Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)

🚶‍♀️ How walkable is Amsterdam? 🚶‍♂️

🏘️ Ever wondered how pedestrian-friendly is your neighbourhood?
Do you feel encouraged and safe to walk in your surroundings?
Do the streets have too much traffic 🚦 and not enough trees 🌳?

I am thrilled to introduce to you the newest sibling of CTwalk: CTstreets Map!
CTstreets is a web tool that highlights how walkable Amsterdam is 🚶‍♀️ 🚶‍♂️

It uses openly available data sources and provides information on how walkable neighborhoods, walksheds (5 and 15-minutes), and streets are.

CTstreets was developed through a participatory approach in three main steps:
📖 We studied the literature and made a list of all the factors that are most commonly found to impact walkability.
💬 We asked urban experts who work in Amsterdam to prioritize the identified walkability factors while considering the characteristics and citizens of Amsterdam.
💯 Based on our discussions with the experts we created overall walkability scores, and scores per theme (e.g., related to landscape or proximity) and visualized them.

👀 Explore the web tool here:

CTstreets Map
[currently does not support mobile phones or tablets]

🔍 Learn more about CTstreets Map:

Documentation
On a more personal note, it was wonderful collaborating with Matias Cardoso to develop this project. CTstreets draws significantly from Matia's MSc thesis "Amsterdam on foot," which is openly accessible and you can read here: https://lnkd.in/eyj3dpBZ

Disclaimer:

The estimated walkability scores are heavily based on the availability and quality of existing data sources. The reality is undoubtedly more complex. Walkability can be also personal and the presented scores might not reflect everyone’s point of view. Ctstreets is practically a tool aiming to enable the exploration of factors that impact walkability according to the experts in a simple, interactive, and fun way.

What opportunities for social cohesion do cities provide?

Is your neighbourhood park frequented by a homogenous or diverse mix of people? How many hashtag#amenities can you reach within a short hashtag#walking distance? And do you often encounter people from different walks of life?

I am very excited to introduce to you CTwalk Map, a web tool that seeks to highlight the social cohesion potential of neighbourhoods while also unmasking local access hashtag#inequities. CTwalk maps opportunities that different age groups can reach within a 5 or 15-minute walk.

🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️ It uses granular population, location, and pedestrian network data from open sources to estimate how many children, adults, and elderly hashtag#citizens can reach various destinations in a city within a short walk.

🌐 It offers a simple and straightforward understanding of how the 5 and 15-minute walking environments are shaped by the street network.

➗ It estimates the degree of pedestrian co-accessibility of various hashtag#city destinations.

CTwalk Map is now available for the five largest cities in The Netherlands.

Take a look at the web tool:

https://miliasv.github.io/CTwalkMap/?city=amsterdam

... learn more about CTwalk Map at this link:

https://bit.ly/ctwalkmap

[currently does not support mobile phones or tablets]

...and let us know what you think!

#EVENT: NEGOTIATING ENERGY 💡

When: May 10 from 3 PM - 5 PM
Location: AMS Institute or online (hybrid)

Join Superworld, TU Delft, and AMS Institute for an inspiring event as we explore the complexities of energy transition and retrofitting in the built environment. The upcoming hybrid event will showcase their research project and how it supports the negotiation processes of retrofitting and energy as a common resource.

For more information and registration (free), please click here: https://lnkd.in/dDDtuEru

#energy #energytransition #project #environment #VVE #research
___

In #collaboration with Gemeente Amsterdam, Stichting !WOON, CLICKNL, Nationaal Regieorgaan Praktijkgericht Onderzoek SIA

Our call for monumental VvEs in the city centre of Amsterdam:
Are you interested getting a detailed technical analysis and report, conducted by TU Delft, of your monumental building? We are looking for a VvE in the city centre of Amsterdam for our research project!
We will provide you with free advice and insights into your options and a multi-year plan for the sustainable renovation of your property.

Interested? Please contact: M.K.Dang@tudelft.nl

More details about the research project
Based on that vision, the 1-year exploratory research “Collect Your Retrofits” funded by the KIEM Goci (NWO) and as part of the High-hanging fruit program, brings together knowledge institutions TU Delft (Climate Design and Sustainability), AMS Institute and Superworld, an international Architecture and Strategic Design practice. The project is also supported by the Gemeente Amsterdam and Stichting !WOON.

“Collect Your Retrofits” intends to design a replicable and collective retrofit approach in the context of monumental areas while reframing the cultural notion of energy. The research intends to answer the following questions: How can we unlock the potential of collective retrofitting at scale in the context of historic buildings? And, what would it mean to design collective decision making process of energy as a common resource?

If you are a user of voice assistants, you have probably experienced misunderstandings, especially if you are a woman or have an accent.  One of the reasons behind misunderstandings is bias in voice biometrics. This is not a problem if you’re a white US male, but for the rest of us, voice-based systems may be biased.

If you use Google Assistant, whether you use the Assistant App, use Google Home, or Google Nest, you can help mitigate bias in voice biometrics by donating your voice records.

In the process, you will be able to explore your data before committing to donate it.
To do so:

1. Download a copy of your Google Assistant records (See detailed instructions)
2. Upload your data to our Data Donation Platform and explore it
3. Decide what exactly you want to share and donate your data!

We will use the donated data to develop design guidelines and construct an evaluation dataset that reflects real-life usage conditions of voice biometrics technology. In addition, you can participate in a follow-up interview to delve into your personal experience with voice assistants and further explore your data.

This project is part of my PhD research and your contribution would be greatly appreciated! Feel free to reach out :)

Wat als iedereen in de stad op <b>elke</b>straathoek hun afval volledig gescheiden aan zou kunnen bieden – van luiers en lokaal composteerbaar groen, tot plastic en drinkpakken? Niet met de logistieke nachtmerrie van een overdaad aan aparte inzamelbakken, maar met robots die het aangeboden afval naar een centraler punt rijden. Of wat als robots kunnen helpen om het opruimen van vermoedelijk drugsafval efficiënter en veiliger te maken? Of wat als ze de schoonmakers van de stad ondersteunen in het schoon houden van lastige plekken als oevers en kades?

Dat zijn een paar van de ideeën die zijn geoogst tijdens de workshop ‘Robots & een leefbare stad’, op de demodag van Amsterdam Smart City, 16 september 2021. Ik deelde resultaten van ons onderzoek met het AMS Instituut en de TU Delft naar de interacties die ontstaan tussen robots en mensen op straat. Daarna hebben we gebrainstormd over hoe ‘straatrobots’ van nut kunnen zijn voor een schonere stad. Het werd een inspirerend gesprek, door een rijke mix mensen van gemeentes, provincies en onderzoeksinstituten.

Naast de vele ideeën, kwamen ook de meer kritische vragen aan bod. Kan een robot bijvoorbeeld wel omgaan met de onvoorspelbaarheid van de stad? Zouden gebieden buiten de stad dan niet beter werken? Kunnen robots bewustwording verhogen, ‘nudgen’, zonder manipulatief te zijn? Hoe kunnen we dit juist een kans maken voor kwetsbare groepen, zoals mensen met een beperking? Kunnen we niet beter eerst de behoeftes in kaart brengen, in plaats van meteen na te denken over robots?

Kortom, vele inzichten die samen een eerste aanknopingspunt kunnen vormen voor een schonere stad. De diversiteit van de groep gaf hele verschillende perspectieven op het wel of niet inzetten van robots. Een waardevolle aanvulling op waar we zelf al aan dachten. En de nadrukkelijke uitnodiging om de toegevoegde waarde voor mensen voorop te zetten.

Researchers Sultan Cetin (TU Delft), Catherine De Wolf (ETH Zurich) and Nancy Bocken (Maastricht University), have developed a novel framework combining Circular Economy principles and life cycle stages of buildings, and mapped ten potentially enabling digital technologies.

These include:

1. Additive/robotic manufacturing;
2. Artificial intelligence;
3. Big data and analytics;
4. Blockchain technology;
5. Building information modelling;
6. Digital platforms/marketplaces;
7. Digital twins;
8. The geographical information system;
9. Material passports/databanks;
10. The internet of things.

Their framework can be used to create roadmaps or map your value network in your circular operations.
You can access their article freely.

Life in the city relies on the smooth operation of urban freight transport. But, we know there are a lot of issues associated with the activity, leading to often very unsustainable outcomes. If you're interested in sustainable transport, don't neglect looking at urban freight!

We have a free course on Sustainable Urban Freight Transport starting next week 4th December 2018. It is a collaboration between top universities around the world, and led by TU Delft. It provides you with a clear introduction to the world of city logistics. Hopefully, it will spark some innovation in thinking about integrating older practices with smart city initiatives and startups.

If you're interested, enroll at https://www.edx.org/course/sustainable-urban-freight-transport-a-global-perspective.

Share this with your friends and colleagues. Enroll together and it will be more fun!

Looking forward to seeing you there!