Amsterdam Smart City

In a world in transition, we need a place for changemakers to meet and collaborate. Here we start working on issues, together.

We use each other’s differences constructively and creatively, working on the basis of core values: putting people first, learning by doing, public added value, as well as openness and transparency.

Who is Amsterdam Smart City for?

Amsterdam Smart City is an independent platform with an international community of more than 9,000 changemakers. Connected to the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, where 29 affiliated public and private partners co-create with each other and the community. The online platform is open to anyone interested in, and working on, urban development, innovation, sustainability and technology.

Why this platform?

We want to live and work in a healthy city. Cities are becoming increasingly crowded and we are experiencing the effects of climate change and pollution. Amsterdam Smart City therefore considers issues such as: how do we make the transition from fossil to renewable energy? Can we turn waste into raw materials? How do we switch to clean and electric transportation? And how do we keep our digital world transparent and comprehensible?

What we do

Amsterdam Smart City has years of experience in bringing about (digital) innovations for sustainable, liveable cities. Through its value-first approach, the programme ensures that innovations genuinely contribute to cleaner, greener and happier cities. Residents and users of cities are central to this. We are working on four challenges: floating urban development, circular EV charging infrastructure, the cooperative challenge and the underground challenge.

Floating urban development

Due to lack of space and climate change, housing may need to be built in wetlands in the future. The floating urban development challenge revolves around creating imaginable and workable scenarios for urban development on water. These require not only solutions for the technical aspects. But also financing, community support, ecological aspects, affordability and politics. The collective belief about urban development is currently mainly focused on ‘apartments for families on land’. We want to change that. So that living on water becomes a serious option for everyone.

Want to learn more about floating urban development? Please contact pelle@amsterdamsmartcity.com.
Circular EV charging infrastructure

Circular initiatives, including circular EV charging infrastructure, often have difficulty getting past the pilot phase, due to several barriers. Such as the lack of data, challenges in implementing circularity in the production chain, regulations and higher costs. With the Circular EV charging infrastructure challenge, we aim to encourage circular business models in the electric vehicle charging infrastructure chain. Together with partners, we are working on reducing restrictive regulations, generating and opening up relevant data, and taking shared ownership of the entire chain. This contributes to the transition to a circular society.

Want to learn more about circular EV charging infrastructure? Please contact noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com.
Cooperative challenge

Increasingly, groups of people are starting cooperative initiatives. Ranging from community-led energy projects to collective mobility and housing. These non-profit initiatives are often driven by sustainability and social goals. The benefits are often limited to specific groups at the local level. The Cooperative challenge aims to make social organisations, such as energy cooperatives, more mainstream. We do this by creating recognition, promoting understanding and facilitating knowledge exchange.

Want to learn more about the cooperative challenge? Please contact noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com.
Underground challenge

The soil below urban areas contains a diversity of infrastructure. Such as fiber optic cables, gas pipelines, heat networks and sewers. But also natural elements such as soil, which is critical to the health of urban trees. The pressure on this underground is increasing. Excavations lead to disruptions and damage to the ecosystem. The Underground challenge aims at better cooperation between all stakeholders. For example, in terms of data sharing and joint planning to improve the quality and management of the underground. This can lead to a healthier subsoil with more biodiversity, less disruptions and an accelerated transition to more sustainable energy and digital infrastructure. All would be in the interest of residents of urban areas.

Want to know more about the underground challenge? Please contact noor@amsterdamsmartcity.com.