Aikaterina Myserli
Urbanism
[Re]Natured Economy: From pollutants to productive landscapes
Instead of addressing algal bloom as a negative yet inevitable side-effect of the current economic activities in the Dutch-Flemish Delta, this thesis proposes a positive alternative: to capture the pollutants causing eutrophication (nitrogen, phosphorus, CO2) and to facilitate processes that generate value out of them (food, energy, bio-products). At the core of this proposal lies the transformation of underperforming crops into microalgae crops in enclosed tubular systems that do not require fresh water but contribute to wastewater treatment and convert discharged nutrients into valuable products. Creation of new wetlands by re-flooding polders with high saline soil and non-profitable crops is also investigated; establishing macroalgae ponds in their place may function as a model of filtration “layers” for harmful discharges which would reduce the level of pollutants reaching the water and could bring back significant benthic and pelagic species. At the same time, as the design ranges from reshaping the limits of the entire Delta to envisioning local water-based urban typologies, it creates adaptive flood defence systems and leads to a broader land use mix, distinct bio-based clusters and new socio-spatial constructs.