The main question of Stolp’s keynote was: "How to innovate, share discoveries, and solve the problems of our times?" She emphasized the urgent need for rapid innovation to combat climate change and its severe humanitarian and biodiversity impacts.
‘‘The processes we have created are not enough to get to the results that we want and need to adapt.’’
She highlighted that cities cannot afford to be slow in adapting and must become dynamic playgrounds for innovation. Stolp proposed using "living experiments" in urban environments to act as accelerators for urban transition. These experiments allow for real-world testing and rapid iteration of innovative solutions. By viewing messy urban landscapes as hopeful spaces for pioneering change, cities can enhance their resilience and sustainability. Stolp concluded that embracing this approach will help cities adapt swiftly to climate change, fostering a more sustainable and resilient urban future.
Carlo Ratti's keynote explored the transformative impact of the Internet of Things on urban environments, turning cities into Living Labs for technology. He highlighted how cities become test sites for innovations, both deliberately and organically.
‘‘Recently, we have started to see the city as a living being, allowing us to investigate, for example, mobility patterns in a different way.’’
Ratti discussed how new technologies, like real-time cell phone data analytics, reveal intricate mobility patterns, showing that people don't always take the shortest path. This data can repurpose parking spaces, enhancing urban design.
He also emphasized the potential of autonomous innovations, like boats and responsive architecture, to dynamically respond to emergencies. Technologies such as city scanners on garbage trucks can efficiently monitor air quality across entire cities.
Ratti concluded that these advancements allow us to realize long-desired urban improvements, transforming how we understand and interact with our cities.
The panel discussion centered on identifying and understanding the innovations essential for modern urban challenges, particularly in Amsterdam. Carlo Ratti emphasized the unpredictable nature of "playful innovations," like the internet, highlighting the randomness in innovation. Corinne Vigreux underscored the need for accurate, real-time data, while Carola Hein stressed critical interpretation of this data.
‘‘How do we interpret data? Maps always lie; we need to understand what the borders of the data are, what we can and can’t do with the data.’’ - Carola Hein
Erik Versnel pointed out the necessity of combining various data dimensions for a comprehensive understanding, after which Sasha Stolp referenced new European guidelines on sustainable development goals for broader welfare.
For future innovations, Vigreux proposed an interoperable digital map, or "digital twin," to facilitate further innovations like autonomous driving. Ratti advocated for accessible data platforms, enabling everyone to contribute. Stolp emphasized context-specific solutions for Amsterdam.
‘‘Not all innovations are applicable for Amsterdam. For example, how do we preserve heritage? And how can we work together with nature?’’ – Sasha Stolp
Versnel called for integral system transformations to break down silos. Hein argued against "best practices," suggesting they hinder future progress and advocated for aligning student perspectives with practical innovations.
The panel concluded that people are central to all innovations, requiring continuous feedback loops. Innovations should scale within the ecosystem, integrating technical and societal advancements, and addressing real-world problems to achieve significant impact.
Reusing wastewater will be a crucial component of meeting Amsterdam's target of being a circular city by 2050. However, introducing wastewater reuse into a circular model for cities faces multiple challenges. The coming together of social, structural, technical, economic, regulatory and political factors are needed to support this change, but where should we start?
In the session, five stakeholder roles were chosen at random and deliberately not the expertise of the role-player. However, they were able to step out of their role if they had expertise to share on a topic. Over the course of three rounds, a facilitator posed challenging questions to drive the discussion forward: what needs to change?; can it change?; who is responsible, currently and in the future?
With the roles of politician, pioneer user, farmer, urban planner, and Housing Association, and the skillful direction of the facilitators, the discussions were wide ranging, for instance: aligning individual stakeholders with the larger goal; incentivizing change and what would be acceptable sacrifices; education of and knowledge sharing between stakeholders; ownership - of wastewater as an entity, the components of wastewater circular systems, and the products resulting from reused wastewater; renovation vs starting from scratch; responsibilities now and in the future at the micro (individual), meso (community, organization) and macro (municipality, government) level. The conclusion was that nothing would happen until a position statement was made by an oversight organization, such as the government or responsible governance Board, that clarified the goals and responsibilities at a macro level. With this first step, the stakeholders at the meso and micro levels could then be formally engaged and practical planning begin.
The feedback from the role-players was that being forced into the shoes of another stakeholder for the exercise changed how they thought about and responded to the issues raised, and could improve the chance of bridging the collaboration gap amongst the many different stakeholders involved.
“I cannot convince people if they are not attracted to the product....So wastewater innovations may [need to] introduce a different color, a different smell.” Politician role-player.
“I'm prepared to make some sacrifices in my home. But there's always some safety standard, some hygiene standard, that is involved.” Pioneer user role-player.
“Scale implies, obviously, big, which can have advantages, but it might not work in certain situations, so you might also need smaller-scale operations.... I'm sure there's a solution to combine the two, but it adds to the complexity of the situation.” Urban planner role-player.
“If you don't put it in a document now, it will never happen for the next 50 years.” Expert researcher.
According to the latest IPCC reports, heat waves will increase in both intensity and frequency, with cities being particularly vulnerable due to their physical nature. This study aims to improve the analysis of urban heat island (UHI) effects by integrating street view data to create a detailed approximation of local street-level micro-climates in urban environments.
Methodology
The study focuses on Amsterdam as a case study, using street view images combined with a semantic segmentation model to capture finer urban elements from panoramic images, including sky, buildings, trees, and pervious and impervious surfaces.
Findings
The results showed that using just pictures of geometric features was not sufficient to predict LST (Land Surface Temperature) accurately.
Simpler models performed better in predicting LST.
LST is not a perfect proxy for thermal comfort.
Implications
The study highlights the health and economic implications of urban heat and the importance of micro-climate modeling and remote sensing.
The approach used in this study is open-source and replicable, suggesting potential application in different cities worldwide.
Conclusion
The integration of street view imagery with advanced modeling techniques offers a high spatial scale and detailed analysis of urban micro-climates. Although the study could not predict LST using only geometric features, it opens the door for further research and replication in various urban environments to better understand and manage urban heat challenges.
The question: How can you measure the regenerative potential of a city?
A regenerative economy is a circular economic system that aims for a balanced and sustainable relationship between human beings and the larger planetary ecosystem.
Regenerative economics and –economies are being studied from multiple perspectives, but ecology or energy network science, which tracks the circulation of resources and the effect of indirect flows, has shown promise as a quantitative measure.
Regenerative economics proposes ten principles, grouped into four categories (see slide): circulation; structure; relationships & values; and collective learning. This project focuses on the 6th principle, the balance between resilience and efficiency. Too resilient, and the ecosystem stagnates. Too efficient, and the system proves to be brittle. Natural systems find a balance between these two extremes. So, although it might be expected that, by becoming more circular, a system also becomes more resilient, this is not the case. The researchers took the EU's measure of resilience and adjusted two variables – the recycling rate and the export rate – to see how network properties changed. They found that maximum theoretical robustness happens somewhere around 30-40%, lower even than seen in natural ecosystems.
To test the sixth and four more of the principles in practice the researchers turned to the Greek island of Samothraki, comparing current data with that collected and analyzed 90 years ago. This showed that, over that period, the island had become import based and non-circular, considerably increasing domestic material consumption and the production of solid waste.
The research shows that these five principles can successfully be monitored by indicators and therefore can be applied to other cases with ecosystem of interconnected networks, such as cities. But it will require systematic and extensive data collection, more research, and a move away from a mindset geared towards efficiency (i.e. return on investment).
Measuring regenerative economics: 10 principles and measures undergirding systemic economic health, Fig. 3, Fath et al., Global Transitions, Volume 1, 2019, Pages 15-27
The City of Amsterdam faces significant challenges due to climate change, one of which is the increase in Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs) in its canal network. HABs are the excessive growth of algae that produce toxins harmful to humans, marine animals, and birds, negatively affecting water quality, biodiversity, and recreational water use.
Problem and solution
Traditional monitoring by Waternet, the water authority of Amsterdam, involves fixed sampling locations, leading to low spatial coverage. However, HABs are hyper-local phenomena requiring more detailed monitoring. Inspired by MIT’s City Scanner project, researchers at the Senseable City Lab have designed a mobile, autonomous, low-cost spectrofluorometer called REMORA. REMORA can be placed on municipal boats to autonomously measure algae growth, increasing spatiotemporal coverage.
Functionality of the REMORA Sensor
REMORA uses LED-induced fluorescence to detect, quantify, and identify algae species. It emits light at specific wavelengths, exciting algae pigments that emit light, which is then measured to produce an Excitation Emission Matrix (EEM). The research explores machine learning techniques to enhance the classification of algae species using EEM data.
Initial Results
Initial results show the effectiveness of using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for recognizing patterns in EEMs.
Simpler models have been found to perform better than more complex ones, as the latter tend to overfit the data, leading to worse performance.
Implementing a semi-supervised learning strategy has shown potential in reducing the amount of labeled data needed, making the data analysis process more efficient and scalable.
Future Directions
The team is currently working on a next version of the sensor, aiming for a fully autonomous sensor that can make measurements every couple of minutes.
The REMORA sensor aims to provide this data in real-time, which users can then access, for example, on their smartphone. Future developments include automating data collection and other app features to enhance usability and efficiency.
Conclusion
The REMORA sensor represents a significant advancement in monitoring Harmful Algae Blooms in Amsterdam's canals. By leveraging mobile, autonomous technology and integrating machine learning, REMORA addresses the limitations of current monitoring strategies, offering a cost-effective, high-resolution solution to improve water quality and manage the impacts of climate change on urban water bodies.
Enhancing Urban Resilience to Drought through Mathematical Optimization of Blue-Green Infrastructure
Urban areas are increasingly challenged by extreme weather events due to climate change. The Netherlands, for instance, faced significant droughts and severe rainfall in the summers of 2021 and 2022. Historically, the country has prioritized flood prevention, with little focus on drought-resilient systems. This case study aims to address this gap by enhancing urban resilience to drought through the mathematical optimization of blue-green infrastructure.
Methodology
The framework integrates local soil and vegetation characteristics with future climate scenarios from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). It considers key physical processes like soil moisture balance and evapotranspiration, along with factors such as leaf area, rooting depth, and soil water retention capacity.
Case Study: Bajeskwartier in Amsterdam Venserpolder
The model is validated through a case study in Bajeskwartier, evaluating unpaved surfaces versus paved surfaces and green spaces. Results show the efficacy of the model in determining minimum irrigation requirements and necessary water storage capacity to prevent plant stress.
Findings
The model reveals that Bajeskwartier has adequate water storage capacity to meet demands during a 1-in-30-year drought scenario projected for 2085.
Optimal irrigation scheduling and water storage operations are identified, including storage capacity per zone.
Applications
Urban planners and policymakers can use the model to enhance urban drought resilience.
The model is useful for planning urban water storage and studying optimal scheduling and operation of water resources.
In cases where crawl spaces cannot be used due to stormwater management, nature-based ponds could be an alternative.
“What if we educate researchers about the inherent colonial/capitalistic biases that exist in our society and influence research outcomes and funding?” “What if we reassure liveability, equity & well-being instead of economic growth? “ “We come from diverse backgrounds, speaking different languages, push boundaries in different ways, yet, we all call this city home. Above all, we are the inhabitants of the city of tomorrow”
Amsterdam, a melting pot of cultures and ideas, stands at a crossroads of urban development. While renowned for its progressive policies, the city faces challenges typical for urban contexts: social inequality, environmental degradation, and top-down decision-making. The Urban Rebels Collective emerges from this context, driven by a shared vision of a more inclusive, sustainable, and equitable cities. During the co-creation session at the Scientific conference, visions and values are shaped into concrete calls for action!
The Challenge: The Urban Rebels Collective recognizes the limitations of traditional urban planning and governance models, which often prioritize economic growth over community well-being and environmental stewardship. They aim to challenge this status quo by fostering a more participatory, equitable, and nature-inclusive vision for the city.
The Solution: The manifesto proposes a radical reimagining of the future of cities, grounded in principles of participatory democracy, environmental stewardship, and social justice. It advocates for limiting control mechanisms in public spaces, fostering constructive conflict to drive innovation, and embracing green management practices that prioritize biodiversity and rewilding. By advocating for reparations, legalizing waste reuse, and ensuring universal access to basic needs and services, the Urban Rebels seek to create a city where everyone can thrive.
The Urban Rebels pledge to initiate change by collecting and sharing stories from Amsterdam's diverse communities, challenging conventional wisdom, and engaging policymakers in dialogue. They call on fellow residents to join their movement, contribute to refining their goals, and hold them accountable to their vision for a more just and sustainable Amsterdam.
While rooted in the context of Amsterdam, the Urban Rebel Manifesto offers inspiration and lessons for urban activists worldwide. By advocating for participatory planning, decolonial approaches, and holistic measures of well-being, their work has implications for cities grappling with similar challenges globally.
Methodology and Funding: The manifesto emerged from a collaboration among students, researchers, and activists, reflecting a bottom-up approach to urban activism. It is fueled by a passion for social justice and environmental sustainability.
Assessing the effectiveness of circular economy solutions for single-use plastics
The issue: Reducing, recycling and reusing single-use plastic products in urban areas will contribute to a city's circular economy. So, are circular economy principles being applied successfully for single-use plastics in Hong Kong?
Circular Economy (CE) solutions do not occur naturally; at a minimum, they require a push from an institutional or regulatory body, and an accompanying set of rules. What else is necessary for them to be a viable addition to a circular city blueprint? This research project studied the CE solutions in two cases of single-use plastics (SUPs) in Hong Kong, and the business models behind them, to learn from consumers and businesses what would make them successful.
The first case took advantage of a pilot being run by a consortium to provide compensation per returned SUP bottle. By comparing the return rate before, during and after the pilot, the study found that the amount of bottles returned increased as the compensation increased. However, removing the compensation led to a large drop in return rates.
A similar monetary correlation was seen in the second case, plastic shopping bags. In this situation, a price was applied to each plastic bag, to encourage re-use. There was initially a boost in re-use, followed by a drop. When the cost of a single shopping bag was increased, by more than double, re-use levels rose sharply.
The presence and level of incentives appears to be key to stimulating reuse and recycling behavior in consumers, although additional (observational) studies would be needed to shed light on how sustained the behavioral changes turn out to be. In the meantime, the study is working with several small businesses producing SUPs to understand why and how they would adapt their business practices and models in the face of efforts to encourage the reuse, reduction, or recycling of their SUP products. A critical factor already identified is the reliability of the financial subsidies underpinning Hong Kong's circular ambitions.
“What is especially encouraging is that, as companies join the Circular Economy, they are more likely to engage and learn from partner firms in the same space than before, and to proactively seek customer feedback.”
“It's not only about economics. Accessibility, or convenience, makes a huge difference to return rates of plastic bottles. If the return container is present where people do their food shopping, or along routes that they regularly take, the barrier to returning the product is much, much lower.”
Practical applications: The study has highlighted that, to be viable, CE solutions must have reliable and appropriate funding, be resource-efficient, designed with stakeholders in mind, and have learning and feedback loops built in so CE business models can be adapted and adjusted as needed.
Presentation: Area Development and Accessibility for Urban Wildlife
Urban wildlife is often still forgotten in the design of cities, In this presentation, given at the AMS conference Reinventing the City 2024, the authors from bureau Witteveen & Bos show wildlife often doesn't show up in data used for the design of cities, and that ecologists are often late to the table. Designing for wildlife, state the authors, is also not just about creating designated spaces for them in seperate area's, but about infrastructures and understanding their behaviour, preferences and mobility amongst residents and visitors throughout the city.
Source: Van den Brink, L., Nair, P. & Drolsbach, S.(2024), Design for Wildlife Migration in Cities, Witteveen & Bos, slides presented at the AMS conference Reinventing the City, April 2024
For a report of the full session at the AMS conference, click here.
How do you design an inclusive city for all? This question was central to one of the knowledge sessions during the conference Reinventing the City 2024, organised by the Amsterdam Metropolitan Institute. Together with the public, the presenters from Pakhuis de Zwijger and Bureau Witteveen en Bos found a common answer: adhere to a set of design principles and also include animals.
Simon Drolsbach, Priya Nair en Louisa van den Brink talking to Faezeh Mohammedi and the public about inclusive design (picture by openresearch)
The session came about after the speakers of two separately scheduled sessions - one on inclusive design and the other on designing for urban wildlife - decided, due to circumstances, to put their heads together on the spot. The result was a fluid dialogue in which it became clear that the design for all can include all species.
When, after some deliberation, we were seated around the long table, the principles of inclusive design were presented to us by program manager Faezeh Mohammadi (Pakhuis de Zwijger). Based on the lessons learned from the Designing Cities for All debate series. she explains to us that one of them means that you can only achieve inclusiveness in a city if you consider this in advance, in your design.
Choices and context
Inclusiveness must be interpreted broadly, and at the same time choices must be made: when you design a certain place in a city for one person, you exclude another. At the same time, another place can be designed more for the other person. Context is very important: what works in one place does not always work in another.
The latter is recognized by the public. "I have onces worked abroad on placing bus shelters on a street map, but there was no timetable for the buses," says someone from the audience. Another listener also recognizes the importance of context. "It is difficult to design something from your office for a place in the city that you cannot 'feel' for yourself.
Faezeh Mohammadi (Pakhuis de Zwijger) in conversation about inclusive design at the AMS Conference 2024 (pic by openresearch)
An infrastructure for hedgehogs
“For the inclusion of animals, the emphatic side is even more difficult, as Louisa van den Brink (urban designer), Simon Drolsbach (urban mobility expert) and Priya Nair (ecologist) from Witteveen+Bos show when they take over the screen. Based on a photo of a small bicycle shed, we are told that, contrary to what we think, this place is a favorite spot for many hedgehogs. But design for animals is about much more than a bicycle shed.
Using hedgehogs as an example, the consultants show that we also need to think about infrastructure in the city, so that they can safely move from one hedgehog-friendly place to another. According to the consultants, the problem is often that there is little data about animals, which means they are not included in design processes. Ecologists also often don't have place at the design table, or come into the process quite late.
Someone from the audience wants to know about policies in Dutch cities regarding animal-friendly design. "I come from South Africa and the sentiment there is that we really don't want more animals in the city," he explains. When someone remarks that the animals come into town just the same, he nods, but the remark is well understood by the presenters:"Its different when the species you're addressing is a bit more dangerous than a hedgehog."
Perhaps the trick, then, is to be able to design an inclusive city that also reduces conflict between humans and animals. And humans and humans, for that matter.
Presentation: (Re-)education of refugees: why municipalities can make the difference
To get a job that matches their level of education, non-Western refugees in the Netherlands often have to enroll in education in the Netherlands in order to (re-)obtain a diploma. According to research from Utrecht University, the likelihood of them doing so depends in part the municipality they end up in, as local factors such as the composition of a neighborhood and the municipal political climate play a roll in their educational future. The researchers draw their conclusions after analysis of microdata from the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Lead researcher Ids Baalbergen presented the findings during the Reinventing the City 2024 conference, organized by the Amsterdam Metropolitan Institute. Below you will find his presentation and a short report of the session.
Source: Baalbergen, Bolt, Lin & Hooimeijer (2024), Arrival infrastructures and refugee enrollment in higher education, presented at the 2024 AMS Conference Reinventing the City.
The research project, conducted by Ids Baalbergen, Gideon Bolt, Yanliu Lin & Pieter Hooimeijer (Utrecht University), focused on Syrian, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Iraqi and Iranian migrants in the Netherlands. Based on CBS micro data, they investigated the factors behind the educational opportunities of these refugees in the Netherlands.
According to existing research by Kanas and Van Tubergen from 2009, the socio-economic situation of these migrants strongly depends on whether they are retrained in the Netherlands. Baalbergen explains. When refugees find a job, they are often overqualified because diplomas from their country of origin are not recognized in the Netherlands. To fix this, refugees in the Netherlands need to enroll in education in the Netherlands. But according to the researchers, the chances of doing this so are co-determined by the city and neighborhood you end up in.
Ids Baalbergen presenteert tijdens de AMS conferentie 2024 (foto: redactie openresearch.amsterdam)
The authors found various factors that co-determine this outcome: what socio-economic status your neighbors have (with differences for men and women), whether there are educational institutions nearby, and/or weather or not the unemployment rate is high or low in the area. But the local political climate also appears to have an influence: in municipalities with election results that show more support for the political parties PVV,JA21 and Forum voor Democratie, refugees are less likely to (re)educate themselves compared to municipalities where these parties have less support.
"So if I understand correctly, as a refugee in the Netherlands you have no choice in which municipality you end up because of the national law, but at the same time where you end up determines your social-economical future", an audience member wants to know. Baalbergen nods. Another listener wants to know why there are no authorities that can recognize diplomas of migrants from the countries mentioned by the researchers. Unfortunately, the session time was too short for that discussion.