The Netherlands

About The Netherlands

In the 17th century, The Netherlands were a prosperous trading nation, and today they have become major innovators and shown that they can adapt to this fast-changing world. Eindhoven’s old Philips campus has been converted to the city’s creative and cultural heart, the Strijp-S district. In The Hague, main city squares have been reclaimed for the people. Amsterdam’s former vast shipping yards are the city’s largest area for art, culture, and development. Students at TU Delft exhibit their ideas and experiments for a sustainable future in the Green Village such as Prêt-à-Loger ("Home with a Skin"), alongside other global efforts like Elon Musk’s Hyperloop tube. Many building roofs are green roofs or urban gardens/farms, like Rotterdam’s Op Het Dak, which reduce runoff and the heat island effect, while increasing pollinators and local food yields. Across The Netherlands, one observes an environment that strongly encourages and fosters startups and innovation, as well as urban ecology.

Policy

The Netherlands became an innovator when they went beyond many of their counterparts and created an official urban policy for their country. This policy started as guidelines for the four largest cities (Utrecht, Amsterdam, Den Haag, and Rotterdam) but has since developed into a policy for thirty-one cities across The Netherlands. This official urban policy is implemented as a partnership between the central government and the cities’ governments. The themes of the 2005 version of the large cities policy are as follows: improving and increasing security, improving integration and citizenship, improving the residential districts, strengthening the economic structure, and investing in the young. The cities are the main decision makers when it comes to which of these themes are priority. Additionally, before 2008 in The Netherlands, directives came primarily from national government to provinces, and provinces to municipalities; however, now more freedom is granted to all levels of government. Cities across The Netherlands have worked hard to expand bike infrastructure, since a massive amount of bikes are used daily, especially in Amsterdam.

Urban Design

Water Management

The Netherlands are world renowned for being the leader in water management. While much attention is directed at the Delta Works, the country also incorporates many design features that manage the water in a smart way. Water squares are one of the features that The Netherlands use to help deal with stormwater. Instead of building large and costly water storage tanks, water squares are manmade depressions that hold stormwater while serving a variety of functions. Rotterdam has implemented this kind of urban infrastructure to better manage the heavy rainfall the area receives. When the water squares are not filled with water, they function as basketball courts, places to play soccer, or even skateboard. Due to the tiered sides of the water squares, they also serve as public seating.

Green Infrastructure

In addition to managing stormwater through design, The Netherlands have invested in green infrastructure, which has made the country more resilient to the threat of water, as well as, made its cities more attractive. Many cities in The Netherlands, like Rotterdam, help private buildings pay for the cost of green roofs. Rotterdam pays 50% of the cost because they understand the variety of functions that they serve. Instead of leaving this space empty, roofs can serve as green spaces, gardens, or rooftop restaurants. Green roofs help decrease the amount of stormwater runoff, provide local food to urban environments, increase biodiversity and pollinators, increase urban air quality, and reduce a city’s urban heat island effect. Besides green roofs, The Netherlands incorporate vegetation into the urban design through rain gardens, parks, gardens, and along the streetscape. These green spaces, not only provide ecological services for the city, but they also make the city more attractive for citizens. Citizens are more likely to be happier and have lower stress levels in this environment, as well as utilize alternative modes of transportation such as walking, biking, or public transit.

Public Spaces

The Grote Marktstraat is a great example of forward-thinking urban planning in The Hague. The Grote Marktstraat is a major shopping district centrally located in The Hague. Originally, the streets were filled with traffic from automobiles and trams, but today, the streets are buzzing with pedestrians and cyclists. The Hague made an important decision to move transportation underground and to reserve the streetscape for pedestrians. In addition, the city further increased the aesthetic appeal of the streetscape by incorporating unique building facades, benches, and art sculptures. These decisions have made this area more attractive to citizens, while increasing business in the district. The redevelopment not only creates a unique memorable experience for those visiting the street, but it also creates an iconic image for The Hague.

Technology

Amsterdam

Amsterdam Smart City is a platform connecting citizen-led initiatives and startups with resources such as established companies, the government, and workspaces. One of their themes is Infrastructure and Technology which produces projects that connect people to the grid, improving their digital connectivity. Improving digital connectivity and the Internet of Things (IOT), the interconnection between the internet, devices, and sensors to collect and exchange data, has helped transition Amsterdam from collecting only big data to using this data in intelligent ways. Connecting and collecting data simultaneously allows the city to adapt to changing circumstances, optimize processes, and improve sustainability and efficiency. Amsterdam Smart City uses smart data to tackle numerous problems such as mobility in a sports complex, smart street lighting controlled by bikers, and off-grid energy solutions.

Delft – The Green Village at the Delft University of Technology

The Green Village is an innovation testing facility for new sustainable energy, water, and waste technologies. The goal of this test site is to facilitate the integration of new sustainable forms of energy into the evolving smart grid. Some of these technologies include Power Window, photovoltaic energy without the solar panel; small scale urban wind turbines; Blue Battery, the only 100% sustainable electrical storage system; and hydroelectric cars that produce electricity, heat, and freshwater. These new technologies allow for the integration of more renewable and sustainable energy, storage, water, and heating sources. The two technical challenges of integrating renewables into the energy grid are managing variable and uncertain energy sources, and balancing supply and demand during generation surpluses and scarcities. Integrating renewable energy sources with smart grids will lead to better forecasting to manage variability and uncertainty, smart inverters can provide basic grid support, integrated storage can smooth mismatches in supply and demand for energy, and smart grids provide real time awareness, management, and control of the system. Many of the technologies the Green Village produces will be complemented by smart grids and provide more renewable and sustainable forms of energy.

Rotterdam

Rotterdam sits exactly at sea level leaving it susceptible to greater precipitation, flooding, and rising sea levels. Rotterdam has used many smart city initiatives and techniques to combat these water issues and make Rotterdam a resilient city. One of their largest technological projects was the creation of Maeslantkering, a storm surge barrier activated by rising tides; while the giant surge gates do not have immense smart city power, the barrier could be programmed to take in more data for the ocean, climate, and rising sea levels to better predict when to open and close the gates. Another form of storm water management in Rotterdam are their water squares and permeable pavement. Rain water, or grey water, could be funneled into smart storage areas and used intelligently to water plants, fill toilets, or power fountains in an effort to utilize untreated water. Using the Trias Energetica Concept, Rotterdam plans to achieve energy sustainability through reducing energy demand, then using renewable sources to meet demand, and finally, only use fossil fuels when necessary. Coupled with smart initiatives and technologies such as smart metering, insulation, and smart data usage, Trias Energetica can be successful. A final project Rotterdam mentioned is the use of street lights as smart hubs. These hubs can be used to gather data, locate exact problem areas, and monitor air and noise pollution; together, these projects will make Rotterdam an exceptionally smart city.

The Hague

HTM, the public transportation company of The Netherlands, services 275,000 passengers a day and travels 480 million kilometers a year. To manage all the trips taken every year, HTM uses a PT (public transport) chipcard system where riders purchase a card, preload money onto it, and use it as an electronic ticket. HTM practices smart data usage by processing and analyzing the copious amounts of data the chips collect each year. This data includes boarding times, peak traffic hours, most frequently used lines, and much more. All of this data is used to optimize their public transportation systems; for example, HTM is currently researching the optimal number of busses to trains ratio they should fulfill throughout the day to meet traffic demands. Their new fleet of electric busses have to be charged every so often, so HTM is exploring bus usage data to optimize the number of busses driving versus the busses charging. Additionally, most public transportation contains hotspots for free internet access; in the future, these hot spots could be used as data collection points for projects other than public transportation. This further connects people to the data and internet around them and makes for a more efficient society.

The Hague University of Applied Science recently renovated their building to be more sustainable and energy efficient. The building is stocked with sensors to control CO2 ventilation, hallway lighting, and heating and cooling. Sensors indicate to the systems when it is time to operate instead of running continuously, which reduces CO2 emissions, costs, and increases efficiency.

Eindhoven: Strijp-S

Strijp-S is the innovation hub, creative cultural center, and living lab of Eindhoven complete with tech startups, skate parks, restaurants, shops, housing, and an entertainment space. A living lab is ‘a user-centered, open-innovation ecosystem, often operating in a territorial context, integrating concurrent research and innovation processes within a public-private-people partnership’. Eindhoven is exploring this living lab concept through the implementation of more smart city practices, additions of green space, and cultural hubs to encourage further exploration and acceptance. The living lab plays with quality of life and experiments to find the right combination of space, culture, business model, and ecosystem that fosters the healthiest quality of life. Two of the concepts Strijp-S explores are the benefits of an integrated networks and smart data. Sensors in light posts can manage noise levels by controlling the light systems to change colors or assess air quality and send the data straight to scientists. Light posts have been fitted with cameras and security systems to take pictures of crimes and send them directly to the police for faster response times. The use of sensors does not have to be solely for optimization purposes, but can also increase security in a neighborhood or gather data to be used in numerous other sectors, offering many societal benefits as well. Residents can also benefit from the electric car sharing scheme and smart parking concepts to reduce CO2 emissions and diminish mobility behavior. Additionally, all the data collected by the sensors is used by other businesses and Strijp-S to continue bettering their systems and making the living lab project even more successful. These smart city solutions will help redefine the quality of life for citizens in Eindhoven.

Health & Wellness

Mobility

The clearest public health impacts of urban planning in The Netherlands have been rates of active travel. Many studies suggest lack of physical exercise is a significant reason for the alarming trend towards an obesity epidemic in many developed countries. Additionally, active travel is advocated as one of the most affordable, feasible and dependable ways to get additional exercise. The bicycle infrastructure set forth by The Netherlands has allowed them to have one of the highest cycling rates in the world, with bike trips taken accounting for 25% of all trips (with walking at 22%). The convenience of bicycle paths connecting homes to public transportation stops, businesses, as well as connecting rural and urban towns, makes it an appealing option. The Netherlands are the only country in which the World Health Organization is predicting a decline in obesity rates, with overweight rates for men dropping from 54% in 2010 to a predicted 49% in 2030, obesity rates dropping from 10% to 8% in men, and obesity rates in women dropping from 13 to 9% (women overweight rates are expected to remain about the same at 43%). Additionally, the well-designed bicycle paths are car-free and reduced-speed zones, making biking a safe option. Pedestrian fatalities have fallen 73% from 1975 to 2001; there are only 1.6 bicycle fatalities rates per 100 million trips and 0.4 bicycle injuries per 500,000km traveled. Finally, these modes of travel prove to be very helpful to the elderly, with biking still accounting for 25% of all trips by those aged 75 and older (and walking accounting for 24% of trips). This provides both physical exercise and ensures them a level of mobility and independence, possibly contributing to the longer healthy life expectancy.

Green Space

Rotterdam is an important example for integrating green space into urban areas in a way that enhances quality of life. The redevelopment of Rotterdam allowed for 30,000 inhabitants and 141 hectares of green. The Health Council of The Netherlands, 2004, demonstrated that contact with natural environments offers a relatively effective way of obtaining restoration from stress and mental fatigue. Ineffective stress recovery impairs work performance, interpersonal relations, and undermines physical health through chronic arousal and immune suppression. Residents of neighborhoods with abundant green space, or green space within one to three kilometers of their home, self-report fewer health problems on average.

Converting Industry

Eindhoven's Strijp-S is a good example of not only converting old industrial spaces into mixed-use urban spaces, but working against any potential public health impacts from old industrial materials. Water is pumped through the soil to naturally clean it from pollution caused by the Philips industry, and this water is then used for the heating and cooling system - thereby eliminating any potential toxins that could harm public and environmental health and reusing the water in an environmentally-friendly way. Additionally, an old coal factory was turned into a design factory and a biogas plant. Using renewable energy in buildings is a great way to decrease carbon dioxide emissions and harmful air pollution, which studies show are associated with acute asthma events and chronic respiratory problems, as well as nausea, difficulty breathing, cancer, birth defects, developmental delays in children, and reduced immune system activity leading to a number of diseases.

Smart City Approaches

Finally, aspects of smart cities embraced by places like Amsterdam and TU Delft serve to help eliminate the social gradient in public health. Public health ailments like obesity and cardiovascular disease disproportionately hit marginalized groups. However, in societies that nurture education and innovation through casual meet-ups like Smart Cities Amsterdam, or open educational parks like TU Delft Green Village, more people are connected which encourages healthier cities as a whole. Additionally, public market squares can help eliminate the social gradient in health status through the social integration of demographically dynamic local communities, economic revitalization, and individual empowerment. Public urban garden spaces also provide a source of local, fresh, and healthy food for residents that may otherwise have difficulty accessing farm-fresh food.