I'm Thijs Meijer, an urban designer working across urbanism, planning and mobility. I treat the city as a place to test ideas, prototyping, mapping and co-designing until space works for the people who use it. Currently looking for my next role in urban planning & design.
“Play is the highest form of research,” Albert Einstein said — and every project of mine starts as an experiment, made within the limits of the earth.
Design that begins with curiosity rather than certainty. I model, sketch, map and test. Because the most resilient places are the ones that were allowed to be playful first.
Constraints are the rules of the game: budgets, climate, mobility and people. Within them I look for the move nobody expected, always staying within what the planet can carry.
The Journey
A résumé that reads like a stack of overlapping experiments.
Study Study activities Work & roles Chairmanship Internships Side jobsbars show duration · hover a card for role, dates & details
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Academy of Architecture, AmsterdamMaster Urbanism · Pre-master Urbanism & Landscape ArchitectureStudying urbanism in the Academy's evening master, alongside practice.Feb 2021 – Sep 2026
Thesis research, Cape TownAcademy of Architecture · Graduation fieldworkThree months in Bellville for my graduation project Common Ground: fieldwork, interviews and spatial analysis.Nov 2025 – Jan 2026
Hanze UAS, GroningenBachelor Built EnvironmentGraduation research into large-scale participation processes in practice.Sep 2015 – Jul 2020
Minor Urban RegenerationHanze UAS, GroningenFeb 2018 – Jul 2018
ITS Surabaya, IndonesiaMinor Environmental EngineeringA semester at the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology.Sep 2017 – Jan 2018
Minor Applied PsychologyHanze UAS, GroningenBridged the gap between switching studies.Feb 2015 – Jul 2015
Bachelor Civil EngineeringHanze UAS, GroningenMy first year at Hanze — after half a year I switched to Built Environment.Sep 2014 – Feb 2015
Studio Bereikbaar, RotterdamJunior Consultant · Urban DesignerAdvisors, designers and researchers at the crossroads of mobility and spatial planning — urbanisation strategies, mobility visions and the (re)orientation of infrastructure projects.Mar 2024 – Sep 2026
University of the Arts AmsterdamChair, University CouncilStudent member of the University Council from Sep 2022, chair since Jan 2023 — representing students and staff across the AHK's academies.Sep 2022 – Sep 2025
Founder of AHKSIFounder, AHK student associationWorked out how a student association for the AHK could be structured and presented the proposal to the Executive Board.Sep 2024 – Feb 2025
Urban Sync, LeidenJunior concept developer · Participation expertUrban Sync develops urban real-estate concepts that make the city more beautiful, liveable and sustainable.Dec 2023 – Apr 2024
GROUP A, RotterdamJunior urban designer · CarbonLab researcherUrban design at GROUP A architecture, plus research in CarbonLab on how to decarbonise city making.Mar 2022 – Sep 2023
Urban Sync, LeidenJunior concept developer · Participation expertCreating healthy urban living environments together with businesses, governments and inhabitants.Jan 2021 – Feb 2022
Christelijk Lyceum ZeistSubstitute teacher, junior yearsCovering lessons when teachers dropped out with corona complaints, so school could keep going.Sep 2020 – Dec 2020
Nationaal Programma GroningenExecutive employee · Participation expertChaired and facilitated online participation sessions for Toukomst, helping citizens' ideas into the next phase.Nov 2019 – Aug 2020
West 8, RotterdamGraduation thesis · Assistant project managerWeekly in Rotterdam working on the Toukomst project and my thesis on large-scale participation in practice.Nov 2019 – Jun 2020
City of Cape TownIntern · Urban Catalytic Investment dept.At the Metropolitan Municipality's Urban Planning Department — research into the TOD node Bellville.Nov 2018 – May 2019
Eetcafé het Zwarte SchaapBar staffSide job in Groningen during my bachelor.Jan 2018 – Sep 2018
Beachclub Kaap HoornBar staffBeach club in Haren, side job during my bachelor.Apr 2016 – Sep 2017