BOSS Magazine - Management in the Built Environment Anniversary by Boss Magazine

Management in the Built Environment

ANNIVERSARY

Building

the

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Future

MBE Anniversary Edition BOSS Magazine Vincent Gruis & Hans Wamelink The department and mastertrack Management in the Built Environment (MBE) celebrates. It exists one year under its current name, but has roots dating back 45 years when its oldest predecessor was established (the former MSc track Housing) 25 years when its other predecessor came to life (the former MSc track Real Estate & Project Management) and has existed 10 years since both preceding tracks were merged under the name Real Estate & Housing. One year ago, we changed our name into Management in the Built Environment. We did this to more explicitly reflect our emphasis on management and governance of adaptation of the built environment to continuously changing demands, whilst indicating our interest in a variety of functions (living, working, shopping) and scale-levels (building, area, portfolio). In the light of our anniversaries, and given that a new name also means a new start in a way, we asked all our full professors to reflect on the research and education within MBE. Their visions and opinions have been collected in this special anniversary edition of BOSS Magazine, a magazine that is produced by our students. When we look at what is written about the future of education, a topic that will appeal to our students the most, we notice a great deal of consensus about a number of issues.

MBE Anniversary Magazine

All professors argue that the complexity of our society is still and continuously increasing, thus stressing the continuing need for people who know how to manage processes and innovations in this complex environment. To help our students deal with this complexity, our education needs to shift even further to training them into designing and applying context-specific management approaches. These can built on general theories and approaches, but will in many cases need adaptations to successfully deal with the problem at hand. Therefore, we will place less emphasis on learning general approaches by heart and more on developing the skills and sensitivity to select and redesign adequate approaches. This will also increase the need for intensifying the use of co-creation models in our education in which students, professionals and researchers jointly work on contemporary management problems in the built environment. Many of our professors point at the implementation of circular business models in the built environment as being among the biggest tasks and a grateful topic for co-creation models in our education as well. This, together with the other challenges mentioned in this special issue, leads to a great consensus among our professors that there are excellent opportunities for combining a career with a real contribution to society, not only for our current, but also our future students. Or, as Agnes Franzen puts it in her contribution, MBE will also stand for Making Beautiful Environments

Content

The Dynamics of DCM

The MBE Challenge

Urban Development Management - Reflections

Housing Policy and MBE

Modern Thinking Involves a Lot of Doing

MBE: Designing & Implementing Processes

The Future of Law Within MBE

Looking Back and Forward on MBE

The Department of ...

by Hans Wamelink

by Hans de Jonge

by Ellen van Bueren

by Peter Boelhouwer

by Agnes Franzen & Friso de Zeeuw

by Marleen Hermans

by Monica Chao-Duivis

by Vincent Gruis

by Anke van Hal

Student’s View

with Sjoerd van der Zandt

with David Snelleman

with Hylke de Visser

with Malvika Mundkur & Filip Pliakis

The dynamics of design & construction management Hans Wamelink In the past 25 years I have worked in both the practical and the academic domains. Exciting times! Looking back, I can only conclude that alternating between the two has given me a great deal. It has enabled me to experience the changes in the construction industry from different perspectives: as a participating practitioner and as an observing academic, and in both cases with the drive to work innovatively and to change the industry. Moreover, those 25 years have been a period of interesting developments. Much has changed, but much has remained the same as well. Not least the constant quest to find the optimum process, with integration and cooperation always as a core theme within the “loosely coupled system” that construction seems to be. After 25 years of research and experience, though, one thing is clear to me: there is no optimum process in general. Rather, we have to learn to respond better to the specific requirements of our construction assignments, and to make the right choices accordingly. The whimsical history of management in construction The spirit of an age seems to greatly influence its management methods. Researchers like Fayol and Taylor laid the foundations of the first management theories early in the twentieth century, developing “design rules” for effective processes (Taylor, 1911). At the heart of their thinking were the division of labour (specialisation) and the allocation of specific tasks and responsibilities to particular employees. In addition, they believed that no single person was capable of directly managing more than five or six others. Although still relevant in certain situations, these ideas have obviously been superseded by new concepts of management resulting from changes in society. With regard to construction management in particular, the past fifty years have seen huge intellectual changes. 6

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“Project management” emerged as a fully-fledged discipline in the 1960s and 1970s, a period of much research and many publications on its methods and techniques. For example, this was when the “network scheduling” technique was developed and first applied within the construction industry. By the late 1970s into the 1980s, that had become the “main course” in construction management education. From my own student days, I remember the assignments to produce complicated network schemes along those lines. The appearance of the first computers reinforced the idea that network planning could be used to keep every detail of a project completely under control.

“Project management emerged as a fully-fledged discipline in the 1960s and 1970s, a period of much research and many publications on its methods and techniques (...) From my own student days, I remember the assignments to produce complicated network schemes” In the late 1980s and 1990s, however, it became clear that traditional project management methods did not always provide the right answers for the coordination problems inherent to the construction industry. The fragmented process required new structural solutions. Whilst such fragmentation had always existed, in those years it was exacerbated by increasing specialisation within the industry as well as by such phenomena as the rise of information and communications technology. The availability of information and the ease with which it could be modified made it difficult to maintain the strict phasing propagated by traditional project management theories. The amount of information to hand and the level of redundancy resulted in inefficiencies and misunderstandings, increasing the risk of coordination problems and hence of failure costs. Another trigger

of fundamental change was the way construction companies dealt with tenders. The habit of discussing these in advance, which was common practice – and a regulated activity – until 2002, led to questions in the Dutch Parliament and what would become known as the ‘Construction Fraud’ scandal. From that point onwards, demands that the industry change structurally in certain areas became more and more urgent: its performance and image were in need of substantial improvement. In response, the industry initiated various programmes in the process innovation domain. For example, Process and System Innovation in the Dutch Construction Industry (PSIBouw, 2004-2010). These called for a fresh new approach, one that is less project-based and more integrated, in order to tackle the coordination problems mentioned earlier. Since then, integrating phases, actors and products has become a clearly recognisable thread in the research conducted, also in my chair. With the result that many new ideas have emerged about how to organise and manage the process. Integrated Project Delivery, Best Value Procurement, Lean Construction, the Living Building Concept, Supply Chain Integration and Building Information Modelling are all notions launched during the last two decades. Reflection on current developments Personally, I have two somewhat contradictory views of all these developments. On the one hand they have certainly brought a lot to our industry: (pilot) projects have demonstrated the practical applicability of such concepts as Supply Chain Integration and Integrated Project Delivery. Partly thanks to our research over the past ten years, we now know the exact causes of project failures and also how particular solutions can be made to work. We know what factors facilitate cooperation on major projects, how best to implement Building Information Modelling and the dos and don’ts of Supply Chain Integration. In these areas, huge advances have been made (Vrijhoef, 2010; Bektas, 2013). The flip side of the story, however, is the confusion brought to the industry by all these initiatives in the field of process innovation. Experts advocate their concept in order to convince important stakeholders that their approach is the best. The problem is that some of the improvements suggested and then tested in experiments

and pilot projects are successful and some are not. And what may work with major public-sector clients on large projects, such as the use of Integrated Project Delivery, cannot be transposed directly to smaller ones, let alone to the private sector. For example, we know that the implementation of BIM works completely differently in large and small projects, but in each case can provide more or less added value (Wamelink & Heintz, 2015).

“The structural changes our industry is undergoing thus give rise to questions for parties across the construction process. They are asking themselves how they need to adapt to those changes, what their role is and – last but by no means least – what their own revenue model might be in this new situation” The structural changes our industry is undergoing thus give rise to questions for parties across the construction process. They are asking themselves how they need to adapt to those changes, what their role is and – last but by no means least – what their own revenue model might be in this new situation. That prompted us to initiate research into the changes as viewed from the perspective of particular actors. The FuturA project is a good example of this approach, in which we are trying to analyse how the various changes and opportunities throughout the industry are affecting the role played by architects and architectural firms, and how they can respond to them business-wise (see www.futurearchitect.nl). Another example is the appointment of

Hans Wamelink Hans is professor of Design and Construction management since 2006. Besides that, in 1991 he was one of the founders of the master track that is now called Management in the Built Environment.

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given context. This is something I have already discussed in my inaugural lecture. Now is the time to make it concrete, drawing upon the know-how we have built up over the past ten years.

Marleen Hermans as Professor of Public Commissioning. She is doing some excellent work investigating and clarifying the complicated position of the public commissioning bodies. Future research in design and construction management In the past ten years we have made considerable advances in the fields of process innovation and network cooperation, and also contemplated their significance for the individual parties involved. Over the next few years we intend to further develop our knowledge in these areas, particularly in the light of current developments like the emerging question of how our methods might influence the creation of a circular economy (Mohammadi et al, 2015). As well as this work on particular aspects of construction management, research taking a more holistic view of the subject is required. The methods developed in recent decades need to be compared and contrasted, and we – by which I mean the industry as well as academia – have to learn to make the right choices for each specific construction job. With the ultimate aim of learning how to design appropriate project organisations for any 8

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My experience is that successful project managers also apply such design oriented approaches. An experienced construction manager doesn’t use a standard method, but adjusts it to the key challenges in the project. For instance, during the exciting relocation project of the Faculty in 2008, we have not hesitated to initiate a non-trivial process, regarding the selection of project partners, procurement and project control to meet the pressing time requirements. Our research will further substantiate this approach, explain and clarify. Eventually we will include the results in a book.

“Over the next few years we intend to further develop our knowledge (...) particularly in the light of current developments like the emerging question of how our methods might influence the creation of a circular economy” Education and Design and Construction Management The coming years we’ll further develop the design approach to education: the ‘project design school’ (Heintz et al, 2016). Our purpose is to refocus education from learning the systems of for instance project management to learning how to be a project manager. To do this we propose an approach to project management that is based on the agency of the project manager rather than on the integrity of project management systems. We’ll

place the emphasis on the project manager’s agency in selecting tools and actions from those systems and enacting courses of action using them. More specifically, we choose to see project management as a process of designing and enacting courses of action and “preferred situations”. Doing so, we’ll be able to prepare our students for a variety of careers in practice. MSc track ‘Management in the Built Environment’ Writing about education in Design and Construction Management brings me to the final issue I want to address: the future of the MSc track ‘Management In the Built Environment’. Today’s students make informed choices. They carefully decide upon the manner in which they live their lives and the way they study. In addition to that we see the market for graduates changing and a great variety of career paths developing within the global environment. The roles of architects, urban planners and project managers are shifting. The department (and faculty) needs to anticipate these often as yet invisible needs and link them to changes within the educational program we offer. Personally I think that developing the current MSc track into an independent MSc program (with specialised tracks) will create the opportunity to anticipate better to the needs of both

students and market and will provide the possibility to open the program to students from outside the faculty (national and foreign) who deliberately want to pursue a management related career in the Built Environment.

“The roles of architects, urban planners and project managers are shifting. The department (and faculty) needs to anticipate these often as yet invisible needs and link them to changes within the educational program we offer - by developing the current MSc track into an independent MSc program” Concluding remarks The past decade I have led both my chair and the Department with great pleasure. Much has been achieved in research and education. However, the dynamic environment challenges us to work on renewal continuously. In line with the above thoughts: we have to design our future cleverly to continue the success of the Department. I’m very confident that we will succeed!

References Bektas, K.E. (2013), Knowledge Sharing Strategies for Large Complex Building Projects, PhD-Thesis, Delft University of Technology, Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft Heintz, J, Lousberg, L, & Wamelink, JWF. (2016). Designing Project Management. Paper presented at the CIB World Building Congress 2016; Intelligent Built Environment for life, Tampere Mohammadi, S., Prins, M., Slob N. (2015) Radical Circular Economy. In: Egbu, C. eds. Going North for Sustainability, Proceedings of the CIB International Conference held at London South Bank University 23-25 November 2015, pp. 451- 461, IBEA Publications Ltd, London Taylor, F.W. (1911), Principles of Scientific Management, Harper, New York. Vrijhoef, Ruben. (2011). Supply chain integration in the building industry: The emergence of integrated and repetitive strategies in a fragmented and project-driven industry, PhD-Thesis, Delft University of Technology, IOS Press, Delft Wamelink, J. W. F., & Heintz, J. L. (2015). Innovating for integration: Clients as drivers for industry improvement Construction Innovation / edited by Finn Orstavik, Andrew Dainty and Carl Abbott (pp. 149-164): John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK.

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The MBE Challenge Hans de Jonge The dream - The start of what is now known as Management in the Built Environment (MBE) originated from a report to the Minister of Education in 1989 by a commission that had the assignment to evaluate university education in Architecture in the Netherlands. One of the many conclusions was that practice needed more than academics who could design and construct new buildings. A new breed of engineers that would be able to manage complex projects and deal with the existing stock of buildings was asked for. The faculties of Architecture in Delft and Eindhoven started to rethink their profile and curriculum, in Delft this led to the appointment of a range of new professors. I was one of them and started in the summer of 1991, because in September there was a first group of approximately 50 students that wanted to enrol in a new curriculum. With a very small group of people we started out to design with high speed the curriculum on the basis of a few simple principles. We had a dream: educating people with a design background in the management issues of complex processes and existing stocks of buildings in order to get a new kind of professional in key positions in the industry. Thus we would be able to generate change in what we saw as a conservative industry. It was the start of a new department: Real Estate and Project Management (Bouwmanagement & Vastgoedbeheer BMVB). With a very small group of existing staff from other departments we pioneered and improvised. The Journey We set out to design the curriculum on simple principles: - The life cycle of real estate - The user perspective - The mix of knowledge, insight and skills The life cycle meant to get across the idea that projects with a beginning and an end were just a phase in a bigger cycle of use. 25 years later we are heavily involved in 10

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circular economy and life cycle thinking is now in the minds of most professionals in the industry, but then it was a new approach.

Figure 1: Scales, fields and cycles in MBE

To make the users perspective key in our approach we needed more detailed knowledge of how the built environment is used. The real estate and construction market was very much supply side driven and the demand side (users) did not get a lot of attention. So we needed research to find out how demand developed and the user behaved.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had a dream: educating people with a design background in the management issues of complex processes and existing stocks of buildings in order to get a new kind of professional in key positions in the industryâ&#x20AC;? The mix of knowledge, insight and skills was organised by getting the right mix of lectures, workgroups and simulation games. The simulation games were based on cases with a high degree of reality and students played their roles so intense that sometimes they could not distance themselves anymore in their free time: they kept on playing the game in the bar at night! The learning

curve was steep and people from practice that were involved in the game were astonished to see the degree of reality that the games produced. Thesis work was mostly done in practice (as still is the case today) and very often students got several job offers before they had even finished their studies. The number of students grew fast from 50 in the first year to 120 in the third year of existence and of course it was difficult to get sufficient funding for growth. So we made a deal with the dean that the money we earned in research that was funded by the industry could be used to fund education and new research. In that way we managed to fund our growth. The downside of all this was of course that our research in the first years was mainly applied and capacity for fundamental research lacked. Later on that changed of course but this DNA lasted for some time.

“The department professionalised and we grew into what MBE is today: a department with some 70 staff, including PhD’s and postdocs, eight professors and three research institutes” Housing was a track that was built from the early 70’s on and grew into a small but influential group. The 90’s were a time where neo liberalism grew and the attention for social issues declined. This was reflected in the number of students in that track and eventually we decided to merge the two tracks into what from then on was called Real Estate & Housing. The department professionalised and we grew into what MBE is today: a department with some 70 staff, including PhD’s and post-docs, eight professors and three research institutes (Center for People & Buildings, SKG Foundation for Urban Development and Centre for Process Innovation

Figure 2: Challenges we face in our society

for Building and Construction). The last one was ended recently to make room for new initiatives. A few thousand alumni have found their way to a wide range of positions like managing partners of architects firms, developers, investors, public organisations, contractors, consultancy firms, etc. in the Netherlands and abroad. We have been involved in post-doctorate and professional education. We were the co-founders (with Erasmus University and the City of Rotterdam for the Master City Developer (MCD) and the NRP Academy. We have always been at the forefront of new developments with our research and education in several domains of the built environment. We play an important role in debates about Supply Chain Management and process integration, Corporate Real Estate Management, Public Real Estate, Transformation, Urban

Hans de Jonge Hans is professor of Real Estate Management and chairman of the board of the Brink Groep. He was one of the founders of the master track that is now called Management in the Built Environment.

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Figure 3

Development, Housing Management and Commissioning. We do research in several sectors ranging from offices and retail to housing and universities. Research has become more fundamental and at the same time we are confronted with the need to achieve valorisation: work with societal partners and get co-funding from them. The Challenge The challenges that we face in society (fig. 2) are reflected in the solutions we generate in the built environment. The transition of our society demands new solutions for urbanisation, food production, water scarcity, energy use, health and mobility. We have to accommodate future needs for a large proportion in the existing built environment. We created cities in regions that need to be made resilient to climate change. That requires new approaches for adaptive re-use of buildings and innovative solutions for new buildings and cities. Information technology is opening a whole new range of opportunities. We will be able to make the built environment more supportive and responsive to our daily activities with the use of connected devices and environments. Our mobility patterns will change: we will share self drive cars, create new and extremely fast transport and transport of goods will be automated to a large extent. This will create further shrinkage of distance by reduced travel times. Food production for megacities will be decentralised in urban farms. Energy transition will bring us from the fossil era into the next phase and buildings will become energy producers, while a large proportion of the stock will be zero energy use. Health will be more of a constant and preventative issue and the healthcare system will change with the use of hcare systems in combination with specialised top care facilities. Education will move into a more interactive and ICT supported activity where physical place will be essential for learning to work in teams. These are just a 12

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few of the changes that will occur in the coming decades and it is obvious that this will have a high impact on the built environment. The processes that we use to manage the built environment will change with all this too. Just to mention a few: we will know more of user behaviour through the use of sensing technology so the built environment will become more responsive supportive to users. Urban development will involve stakeholders and citizens in decision making processes that are helped with simulation games, decision rooms and city labs. Buildings will be more looked upon as the delivery of integrated services to end users with the use of big data. Construction of buildings will be more automated and the result of an assembly of parts that come from a system of closely interacting suppliers. The use of virtual reality software will be commonplace during design, construction and maintenance. In essence we will have to rethink a lot of the principles of the past on which we have based decisions for the built environment. Design thinking is crucial for finding new ways and our faculty is a great place to do that. The combination of disciplines and the availability of a worldwide network in academia and industry is an asset in the process of finding new solutions.

A student’s view upon MBE

SJOERD VAN DER ZANDT, FORMER STUDENT Why did you choose to do the master that is now called Management in the Built Environment? I had a wide interest in Architecture and all of the other master tracks that were available at that time (1992-2000). After the first two years (which took me 4 years…) I could finally pinpoint my exact interest. That was after a full year of work as chairman of Stylos. The combination of building, organisation, economics and management made me choose “Bouwmanagement & Vastgoedbeheer”. Instead of only working on new buildings or areas, handling the existing stock is very important as well, in this master I could focus on that too.

What type of work are you doing at the moment? I have an Asset Management Company together with a business-partner. The company’s name is Prime Pitch Asset Management (www. primepitch.nl). Prime Pitch is a real estate investment and asset management company, acting in the Netherlands and Germany. We initiate structure and manage real estate investment vehicles and portfolios for professional investors with a core-plus and value-add strategy.

“If you are able to combine your academic skills with others that are needed for your job, that’s an absolute plus” We provide asset management services for third parties. We act as initiator, manager and/or coinvestor of (private placement) real estate investments. Also, we provide strategic advisory services on real estate related issues. Do you think the (academic) master track is a good basis for working in a non-academic environment? Well, it’s better than the other way

around…. If you are able to combine your academic skills with others that are needed for your job, that’s an absolute plus. If you get stuck in the theoretical, academic thinking, you’ll never get things done. Looking back, would you still choose this master track? Yes, I think so. Although I would prefer more economics and financial education. If that would be integrated in the curriculum, it would be nice. What has been the most memorable moment during your studies? My full year as chairman of Stylos (’95-’96), that was the best decision I made. Working with professors and other staff members to help improve the curriculum was great. What is the most memorable professor of the master track? Hans de Jonge, without a doubt. He was my professor during my final project and was able to stimulate me in a very good way. What is your message tot current MBE students? Please do not forget to gain some practical experience and do not think you are better than any other non-TU Delft student! And realise that you are studying in one of the best, most beautiful universities in the world.

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Urban development management – reflections on developing the field Ellen van Bueren My first year as professor of Urban Development Management at MBE has passed. A year of getting acquainted with the faculty and the department; a year of being socialized. My new colleagues seemed very keen on positioning me at a certain spatial scale. “You are the new professor of gebiedsontwikkeling”, they told me to my surprise. As far as I knew, I had been appointed at the chair of urban development management, which does not fully correspond with gebiedsontwikkeling; a Dutch empirical concept for which there is not even a matching translation. Since it not only refers to the development of an urban area, but also to the processes of interaction, negotiation and decision-making that takes place within the particular Dutch institutional context, leading to a very specific spatial-institutional meaning of gebiedsontwikkeling. But my surprise is exemplary for the changes in the field, empirically and scientifically. Driven by technological and societal developments, urban development has become much more fragmented and complex. The availability of decentralized technologies for urban services and empowerment of local stakeholders, including citizens, are leading to distributed and interconnected infrastructures. For example, citizens jointly invest in solar panels on the roof of a nearby retail estate. Inventories of local heat production and heat demand more and more lead to the exchange of this resource, enabling both parties to capture the value of this resource. These are developments that are becoming common practice and are not yet disruptive. However, in the near future, electric cars may collectively form local power plants. And within some decades, self-driving cars, home delivery drones or underground transport systems may contribute to highly changed patterns of living, working and transportation. 14

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These developments hold many promises: a transition towards renewable energy, increased autonomy of local agents, increased efficiency of infrastructure services, increased efficiency of resource use etc. Enabled by big data, smart technologies and social media, citizens are now able to produce their energy needed, process their waste water, and share their cars.

“Urban development has become much more fragmented and complex” Realizing the promises, however, will require new management approaches. Many wonderful urban innovations – designs, technologies, low tech or high tech- do not live up to their promises when implemented. The innovations become part of a larger system, think of the city as a system of systems, with many intricate relationships, making it very difficult to predict and anticipate the wanted and unwanted effects of implementation. Also, implementation of

From centralised to distributed infrastructures. Left: Yesterday, central power station. Right: Tomorrow, distributed on-site generation with fully integrated network management

these urban innovations tends to be dispersed over time. Traditional moments of urban interventions were more concentrated in time and place, often connected to the building cycle and the lifecycle of neighbourhoods and districts. Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban development brings in new types of stakeholders, calling for new forms of collaboration. Just think of Heijmans and BMW who are jointly developing apartment buildings with integrated electric cars. Or the local water board and housing association who together are investing in an experimental bio refinery to process local waste water into heat and fertilizers. Or private industries that collaborate with nearby public schools to ensure skilled workers, allowing them to further invest in the area where they are situated. Whereas urban development has witnessed shifts from primary public-led urban development to more private-led public development and joint public-private forms in between these extremes, the coming years

will show a shift towards public-private-people led urban development, in which citizens, individually or collectively, will play a more prominent role in these processes. Incidental, ad hoc collaborations will become much more common, grabbing local opportunities when they come along. However, many of these developments also have long-term consequences, especially when infrastructural investments have been made that create a lock-in for future choices. The spatial effects of these choices are still a blind spot in many of these decisions.

Ellen van Bueren Ellen is the latest professor that joined the master track Management in the Built Environment. As of 2016, she is professor of Urban Development Management.

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The legal-institutional framework, within which the difficult to grasp value of spatial quality is safeguarded, no longer seems to suffice and needs to co-evolve with its changing environment. Institutional change is required. What we need are institutions that allow us to be adaptive and agile, to make use of opportunities, to try and test new forms of development and collaboration. But institutions are inherently rigid, which is also one of their strengths; required for accountability and which makes them legitimate. Within these tensions, new practices, strategies, modes of collaboration and governance will emerge.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The close relationships with practitioners also allows us to prepare our students for their future working environment. Especially the problem oriented or project based courses such as the urban development game, allows us to address upcoming concepts and the challenges involved, such as smart cities and circular economy, before they have been fully theoretically elaboratedâ&#x20AC;? Within the section of Urban Development Management we analyze the management challenges involved in these new types of urban development, in the Netherlands and Europe, but also in comparison with practices from entirely different contexts, such as China. The close interaction with practitioners -who are out there, experiencing and experimenting- will be indispensable to develop approaches, strategies and tools and instruments that support this changed decision-making context. By creating institutional relationships, we have created joint learning environments; examples of this are the Stichting Kennis Gebiedsontwikkeling, a foundation aimed at the two-way knowledge dissemination between academics and practitioners, which funds the practitioners-oriented chair of Gebiedsontwikkeling, and the post-graduate Master City Developer. The institute 16

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for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) is of course also such an arrangement in which we are proud to participate. The close relationships with practitioners also allows us to prepare our students for their future working environment. Especially the problem oriented or project based courses such as the urban development game, allows us to address upcoming concepts and the challenges involved, such as smart cities and circular economy, before they have been fully theoretically elaborated. In return, these experiences help us to theoretically reflect on these concepts and on the challenges they bring for urban development. Involving practitioners in our teaching gives practitioners a momentum for reflection, allowing for cross-fertilization of theoretical understandings and real-life action between academics, practitioners and students. Overlooking these developments, the past name changes of our department reflect the evolving role and position of the topic of management within the built environment. With the further integration of functions, scales and infrastructures, the choice for renaming the department to MBE is logical. Recovered from my, foremost positive, culture shock, I am very much looking forward to continue research and teaching in this wonderful area: proud to be able to contribute to the development of the field, curious to see what the future will bring.

A student’s view upon MBE What were your experiences with the master track at the time and how have they changed? My first experiences were very positive and everything was new for me. Everything I felt I first missed was now offered. The track itself was still in its infancy and was not as professionally organized as it is now.

DAVID SNELLEMAN, FORMER STUDENT Why did you choose to do the master track that is now called Management in the Built Environment? I’ve chosen the MBE master because, after three years of following the master track of Architecture, I realised it was too superficial and not specific enough for me. In the studies of Architecture I missed a lot of aspects that I could find in the MBE master. I wanted to immerse myself more in the economic value of real estate. I also found the development and realisation process very interesting, and in this master plenty of attention is given to these subjects.

Does the master track add value to the education system of the faculty of Architecture? Very much so indeed! It is a very good addition to the education program of the TU Delft (Faculty of Architecture and the Build Environment). There was a need for a master track like this. You can see this if you look at the careers of the first students who graduated in this track - there was a large demand back then from the market to hire us (often even before we were graduated). Do you think the (academic) master track is a good basis for to work in a non-academic environment? Yes, I’ve worked at big building companies and developers myself (Heijmans, HBG/BAM, OVG and Dura Vermeer). This is not the most academic industry, but because of the MBE master that I’ve followed,

my contribution to the companies was of big value. Therefore I now have an interesting and very nice career. Who is the most memorable professor of the master track? That would be a combination of three totally different personalities, within three different industries of the real estate sector: Hans de Jonge, Frits Seijffert and Bas Menheere.

“Be venturous next to your studies and try to keep close contact with companies” What has been the most memorable moment during your studies? The study trip to London and the first construction management drinks at student associations Virgiel and DSC. My graduation project was an adventure as well! What is your message to the current students of MBE? Try to be venturous next to your studies and try to keep close contact with companies, for example by means of internships, graduation projects, researches or part time work. But above all, enjoy your life as a student as much as possible!

September 2016

Housing policy and MBE: a rich history and a bright future Peter Boelhouwer Forty years of research and teaching in the field of housing in the department MBE gives an excellent opportunity to look back at the rich history of the sub-theme housing policy and to draw lessons for the future. With regard to the content of the housing domain it’s important to establish that during the last few decades, there is a high degree of consistency. The central themes researchers have dealt with during the last 40 years, focus on broad topics as availability, accessibility, affordability and quality. More generally, the question is addressed how the interplay of government policies and market developments in the housing market leads to an optimal outcome for citizens. In this context housing is sometimes called “the wobbly pillar of the welfare state”. The unclear way how to operationalize the concept of demand and the changes that the concept undergoes over time underpins that there is a complex relationship with the welfare state. These changes can be in the achievements and purchasing power of households (sudden appreciation of the real estate or inheritance) and wider government objectives such as creating mixed neighbourhoods by making subsidized housing also available for households in less need. In addition, housing policy has always been linked to other policy areas and is also partly influenced by it. It’s against this background that the current housing research program from MBE and OTB has been given the title “Housing in a Changing Society”. As with the introduction of the Housing Act in 1901, the policy domain housing was connected to public health. Cleaning up the degrading slums, where people got sick and mortality was high, resulted in the introduction of specific housing policies. Later, after World War II, housing policy was mainly in service of the economic restructuring of the Netherlands and leaned heavily on spatial planning in the years 1960-2000, while from the seventies the development of neighborhoods and residential communities was steering housing policies. 18

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This close relationship with other policy arenas is also the main reason why housing is closely linked with other disciplines; engineering, economics, geography and sociology. A truly multi-disciplinary study object that fits into a broad-based Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, where design, engineering and management and policies are central themes. Actually, it is not surprising that during the last forty years housing experienced a strong boom in the Faculty of Architecture and was less dominant in other mono-disciplinary oriented departments such as economics or sociology. Research In the last forty years, huge scientific progress has been made in the housing domain. Important theories from various academic disciplines are used and sometimes modified to housing issues. But also specific housing theories have been developed that provide insight into the housing choice behavior of households, the development of house prices and the evolution of national housing systems. Accordingly, a wide scale of scientific journals in housing policy oriented issues have developed over the last 30 years such as the Journal of Housing and the Built Environment published by Springer, Housing Studies, the International Journal of Housing Policy, Housing Theory and Society and Housing International. Besides the scientific interest, housing is also quite frequently in the spotlight of the national and international media. At a technical university, you would expect big media attention for nanotechnology, energy or bridges and roads. Nothing could however be further from the truth. For years, of all TUD subjects, housing is the most covered issue in the news and researchers and teachers of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment on a weekly basis give comments on their research outcomes and on developments on the housing market or on new housing policy more generally. Finally, there is a broad and blossoming international network of housing researchers. The European Network for Housing Research, which celebrates its thirty-third

anniversary this year with a conference in Belfast and has more than 1.000 members, is a good example. For more than seven years the secretariat of this network is established at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, making not only our research but also education well known in the rest of the world. When the main housing research themes are put under the microscope, there seems to be less progress at first sight. For many years we conduct investigations on affordability, construction output in relation to housing shortages, the skewness of the housing distribution and mortgage interest tax deduction and more general, we published a lot of studies how to improve the functioning of our housing markets. However, each of these subjects occur in many different circumstances and specific and actual research and policy interventions are necessary to cope with these issues. But there are also other new issues to serve or the importance of a specific theme is suddenly increased. Here we can think of the sustainability of our housing stock and the environment, the growing financial inequality between tenants and buyers, the relationship between homeownership and pensions and, most recently, the housing of refugees. Education Given the social and scientific importance and the job opportunities housing has to offer, it puzzled me a little bit that the interest of the students in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment and more specific MBE is not bigger. The number of graduates has been fluctuating somewhere between eight and twelve students in the last decades, despite all the efforts made by the staff to increase this number. The teaching evaluations and career prospects do not give a proper explanation, although there are less job opportunities since the crisis on the housing market in 2008. Only during the start of the housing program forty years ago, there were substantially more students interested. It was the time of the big urban renewal projects, where many educated housing students found their first job. Perhaps the world of property development and real estate have more appeal to the students. I think it was a good decision a few years ago to combine all the master specializations of MBE in the first year, so that students are broadly educated.

Future With regard to research, I think it’s wise to strengthen the internationalization trend that has started several years ago. More and more researchers from the Research program “Housing in a Changing Society” are able to acquire research assignments from Brussels and other governments outside the Netherlands (eg Belgium, Australia, and the UK). The possibilities to get funding from the national scientific bodies such as NWO and the top sectors are definitely smaller. Perhaps it is possible to start a coordinated action to develop some long-term programs on housing on a national level. Our colleagues in the fields of traffic and transport, geo-information and urban development could serve as good examples. Furthermore, we can follow the already successful path to encourage more foreign PhD students to conduct their PhD at Delft. This development offers interesting international contacts (also useful for education) and stimulates scientific output. Our group and also our Dutch housing system still attracts many foreign scholars. As for education, I am in favor of clustering teaching in the master’s program at the Faculty level into a number of general themes such as design, engineering and management and policy. Our dean Peter Russell has also introduced this idea on several occasions. The content of these three main directions can be handled by the existing departments. On our own management and policy domain we can cooperate with Urbanism and OTB Research for the Built Environment. Regarding the bachelor, I am in favor to make a choice for design, technology and management and policy already after one or two years. This creates more room for depth and specialization in the three main academic directions, while the common base is large enough to be able to communicate in practice with the other disciplines.

Peter Boelhouwer Peter has been professor of Housing Systems since 2001 and is mostly concerned with housing policy. Besides that he is head of OTB - Research for the Built Environment.

September 2016

Modern thinking involves a lot of doing Agnes Franzen & Friso de Zeeuw Forty years of research and teaching in the field housing in the department of Management in the Built Environment gives an excellent opportunity to look back at the rich history of the sub-theme housing policy and to draw lessons. The Chair of Professional Practice in Urban Area Development is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. This is a perfect opportunity to explore the challenges in teaching and research in the period ahead. What should the MBE department be focusing on in the next few years? As its new name suggests, the department of which the chair is a part deals with organising, coordinating and implementing activities to improve the quality of our built environment. In addition to real estate and social housing issues, there is a specific focus on the living environment. Our new dean, Peter Russell, also emphasises the impact of technological developments. At present, there are many transformation challenges and, according to the latest reports, at least a million new homes will be needed by 2040. In addition, we face major challenges in terms of climate, energy, circular strategies and technological developments that have an impact on mobility. Professor Hans de Jonge spent his university years travelling the world as a teacher and a scholar. He was passionate about his teaching and research, and particularly interested in people and societies. With his

Agnes Franzen Agnes is in charge of the program of the chair Urban Area Development at MBE. She is also director of the Stichting Kennis Gebiedsontwikkeling.

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open-minded approach, he spent 25 years collecting, sharing and developing insights for research and education. He went on to inspire students to think about and take action on challenges facing modern society. Since its earliest days, the department has always focused on topical problems and on connecting science and practice. These days, the main way we do this is through our work in the Living Labs, where researchers and students collaborate in a network of different organisations and stakeholders. According to Sandra Schruijer, Professor of Organisational Psychology, the term ‘actionable knowledge’ coined by Chris Argyris is particularly apt in this context. Argyris, known for his work on learning organisations, called for researchers to develop knowledge that can be applied. His ideas included the concept of high advocacy/high inquiry dialogue, which reflects the fact that a lot can be learned from what we explain to others and our own experiences. In other words, not learning things over a long period, but learning things frequently.

“Alongside traditional forms of teaching, the challenge for the years ahead lies in how we find a place for this in blended learning, the combination of contact hours and online education” Alongside traditional forms of teaching, the challenge for the years ahead lies in how we find a place for this in blended learning, the combination of contact hours and online education. Knowledge, skills, and students’ attitudes have an essential role to play in this regard; not everyone has the same learning style. For example, Professor David Kolb, known for his experiential learning cycle, differentiates between doing and experiencing, reflecting on experiences, analysis and experimentation. In his view, we only really learn things if they are linked to experience.

The definition adopted for Urban Area Development links in nicely with this. It is about the art of connecting uses, disciplines, parties, interests and cash flows with a view to developing or redeveloping an area. This is not an unambiguous objective, and as such it reflects the challenges ahead of us in terms of developing and redeveloping areas. Many of these areas face what are known as ‘wicked problems’. These problems cannot be solved unambiguously, because they are incomplete, contradictory or constantly changing. After years of crisis, in which market demand for housing and employment both fell sharply, we are now seeing market pressure increase again. Particularly in the housing market, in key regions such as Amsterdam and Utrecht, demand is greater than the pace at which sites become available and plans are developed. A key lesson to be learned from the crisis is that there is increased awareness of differences in market demand. A particularly topical issue is the increasing demand from single- and twoperson households. However, Urban Area Development concentrates specifically on the development of larger areas. It examines how to make challenges in terms of climate, circular strategies and energy concrete and achievable. An important question here is: ‘who is capable of making the necessary pre-investment and taking on the associated risk when starting a spatial development?’ In many cities, the Government is now just one of the players involved. In the wake of the crisis, when it comes to real estate development, private developers are generally unwilling to look further ahead than five years. Some challenges and projects require considerably more patience. For a long time, the housing associations were important pre-investment partners in development areas. In line with the new Housing Act that took effect on 1 July 2015, they are now focusing primarily on their core activity: providing and maintaining affordable rental homes. This implies low-cost, modest construction, with no operating shortfall. This is an important development for our department, which has its origins in public housing, 45 years ago. It was an offshoot of the very first Housing Act of 1901. The Pierson Government was determined to do something about the terrible living conditions of many workers. It was a time when many low quality

back-to-back houses were being built, with rudimentary sanitary facilities, limited daylight and narrow staircases. The current Brexit debate similarly exposes the voices and social dissatisfaction of the workers. Alongside employment and healthcare, a system of affordable housing remains important.

“An important question here is: ‘who is capable of making the necessary pre-investment and taking on the associated risk when starting a spatial development?’ In many cities, the Government is now just one of the players involved” A good example with a view to the longer term is the Delta programme, which the Government is using to prepare the country for the consequences of climate change. In this century, rivers will need to carry ever-increasing quantities of water. Via Urban Area Development, our department is involved in the Delta programme in the Maas valley in Limburg. They are exploring the possibilities for linking water security with spatial planning on a ‘sooner the better’ basis. Flood protection is the main principle in this area, but the stakeholders are also working to make the Delta programme flexible and adaptive. This approach factors in room to capitalise on regional opportunities and combine them. The current preferred strategy endeavours to identify combinations with other interventions along rivers, for example involving nature conservation, water quality or housing. A particularly inspiring example is the flood challenge in Venlo. The level of protection here must be increased.

Friso de Zeeuw Friso is part-time professor of Urban Development at MBE. Besides that he has multiple board and supervisory roles.

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However, a single intervention will not be sufficient. The task of flood prevention is inextricably linked with spatialeconomic developments. These include around ten to fifteen current subsidiary projects and initiatives close to the River Maas. This project demonstrates that urban area development and using combined opportunities is partly dependent on regional room for manoeuvre in the programme and the financial framework, and that it requires clear regional coordination. This in turn calls for knowledge and skills in the classical tools of governance and network coordination, concentrating on combined opportunities and relevant players in terms of both process and substantive aspects. This relates perfectly with the faculty of Architecture and our objective of training independent and creative young professionals capable of critical thinking. From different backgrounds and with different aims, our students learn with a design thinking attitude to contribute to current challenges facing society.

“An excellent example for urban area development is the growth of area initiators: numerous young individual entrepreneurs working to put a particular area on the map and organising a network of relevant actors. Examples include Optrek at De Binckhorst in The Hague and the Zomerhofkwartier in Rotterdam, Meer Merwede in Utrecht and ZOCity in Amsterdam Zuidoost” An excellent example for urban area development is the growth of area initiators: numerous young individual entrepreneurs working to put a particular area on the map and organising a network of relevant actors. Examples include Optrek at De Binckhorst in The Hague and the Zomerhofkwartier in Rotterdam, Meer Merwede in Utrecht and ZOCity in Amsterdam Zuidoost. The latter project made smart use of technological developments 22

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and created an innovative digital map showing, for example, what financial support is being given to certain projects. It is an excellent way of encouraging further development. See: http://www.zocity.nl/#199. These initiators are well aware of the fact that you can only change something if you know what to change and then actually do it. This offers excellent opportunities for blended learning. The Chair of Professional Practice has already made a start on this with its Gebiedsontwikkeling. nu platform. The challenge for the years ahead is to extend the English-language section and increase cooperation with other universities.

“The challenge for the years ahead is to extend the English-language section and increase cooperation with other universities” Finally, within the department, the foundations have been laid for theme-based teaching. The developments outlined above are excellent subjects for the ‘Living Lab’ on the theme of Co-creation initiated by Sake Zijlstra and myself. This is an excellent area of opportunity for interdisciplinary teaching in collaboration with other universities. A good example is the postgraduate Mastercity Developer (MCD) programme, initiated by Hans de Jonge together with the municipality of Rotterdam and Erasmus University. All of this corresponds perfectly with the mission of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment and the MBE department and its aim to train people ‘to make beautiful environments’.

MBE: Designing and implementing powerful processes in the Built Environment Marleen Hermans Times they are a-changing… It is clear that our sector - construction, real estate development and asset management - has been changing rapidly over the last two decades. Worldwide, many transition programmes have been started to overcome some of the evident system malfunctions: high failure costs, low quality awareness, high risk profile, fragmented supply chain, not too professional client-supplier relationships. Both the economic crisis and an undesired sequence of fraud affairs were important additional drivers for change in our own country, together with a changing political climate, increasing requirements related to good governance in the public domain, together with a political tendency towards retreating government involvement. Interrelationships between all parties involved in the construction process were impacted and a rapid development of new project delivery and cooperation terms is to be seen as an important side-effect and outcome of this change. Demographic developments impact the local demand and supply equilibrium and politics often strongly influence local market dynamics. The Greece case, but also recent developments regarding providing shelter to international refugees underline this observation. On a smaller, even more local, scale we see significant differences between market situations in different regions of our country, where oversupply and undersupply exist next to each other and our repertoire of action and financing methods do no longer facilitate or are even inapt to adequately master those differences. Other changes are more universal – the need for sustainable, preferably circular solutions, the need for adaptive solutions following ever-changing requirements of our dynamic society, dealing with the consequences of climate change – notwithstanding the need to actually

reverse undesired change - , the exploding possibilities of data mining and information technology, new disruptive technologies shifting everyday life, such as new mobility modalities, the development of new, biobased, materials or changing production technologies, such as 3D-printing.

“Other changes are more universal – the need for sustainable, preferably circular solutions, the need for adaptive solutions following ever-changing requirements of our dynamic society...” But also less apparent, more iterative, but unstoppable changes, such as in Western-European society, the increasing relevance and – luckily also – awareness and attention for asset management and responsible use of the existing and aging stock, representing substantive economic and cultural value. The role of public construction clients in a changing world Public clients are the ‘instigators’ of nearly half of all production in the construction sector, both in investments as well as in management of the existing stock. They are, therefore, both impacted by and drivers for change; in their commissioning role public clients are often referred to as the ‘key to reform’. The fact that they are ‘public’ rather than ‘private’ also invokes Marleen Hermans Marleen is professor of Public Commissioning in Construction at MBE. At the moment her focus is on commissions in asset management.

September 2016

expectations related to good governance as well as to their contribution to societal challenges. We have seen reflections of this in the rapid development of new project delivery models, for instance integrated contracts such as Design & Build, PPP and PFI agreements, but also alliances, performance based maintenance contracts, main contracts and total facilities management. Growing attention for good governance is visible in for instance expanding procurement legislation and policy, increased interest in systems engineering and contract management issues. And, in our own country, following the debates on issues such as badly paid international construction workers, sustainability and social return, we see an attention rising for public values in procurement.

“In our own country, following the debates on issues such as badly paid international construction workers, sustainability and social return, we see an attention rising for public values in procurement” Further changes ahead So where do all these changes lead us to, within the construction sector in general, but within the domain of my Chair – public commissioning - in particular? The most relevant changes to public construction clients and the way they interact with the supply chain are, to my mind: → Decision making on delivery models will be more and more based on portfolio characteristics, long term organisational goals, and circular, value based business cases rather than the current project based investment costs related decision making. Consequences are: • New, portfolio-based, assessment methods will be required, which by definition will be project transcending; • Tasks and responsibilities regarding the selection of project delivery models (both for investment as well 24

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as for asset management activities) will be – at least partly - transferred from current project managers responsibilities to other functionaries, often creating a completely new task, to be positioned either in the real estate strategy, the financial or the procuring department. • Organisational aspects are important enablers of change; organisational structures, knowledge management, finance and control functions, administrative procedures all should be structurally adapted. In fact, this organisational adaptation is key to a successful change of the sector. → To facilitate the application of new energy generating options, new governance structures are required to encompass the scale of neighbourhoods. Due to fragmented ownership, this scale of influence is hardly organised, hampering further implementation of sustainable solutions specifically in the existing stock. → Rather than the current, client driven one-off building process, integrated, more standardised solutions covering sustainable or even circular renovation and longer term maintenance, energy and facilities services will be developed and offered by the construction market. Eliciting new types of relationships between construction clients, who become more like regular ‘consumers’, and the supply chain, offering mass-customized full service products. I expect totally new parties entering the market and new types of collaboration to evolve. → The amount of change itself, and the often restricted capacity available within smaller local public organisations is a strong stimulus for collaboration between public organisations. Only by these types of collaboration, construction clients will be able to jointly answer these challenges and structurally building the knowledge and competences required to confront those. → The circular economy will cause a whole new way of looking at the built environment, where immovable assets are developing towards structures that combine movable and immovable elements. Ownership of assets will become fragmented and disconnected from the value and ownership of the location. The value of the

movable, circular, parts of assets will be based on their options for reuse and the organisational structure available to actually facilitate this reuse of building elements. This development will also require whole new financial solutions and mortgage systems and new design thinking, based on application of existing used products. This will largely affect the way construction clients co-operate with the market and formulate their specifications. As all these developments require multidisciplinary research, with a strong connection between managerial, organisational issues and design expertise, the MBE research programme would continue to be a logical position for further research and developments within this area.

“The success of construction clients strongly depends on their ability to co-operate with and invoke collaboration between innovative parties within the supply chain, both from within and without the existing construction sector” MBE and new challenges towards education and research Looking at the educational programme, the above developments require, from our MBE students, an increased knowledge of and insight into the supply chain. The success of construction clients strongly depends on their ability to co-operate with and invoke collaboration between innovative parties within the supply chain, both from within and without the existing construction sector. Furthermore, developing new, integral concepts not only consisting of ‘physical’ solutions but including organisational, financial, process and sustainable aspects should remain and be enforced as an important aspect of our educational programme. Already, through management games, our students are challenged to work on integral solutions for complicated, multi-faceted problems. Given the above developments, education should further stimulate the development of these

competences. Our students should be able to design these integral solutions, but also to develop decision models to assess the value of such solutions.

“Dealing with dynamics, politics, and being able to switch between levels of governance – from object and project, towards location, neighbourhood and city – should be included in the lectures and assignments we give our MBE students” Organisational aspects should also remain and be enforced as a major subject within the MBE programme. Dealing with dynamics, politics, and being able to switch between levels of governance – from object and project, towards location, neighbourhood and city – should be included in the lectures and assignments we give our MBE students. As regards specific subjects, asset management, contract management and financial engineering are to become important themes within our programmes. Dealing with the existing stock, finding technical, organisational and financial solutions and new use for what is already there, thinking about long term management of buildings and circular components, is of at least similar significance as managing new constructions. Rather than developing these themes and subjects from within our own faculty, we could enforce cooperation with for instance civil engineering, CME and TBM to jointly and efficiently further develop the valuable multidisciplinary elements within our programme.

September 2016

A studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s view upon MBE

HYLKE DE VISSER, RECENTLY GRADUATED Why did you choose to do the master track that is now called Management in the Built Environment? I started my bachelor in architecture based on my fascination for the built environment. I knew from the beginning that I did not want to become an architect and the lectures and courses from the department of Management in the Build Envrionment back then, were very interesting and appealing to me. The reason for this was that 26

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I liked the high scale level at which we looked at the built environment. Also I developed an interest in the management and financial aspects taught at the MBE courses and I realised that most of the other courses lacked this part of the reality check.

attitude helps to look at the issue from multiple perspectives and integrate these elements into one inclusive solution. Another important aspect of the master projects was teamwork. During almost every project we had to work in teams, which enabled me to improve my teamwork skills. In my opinion this is a very relevant skill in the field.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The designer thinking that was taught in the bachelor helped me to approach problems in an open and critical wayâ&#x20AC;?

What could be improved within the master track? From my background in the international student organisation STeLA (Science and Technology Leadership Association) and the relevance of teamwork skills in current practice I think it could be valuable to pay more attention to such aspects within the teamwork projects. Currently the team process does not receive special attention or is the responsibility of one process manager. More attention for team dynamics by means of small workshops or an elective course could improve the development of the students in this respect. In addition to this, I think that the availability of electives courses within the department could be

What are the most important lessons you have learned during your master? The designer thinking that was taught in the bachelor helped me to approach problems in an open and critical way. It developed a second nature in me to first analyse a situation on multiple levels and only after this phase, formulate potential solutions. In the process of developing solutions, the designer

improved. In my opinion it could be valuable for students to be able to choose for elective courses that dive deeper into the knowledge provided in the regular curriculum. I imagine a set of courses based on the sections in the department, e.g. electives in Real Estate Management, Area Development, Finance, Design & Construction Management etc. Would it be preferable to have more cooperation with other master tracks (within the faculty of Architecture)?* Not specifically. In my opinion the curriculum already incorporates quite a broad palette of approaches, perspectives and fields of knowledge. Widening this view by adding more aspects incurs the risk of a too general curriculum, which decreases the value of the graduates. What has been the most memorable moment during your studies? I’ve been thinking quite a while about this question. In conclusion, there are two moments that are memorable for me. First is winning

“A memorable moment was winning the Urban Area Development game with my team in 2015 on the Overhoeks area in Amsterdam” the Urban Area Development game with my team in 2015 on the Overhoeks area in Amsterdam. While presenting the entire project, I realised how eager we all were in the team to play the game best from our conflicting, role perspectives but that in the end we were able to translate all perspectives into one coherent plan. The second moment is obviously my own graduation ceremony, which marked the end of my graduation project. I conducted a pilot study as part of my graduation research at the CRE department of Oracle in the US. All contact with their team took place by means of video conferencing. I’m very proud of the final results I could show.

Who is the most memorable professor of the master track? There are three people that have motivated me to get the best out of myself, which makes them memorable for me. The first one is Sake Zijlstra whom supervised Sophie Stravens and me in writing the housing paper. He gave me the feeling that he had really been rethinking the educational approach to let us make most out of it. Ronald van Warmerdam was my team mentor in the redesign project and motivated us to be very critical towards our process of reasoning and presenting our findings in the report. By doing so, we were all motivated to take an extra step. Finally, Monique Arkesteijn, my graduation mentor helped me to make most out of my gradation project. She was always very enthusiastic but also critical when necessary. The combination of both helped me to never lose the motivation to continue the project.

September 2016

The future of research and education in law within MBE Monica Chao-Duivis What is the influence of law on the built environment? Some people will dismiss this question with a simple answer: trouble and a limitation of the creative mind. Others will point to the houses in historical Amsterdam and see how the regulation of the taxes on the width of the facades influenced the way houses were designed and to the fact that in Germany there is no speed limit which stimulated the car industry to design strong cars that can safely reach high speeds. Creative minds are not limited by the law, but use the law as a new opportunity and source for creativity. Where do we stand? There are three lawyers employed at MBE and we work on: private law, public law and environmental law. In our education we help students to understand why law is necessary: to make sure everybody gets his fair share and gives his fair share. So in private law contract models are explained: how to use and alter these to fit the specific wishes of parties. Procurement law ensures everybody who has something to sell to government agencies can get a fair share of this huge market. In public law we explain that ‘NIMBY’ (not in my backyard) is not a realistic attitude in small and densely populated areas. Environmental law teaches students that waste does not exist if one deals properly with materials and regulates the use of waste. The aim being a cleaner world to live in. Without rules the knowledge of management and the physical environment is left to those with the most power, the strongest voices and the boldest people and will be in vain. Law is there to facilitate relationships and to create a better world. This effect of law on the built environment belongs to the oldest legislations we know. The most well known example is the Hammurabi Codex stating in nr. ‘56. If a man let in the water, and the water overflow the plantation of his neighbor, he shall pay ten gur of corn 28

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for every ten gan of land’; and see nr. 233: ‘If a builder builds a house for someone, even though he has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from his own means’. Where do we go? The most important non legal factors are: the technological developments and the climate change. How does the law cope with those major issues? An important aspect in tackling these issues is that answers will have to have an integrated approach. Technological answers are never the work of one person. Groups and networks work together. This raises questions on the legal relationship of these groups and networks: who is the intellectual owner of the ideas developed in the group? Who should be liable when an idea turns out to be wrong? How are government agencies to act in procuring services from groups? And from a public law viewpoint: how to deal with integrated issues and permits?

“Groups and networks work together. This raises questions on the legal relationship of these groups and networks: who is the intellectual owner of the ideas developed in the group? Who should be liable when an idea turns out to be wrong? How are government agencies to act in procuring services from groups? And from a public law viewpoint: how to deal with integrated issues and permits?” What about the legal protests against developments in the built environment: should we call a halt to these protests or not? And what about the possibilities of

seeing and registering everything that happens in public spaces? Certainly it is practical for the police, but what about privacy? And who owns the information collected in public spaces and to what purpose should it be collected? And what if citizens collect data without having asked the passersby if they consent to this? What about water catch areas: it is maybe a technological good idea to use garages, but how is the owner of the garage and/or of the cars to think about this? The list of questions raised by the new developments can go on and on. The legal discipline is faced with these new developments, but is not empty handed. The principles of law and the existing body of rules contain answers but they might not be there for all to see. We have to find them. In living labs, like in Eindhoven in Stratusmeind for example, lawyers can see what actually happens when everything is being monitored in the public space. Which questions need answers? The study material of MBE is right there to see and use by both the staff and the students.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The students of the MBE department have to have knowledge of the principles of the law (...) Legal scholars need to assess the feasibility of ideas and wishes coming from the physical world of the built environment. When ideas are legally not possible, the question has to be faced: is the idea wrong or is the law wrong? And solutions must be soughtâ&#x20AC;? The built environment calls out to us to help shape a good legal equivalent of the physical world. This was, is and will be what law in the department of MBE is all about.

So what is important for students? The students of the MBE department have to have knowledge of the principles of the law. This is important because of the real influence on both employers and contractors/architects. It is also important because a lot of the students will work for government organisations who have to decide on the questions raised. The answers will differ given the new environment of the law. And what is important for researchers? Legal researches at the department of MBE traditionally have listened to their colleagues in the management field and in the more technical field. This attitude has to be the base of our research in the future as well. Legal scholars need to assess the feasibility of ideas and wishes coming from the physical world of the built environment. When ideas are legally not possible, the question has to be faced: is the idea wrong or is the law wrong? And solutions must be sought.

Monica Chao-Duivis Monica is a professor of Building Law at the Faculty of Architecture and the Build Environment. She is also the director of the Institute for Building Law.

September 2016

Looking back and forward on MBE (with a touch of personal history) Vincent Gruis 1972 was not only the year I was born, but also the year in which the graduation track Housing (Volkshuisvesting) came to life at the Faculty of Architecture. It was the first track in which policy and management processes in the built environment gained significant attention next to design and technology. This combination I came to appreciate during my own study of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology, which started in 1990, when the process to erect the new graduation track Construction and Real Estate Management (Bouwmanagement & Vastgoedbeheer, BMVB) was in full swing. Looking back In those days it was relatively easy to combine two graduation tracks so I decided to graduate in Housing and BMVB, which I did in 1996 when BMVB celebrated its first lustrum (during which I was cordially invited as one of the student speakers). In 1997, the first year of my PhD study, Housing celebrated its 25th anniversary. Housing and BMVB was a combination that fitted very well with that timeframe. Housing policies were geared towards marketization and implementation of business principles, also in social housing provision, while BMVB had a complementary focus on the office market and paid much attention to business studies. To me, therefore, it was a logical choice to help to merge the Vincent Gruis Vincent graduated in 1996 in the Master courses Real Estate & Project Management and Housing and finished his PhD in 2001. He is a professor of Housing Management.

MBE Anniversary Magazine

two departments and tracks, which I did as member of the so-called CURVE (Curriculum Vernieuwing Bouwkunde) team, resulting in the formation of Real Estate & Housing (the same year that I obtained my PhD degree by the way). After approximately 15 years, when I was celebrating my first lustrum as a full professor of Housing Management, we decided to change the name into Management in the Built Environment (MBE), which brings me to the current situation. Looking now MBE is celebrating its first year under its current name. And indeed, the department has renewed in many aspects. A long-term ambition to develop Urban Development Management as a fourth core discipline has been achieved with the appointment of Ellen van Bueren as full professor. For me, this was also one of the main reasons to support the change of the departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name. MBE is now unique in its combination of Construction Management, Housing, Real Estate Management and Urban Development Management as core disciplines within one department.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;MBE is now unique in its combination of Construction Management, Housing, Real Estate Management and Urban Development Management as core disciplines within one departmentâ&#x20AC;? These core disciplines are bound by a strong joint focus, not on design, nor on technology, but on the management and governance principles that are used to design and construct our built environment in a future proof way. So, on the one hand, MBE is still very much in line with the original principles of Housing and BMVB, but on the other hand has also been modernized and adapted to current academic standards. The latter is probably best visible in the efforts that are made to be much more

Figure 1: Cover of five year anniversary publication Construction & Real Estate Management (Krumm, ed., 1996) >>

prominent in the international scientific arena, for example by publishing in international journals and applying for funding of scientific research from institutes such as NWO, STW and Horizon2020. In education a similar shift is taking place, having increased our ambition to attract international students to our study and activities in modern education, for example through our online educational programme on energy friendly renovation processes. At the same time, we remain highly active in providing intensive educational programmes for professionals, among others through our involvement in the Master Urban Area Development and the NRP Academy for renovation and transformation professionals. For MBE this one year anniversary also means saying goodbye to ‘godfather’ Hans de Jonge and for the Housing section in particular the well-deserved retirement of our own seniors Kees van der Flier and André Mulder. The question now is where to go from here. Looking forward I believe MBE has a strong potential to contribute not only to the challenges of today, but also to the challenges of tomorrow. For me personally, yet in general terms, this is connoted to a shift from focus on sustainability in terms of ‘energy efficiency’ and ‘recycling’ to creating a real circular economy in the built environment. Although creating a circular economy has gained recognition as one of the big societal challenges, the emphasis in the current discourse is still very much on how to deal with waste - the outer loop of ‘recycling’ in the model of the Ellen MacArthur foundation. A main principle of a circular economy, however, to make optimal use of the inner

loops such as ‘maintain’, ‘reuse’ and ‘remanufacture’, and thus to prevent waste. One of the key assumptions in the concept of the circular economy is that use of these inner loops will increase if the ownership of products remain as much as possible in the hands of the supply chain. This stimulates the suppliers to increase performance of products in use and to maximise the end value of the product after their cycle(s) of (re)use. And the end value of products is determined to a large extend by how easy (parts of) it can be offered on the market again. Thus, economic and environmental interests coincide.

September 2016

Figure 2: Cover of 25 year anniversary publication Housing (Schutte & Van Wijk, ed., 1997)

Figure 3: Students discussing circular economy in the built environment (Prins, 2015)

Maintenance and renovation of buildings is by definition a way to make use of the inner circles of the circular economy. But maintenance and renovation themselves can be performed according to principles of the circular economy as well. Buildings consist of many components such as installations, kitchens, bathrooms, windowstills etc. which need not be owned by the building owner. If these would be leased from the supply chain, it would create several opportunities for a bottom-up implementation in the built environment, for new as well as existing buildings:

exactly the knowledge that is available within MBE and, fortunately, is also a shared interest among many of my colleagues. Matthijs Prins, for example, has already done excellent work in setting this topic on the agenda of our graduation students, who will, with their fresh minds, hopefully contribute to come up with the outof-the-box answers we need to implement the circular economy in our box. But we may need to implement more business model design classes in our educational programme to really activate and train the professionals and researchers of tomorrow to deal with the question of a circular economy and other big societal challenges in the built environment.

• The supply chain will be triggered to think about what to do when the installation, kitchen or maybe even entire façade will be returned to them after the current cycle of use; • If the end value rises, the lease costs of the components can become cheaper; • Owners get opportunities to invest off-balance in a part of their buildings; • The supply chain can offer full service, Total Cost of Ownership based contracts to building owners, who then benefit from reduced management costs and risks. Implementing such circular business models in the built environment, at different scale levels, requires 32

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In conclusion, I see a bright future for MBE. It has, by tradition, always done what is stated to be necessary: connecting disciplines to find interdisciplinary solutions to complex challenges in society, while bringing own specific expertise as well. And even though us people may come to spend more and more time in the virtual world, it will remain nice for us to have shelter in real estate in the foreseeable future. In terms of the circular economy, MBE will need continuous maintenance and occasional reuse, maybe even an incidental remanufacture, but the outer loop of recycling the waste seems far away to me.

The Department of… Anke van Hal Recently my personal circumstances changed. I spend much more time far away from the faculty of Architecture, the Department of MBE and my colleagues than before. This creates a confusing situation. Due to the distance, I am practically less connected with the department. However, on the other hand, I often feel much more connected and involved than before. With some colleagues, my contact became even much more intense (thanks to Skype!). But that’s not the only reason for my increased feeling of involvement. Living from a distance refreshes your view. I am a guest at several universities in Canada and get the opportunity to compare their and our way of working. What do we do better? What can we learn? Comparing two worlds is extremely inspiring. So, this is the best moment to ask me to give my opinion about the future of our department. I have lots of ideas! Let me emphasize first of all that I am quite satisfied with the functioning of our department. It is almost nine years ago that I was appointed as professor Sustainable Housing Transformation. I entered this department with many dreams. Not that long ago, during a small farewell dinner with Kees van der Flier, we looked back, and I can conclude that many of my dreams came true. This thanks to the help of and cooperation with many colleagues from within and outside our department, but also as a result of initiatives of others in which I was barely involved. Think of the growing attention for the circular economy and the great success of Prêt-à-Loger. Sustainability and the existing housing stock are much more in the focus of attention than some years ago and cooperation between the sections, but also between departments, has improved. I also have the impression that the appreciation of process-related elements of the building task has increased within the faculty over the years (however, I have to admit that my vision is limited to the housing sector). And of course, I extremely appreciate the opportunities offered by the MBE department to

my team and me regarding our pioneering adventure with the blended education project ‘Energy friendly renovation processes’. This project strengthened our ties with many colleagues within the department. Now, we can also share with others what we learned in this process by trial and error.

“I would love to develop, together with many people from our department, a strategy to seduce students to choose the topic of sustainable transformation of existing houses and neighborhoods” However, my satisfaction does not mean that we can’t do better as department MBE. What I seriously regret is the lack of enthusiasm from students for the in my eyes most challenging and inspiring task of process innovation related with a sustainable transformation of existing houses and neighborhoods (and housing processes in general). I would love to develop, together with many people from our department, (not only the section Housing) a strategy to seduce students to choose this topic. Not only because of my personal conviction that this is one of the most rewarding tasks to work on but also because of the job opportunities that this task is creating. Think of the many changes in the market regarding procurement methods, finance and cooperation. Building companies are changing from

Anke van Hal Anke is a professor of Sustainable Housing Transformation at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.

September 2016

Figure: Placemaking in a Torontonian street

contractor (doing what has been subscribed) towards developers (bringing new products to the market). Instead of the common tailor-made approaches, more and more standardized and prefabricated solutions are being developed. Innovation is everywhere; you would expect that students are standing in line to become involved in these developments. Unfortunately, we are not that far yet. I am convinced that cooperation within our department can change this situation. What do I notice at this side of the ocean that inspires me to pledge for new ways of working within our department? First of all, what strikes me here in Northern America is the strong and emotional bonding between universities and professional parties. A few week ago I visited the rooftop of the faculty of Architecture of the University of Toronto (by the way; our faculty signed an MOU with this faculty). The whole rooftop was a laboratory for green roofs and solar systems, sponsored by many companies. On first sight, the situation was comparable with the sponsorships of Prêt-à-Loger. But I was impressed to hear that most of the sponsors were alumni. I noticed the great role of alumni before. They are emotionally connected with their former university and are willing to invest money and time to help. What I would propose for that reason; cherish our alumni more than we do now. Involve them in our discussions and celebrate our successes with them, help them and let them help us and improve our relationship. 34

MBE Anniversary Magazine

“What I would propose; cherish our alumni more than we do now. Involve them in our discussions and celebrate our successes with them, help them and let them help us and improve our relationship” Something else I noticed is the natural way by which universities and companies react on so-called grassroot projects; projects initiated by residents. Of course, charity has always been a strong element in the Northern

American society, but it is the development of projects that intrigues me. I have seen ambitious neighborhood renewal projects, including the insulation of high rise buildings and job creation, which started with a new pizza oven in the mutual garden. Step by step more people and more professionals got involved and the whole neighborhood, in the past characterized by poverty and neglect, significantly improved by this approach. One of my wishes for the future of our department is more cooperation with residents and in the slipstream more integration of knowledge from the human sciences in our research and education. I have the impression that this will make us more attractive to students too. I often speak with students who complain about the lack of attention for emotions related to the built environment and for the human touch in general in our faculty. By being focused on processes aren’t we the party par excellence to be associated with the human touch? This remark brings me to the last point I want to ask attention for. The built environment has a strong influence on the wellbeing of people. Research into the relation happiness and place is a hot issue in Northern American and increasingly in the Netherlands too. Look at the development of the WELL-label! The most surprising outcome of all these happiness researches is the conclusion that the public space has by far the strongest influence on the feeling of happiness and wellbeing. However, in my opinion, the design of public spaces is an undervalued topic in our faculty. Can’t we focus more on the quality of the public space in our department?

“The most surprising outcome of all these happiness researches is the conclusion that the public space has by far the strongest influence on the feeling of happiness and wellbeing. However, in my opinion, the design of public spaces is an undervalued topic in our faculty” outdoor spaces. Including a lot of food production too. All these transformations look like spontaneous initiatives, but someone told me that all those transformations are organized in cooperation with the municipality, residents and local companies. Process! Something for us! This phenomenon is called placemaking. It is a buzz word here, and I like it so much! It has everything in it what the department MBE should stand for in my opinion; design and realization of houses and all other buildings and the space in between, with a short and long perspective, products and services, cooperation between residents and professionals, and all kind of other process related issues. The Department of Management of Place Making, MPM, …. that is my vision for the future.

Here in Canada in many cities, developers are obliged to combine their building activities with the renewal of the public space in the direct environment of their building (in a climate adaptive way). This illustrates the strong connection with this topic with processes. Another example; in Canada cities are often extremely cold in wintertime and hot in the summer. This has its influence on the public space. In the wintertime, the streets are wide to make it easy for people to move rapidly through the cold by car or public transport. In summertime the streets are narrow. By using plant pots, street furniture and paint, whole areas are transformed into lively September 2016

A student’s view upon MBE

Do you think the (academic) master track is a good basis for to work in a nonacademic environment? I think we could integrate more projects than theory in the course, to better prepare us for the real world.

MALVIKA MUNDKUR, RECENTLY GRADUATED Why did you chose to do the master track that is now called Management in the Built Environment? The course offered was the one I thought had the most prospect after graduating. I think real estate as a formal degree is lacking in most universities.

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Who is the most memorable professor of the master track? Hans de Jonge. He is impressive and inspiring. What was the funniest moment during your studies? We had a really fun lecture given by an external guest who was an alumni. His class was quite entertaining and educational, and had a lot of funny moments. Do you think online education will be the future of the master track? Not for a long time. I think this master is about collaboration to a

large extent, which would be missed in an online platform.

“I think the MBE has a long way to go before it is fully compatible for international students, (...) some of the subjects are restricted to a very regional scale” Do you consider the master track well suitable for international students? I think the MBE has a long way to go before it is fully compatible for international students. It isn’t enough to have good academic content, but a discourse and integration between international and Dutch which I find lacking. The course also needs to be looked at from an international perspective, and I find some of the subjects restricted to a very regional scale.

try to answer the questions of ‘why’ and ‘how’ buildings and cities should be built while working much closer to real social, economic and political challenges.

FILIP PLIAKIS, JUST STARTED THIS SEPTEMBER Why did you choose to do the master track that is now called Management in the Built Environment? I started my bachelors on this faculty because I wanted to make an impact in the built environment. After a few years of studying I realised that as an architect or urban planner your work is very limited to the physical design of a building or urban area. I do not have the passion for the actual design work I see with others, nor would I like to spend my life dealing with the type of bricks I should choose for a facade. With MBE I expect to end up in a work field where people

“With MBE I expect to end up in a work field where people try to answer the questions of ‘why’ and ‘how’ buildings and cities should be built while working much closer to real social, economic and political challenges” What do you expect of the master MBE? People from MBE talk an awful lot about Excel, but it should be more than that right? I have already seen some cool (and realistic) redevelopment projects from MBE students and I expect to learn more about the real life challenges someone would face during the process of building, planning and designing.

Did you already have some experiences with the master MBE during the bachelor? I recall a few minor assignments in the ‘old’ bachelor programme, but I think I got the first clear impression of what MBE is during the ON5 redevelopment project. With the role of economic advisor I got a new perspective on the design process while working within a group, which got me thinking about which master track to choose. What kind of work do you want to do in the future? Tough to say exactly, but I would like to end up somewhere developing projects that contribute to solving larger scale (economic or social) issues. Who or what inspired you to choose the master MBE? The lectures during the ON5 project of several MBE professors helped to change my view on the ‘real estate’ work field from being dull and ‘grey’ to a work field where you can actually make a difference in the built environment. Are you going to be a member of BOSS? Do you hope so?

September 2016

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