With the information of the mailmen, the municipality wants to improve it’s internal processes in order to increase the satisfaction of citizens concerning the way the municipality solved the problem reported.
Kickoff municipality and PostNL
PostNL en gemeente samen voor een schoner Amsterdam | PostNL
The increased popularity of the city of Amsterdam puts extra pressure on keeping the city clean. Therefore, the municipality started a special ten-points program aiming to increase the properness of the city. A clean city is one of the basic conditions for a livable citiy.
The municipality of Amsterdam receives 200-300 reports on the public spaces from citizens every day. Citizens report places where the municipality should take action in order to keep the streets clean. The municipality sends employees to those places in order to clean.
However, 39% of the citizens who reported an issue, is not satisfied with the way the municipality dealt with the report.
Therefore, the municipality has asked the mailmen of PostNL to check the actual status on the street after the employee of the municipality confirmed that het executed the task at the location.
Next to this ‘fact checking’ on the street, mailmen will also be asked to report places where the municipality should take action to clean the street. Finally, mailmen will take surveys at people’s doorstep (randomly selected addresses) to ask the opinion of citizens and ask how the municipality and the citizens could improve their actions in order to keep Amsterdam a clean, livable and attractive city.
With the information of the mailmen, the municipality wants to improve it’s internal processes in order to increase the satisfaction of citizens concerning the way the municipality solved the problem reported.
Goals of the municipality
- To what extent can we ask the mailmen to check the actual status of a report in the public space?
- What can we learn from the results of the activities of the mailmen?
- Is the mailman able to take small surveys at people’s doorstep?
- How does this survey-information relate to the standard survey the municipality held under citizens every two years? What can the municipality learn from the results of the interviews?
- How do citizens evaluate the extra activities done by the mailmen?
Goals of PostNL
- To what extent can we ask the mailmen to check the actual status of a report in the public space?
- How do the municipality, citizens and the mailmen evaluate the project?
- To what extent can we help the municipality of Amsterdam to increase the livelihood of the city by collecting data on the public space using our mailmen and their smart devices?
PostNL and the municipality jointly initiated the project. Next to PostNL and the municipality, several organizations are involved (e.g. CROW and NederlandSchoon as sparring partners, TauwBV and Verbeterdebuurt.nl as co-creation partners).
We started in May 2017 with a small group of mailmen. During 2017, we scale up to six areas in Amsterdam, with in total approximately 180 – 220 mailmen in Amsterdam:
o Noord-West
o Osdorp
o Slotervaart
o Pijp / Rivierenbuurt
o Centrum West
o Oud Noord
Using the local presence of the mailmen on the street can deliver a broad variety of relevant information for policy makers and for companies cleaning the City. In this early stage of development, commitment of the management of PostNL as well as commitment of managers and de aldermen of the municipality of Amsterdam has been a crucial factor for success. Also, the close co-creation process of the municipality and PostNL has been a key factor for success.
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.
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We're excited to launch a groundbreaking project aimed at transforming e-waste into educational opportunities! 🚀📚 As part of our commitment to sustainability and digital literacy, we're collecting smartphones, laptops, and other electronics to support vibrant educational workshops in Rwanda.
Why join us? By participating, you'll:
We're looking for individuals and organizations to donate devices, share expertise, or sponsor our efforts. Every contribution makes a real difference, and together, we can create a more sustainable and inclusive future. 🌟
Let's reshape the future, one device at a time. Join us in this exciting journey and be credited in our upcoming documentary that highlights the collective efforts of our incredible partners from Germany, Latvia, and the Netherlands. 🎥🌍
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Get ready for an exciting experience at the 7th Annual Placemaking Week Europe (PWE) in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from September 24-27, 2024! 🚀
Join us as we co-create an unforgettable programme! Do you have a game-changing project, research, or workshop to share? We want to hear from you!
This year’s festival revolves around four compelling themes:
1. Creating Place & Making It Last
2. Climate Adaptation: Together Towards Change
3. Living with Water: The Flow of the City
4. Local Power & The Battle for Space
Submit your proposals by May 19, 2024, and shape the future of urban spaces with us! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make a difference! Join us in Rotterdam and let’s build better cities, one idea at a time! ✨
You can find all the open call info and application instructions here.
More information about PWE'24 on our official website.
