Jasper Bongers 
Wearing the citizen’s cloak in cases of public health (Utrecht, 1848-2000)
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. G. Blok, Prof. Dr. E. Kolthoff, Prof. Dr. D. Huitema

Citizenship is membership of a political community – a role that people may adopt in terms of their relationship with the state (vertical) but also in terms of their relationship with fellow citizens (horizontal). My study aims to discover part of the historical development of this role. I am researching the extent to which people were able to manifest themselves as a citizen, in the context of public health within the city of Utrecht from 1848 to 2000. My research is based on case studies related to subjects such as the consumption of drinking water, public festivals and housing.

Jilt Jorritsma 
Mapping the Sinking City: Anticipatory Futures, Past Traces and the Imagination of Urban Submergence in Amsterdam, New York and Mexico City
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. B. Adriaensen, Prof. Dr. D. Huitema

Due to rising sea levels and global warming, certain world cities are slowly being engulfed by the sea. Other cities are sinking due to groundwater evaporation. Adaptation to these problems relies on the development of future scenarios (stories, maps and visualisations) that depict the anticipated immersion. This project analyses and compares such depictions of the future in three geopolitical contexts: Amsterdam, New York and Mexico City. It examines how future risks are presented and communicated within different regions and how local history influences this depiction.

Stef Boesten
Future Urban Energy: the role of social and physical networks
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. M. Vermeulen, Prof. Dr. S.C. Dekker.
Co-supervisors: Dr. W.P.M.F. Ivens, Prof. Dr. J. de Kraker.

Across Europe in the coming decades, gas and oil heating systems will be replaced by sustainable alternatives. In established residential areas, multiple barriers and challenges arise when residents’ familiar gas boilers need to be replaced. A new system changes the climate within the home and its installation often involves inconvenience. This project seeks to discover ways of optimising smart heating and cooling networks – both technically and socially. To this end, I am modelling the technically optimal configuration of such heating networks in established neighbourhoods and studying residents’ acceptance of such systems. I will then explore whether a compromise can be reached, in which the technical system may perform suboptimally but local acceptance may be far greater.