In 2020, the municipality of Amsterdam developed the Integral Design Method for Public Space (IOOR) to offer urban policymakers, designers, planners and other parties involved a helping hand in tackling the major transition task in public space.

flyer IOOR EN beeld1

This folder outlines the successive steps of the integrated design method (front), refers to the accompanying publication and explains the most important concepts of the method (back). The introduction of an integrated design method is a necessity for the City of Amsterdam.

• Climate change, energy transition and the urgency to design in a nature-inclusive and circular way require a changing (underground) infrastructure.

• The densifying city and the modernization of life demand more and more electricity and data cables. ambitions make it difficult to program street profiles. In order to (re)design a street in 2023, there are many issues that must be taken into account: Puccini Handbook, low-traffic plus, greening, energy-resistant, Rainproof, circular economy, waste collection and reuse of raw materials.

• The subsurface in the urban public space is full. In addition to more electricity and data cables, cast-iron gas pipes must also be replaced, sewage flows must be separated, water buffered and parallel heating systems (free of natural gas) must be fitted in. There is no spatial policy yet and national standards do not fit the Amsterdam situation. The autonomy of K&L owners stands in the way of an integral consideration between the laying of cables and pipelines and the measures for climate adaptation and tree roots. The design of public space requires an integrated and interdisciplinary working method for both design and engineering of the underground and aboveground tasks. The scarcity in the subsoil forces technical innovation and better cooperation between public and private stakeholders. The accumulation of measures for a better living environment, new energy systems, heat and precipitation issues, circularity and soil biodiversity requires a design on a larger scale than is currently customary and to work from cross-area network structures, Ambition Webs and performance goals. The IOOR is an instrument that can be incorporated into several planning processes. The IOOR results are included as a product in the Integral Area Plan for Amsterdam (IGB), as a municipal interpretation of the Environmental Act and vision.

flyer IOOR EN beeld2

This poster is an extensive introduction to the method and publication Integral Design Method for Public Space (IOOR)

Concept: Joyce van den Berg, Hans van der Made

Editing and coordination: Ingrid Oosterheerd

Design: Joseph Plateau graphic designers

Printing: Antilope De Bie

Gemeente Amsterdam, 2023

Image credits

Icon image: IOOR flyer Icoon

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