Wageningen University and Research

At this moment, I am doing a research about the possibilities to use urban greenhouses to make cities more circular, for instance by exchanging heath. Do you have any ideas what we may do with an urban greenhouse in relation with waste streams, smart grids, water streams or other domains? Or do you know existing projects with greenhouses in cities (all over the world)? I am very curious about your ideas/knowledge. Feel free to contact me: erik.bos@wur.nl

Kind regards,
Erik Bos
Wageningen University and Research

During my internship at Amsterdam Smart City, I did a research about the use and expectations of our online community (this website). As you may remember, I asked our members to fill in an online questionnaire about their behaviour and wishes on our online community. I want to share some outcomes of this survey with you!

During my internship at Amsterdam Smart City, I did a research about the use and expectations of our online community (this website). As you may remember, I asked our members to fill in an online questionnaire about their behaviour and wishes on our online community. I want to share some outcomes of this survey with you!
The total amount of respondents was 304, which gives a good indication of the whole community (more than 2000 members at this moment). From these 304 respondents , some interesting results were observed:

> 46% lives in Amsterdam
>
> A wide range of type of organisations where members are working (SME’s, Corporates, Knowledge institutions, Governmental organisations and start- ups)
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> 72% of the members is satisfied about the interface of the site

Interests of the members

> The most important reasons to sign up on the online community are to find smart city projects (65%) and to acquire knowledge (66%)
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> 55% of the start- ups wants to find partners on the community to do business with​- The community members have most interest in start-ups (74%) and knowledge institutions (74%)
>
> The project section and event section are the most important/interesting sections on the community. Events are mostly interesting for users who live in Amsterdam.​Activities of the members
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> 58% visits the online community once or twice a month
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> 28% visits the community weekly
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> Only 9% never visits the online community
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> 25% of the respondents shared content in the past54% expects to share content in the future

A smart city, according to the members, is mostly associated with:

> Technology
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> Citizens; Liveability (a higher score was given on this aspect by respondents living in Amsterdam)
>
> Environmental sustainability
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> Mobility

The results show that the community is a diverse and growing group with different interests, depending on where people live and work. The results also show some challenges for the future.

1. To ensure the quality of the shared content (with a growing amount of members). We already try to remove irrelevant content from the community.
2. Involve citizens from Amsterdam (more actively) on our community. We already made a program with offline activities, which are also interesting for the citizens of Amsterdam! This ‘off-line’ agenda will be shared soon.
3. How can we help start-ups to find partners to do business with? We already to try share relevant events for start- ups in Amsterdam, like the start up in residence program.

If you have any suggestions our tips to improve our community, you can always share these tips with us! Please give us your comments below!

The deadline to fill in the survey about your use and expectations of the online community of Amsterdam Smart City (this website!) is this Monday 21st of November!

So please fill in the survey if you did not fill it in yet. It only takes 5 minutes of your time.
Note: We will give away three copies of the book 'Smart City' from Anthony Townsend to the participants of the survey!

Click here to fill in the survey: http://bit.ly/2fBZloc

One of the urban challenges of cities (and for Amsterdam) is mobility. How to provide reliable and sustainable mobility/infrastructures for citizens, employees and tourists?

A recent solution has been announced last week: sharing bicycles. At ‘De Zuidas’ in Amsterdam, the Hello Bike will be introduced in 2017. You can reserve and unlock your bike via an app on your phone. The initiator, Hello Zuidas, hopes to reduce traffic jams around the Zuidas by the ‘Hello Bike’.

Are there more examples of smart projects and products related to smart mobility? Yes, we will give you an overview of some interesting posts and projects about mobility which have been shared on our community. Do you have an interesting project or product related to mobility? Share them!

E-mobility & City Logistics

Electrical vehicles do not emit greenhouse gases and other air pollutants like NO2. The project E-mobility & City Logistics supports public and private organisations in their ambition towards zero emission transport in 2025. The project E-mobility & City Logistics aims to contribute to large scale implementation of electric vehicles for freight transport and service logistics in urban areas.

Did you know that Amsterdam has set up many goals related to electrical vehicles? For instance, in 2025, all city buses will be emissions free!

Amsterdam Practical Trial

All cars, navigation systems, traffic lights and information signs connected with each other and automatically working? In this project, innovations and new technologies are tested in Amsterdam. Amsterdam Practical Trial contributes to improve traffic flow, less congestion and a cleaner city. Which lessons did we learn?

Ship to Grid
Using green renewable energy for ships in Amsterdam. 200 shore power stations allowing ships to connect to green energy instead of on board diesel generators for their power supply, in the program Ship to Grid. Better for the water and air quality! The shore power is available through connections that use a pay-by-telephone system. With a single telephone call, the captain will be able to activate a connection with the shore power station by entering his personal code. Smart!

WeParc

WeParc is a valet parking and car services company allowing consumers to book their parking in the city through our mobile app. How it works? Let one of our drivers pick up your car, park it into one of our secured lots and return it whenever, wherever. It’s easy, reliable and affordable.

Request: Participants for on-demand parcel pick up

Wuunder offers an on-demand pick-up within one hour in Amsterdam. With only a mobile phone and a pen you can ship your parcel. One (bike) courier collect the shipments and will do the hand-over to multiple carrier companies. This avoids multiple parcel delivery vans within the city. Interested? We're looking for people that enjoy giving feedback to make our service even better.
E-mail: Info@WeAreWuunder.com

Picture: Pixabay.com

How do you use the online community of Amsterdam Smart City (this website)? What is your view on Amsterdam as smart city? And what are your expectations of this online community?
We are very curious about your answers. Please fill in this survey if you did not participate yet (5 minutes):
http://bit.ly/2fBZloc

Three copies of the book 'Smart City' from Anthony Townsend, a future classic, will be given away to the participants of this survey!

Why did you sign up for the online community of Amsterdam Smart City (this website!)? How do you use this online community and what do you expect from the community? This and more questions are asked in the survey about the Amsterdam Smart City online community. Your feedback is very useful for us and will help us to better meet your needs in the future.

You can find the survey here:
http://bit.ly/2eBfV65

Yesterday (25th of October), ‘The State of the City’ (Staat van de Stad) took place in the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, organised by Pakhuis De Zwijger. During this evening, several experts and lecturers shared their vision on the current state of Amsterdam. How does Amsterdam develop? Is Amsterdam really becoming busier? Which challenges do we face? And how can we deal with these challenges? A short summary.

Collaborate with other cities

First of all, the mayor of Amsterdam Eberhard van der Laan explained that we all perceive that the city becomes busier. ‘You can see it with your eyes. And so do the facts. Annually, 10.000 people want to move to Amsterdam and there is a growth of companies (120 per year) that want to settle in Amsterdam. In the past five years, 8000 new hotels are created in Amsterdam. So yes, it becomes busier in the city. But this is caused by the success of Amsterdam. However, we should really take action to solve the related problems. And it is urgent! For instance: what are we going to do when the growing middle classes of China and India (3.000.000 people) also wants to visit Amsterdam in the coming decades?! Since Amsterdam is not the only city who faces this problem, we should work together with for instance Berlin and Paris. And we should also look to other cities in the Netherlands. Why not encourage tourists to stay in Rotterdam in a hotel and visit the Mauritshuis in The Hague instead of the Rijksmuseum? But, one thing is very important to keep in mind by looking to these solutions: Amsterdam must stay/be the city of the citizens of Amsterdam’’!

Migration is essential for a city

Philippe Legrain from the UK and political economist, touched upon migration to Amsterdam. ‘’Amsterdam will be one of the centres of the new global economy. This attracts people from all over the world to live and work in Amsterdam. Instead of seeing these migrants as the cause of problems like rising house prices, you can also look to their added value. They bring skilled labour and they are doing jobs which Dutch people do not want to do (anymore). Migration is essential for a city. For every job a migrant has, he/she creates another! Learn to live together in diversity’!

Keep on experimenting

Rens van Tilburg explained the attractiveness and economic trends of Amsterdam. Especially the physical and digital connectivity of Amsterdam are important reasons why companies and people want to come to Amsterdam. However, the view on the economy is changing. A growing part of the citizens perceives that the economy is growing, but they do not have the feeling they take advantage out of it. The pie is growing, but people do not get a bigger part. And this leads to a decline of welfare and happiness. People do not accept the trend of a higher range between rich and poor people, also in Amsterdam. How can we solve this? Keep on investing in all classes of society! And: Keep on experimenting. Trial and error. The 21st century will be the century of the city!

Some other interesting quotes

> ‘Amsterdam is a privileged city, but this also means you have responsibilities’ – Domenica Ghidei Biidu
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> ‘In Amsterdam, there are less unemployed lower educated people than unemployed higher educated people’ – Paul de Beer
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> ‘Social Capital is one of the most important pillars of the economy’ – Rens van Tilburg
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> ‘The population density of Amsterdam is only a quarter of Paris, and a third of Barcelona. Is it really that busy?’ – Philippe Legrain
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> ‘Social housing is essential for a city to ensure diversity’ – Philippe Legrain
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> ‘We should avoid that all local supermarkets in the neighborhoods are replaced by souvenir shops and waffle or cheese shops’ – Mayor Eberhard van der Laan
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> ‘Mercy, one of the historical pillars of the city of Amsterdam, should always be kept in mind. Then, Amsterdam will become a Shining City on a Hill, but then in the Polder’ – Rens van Tilburg
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> 'The city of Amsterdam should be inclusive'! - Gloria Dekker

There were much more interesting quotes and speeches, this is just a selection.

What do you think of our online community? How do you use it and for which purpose(s)? In an online survey (only 5 minutes) you can answer these questions and help us to better meet your needs in the future!

Hi innovators!

The online community of Amsterdam Smart City has already more than 1500 innovators from 350 cities, including you! To make our community even smarter, we kindly ask you to fill out this survey. In only 5 minutes you will help us to better meet your needs in the future!

Click here to fill in the survey

Three copies of the book 'Smart City' from Anthony Townsend, a future classic, will be given away to the participants of this survey!

The deadline to complete the survey is 21st of November 2016!

Thank you for participating!

Kind regards,
Team Amsterdam Smart City