This project concerns planning and management for more resilient urban deltas, and in particular, adaptation of the dynamics of urban deltas to address increasing flood risk. The project evaluates innovative territorial governance as an approach to create spatial strategies that may unlock the adaptation options, especially by integrating urban planning and water management, and engaging with stakeholders. The overall aim of the research is to develop an integrative and multiscale design and planning approach for adaptive urban transformation in fast urbanizing deltas. It uses the Pearl River Delta as a case study. The project will combine work in the China, the Netherlands and the UK: (1) to develop a portfolio of integrated adaptation measures based on an assessment of ecological capacity and life cycles of buildings, urban districts and regions; (2) identify potential in territorial governance structures for more integrated approaches and adaptation measures; and (3), develop and test innovative 3D visualisation techniques that facilitate participatory, multi-stakeholder planning approaches. For the first time, established and regular urban transformation processes will be used as opportunities to adapt systems in urbanized deltas at relatively low costs. Furthermore, the research will identify institutional, cultural and financial innovations that are needed in territorial governance to steer the development of urban and rural areas towards more resilient futures. This research provides a unique approach that integrates research in urban landscape systems, territorial governance and visualisation techniques that will help to achieve more integrated and resilient deltas.

The aim of this project will be to synthesize, develop and test CurCaP: a novel material that can be used for both bone replacement and as carrier for drug delivery that allows for local, controlled and slow release of anticancer compounds, for use in cancer treatment and bone replacement (in the bony area after tumor removal). Each year, many patients suffer from tumors in or near the bone, due to various primary forms of cancer or metastases. During treatment, the tumors and a part of the bone are removed, which often requires local bone replacement, combined with additional anti-cancer treatment (radiation, chemotherapy). However, cancers in the bone are often resistant to chemotherapy; there is an unmet need for effective treatment options. The CurCaP to be developed builds on an existing patented protocol for a biodegradable CaP-scaffold (BioCaP), developed by Dr. Liu. This BioCaP scaffold is unique in being an excellent bone substitute, while at the same time designed for integration of (bio)active molecules, acting locally by slow release. In this project, the group of Dr. Liu, ACTA, will use and adapt this method to integrate an anticancer compound (produced in Guangdong, China), taking into account the required specifications for structure, loading and release kinetics. Detailed chemical, structural and composition analysis for the resulting material will be performed at the South China University of Technology (SCUoT) in the group of Prof. Dr. Chang Du, using the expertise and analysis methods relating to the anticancer agent and nanoparticle biomaterials available. The performance of the novel CurCaP particles will be assessed in in vitro cell models and in vivo. This project will result in the availability of the well-characterized CurCaP anticancer-bone repair medical device, its synthesis protocol, and first performance data package. This will enable larger-scale clinical grade synthesis, testing of CurCaP in clinical setting and registration (after this project).