Between spaces: Sociale invalshoeken in de stedenbouwkunde, een onderwerponderzoek naar tussengebieden in de netwerkstad

This graduation project started at the end of 2002 and developed itself into a rather theoretical (design)study. A the outset it had two goals. One was two develop a spatial model for urban fringes. The other was to (re)position urbanism ('stedenbouwkundig ontwerpen') in relation to the social sciences. First Phase The first phase was directed at the development of the researchproposal and the first hint of the elements concerning a spatial model based on socio-theoretical studies. The basic attempt in this phase was to start at the two opposit sites of the research and to work towards a meeting point of spatial analysis and social theory. But it was not that simple. The two ends did not meet and a different approach was needed. Second Phase I decided to develop a firm theoretical basis on which the spatial model could rest. It became clear through a few think- and designexercises that the legenda was the main crux to the production of a sound complex of theory and design. By this time the question about urban fringes has developed to no more than a case-study in which to try-out some of the ideas and a means to develop new ideas through design. The question of the development of urban fringes appears to be less and less relevant when you go deeper into the social theory. The whole notion of the fringe is based on a centralized image of the city, while the social theory leads directly to a scattered, networked type of image. This in itself leads to a different notion of desiging: that of processes instead of patterns. Thus what happens in this phase is the redefinition of the elements of the city as well. Third Fase The big question now at hand is how to turn all the theory, thoughts and designexercises into a comprehensible model for the development of a specific type of citypart: interference-, transition-, or in-between-areas between systems (urban, natural, socio-cultural, etc.). By bringing together networktheory, a new definition of city-elements (by the relation between time and space) and a new legenda new structures for socio-spatial development are proposed. Furthermore a new way to relate to the social sciences and the question of language is being developed. The final thesis concentrates on a set of basic questions concerning the theme of 'BETWEEN SPACES': the space of social science vs. the space of urban design, the space of the networkcity vs. the in-between-spaces, the space of man vs. the space of the built, etc.