drawn from the dynamism of the Melbourne context. The studio is integrated within Deltametrapolis Association’s broader research agenda to promote the global attractiveness of the Southern Randstad ‘Delta City’ as a well-connected network of compact cities, which is comparable in size and population to Metropolitan Melbourne.
Four case studies
The 2018 research project focuses on four inner city locations: The Central Innovation District in The Hague, Alexanderpolder and Zoho areas in North Rotterdam and Feyenoord area in South Rotterdam. The approach to these sites stems from the ongoing | De stad van de toekomst | or ‘City of the Future’ project. The exercise is to explore within a case study 1km x 1km urban block how Dutch cities can rapidly transition their energy, waste, mobility and other urban systems as a showcase to meet the challenges of the future.
Travel to Netherlands
An intensive two weeks of project visits, studio visits, workshops, and presentations. A mid-semester presentation will be held towards the end of the two weeks, with students presenting their first thoughts on their site specific concepts for high quality living environments within their selected 1 x 1km area.
Round-table Debate
Deltametropolis Association and the University of Melbourne invite you to attend the Opportunistic Urbanism round table discussion. Join and discuss with us on Thursday, August 30, from 16:00- 18:30 at the Deltametropolis Association office (Het Nieuwe Instituut) in Rotterdam. We will exchange knowledge and experience with our guests and other local and international professionals in the field of urban development. Through presentations and round table discussion, we seek answers to the following question:
"What is the role of people (citizens, actors, designers) in the discussion about the “city of the future”? Will our new automated landscapes and unlimited availability of data empower or diminish the importance of the users?
Save the date!
More information will be coming soon!
Two week plan
Monday, August 27 - Amsterdam visit
Tuesday, August 28 - Amsterdam visit + Arrival in Rotterdam
Wednesday, August 29- TU Delft Workshop I + Rotterdam site visit (I)
Thursday, August 30 - Rotterdam Site-visits (II and III) + afternoon Event
Friday, August 31 - TU Delft Workshop II + Den Haag site visit
Saturday, September 1 - Rotterdam or The Hague
Monday, September 3 - TU Delft Workshop III
Tuesday, September 4 - Individual design development
Wednesday, September 5 - Individual design development
Thursday, September 6 - Individual design development
Friday, September 7 - TU Delft Final critics
Project Partners
Studio leaders
| Katherine Sundermann | – MGS Architects
| Andy Fergus | – City of Melbourne
Core collaborators
| Alan Pert | – prof. Melbourne School of Design
| Anastasia Chranioti | – Deltametropolis Association
| Paul Gerretsen | – Deltametropolis Association
| Alankrita Sarkar | – Deltametropolis Association
| Luis De Carvalho Filho | – TU Delft
| Victor Munoz Sanz | – TU Delft
| Alex Wandl | – TU Delft
Previous years
| Report - closing event 2017 |
| Photo report 2017 | (Flickr)
| Report - closing event 2016 |
| Presentations - closing event 2016 |
| Photo report - closing event 2016 | (Flickr)
| Opportunistic Urbanism blog |
The New Planning is a collaborative research project between Deltametropolis Association and TU Delft. A consortium of academic, civil society, government and market sectors is being created to meet the urgent need for a new model of strategic spatial planning that will keep the Netherlands at the forefront of territorial governance.