Op donderdag 18 april zijn we met het netwerk te gast bij Ru Paré, een voormalig basisschoolgebouw in Slotervaart. Ru Paré is een community die bewoners en tientallen organisaties en initiatieven een plek geeft om samen te komen.
De Amsterdam Smart City Demodagen zijn regelmatig terugkerende middagen bedoeld om de voortgang van de verschillende innovatieprojecten aan elkaar te presenteren, hulpvragen op tafel te leggen, dilemma’s te delen en meer partners te betrekken bij een project en deze vraagstukken verder te brengen.
Verder hebben we weer onze gebruikelijke werksessies waarin we een aantal vragen met een kleine groep grondiger behandelen. De Demodag wordt voorafgegaan door een Kennissessie waarvoor deelname optioneel is. We sluiten af met een hapje en drankje. De middagen kenmerken zich door een zeer open en vrolijke sfeer.
Voorafgaand aan de Demodag, organiseren we een kennissessie over een transitie-overstijgend onderwerp. Dit keer neemt Ruben Polderman (Gemeente Amsterdam) jullie mee in een introductie van Socratic Design: Een vernieuwende aanpak voor maatschappelijke uitdagingen en het herzien van ons denken. We accepteren vaak aannames over mens en wereld zonder ze te bevragen, maar deze vormen wel ons narratief en beïnvloeden onze leefomgeving en levenswijze. De Gemeente Amsterdam daagt ons uit om nieuwe, duurzame narratieven te verkennen en ons denken te analyseren. Doe je mee aan deze verkenning?
Energie | Co-creatie met bewoners in de warmtetransitie | Dave van Loon & Marieke van Doorninck (Kennisland) / Marije Poel (HvA)
Gemeenten en wijken zijn volop aan de slag met de warmtetransitie. De wijkuitvoeringsplannen worden ontwikkeld en aan bewoners gepresenteerd. Helaas wordt de bewoner behoorlijk laat in de planning betrokken, wat vaak tot veel ontevredenheid leidt. Deze top-down manier van werken lijkt niet ideaal te zijn om bewoners bij de warmtetransitie te betrekken. Daarom is Kennisland bezig met het ontwikkelen van een plan voor het vroegtijdig samenwerken met bewoners bij de warmtetransitie van wijken, waarbij vooral ook wordt gezocht naar aansluiting bij wat leeft in de buurt. Dit plan is al eerder besproken met diverse betrokken (bewoners)organisaties en de Hogeschool van Amsterdam. In deze werksessie willen we het idee toetsen en weer een stap verder brengen. We gaan input ophalen over het plan, onderzoeken welke mogelijkheden er zijn voor plekken om dit plan uit te voeren en financiering, en we gaan op zoek naar partners om hier concreet mee aan de slag te gaan.
Mobiliteit | Mobiliteitsrechtvaardigheid: samen definiëren, doemdenken en aanpakken | Afstudeerkring Mobiliteitsrechtvaardigheid HvA
In opdracht van de Provincie Noord-Holland en Amsterdam Smart City zijn Jackie Ippel, Timo van Elst, Merel Thuis en Jade Salomons aan de slag gegaan met een afstudeeropdracht rond het thema Mobiliteitsrechtvaardigheid. Binnen deze multidisciplinaire afstudeerkring voeren de studenten onderzoek uit op verschillende onderwerpen. Ze zijn nu halverwege hun onderzoek over ouderen in Purmerend, ervaringen van mobiliteitsarmoede, en de kloof tussen beleidsmakers en doelgroepen. Tijdens deze sessie willen ze samen met de deelnemers op zoek naar definities voor (mobiliteits)rechtvaardigheid en met behulp van doemdenken, omdenken en andere creatieve werkvormen oplossingen formuleren.
Digitaal | Data Commons: De Green Mile case | Lia Hsu (Amsterdam Economic Board)
Omschrijving volgt!
True price lab HvA - Sjoukje Goldman Ph.D. (HvA)
Om bedrijven te ondersteunen die overwegen true pricing te implementeren doet het Centre for Market Insights (CMI) van de Hogeschool van Amsterdam onderzoek naar de communicatie over true pricing naar de consument. Van februari tot en met juni loopt er een pilot op onze economische campus, waarbij een deel van het assortiment in het bedrijfsrestaurant en de koffie’s in de espressobar voorzien van de true price (echte prijs). Met deze pilot doen we onderzoek in een real-life setting naar de bereidheid van de consument op de echte prijs vrijwillig te betalen.
Het belang en de waarde van ‘Hier-opgewekte en Hier-geconsumeerde’ elektriciteit als netcongestie en verduurzaming maatregelen. - Hugo Niesing (Resourcefully)
Deze pitch toont broodnodige innovatie over het elektriciteitssysteem van de toekomst. We sturen in de fysieke ruimte (gebied onder het Trafohuisje) en tijd (simultaan opwek/afname per kwartier).
FlexPower stuurt de publieke laadpalen aan, FlexCity de laadinfrastructuur bij mensen thuis. Wat zijn de overeenkomsten en verschillen, hoe kunnen deze twee initiatieven elkaar optimaal versterken? ‘Zelfconsumptie’ achter je eigen aansluiting en onder het trafohuisje, hiermee verbeteren we:
OUI - De eerste circulaire auto – Barend Koolhaas
De OUI is het eerste circulaire elektrische voertuig op vier wielen. Het concept combineert een maximum aan praktische doeleinden met een minimum aan impact op het milieu. Het stelt de vraag: wat hebben we echt nodig? Weinig dingen zijn zo destructief als de auto. Vervuiling, verkeersdoden, enorme verspilling van energie en natuurlijke hulpbronnen en landschappen en gemeenschappen die worden verscheurd door infrastructuur. Als we onze manier van leven opnieuw willen vormgeven, moeten we de auto herontwerpen. We moeten wandelen en fietsen prioriteit geven, maar voor sommige doeleinden hebben we iets groters nodig. Het hoeft niet snel te gaan en het kan heel licht zijn. De OUI is ontworpen om gedeeld, gerepareerd en hergebruikt te worden. Het is een soort Fairphone op wielen die overal ter wereld kan worden gebruikt. Vooral op plekken waar schonere, veiligere mobiliteit een noodzaak is.
We hebben nog ruimte voor enkele pitches. Heb je een innovatieve oplossing voor één van onze transitievraagstukken? Of heb je een hulpvraag die je aan het netwerk wilt stellen? Neem dan contact met ons op!
Klinkt het programma interessant? Je bent welkom om aan te sluiten. Laat het ons weten en stuur een korte motivatie naar pelle@amsterdamsmartcity.com of noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com. De Kennis- en Demodag is van 12:45-16:30 met een borrel na afloop
On Thursday, March 7th, Amsterdam Smart City partners gathered for a day full of inspiration, exchange and connection with each other at our Transition Day! In this article, we give you a quick overview of the challenges we discussed, the inspiration session and the crash course drawing. Interesting in learning more? Read the challenge descriptions by our Program Managers Noor and Pelle (linked below).
Our yearly Transition Day is the day on which we investigate together with the network where we can make the most impact this year. Last year on, we mainly looked at the underlying barriers to the (then) surprising challenges and results. These challenges, such as mobility justice and human digitalization, are now completed or handed over. That is why this Transition Day we started working on new challenges. We started working on transition tasks that can only be advanced by working together, where we as a network can make a difference. Together with our knowledge partners and the challenge submitters from our network, we put together the 2024 full day program.
In this session, we dived into the world of underground infrastructure. Many different stakeholders deal with the underground. Electricity cables, fibre optic cables, gas pipelines, heat networks, sewers, but also tree roots and soil, form a complex playing field with many different interests for the parties involved. Right now, collaboration, data sharing, and co-planning between these parties is sub-optimal. Therefore, we started the challenge: Understanding the underground: Collaborating, Sharing Data, and Co-Planning. You can find all the information on the challenge here.
Would you like to join this challenge? Please get in touch with Noor at noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com.
In the past decade, we have witnessed a surge of cooperatives across society. This is great because cooperative initiatives can help drive sustainability and social goals. However, these initiatives always remain small-scale and localized and, in most cases, accessible only to specific and select demographics. In this session, we discussed the barriers to making cooperatives more mainstream. We decided to focus on the energy domain and defined the following question: How can we help to mainstream energy cooperatives and ensure that structures in society make room for them and barriers are resolved?
You can find all the information on this challenge here. Would you like to join this challenge? Please get in touch with Noor at noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com.
Due to lack of space and climate change, the future of living might need to partly move on to water areas. Researchers and designers are therefore imagining and conceptualizing floating urban development. However, to make it a truly realistic and imaginable future scenario, there are more hurdles to overcome. This challenge aims to change our collective belief in a way that living on water becomes as a serious option conceivable for everyone. We’ll work on creating imaginable and workable scenarios of urban development on water.
You can find all the information on this challenge here. Would you like to join this challenge? Please get in touch with Pelle at pelle@amsterdamsmartcity.com.
Circular initiatives often struggle to progress beyond the pilot phase. Numerous barriers hinder these circular initiatives, such as lack of data, implementation across the entire production chain, regulatory obstacles, and higher costs.
To overcome these barriers, adjustments to regulations are necessary to better align with circular initiatives, alongside the establishment of shared ownership within the production chain. For this challenge, we decided to focus on Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. You can find all the information on this challenge here.
Would you like to join this challenge? Please get in touch with Noor at noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com.
Renée Schoonbeek (Arcadis) kicked off the afternoon program with an inspiring session about the dynamics of successful collaboration. She shared two area development projects, one a success and one a failure. The collaboration success was the story of Hudson Square, New York. They successfully managed to get more green into the city, better facilities for bicycles and pedestrians, and renovated a public park. The keys to success were a grassroots initiative, clear goals, and a diverse coalition representing everyone from real estate to residents.
In contrast, the collaboration for the development of Feyenoord's stadium failed due to leadership changes, shifting market conditions, and lack of long-term commitment. Important lessons that emerged from this failure were to continuously focus on collaboration, avoid false consensus, invest in long-term commitment, and be vigilant towards signals of dissent within the collaborating parties.
Renée finished the session with an exercise. The most important thing in collaboration is to properly listen and ask questions. We practised asking questions with the technique “2 down, 1 to the side”. Where you first ask three questions. The 1st question is a rational question (what, who, where, why)? The 2nd question is a follow-up question, again a rational question for clarification or deepening. The 3rd question is an emotional question (how does that feel, how do you look back on it, what have you learned from it?). This exercise helped us to see things from the other person's perspective.
Renée’s key takeaway for reaching consensus in collaborations was to not only look at what you need from another person but also to see what you can offer. With this information in our back pocket, we were ready to start forming our own coalitions.
From lines to inspiring discussion diagrams. Flatland Agency introduced us to the world of 'Visual Storytelling'. How can you support a story with drawings, or visually represent a summary of a brainstorming session? Thomas from Flatland gave us a masterclass in drawing, demonstrating how simple shapes can say a lot.
We concluded this inspiring day with drinks and also said goodbye to Leonie as program director. With tears and laughter, we thanked her for all her efforts and dedication and wished her all the best for her further recovery.
We would like to give special thanks to everyone that helped organize this Transition Day. Many thanks to RoyalHaskoning, Flatland, Hieroo, Drift and HvA, all contributors to the challenges and all those present!
Our next event (knowledge- and Demoday) is on the 18th of April. Would you like to participate in this Demoday, or learn more about the program? Please reach out to pelle@amsterdamsmartcity.com.
Do you want to learn from and network with the best researchers and scientists working to tackle pressing urban challenges?
AMS Institute, is organizing the AMS Scientific Conference from April 23-25 at the Marineterrein, Amsterdam, to address pressing urban challenges. The event is organized in collaboration with the City of Amsterdam.
The conference brings together leading institutions in urban research and innovation, thought leaders, municipalities, researchers, and practitioners to explore innovative solutions for sustainable development in Amsterdam and other global cities.
Keynotes, research workshops, learning tracks, and special sessions will explore the latest papers in the fields of mobility, circularity, energy transition, climate adaptation, urban food systems, digitization, diversity, inclusion, living labs experimentation, and transdisciplinary research.
Attendees can expect to gain valuable insights into cutting-edge research and engage in meaningful discussions with leading experts in their field. You can see the full program and all available sessions here.
This year's theme is 'Blueprints for messy cities? Navigating the interplay of order and messiness'.
The program
Day 1: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Keynotes by Paul Behrens of Leiden University and Elin Andersdotter Fabre of UN-Habitat will be followed by a city panel including climate activist <strong>Hannah Prins</strong>. The first day concludes with a dinner at the Koepelkerk in Amsterdam: you're welcome to join our three-course meal with a 50 euro ticket.
Day 2️: Amazing discoveries
Keynotes by Carlo Ratti of MIT and Sacha Stolp of the Municipality of Amsterdam discuss innovation and research in cities. <strong>Corinne Vigreux</strong>, co-founder of TomTom, and Erik Versnel from Rabobank will participate in the city panel.
Day 3️: We are the city
Keynotes by Paul Chatterton of Leeds University and Victor Neequaye Kotey Deputy Director of the Waste Management Department of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Ghana. They discuss how we shape the future of our cities together. This will be followed by a city panel including Ria Braaf-Fränkel of WomenMakeTheCity and prof. dr. Aleid Brouwer of the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
To buy tickets: You can secure your conference tickets through our website.
Dinner tickets: On April 23 we’re hosting a dinner at the Koepelkerk in Amsterdam. Tickets for this can be added to your conference pass or bought separately.
We hebben uiteenlopende en interessante reacties ontvangen van stedenbouwkundigen, architecten en gemeenten. Als u wilt weten wat andere professionals denken, vul dan deze enquête in met uw e-mailadres en wij delen de inzichten met u.
Bedankt! 😀
Follow Playground on LinkedIn
We've received varied and interesting responses from urban developers, architects, and municipalities. If you want to know what other professionals think, please fill out this survey with your email, and we will share the insights with you.
Thank you! 😀
A previous post made it clear that a 15-minute city ideally consists of a 5-minute walking zone, a 15-minute walking zone, also a 5-minute cycling zone and a the 15-minute cycling zone. These three types of neighbourhoods and districts should be developed in conjunction, with employment accessibility also playing an important role.
In the plans for 15-minute cities in many places around the world, these types of zones intertwine, and often it is not even clear which type of zone is meant. In Paris too, I miss clear choices in this regard.
The city of Melbourne aims to give a local lifestyle a dominant place among all residents. Therefore, everyone should live within at most 10 minutes' walking distance to and from all daily amenities. For this reason, it is referred to as a 20-minute city, whereas in most examples of a 15-minute city, such as Paris, it is only about <strong>the round trip</strong>. The policy in Melbourne has received strong support from the health sector, which highlights the negative effects of traffic and air pollution.
In Vancouver, there is talk of a 5-minute city. The idea is for neighbourhoods to become more distinct parts of the city. Each neighbourhood should have several locally owned shops as well as public facilities such as parks, schools, community centres, childcare and libraries. High on the agenda is the push for greater diversity of residents and housing types. Especially in inner-city neighbourhoods, this is accompanied by high densities and high-rise buildings. Confronting this idea with reality yields a pattern of about 120 such geographical units (see map above).
Many other cities picked up the idea of the 15-minute city. Among them: Barcelona, London, Milan, Ottawa, Detroit and Portland. The organisation of world cities C40 (now consisting of 96 cities) elevated the idea to the main policy goal in the post-Covid period.
All these cities advocate a reversal of mainstream urbanisation policies. In recent decades, many billions have been invested in building roads with the aim of improving accessibility. This means increasing the distance you can travel in a given time. As a result, facilities were scaled up and concentrated in increasingly distant places. This in turn led to increased congestion that negated improvements in accessibility. The response was further expansion of the road network. This phenomenon is known as the 'mobility trap' or the Marchetti constant.
Instead of increasing accessibility, the 15-minute city aims to expand the number of urban functions you can access within a certain amount of time. This includes employment opportunities. The possibility of working from home has reduced the relevance of the distance between home and workplace. In contrast, the importance of a pleasant living environment has increased. A modified version of the 15-minute city, the 'walkable city' then throws high hopes. That, among other things, is the subject of my next post.
