Politecnico di Milano M.Sc.in Urban Planning and Policy Design a.y. 2013�2014 Egli Hamitaj
ROTTERDAM SMART CITY
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INDEX 0. Introduction 0.1 Why Rotterdam 0.2 Historical Key Steps 0.3 Rotterdam Today_Facts and Figures 1. Hierarchy of Digital Agenda’s 1.1 European Commission Digital Agenda 1.2 The Actions Areas of the Digital Agenda 1.3 Netherland Digital Agenda 2. Rotterdam Waterproof 2030 2.1 The Vision 2.2 Rotterdam and the Climate 2.3 Rotterdam Approach 2.4 The Goals 2.5 Connecting Delta Cities 2.6 Roadmap and hierarchy 3. ICT Usage Leaders 4. Business and People Oriented e-Services 4.1 People Oriented e-Services 4.2 Business Oriented e-Services 5. Technology at the Service of the People 5.1 Rotterdam Electric Programme 5.2 Water Square 5.3 I Make Rotterdam 5.4 Serious Gaming 5.5 Tradition and Safety 6. Clusters and Innovation 6.1 Medical Technology Clusters 6.2 Industrial Biotech Clusters 6.3 Stakeholders and Parterns 7. Progress Evaluation 8. Potential Future Developments 9. Bibliography 3
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0.1 WHY ROTTERDAM The reasons why I chose to analyse the case of Rotterdam city in my paper are linked to my personal background. I have experienced the Dutch way of living during my Erasmus Program in Amsterdam. This period was as short as intense, thus constituting a significant phase of my academic path. So, given the task of the paper, my choice could not ignore the Dutch cities context. Taking into consideration the Dutch context, the city of Rotterdam intrigued me the most. Its development is in fact overshadowed by the better known capital Amsterdam, whose progess is almost known by the majority of the students. The case of Rotterdam could then be more interesting and engaging, as it allows you to explore new situations and not known before that could be of interest also to my colleagues.
challenges require solutions of the same great importence. This has been the traditional approach Dutch cities have experienced throughout their history. To understand how the City of Rottedam , and/or the stakeholders participating in public life, addresses this highly topical issue represents my strongest stimulus for the initiation of my work.
Other reasons that led me to this choice relate to the major challenges that the city of Rotterdam has to face every day. These questions mainly concern the management of water and canals , the city of Rotterdam extends for almost the entire whole of its territory, under the sea level. The great
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2. The construction of the dam in Rotte river in 1250. Idealised picture of Rotterdam 1340.
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The river Rotte is still visible on the city map of 1600. The city is undergoing fast development.
4. The Warship Briele on the Maas before Rotterdam By Ludolf Bakhuysen, 1689
5. Industrial revolution and port infrastructure development during the 1920’s.
6. Rotterdam in 1946 after the WWII bombardament of German Air Force destroying all the center.
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The recontrusction process which has involved specially che center of Rotterdam.
The struggle with the water is as vital as it used to be in the post. Maeslantkering barrier.
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0.2 HISTORICAL KEY STEPS
The history of the city of rotterdam is closely linked with the water. The city itself is in fact created by the construction of a dam on the Rotte river [1], from which it derives then the name of Rotterdam (the dam on the Rotte river). This particular morphology is still clearly visible during the 1600s as the maps of the time show us [2]. Rotterdam also be considered as an important maritime and commercial city, one of the most important of the time. This has contributed to the subsequent economic and social development of Rotterdan allowing her to get a great presitigio commercial. The relationship with the water were not always positive. About two-thirds of the territory of the Netherlands are below sea level, in which belong also the city of Rotterdam. So the floods and water management during heavy rains are a matter of radical importance [3]. A great amount of dams and dykes are build over the time to prevent the danger of water flooding. This is a high importance issue in all the Netherlands from the begining of their history. With the Industrial Revolution, the city has experienced a further period of economic and industrial development [4]. Its port has undergone a rapid process of industrialization, becoming one of the most important European industrial ports. an important event and very sad in the history of the city of rotterdam is represented by the Second World War: the Rotterdam Blitz [5]. The Rotterdam Blitz was the aerial bombardment of Rotterdam by the Luftwaffe (German air force) on 14 May 1940, during the German invasion of the Netherlands in World War II. The objective was
to support the German troops fighting in the city, break Dutch resistance and force the Dutch to surrender. Even though preceding negotiations resulted in a ceasefire, the bombardment took place nonetheless, in conditions which remain controversial, and destroyed almost the entire historic city centre, killing nearly nine hundred civilians and leaving 30,000 people homeless. The heavily damaged (now restored) St. Lawrence church stands out as the only remaining building reminiscent of Rotterdam’s medieval architecture and the only building of the city center which survive from the aerial bombing. However, as the Netherlands are used to, they have found their way from the great tragedy. Despite heavy losses, the destruction of the city center was seen as an opportunity to rebuild it even better than before. Rotterdam was gradually rebuilt from the 1950s through the 1970s. It remained quite windy and open until the city councils from the 1980s on began developing an active architectural policy. Daring and new styles of apartments, office buildings and recreation facilities resulted in a more ‘livable’ city centre with a new skyline. In the 1990s, the Kop van Zuid was built on the south bank of the river as a new business centre [6]. Morover, the topic of the floods is becoming more and more important due to the climate changes. The construction of the Maeslantkering barrier is part of the response to this issue. [7]
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0.3 ROTTERDAM FACTS AND FIGURES
NETHERLANDS
Rotterdam
Amiens
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam constructed in 1270 on the Rotte River, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre. Its strategic location at the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta on the North Sea and at the heart of a massive rail, road, air and inland waterway distribution system extending throughout Europe is the reason that Rotterdam is often called the “Gateway to Europe”. In the province of South Holland, Rotterdam is in the west of Netherlands and the south of the Randstad. The population of the city was 618,279 in 2013. The population of the greater Rotterdam area, called “RotterdamRijnmond” or just “Rijnmond”, is approximately 1.3 million. The combined urban area of Rotterdam and The Hague with a population of approximately 2.9 million is the 206th largest urban area in the world and the most populous in the Netherlands. Rotterdam is known for its university (Era-
smus), cutting-edge architecture, lively cultural life, striking riverside setting and maritime heritage. The largest port in Europe and one of the busiest ports in the world, the port of Rotterdam was the world’s busiest port from 1962 to 2004, when it was surpassed by Shanghai. Rotterdam’s commercial and strategic importance is based on its location near the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas (New Meuse), a channel in the delta formed by the Rhine and Meuse on the North Sea. These rivers lead directly into the centre of Europe, including the industrial Ruhr region. n the Netherlands, Rotterdam has the highest percentage of foreigners from non-industrialised nations. They form a large part of Rotterdam’s multi ethnic and multicultural diversity. 47.7% of the population are of non Dutch origins or have at least one parent born outside the country. There are 80,000 Muslims, constituting 13% of the population. The mayor of Rotter-
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LARGEST PORT IN EUROPE
STRATEGIC LOGISTIC HUB
COSMOPOLITAN CITY
CITY OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE
CITY OF EVENTS
dam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, is of Moroccan descent and is a practicing Muslim. The city is home to the largest Dutch Antillean community. The city also has its own China Town at the (West-) Kruiskade, close to the central railway station.
Rotterdam is standing in the best European SkylineTop together with Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Paris, Warsaw and Moscow. Over 30 new highrise projects are being developed at the moment. Rotterdam calls itself Sportstad (City of Sports). The city annually organises several world renowned sporting events. Some examples are the Rotterdam Marathon, the World Port Tournament, and the Rotterdam World Tennis Tournament. Rotterdam also organises one race of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship and the car racing event Monaco aan de Maas (Monaco at the Meuse). The city is also the home of many sports clubs and some historic and iconic athletes.
Rotterdam has one major university, the Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), named after one of the city’s famous former inhabitants, Desiderius Erasmus. The Woudestein campus houses (among others) Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. In Financial Times’ 2005 rankings it placed 29th globally and 7th in Europe. Rotterdam has a reputation in being a platform for architectural development and education through the Berlage Institute, a postgraduate laboratory of architecture, and the NAi (Netherlands Architecture Institute), which is open to the public and has a variety of good exhibitions on architecture and urban planning issues.
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1.1 DIGITAL AGENDA FOR EUROPE A EUROPE 2020 INITIATIVE
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIGITAL AGENDA The crisis has wiped out years of economic and social progress and exposed structural weaknesses in Europe’s economy. Europe’s primary goal today must be to get Europe back on track. To achieve a sustainable future, it must already look beyond the short term. Faced with demographic ageing and global competition we have three options: work harder, work longer or work smarter. We will probably have to do all three, but the third option is the only way to guarantee increasing standards of life for Europeans. To achieve this, the Digital Agenda makes proposals for actions that need to be taken urgently to get Europe on track for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Its proposals will set the scene for the longer-term transformations that the increasingly digital economy and society will bring about. The European Commission launched in March 2010 the Europe 2020 Strategy1 to exit the crisis and prepare the EU economy for the challenges of the next decade. Europe 2020 sets out a vision to achieve high levels of employment, a low carbon economy, productivity and social cohesion, to be implemented through concrete actions at EU and national levels. This battle for growth and jobs requires ownership at top political level and mobilisation from all actors across Europe. The Digital Agenda for Europe is one of the seven flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 Strategy, set out to define the key enabling role that the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) will have to play if Europe wants to succeed in its ambitions for 2020.
The objective of this Agenda is to chart a course to maximise the social and economic potential of ICT, most notably the internet, a vital medium of economic and societal activity: for doing business, working, playing, communicating and expressing ourselves freely. Successful delivery of this Agenda will spur innovation, economic growth and improvements in daily life for both citizens and businesses. Wider deployment and more effective use of digital technologies will thus enable Europe to address its key challenges and will provide Europeans with a better quality of life through, for example, better health care, safer and more efficient transport solutions, cleaner environment, new media opportunities and easier access to public services and cultural content. The ICT sector is directly responsible for 5% of European GDP, with a market value of 660 billion euro annually, but it contributes far more to overall productivity growth (20% directly from the ICT sector and 30% from ICT investments). This is because of the high levels of dynamism and innovation inherent in the sector, and the enabling role the sector plays in changing how other sectors do business. At the same time, the social impact of ICT has become significant – for example, the fact that there are more than 250 million daily internet users in Europe and virtually all Europeans own mobile phones has changed life style.
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1.2 THE ACTION AREAS OF THE DIGITAL AGENDA
A vibrant digital single market It is time for a new single market to deliver the benefits of the digital era. The internet is borderless, but online markets, both globally and in the EU, are still separated by multiple barriers affecting not only access to pan-European telecom services but also to what should be global internet services and content. This is untenable. First, the creation of attractive online content and services and its free circulation inside the EU and across its borders are fundamental to stimulate the virtuous cycle of demand. However, persistent fragmentation is stifling Europe’s competitiveness in the digital economy. It is therefore not surprising that the EU is falling behind in markets such as media services, both in terms of what consumers can access, and in terms of business models that can create jobs in Europe. Most of the recent successful internet businesses (such as Google, eBay, Amazon and Facebook) originate outside of Europe3. Second, despite the body of key single market legislation on eCommerce, eInvoicing and eSignatures, transactions in the digital environment are still too complex, with inconsistent implementation of the rules across Member States. Third, consumers and businesses are still faced with considerable uncertainty about their rights and legal protection when doing business on line. Fourth, Europe is far from having a single market for telecom services. The single market therefore needs a fundamental update to bring it into the internet era.
Inter-operability and standards We need effective interoperability between IT products and services to build a truly digital society. The internet is the best example of the power of technical interoperability. Its open architecture gave interoperable devices and applications to billions around the world. But to reap the full benefits of ICT deployment interoperability between devices, applications, data repositories, services and networks must be further enhanced. Trust and security Europeans will not embrace technology they do not trust - the digital age is neither “big brother” nor “cyber wild west”. Users must be safe and secure when they connect online. Just like in the physical world, cybercrime cannot be tolerated. Besides, some of the most innovative and advanced online services – such as eBanking or eHealth - would simply not exist if new technologies were not fully reliable. So far, the internet has proved remarkably secure, resilient and stable, but IT networks and end users’ terminals remain vulnerable to a wide range of evolving threats: in recent years, spam emails have grown to the point of heavily congesting e-mail traffic on the internet - various estimates suggest between 80 % to 98 % of all circulating emails20 - and they spread a wide range of virus and malicious software. There is a growing scourge of identity theft and online fraud.
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Fast and ultra fast internet access We need very fast Internet for the economy to grow strongly and to create jobs and prosperity, and to ensure citizens can access the content and services they want. The future economy will be a network-based knowledge economy with the internet at its centre. Europe needs widely available and competitively-priced fast and ultra fast internet access. The Europe 2020 Strategy has underlined the importance of broadband deployment to promote social inclusion and competitiveness in the EU. It restated the objective to bring basic broadband to all Europeans by 2013 and seeks to ensure that, by 2020, all Europeans have access to much higher internet speeds of above 30 Mbps and 50% or more of European households subscribe to internet connections above 100 Mbps. To reach these ambitious targets it is necessary to develop a comprehensive policy, based on a mix of technologies, focusing on two parallel goals: on the one hand, to guarantee universal broadband coverage (combining fixed and wireless) with internet speeds gradually increasing up to 30 Mbps and above and over time to foster the deployment and take-up of next generation access networks (NGA) in a large part of the EU territory, allowing ultra fast internet connections above 100 Mbps.
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Enhancing digital literacy, skills and inclusion. The digital era should be about empowerment and emancipation; background or skills should not be a barrier to accessing this potential. As more daily tasks are carried out online, from applying for a job to paying taxes or booking tickets, using the internet has become an integral part of daily life for many Europeans. Yet, 150 million Europeans some 30% - have never used the internet. Often they say they have no need or that it is too expensive. This group is largely made up of people aged 65 to 74 years old, people on low incomes, the unemployed and the less educated. In many cases the take-up gap is due to lack of user skills such as digital and media literacy, not only for employability but also for learning, creating, participating and being confident and discerning in the use of digital media. Accessibility and usability are also problems for Europeans with disabilities. Bridging this digital divide can help members of disadvantaged social groups to participate on a more equal footing in digital society (including services of direct interest to them such as eLearning, eGovernment, eHealth) and to tackle their disadvantage through increased employability. Digital competence is thus one of the eight key competences which are fundamental for individuals in a knowledge-based society. It is also key for all to understand how to be safe online. security threats also needs to take place in an international context. Also, the European regulatory solutions that are based on
1.3 DIGITAL GATEWAY TO EUROPE Netherlands Digital Agenda
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NETHERLANDS DIGITAL AGENDA The Dutch government is the first within the EU to launch its national Digital Agenda. This Digital Agenda is a compilation of how the Dutch will implement the European Plans put forth by Commissioner Neelie Kroes. Kroes said that the Netherlands is leading the EU, as the first member state to set up its own Digital Agenda. The Digital Implementation Agenda will follow in the fall, within which the government will decide on electronic business rights, and how to further develop the open data policy. The Agenda includes:
-clarity for consumers about how internet traffic is handled and what internet speeds are actually delivered; -extra terrestrial frequencies to meet growing mobile internet demand; -fewer barriers to cross-border internet traffic, for example via the EU-wide introduction of ‘quality and reliability’ labels and by reducing the hassle around licenses; -more funding for ICT research infrastructure and workers with better ICT skills for the top sectors; -cleanup of the 5-10 percent of cyber criminal abused PCs in the Netherlands; more and better use of open standards in order to better exchange information; -activation of the international postal network in order to get more ICT investments, so that the Netherlands can continue to evolve into the “Digital Gateway” of Europe.
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Digital Gateway to Europe. ICT continues to be a breakthrough technology and is therefore crucial for our economic growth. To fully all the possibilities that ICTs to benefit, we must take the appropriate action. For example, we have a fast, reliable and open infrastructure necessary, that meets the highest demands. These and other issues you can read more in this new ICT agenda.
Companies need to work smarter
Standardisation
Company Dossier
Open Data
Eletronic Business
Fast and open infrastructure and services
EU Digital Single Market
Cloud Computing
Knowledge that works
Quick Access Internet
Free and Open Internet
E Skills
ICT Research
Digital security and trust
Secure ICT Products
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E Privacy
Secure online Business
Art Fine Computers
More space for entrepreneurs to work smarter Smarter working on ICT provides opportunities for companies to operate more efficiently andgrow. And it can contribute to the pursuit of a small, powerful government. To address these opportunities, the government is shifting the focus of encouraging and subsidizing to directing and standardize. Efficient work is possible if companies experience less pressure. To this end, an electronic company file established. Companies complement this file once with data requested by the authorities, and then authorize them to see it. Either record once, multiple use. In order to achieve the electronic handling of contacts between government and business, savings on a large scale, the government wants to give companies a right to electronic business with the government. Efficiency gains by working smarter also offers opportunities in chains where the government has no partner. Standards for electronic business with the government can be recycled there. Conversely, the government will preferably be in the market to use existing standards. To exploit the potential of cloud computing for efficient work and innovation will see what there is a precondition for this. Besides that entrepreneurs can work more efficiently, they should be able to grow. Therefore, the government will use government data as raw material available for new innovative services. Creative entrepreneurs can open these data processing, such as doing Phone Book with data from KNMI. To take advantage of growth opportunities of a European digital market, existing barriers to international trade disappear over the internet. Fragmented licensing constitutes a barrier to the online creative content services such as music and film. The government supports the intention of the European Commission to simplify the licensing of copyright. This line of action is consistent with action lines 2.1, 2.2 and 2.7 (part e-Government) of the European Digital Agenda.
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Fast and open infrastructure and services Netherlands has a strong position in broadband. The growing demand should, however, continue to be invested in networks. In this agenda, the government indicates how shall provide a national network of next generation access networks, with particular attention to the outside areas. Starting point: the market is set to achieve broadband deployment (service). The government provides investment protection and reduces investment thresholds. For the rapid growth of mobile Internet, the government will auction in 2012 more and faster mobile frequencies. Furthermore, the government is committed to an open internet and a good competition in the markets for infrastructure and services. It also ensures this by imposing a number of transparency requirements. Result, application providers and content security that they can deliver to consumers. Their services via the network This line of action is consistent with action line 2.4 of the European Digital Agenda.
Digital security and trust Failure and abuse of ICT, for example in the form of personal data breach leads to declining confidence. That could be a brake on the use of ICT, and hence economic growth and innovation. The focus of the policy is shifted from information to end users on the contribution that companies can make to a reliable and secure ICT that can be used. Appropriate confidence. An important element is the approach of many infected PCs in the Netherlands, the so-called botnets. Also, a notification requirement for providers to disruption of networks and services, and loss of personal data. This line of action is consistent with action line 2.3 of the European Digital Agenda.
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Knowledge that works ICT developments require investments not only in technology but also in organization. Because eminent ICT-driven organizational innovations contribute to productivity growth, more people are needed skills (e-skills) to translate within the company. ICT To keep the existing ICT research infrastructure at a high level is invested in it. This line is consistent with line of action of the European Digital Agenda. Digital Gateway to Europe The foregoing describes in broad terms what the next few years on the agenda. This builds on a solid base and good starting points. Thus, the Amsterdam Internet Exchange is one of the world’s largest Internet hubs and the Netherlands has advanced research networks. Various head offices of IT companies, organizations, management of the Internet and a strong creative sector are housed here. The Netherlands become so more and more the Digital Gateway to Europe. There are good opportunities: 25% of foreign investments in the Netherlands are related to ICT12. The foreign postal network, in the period 2012 -2015 active ICT-related investments and headquarters to the Netherlands.
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2.ROTTERDAM CLIMATE PROOF T h e R o tt e r d a m C h a l l e n g e o n W a t e r a n d C l i m a t e A d a p t a t i o n
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2.1 THE VISION “Our climate is changing. The conse-
quences of climate change will also be felt in Rotterdam. Rain showers are already becoming heavier, presenting the city with the challenge of excess water or flooding. In the long run, our low-lying delta city will also be confronted with rising sea levels and exceptionally high or low river levels and discharges. Furthermore, the temperature in the city will rise, and heat stress will affect increasing numbers of people. Longer periods of drought are also to be expected �
In order to confront the challenge of climate change as an opportunity rather than a threat, the City of Rotterdam set up the Rotterdam Climate Proof programme at the end of 2008. Rotterdam Climate Proof will make Rotterdam resilient to climate change by 2025. Permanent protection and accessibility of the Rotterdam region are key elements. Rotterdam is one of the safest port cities in the world. Rotterdam has started to adapt in order to strengthen its position. The central focus of the adaptation programme is to create extra opportunities to make Rotterdam a more attractive city in which to live, work, relax and invest. Trendsetting research, innovative knowledge development and a dynamic and decisive implementation of the suggested measures will result in strong economic incentives. Rotterdam is an inspiring example to other (delta) cities around the world. Rotterdam Climate Proof participates in the Rotterdam Climate Initiative. Thus, Rotterdam addresses the entire issue of climate, including the causes of climate change (mitigation) as well as the consequences (adaptation).
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2.2 ROTTERDAM AND THE CLIMATE There is no denying it: the climate is changing. Although climate change is not a recent phenomenon, global warming will cause the rate of change to accelerate. We cannot predict the exact speed and extent of the changes. The effects and consequences of climate change on urban development are similarly uncertain. However, we simply cannot wait until we are 100% certain. The potential consequences could be catastrophic, especially in delta cities. Furthermore opportunities are there for the taking: to improve the attractiveness of our environment, to work together and to strengthen the economy.
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THE CLIMATE IS CHANGING Global warming is changing our climate. What consequences will this change have for the Netherlands and for Rotterdam in particular? It is predicted that the Netherlands will be subject to increasingly milder winters and hotter summers. On average our winters will become wetter and the rainfall increasingly extreme. During summers in particular, the frequency and severity of the rainfall will increase, although the total number of rainy summer days will decrease. Meteorologists predict that extreme weather conditions will become ever more likely, for example in the form of heat waves. Moreover (and this is especially significant to Rotterdam) sea levels will continue to rise, at least for the time being.
rain rotterdam the sea
groundwater
The consequences of climate change that will affect Rotterdam:
Rise in sea level
More intensive rainfall
Lower river discharges
Higher river discharges
Longer hot periods
Longer dry periods
the river
The water in Rotterdam comes from four sides: • from the sea • from the river • from above (precipitation) • from below (groundwater) For this reason Rotterdam, like many other delta cities, is vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. The rise in sea levels and increase in water levels directly influence the city’s flood risks. During periods of extreme rainfall, it is very difficult for the water to drain away. Drought manifests itself for example by low water tables and low river levels. Furthermore, the negative effects of a heat wave are more apparent in a highly populated, compact city such as Rotterdam than in the surrounding countryside.
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ROTTERDAM IS VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE Rotterdam is a delta city Climate change is taking place in a changing world. The global population has grown exponentially over recent centuries. More than half of all people now live in towns and cities, most of which, due to their population density and economic value, are vulnerable to climate change. In particular, the densely populated and economically prosperous cities in the large river deltas that open out into the sea will be directly affected by the consequences of climate change. Rotterdam is one such vulnerable delta city. Rotterdam is located in the delta of the rivers Rhine and Meuse. Via the Nieuwe Waterweg (New Waterway), the city has open links to the sea and is influenced by the tide. Much of Rotterdam, including the main port, lies in outer-dike areas. Within the dikes, the inner-dike city of Rotterdam is mostly well below sea level, with the lowest point being as much as 6.67 metres below NAP in the Alexanderpolder district (NAP the National Amsterdam Level, is an agreed ordnance measurement that is almost equal to mean sea level). If the region were to flood, the consequences would be disastrous.
An ingenious but vulnerable system An ingenious system keeps our city safe and dry (and sometimes wet). The lowerlying polders are wellprotected from high water levels in the river Meuse by robust dikes and barriers such as the Maeslant storm surge barrier. The city keeps the water levels in the polders stable by means of a system of canals and lakes, outlets and waterways, sewers and pumping stations. The outer-dike city districts and harbours are generally constructed on higher ground and are therefore inherently safer. The system is truly a masterpiece of Dutch technical engineering. However, it is also a complex, inflexible system. If anything should go wrong, the damage to people and property in the lower-lying and densely populated city would be catastrophic.
Outer-dike
Inner-dike
Polders and gr
Groundwater
Polder ditches
Urban districts
Pump
Polder outlet
Pump
Canal
Compact city centre
Pumping station
Dike
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Urban districts
Port and harbour areas
river Meuse
Dike
North Sea
Rotterdam has its affairs in order Rotterdam’s tradition of adapting to the natural circumstances in the delta dates way back to the very origins of the city. Living with the threat of water is in our genes. While Rotterdam’s position at the river estuary has presented many problems over the years, it has also brought far more in the way of prosperity to the city.
1270 Dam in the Rotte
The dam separated fresh water from salt water, provided protection and gave the city its name. Rotterdam’s growth as both a commercial city and a port stemmed from this dam, which still forms the heart of the city today.
Rotterdam has been protecting itself from the threat of the water from the rivers and especially from the sea for centuries. The dams, dikes and land reclamation have brought the dangers and risk of flooding under control and the wetlands of the inner-dike city have been drained. This has made Rotterdam – although still vulnerable – one of the safest delta cities in the world. Rotterdam has its affairs in order.
1854 Canal plan
1953-2010 Delta works
Rose’s canal plan for water management in the polder city improved the water quality and the water level management, and at the same time made the city more attractive. Rose introduced water as an urban quality in Rotterdam. To this day the canals are attractive assets to the city.
The situation now Although the system that is keeping Rotterdam safe and dry is robust and wellmaintained, in extreme situations the city is already noticing the consequences of very high water levels, heavy downpours and long periods of drought or high temperatures. Whereas in the past these weather conditions occurred infrequently, over recent decades they have become more common. Such events show how vulnerable the city is to the changing climate.
Following the disastrous floods of 1953, the Delta works were constructed to permanently protect our country from the threat of water, so that we would never again have to suffer such a catastrophe. The Delta works epitomise Holland’s decisiveness and ingenuity in its fight against the adverse effects of water. The culmination of the Delta works, the Maeslant storm surge barrier, protects Rotterdam and keeps the connection between the port and the sea open.
In the city itself, the problems manifest themselves for example in the form of flooding along the quays in the older outerdike parts of the city, flooding in the streets and inundated cellars during periods of extreme rainfall. When temperatures are very hot some bridges do not close properly and the water quality in the canals and lakes deteriorates. Fortunately the consequences so far have not been too severe. They have merely been inconve-
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nient and caused minor damage and mild disruption to the city. However, faced with the uncertain consequences of the changing climate, it is essential that Rotterdam makes itself less vulnerable. Rotterdam must continue adapting to changes in the delta. Doing nothing is not an option!
strial complex Rotterdam is internationally oriented and the city is home to a number of strong, promising economic clusters such as maritimeprofessional services and delta technology.
A long tradition of urban development in the delta It is not only the climate that is changing. The city of Rotterdam itself is also continually changing and evolving, as you would expect of a delta port. Throughout recent centuries, Rotterdam’s tradition of ‘protecting itself against and living with water’ has shaped the development of the city. The strategic location of Rotterdam in the Dutch Delta has brought prosperity and growth. The city developed around the dam in the river Rotte, along and behind the high sea dikes and around the historic outer-dike harbours. In the 19th century, constructions such as Rose’s canals formed the context for urban development. The port developed rapidly, partially due to the construction of the Nieuwe Waterweg (New Waterway), and the city grew along with it. In the 20th century, as the port slowly moved further out towards the sea, the abandoned old harbours such as Kop van Zuid became part of the city. In this way Rotterdam has evolved into a modern and dynamic international port. In a physical sense Rotterdam will continue to change. Over recent decades the population of Rotterdam and the economy of the city, in both inner- and outer-dike regions, have grown considerably. As a result, there is a far greater likelihood of casualties, damage and economic losses if, for example, flooding were to occur. Adequate long-lasting protection from the consequences of climate change is therefore essential to the city of Rotterdam and its inhabitants.
Rotterdam is forever in motion. The city is continually adapting to its changing population and social-economic circumstances. Rotterdam is a densely populated city and is still growing. For the foreseeable future, it is expected that the number of inhabitants in the city will increase. The good news is that the people of Rotterdam are becoming more and more satisfied with life in their city and the economy is continuing to grow. With its port and indu-
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3.3 THE ROTTERDAM APPROACH Rotterdam Climate Proof connects water with opportunities. Climate adaptation and spatial development are inextricably intertwined in Rotterdam. This approach allows urban planners to create new designs that effectively address the issue of climate change. At the same time, the necessity of investing in climate adaptation will create and sustain the momentum needed to enhance the city’s attractiveness. Adaptation to climate change is more than just a necessity for Rotterdam. Perhaps even more importantly, it offers an economic opportunity. This approach is characteristic of Rotterdam Climate Proof. Gaining knowledge and experience fast in combining water management, spatial planning and other innovative techniques will allow the corporate sector to build a powerful competitive advantage. The Rotterdam Climate Proof programme is based on three pillars: knowledge, actions and marketing communications. Ensuring that Rotterdam will be climate proof in every respect by 2025 is the common goal. Innovative solutions will enhance the safety and the quality of life in the city, while at the same time offering substantial economic potential for the entire region.
1. KNOWLEDGE
Trendsetting research in the area of theoretical and applied delta technology enables Rotterdam to create the basis for groundbreaking innovations and international collaboration. Within the Dutch national research programme entitled ‘Knowledge for Climate’, Rotterdam has been named a hotspot in this field. Most of the knowledge projects are included in this programme. Knowledge development also takes place through knowledge exchange. For this reason, Rotterdam has set up the international knowledge network called ‘Connecting Delta Cities’. In addition, Rotterdam cooperates intensively with the Rotterdam University for Applied Sciences (water management), Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) and regional knowledge partners such as TU Delft, Unesco-IHE and Deltares.
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2. ACTIONS
Investing in a climate proof city contributes to the realization of a safe, healthy, and attractive living environment and a strong economy for the residential and business communities. Innovations and knowledge are developed and applied in practice in Rotterdam. The Stadshavens (City ports) district, in particular, will be the recipient of substantial investments, for instance in terms of adaptive building and floating constructions (such as the floating pavilion), the Netherlands Water Centre and Clean Tech Delta. This will help Stadshavens to become Rotterdam’s showcase for ‘urban delta technology’.
3. MARKETING
Rotterdam positions itself as a delta city with an international port and a city which approaches future climate change in an unpretentious, safe and innovative manner. Not only on a local level but also on a national and international level, Rotterdam projects an aura of innovation, reliability, and decisiveness. In 2010, Rotterdam was represented at the World Expo 2010 to show the world how this metropolis manages to keep the city and port safe from flooding, despite climate change. Establishing international knowledge agreements and partnerships, Rotterdam has a prominent position among the leaders in the field. These leaders in the international field of water management and delta issues met each other during the conference ‘Deltas in Times of Climate Change’, which took place in Rotterdam in 2010. In 2014 (24 – 26 September), a second international conference will be organized together with the national research programme ‘Knowledge for Climate’ and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment of the Netherlands.
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2.4 THE GOALS The Rotterdam Climate Change Adaptation Strategy outlines the course that will enable Rotterdam to adapt to climate change and discusses the consequences for the city. The primary goal is to create a climate proof city for the people of Rotterdam now and for future generations. However, Rotterdam also hopes to take advantage of the opportunities presented by climate change adaptation to strengthen its economy, to improve the environment, to enhance the natural resources and to increase the involvement of the inhabitants of Rotterdam with their city. As such, the Rotterdam Climate Change Adaptation Strategy is in line with the city’s aims as presented in the ‘Stadsvisie Rotterdam’ (Rotterdam urban vision, spatial development strategy) and with the implementation as set out in the Rotterdam implementation strategy. The world is changing and Rotterdam needs to change with it. The Rotterdam implementation strategy discusses the four themes on which the city intends to focus: the development of talent, the strength of a caring society, an attractive (inner) city and a strong economy. The strategy requires us all to work together. By doing so we can broaden our scope and set ourselves more ambitious targets. With these joint efforts we are working towards the future and ensuring that Rotterdam remains an attractive, healthy, lively and economically strong city.
Making Rotterdam climate proof by 2025 Rotterdam aims to be 100% climate proof by 2025. This is the goal expressed in the city’s climate change adaptation programme. This means that by 2025 measures will already have been taken in Rotterdam to ensure that each specific area is minimally disrupted by and maximally benefits from climate change both then and throughout the following decades. Furthermore, all spatial development in Rotterdam will structurally take into account the longterm foreseeable climate change while allowing for uncertain eventualities. This goal of a climate proof Rotterdam is in line with the Rotterdam implementation strategy and is also a prerequisite for achieving the city’s more wide-reaching aims.
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The city and its inhabitants are protected from the rivers and the sea
The city and its inhabitants experience minimal disruption from too much or too little rainfall
The Port of Rotterdam remains safe and accessible
It is vital that Rotterdam and its inhabitants remain protected from flooding and that investors retain their confidence in the city and region.
Rotterdam needs to be able to cope with extreme weather situations such as prolonged downpours, heat waves and periods of drought. To this end, we are already working together with the partners of the Rotterdam water plan and will continue to do so.
Rotterdam needs to remain accessible to people, goods and services. It is crucial that the essential urban (public utilities) networks are robust and that weather conditions, no matter how extreme, do not lead to uncontrollable situations.
The inhabitants of Rotterdam are aware of the effects of climate change and know what they themselves can do
Climate change adaptation contributes to a comfortable, pleasant and attractive city in which to live and work
Climate change adaptation strengthens the economy of Rotterdam and its image
Inhabitants and businesses in Rotterdam need to be aware of the consequences of climate change, to become conscious of their own responsibilities and to know what action they themselves can take. The City of Rotterdam provides the framework within which they can assume their own responsibilities.
Rotterdam must continue to be a city in which it is pleasant to live and work and where climate change does not adversely affect the health and welfare of its inhabitants. The measures used to guarantee this will directly contribute to making the city more attractive and to improving the environment.
Making the city climate proof will benefit the economy of Rotterdam. Climate change adaptation will create new, economic impulses in the city and strengthen the international image of Rotterdam as an ambitious and progressive delta city. In this way Rotterdam will confirm its ability to take charge of a situation and promote itself as a role model for other cities.
i
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2.5 CONNECTING DELTA CITIES
Over 50% of the world population lives in cities. More than two thirds of the world’s largest cities are vulnerable to rising sea levels as a result of climate change. Millions of people are being exposed to the risk of extreme floods and storms. The goal of Connecting Delta Cities is to develop a network of delta cities that are active in the field of climate change related spatial development, water management, and adaptation, in order to exchange knowledge on climate adaptation and share best practices that can support cities in developing their adaptation strategies. The CDC initiative originates from the C40. The C40 is a group of the world’s largest cities and a number of affiliated cities committed to taking action on climate change. By fostering a sense of shared purpose, the C40 network offers cities an effective forum in which to work together, share information and demonstrate leadership. Through effective partnership working with the Clinton Climate Initiative, the C40 helps cities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through a range of energy efficiency and clean energy. Many of the world’s major coastal cities are at risk of flooding from rising sea levels and a changing climate. Heat-trapping urban landscapes (buildings and paved surfaces) can raise temperatures – and lower air quality – dangerously through the Urban Heat Island effect.
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Tokyo 2008: the birth of Connecting Delta Cities In Tokyo in October 2008, a C40 meeting on climate adaptation offiffi cially adopted the Connecting Delta Cities (CDC) Initiative proposed by the City of Rotterdam. It was addressed as “Joint Action 8: Climate Adaptation Connecting Delta Cities.�C40 agreed the network should (initially) consist of a small number of cities that are frontrunners in climate adaptation, with the objective of exchanging knowledge on climate adaptation and sharing best practices. Delta cities can benefifit from the Connecting Delta Cities (CDC) network through: - Exchange of adaptation strategies and best practices - Stimulating adaptation practice and enlarging operation capacity - Creating economic spin-offs based on the acquired expertise - Inclusion of climate adaptation in water management and spatial development - Contributing to the image of delta cities by enhancing their vision on the future - Raising awareness amongst citizens and local governments.
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2.6 ROADMAP AND HIERARCHY
margin
46 39
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Ener
gy e
CO2 reduction
CO2 emissions (Mton)
Rotterdam is responsible for sixteen percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Netherlands. As an international port with a large CO2 intensive industrial sector, which is set to grow over the coming years, Rotterdam is acutely aware of its responsibility to act on the climate change issues it is facing. This resulted in the ambitious Rotterdam Climate Initiative (RCI) program, designed to: • achieve a fifty percent reduction of CO2 emissions in the Rotterdam region by 2025, as compared to 1990. • climate-proof and adapt the city to the consequences of climate change. • strengthen the Rotterdam economy. RCI is a collaboration of the Port of Rotterdam, the City of Rotterdam, port and industries’ association Deltalinqs, and the DCMR Environmental Protection Agency. The greatest share of RCI’s ambition to reduce CO2 emissions will be realized through energy efficiency measures in industry (two percent annually), buildings and transportation, sustainable energy – predominantly biomass, use of residual heat and wind energy – and through carbon capture and storage (CCS).
fficie
ncy
5.0 4.5
Rene w (biom able en ergy ass)
17.5
24
CCS
CCS
CCS
12
12
1990
2009
indu
pow
stria
er se
l sec
ctor
tor
5.5
Mto
n
12 M
ton
Goal: 12 Mton CO2 emissions in 2025
2025
Given the large presence of the industry and power sector in the port, CCS is a logical and crucial means by which to achieve CO2 emission reduction. Over half of the projected reduction, 17.5 Mton, must be achieved through CCS. Approximately thirty percent of the CCS objective comes from industrial installations. The aim is to realize full-scale CCS application by 2025.
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Announcement Coal Plant E.On
Announcement Coal Plant Electrabel
Pilot plant CO2 capture E.On operational
E.On and Electrabel CINTRA decide to join forces launched for demonstration (ROAD)
Two project for NER300 submitted (Green Hydrogen and Pegasus)
Rotterdam Other Rotterdam Climate
IAB Conference
1
Start CSS Business Platform
Start RCI
Letters of Cooperation
First Infra Business Case
Broader Commitment
Birth of RCI
2006
2
2007
3
5
Economic Impact Assessment of CSS
Independent Storage Assessment
Preparation for demonstration
2009
2010
MoU of Min. of Env. With RCI
Netherlands
4
Second Infra Business Case
LoC’s
2008
Application to GCCSI
Positive Decision subsidy ROAD
2011
Barendrecht project cancelled ROAD
NER300:Green Hydrogen submitted to EU
National Task Force
European Union EU Climate Action Package launched
x
Positive Decision EEPR subsidy ROAD
NER300 NER300 opened deadline national submission
= RCI CCS Report nr. X
The timeline shows the evolution of the Rotterdam Climate Initiative and in the same time it emphasizes the overlapping with other related programs belonging to institutions of higher government hierarchy like Netherlands Government and Europian Union Commission. We can notice indeed how the initiatives of various government-layer are coordinated with each other. It is noteworthy that the climate adaption program is started from the city of Rotterdam, while the European program followed, in chronological line, the Dutch initiatives.
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3.ICT USAGE LEADERS
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Internet Usage in the Netherlands
one party invests in the physical network on which other parties can provide their services. At the end of 2010, fiber-optic Internet was available in 205 out of 408 municipalities. The number of homes passed was 714,600 from a total of 7.386 million. In 2012 - the most recent year for which European figures are available - 74 percent of Dutch individuals aged between 65 and 75 indicated they had accessed the internet at least once. This share is nearly twice as high as the EU average. Together with Luxembourg, Sweden and Denmark, the Netherlands ranks high on the list representing internet usage among older people. In other Western-European countries like Germany, Belgium and France, the number of older people with internet experience is much lower.
According to research done by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the Netherlands is ranked with Switzerland in having the most broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, has no bandwidth caps, and has the most homes passed in Europe in terms of connection speeds of 50 Mbit/s and higher. Cable is the most popular form of Internet access with 41% of total subscriptions, followed by various forms of DSL and Fiber to the Home according to statistics from the end of 2010 gathered by the association of Dutch cable providers. Fiber-optic Internet access is rolled out on regional scale, encompassing part of a province or a municipality. Deployment is comparable to local-loop unbundling:
1
internet exchange point Rotterdam Internet Exchange
6
‘WHILE ROTTERDAM,
datacenters
intradesk data center rotterdam
spaanse kubus
datahouse cappele
datahouse spijkernisse
interactive 3D
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luna.nl rotterdam puntegale
Internet Usage Statistic - Netherlands
14,872,200 users 88.6%
11.4% Penetration of Internet users
Penetration of Internet usage over time
24.1% 2000
52.5% 2003
65.9% 2006
88.4%
88.6%
2007
2010
Business Broadband - Netherlands Percentage of businesses with 10 or more employees using broadband internet access Broadband
Percentage of businesses with 10 or more employees using broadband internet access over time
36.6% 2003
53.7% 2004
71.3% 2005
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81.7%
87.4%
2007
2009
Twitter and LinkedIn Penetration The Netherlands also has an exceptionally high representation among social networking sites Twitter.com and Linkedin.com, ranking #1 among all countries in Internet penetration for these sites. In each case, more than one in four Dutch Internet users visits these sites during the course of the month. While the top ten countries in Linkedin penetration are either English-speaking or in Western Europe, the top countries for Twitter touch virtually every corner of the globe.
26.1%
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26.8%
4.BUSINESS AND PEOPLE ORIENTED e-SERVICES
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Rotterdam online services The city of Rotterdam is well equipped with online platforms and services. Given the high penetration of internet among its citizens, these platforms are significant for the quality of life of Rotterdamers. A great amount of the elderly in the Netherlands have access to internet, so this infrastructures are so important for the development of e-healthcare industries. The same happen with the youngest population. The assumption for e-learning and telework are well setted. Not only the Municipality of Rotterdam and other public istitutions provide online websites, but these initiatives come also from the bottom. They are developed in regard of bussines issues
as well as common citizens needs. Great efforts are spent by the municipality in order to provide clear informations and incentives for the businesses and tourists who want to visit the city. They are, at the same time, supporting an initiative of the citizens to create ad Open Data platform. This platform is still under construction, its services are provided only in the dutch language. Anyway is still early to make an evaluation of the success in regard of this initiative. Universities and clusters are providing useful online portals which are oriented to international clients and students.
1.
2.
People oriented
Business oriented
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4.1 PEOPLE ORIENTED e-SERVICES Online Platforms
The city of Rotterdam is well serviced with many online platforms managed by the public administration. They offer a wide range of services, from the basic needs to the advanced necessities. These services are oriented not only to the residents of Rotterdam but also to city users and tourists. They provide them with informations and facilites as parking, tourists discount digital card, while the newcomers are invited to the online forum of the city in order to welcome them and create new contacts
between different cathegories of populatio. This services are provided in Dutch language and also in English. In the same time the municipality of Rotterdam offers an online platform oriented specifically to Rotterdam residents. This platform is an Open Data Center, where visitors can find important information and services provided in different thematic cathegories. This platforms is useful because it creates link with other public online datacenters as Police Istitution of Rotterdam etc.
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of climate change. Now, with the Rotterdam Delta City app you can easily locate and visit the places and constructions that keep Rotterdam safe, dry and attractive. Additional information in the hotspots give you all the insight on how and why these measures work and how they are part of an integrated strategy for the entire city. Navigate your way across the sustainable world port city of Rotterdam!
The Delta City Rotterdam app is a great way to explore the city while discovering the measures Rotterdam takes to protect itself against the ever present water: sea, river, rain and ground water. Unique hotspots let you discover the broad network of innovative solutions such as multifunctional dykes, water plazas and the Maeslant Barrier. Learn about the actions Rotterdam as a delta city takes to protect itself against flooding in a time where new challenges present themselves as a result
Smartphone apps
Rotterdam Info
Rotterdam Delta City
This city guide highlights the very best that Rotterdam has to offer, from attractions and museums to hotels, restaurants and shops. Includes an offline city map and a dynamic events calendar to discover what you can see & do. The new Rotterdam app gives visitors and inhabitants of the City on the Maas constant access to convenient city info via their mobile telephones. The Rotterdam app can be downloaded easily by opening the url m.rotterdam.info/ download on a mobile phone. The mobile app is available in both Dutch and English, providing access to a city guide with in-
formation on attractions, museums, hotels, restaurants and shops in Rotterdam. GPS positioning combined with an offline city map makes it easy for users to find their way around the city and find nearby locations – such as a local restaurant. The app also allows users to call restaurants directly to book a table, and to figure out how to get there by public transport with the 9292ov information service. The dynamic agenda gives users permanent access to the very latest updates on festivals, events and other activities taking place in the city.
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4.2 BUSINESS ORIENTED e-SERVICES Rotterdam Internet Exchange
The Rotterdam Internet Exchange or R-iX is the center for high-speed netwerkverbiningen and innovative Internet services in the Rotterdam region. R-iX wants to contribute to the innovative and future-oriented city Rotterdam. To achieve this, R-iX supports innovative projects and companies. R-iX also provides network and data center services for companies and institutions in the Rotterdam area. R-iX is independent and neutral network. The R-iX aspires affordable access to broadband and high quality Tier 3 data center facilities and green for each regional company, organization or
institution. R-iX is ISO 27001 certified and participant in the European Code of Conduct for data centers energiezuinge. The R-iX is an inseparable part of the many initiatives of the City of Rotterdam to strengthen. ICT sector Meanwhile, great achievements have been made in ​​ the deployment of fiber-optic and wireless networks, the creation of media projects and supporting innovative Internet entrepreneurs in Rotterdam Valley Internet Programme (R-IV).
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Rotterdam Internet Valley accelerating
technology A good technical IT environment is essential for internet business owners, so RIV offer their datacenter best service, quality and reliability. Thanks to their funders and sponsors, clients get the best infrastructure without a towering account.
business RIV organize many events so businesses can spar with fellow entrepreneurs. By this way they can brush up on specific entrepreneurial knowledge. Entrepeneurs can join this community and make use of the workshops, coaching and network of investors and suppliers.
Online Platform for Businesses
success Rotterdam Internet Valley makes Rotterdam entrepreneurs more successful. It take technology and business worries so they can concentrate on successfully into the market of their internet concept.
terdam. This Agency introduce new businessmen to professionals in key areas and in the same time agency’s officers accompany the newcomers to visit accountants and tax consultants for financial input or recruitment agencies to discuss their personnel needs. Rotterdam Investment Agency can introduce entrepreneurs into networks in the Dutch trade circles and also within the government and other relevant market parties. The webportal is in fact a virtual door to the Rotterdam business world.
The Rotterdam Investment Agency helps businesses to make a running start. It provide strong and comprehensive support to both local and international investors with all the information necessary to set up or expand their business as efficiently as possible. Its Expatdesk will help expats feel at home in the Netherlands. Providing them with the correct facts, figures and advice on setting up or expanding their business. This information will help them to form an in-depth opinion on the many advantages of Rotterdam. Indeed they helping new investors to find the right location in Rot-
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5.TECHNOLOGY AT THE SERVICE OF PEOPLE
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5.1 Rotterdam Electric Programme
With its Rotterdam Electric programme, the City of Rotterdam is creating the right conditions to provide the best possible support for the market development of electric mobility and to accelerate this development, for instance, by providing sufficient electric charging stations in a network throughout Rotterdam. We are also offering owners of electric vehicles an attractive scheme for electric charging stations. The scheme ‘Innovative projects and vehicle fleets’ actively focuses on promoting innovation and collaborating with various other municipalities, users and the corporate world. This makes the most of electric transport as an economical opportunity. Furthermore, Rotterdam is also playing an active role in various projects, discussions and partnerships on both a national and European level. Rotterdam thus presents and obtains knowledge. The Rotterdam Electric programme is being financed by the Rotterdam approach to air quality. The projects are an integral component of the Rotterdam Programme on Sustainability and Climate Change. The European Union is also contributing financially to a number of projects.
The City of Rotterdam has more than 100 electric vehicles driving about in its own fleet. This includes segways, electric scooters, private cars, delivery vans and hybrid trucks. By gaining experience and setting a good example, we are working together with companies, residents and visitors to Rotterdam towards creating a green, clean, healthy and economically strong city. In 2014, electric or hybrid vehicles will have to account for 25 percent of the municipal vehicle fleet. A small, completely electric refuse truck drives through Rotterdam, powered by energy generated from rubbish. The refuse truck was built by Spijkstaal and collects rubbish from businesses in the city centre. This waste is incinerated to generate electricity, which is subsequently used as fuel for the electric truck. The vehicle is made of recyclable steel and runs on vegetable hydraulic oil. An HGV licence is not required because the maximum permitted speed is 32 km/h. Furthermore, Rotterdam is also home to two large plug-in hybrid rubbish trucks made by Volvo. These are deployed in the regular services and work just as well as their diesel versions.
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5.2 Water Square
Rotterdam’s first full-scale water square, Benthemplein, was officially opened on 4 December. All parties involved in the design of the square - constructors, neighbours, church-goers and students from the surrounding schools - joined in the festive opening by local administrator Nils Berndsen, national deltacommisioner Wim Kuijken and vice-mayor Alexandra van Huffelen. The city square is unique for it size as it can retain 1,700 m3 rain water. More over the square is also unique in its design process. The opening of the water square Benthemplein marks the ambition of the City of Rotterdam and Schieland and Krimpenerwaard District Water Board to address water and climate issues. Three basins collect rain water: two undeep basins for the immediate surroundings will receive water whenever it rains, one deeper basin receives water only when it consistently keeps raining. Here the water is collected from the larger area around the square.
wants to watch them doing their thing. The deep basin is a true sports pit, as well as a theatre to see and be seen. Rotterdam’s strategy is to make more room for water. The city has predicted it will need to accommodate for 600 million liters of extra water over the next five years. That’s enough water to fill 200 Olympic-sized pools. Because creating a huge lake in the city is out of the question, enter the concept of the water squares – spreading water capacity throughout the city. In a project that parks cars and water, Rotterdam has built a parking deck in Museumpark that accounts for 10,000 cubic meters of water storage. The parking deck not only holds water within it, but also contains water above it and sits next to and under a public space.
Rainwater that falls on the square runs via large stainless steel gutters over it, into the basins. When its dry, these places are fit for everybody on wheels and whoever
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5.3 I MAKE ROTTERDAM
The project is partly inspired by the High Line in New York City. But this isn’t a reclaimed piece of infrastructure, like the former rail line where the High Line was built. Instead, the Luchtsingel (Dutch for “raised promenade”) is being constructed section-by-section out of wood and crowdfunded in part by donors who can buy planks for as little as 25 euros or larger sections for up to 1,250 euros. Donors’ names appear on the planks, which will eventually number 17,000. The project is a collaboration between the Rotterdam-based urban design group ZUS (Zones Urbaines Sensibles) and the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR), which this year has the theme of “Making City”. The online forums and platforms are crucial in this case for the success of this bottom - up project.
Prior to World War II, the Hofplein area in the centre of Rotterdam was a lively, bustling gathering place where pedestrians were king, and cars were secondary. Just as we have seen in many North American cities, a highway was built after the war that divided central Rotterdam from Hofplein, and pedestrians became an afterthought while speeding cars dominated the area. In recent years, Rotterdam citizens wanted to take their city back from the onslaught of cars, so they asked the government to build a 350 meter wooden pedestrian bridge to re-connect central Rotterdam to Hofplein and provide a promenade where citizens could once again gather without being pushed to the side by fast-moving traffic. Officials told citizens that it would take 30 years to finance such a bridge, so the citizens decided to take matters into their own hands and raise the money themselves to build the bridge immediately. Plank by plank, the people of Rotterdam are building a bridge that will give pedestrians safe passage over a tangle of highways and connect two parts of the city that have been separated by cars for years, in the hopes of revitalizing both.
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5.4 Serious Gaming
Rotterdam is one of the leader in the elearning and serious and applied games sector in Europe. The Rotterdam Media Commission feels that there is huge innovative potential with far reaching spin-off possibilities for education, health care, logistic and other commercial sectors. The Rotterdam Media Commission aims to strengthen the media industry in the Rotterdam region. They connect media entrepreneurs, emerging talents, educational institutions and the municipality. Its focus is on serious gaming and e-learning, film, and music. In short, they are committed to ensuring that the creative media sector can innovate, can put itself on the map and do healthy ‘business’. So RMC primarily aim on doing this for serious gaming and e-learning.
make repetitive exercises fun by adding, for example, a competitive element so doctors keep playin (and so training) to improve their highest score.Therefore serious games in healthcare is important. The virtual RescueSIm training platform allows port authorities in the port of Rotterdam to practice with every imaginable port incident in a realistic way. Both incidents on land and water available, ranging from a collision of two ships and on board fires to incidents with hazardous substances. With the help of RescueSim, first aid workers and authorities can train every aspect in the decision making process. By being able to train a multitude of incidents virtually, first aid workers will be better prepared for a large amount of real possible calamities in the port. The training programs can be executed with different parameters regarding available materials and under different environmental circumstances, as firs aid services are better prepared for possible escalations and/or unforeseen cirumstances.
Serious games in health care aren’t just suitable for patients, doctors can also benefit greatly from the use of game technology for training and simulation. Games are a cheap and often remarkably effective means to learn to teach doctors to collaborate, take in knowledge and communicate better. A game can make difficult medial procedures easier to understand. Games
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5.5 Tradition and Safety
On May 14, 1940 is the center of Rotterdam was bombed. The Fire Boundary indicates the limit to which the city is destroyed. In building the ruins of Rotterdam, the then council decided to resurrect the old rebuild. Instead of a new Rotterdam Thus, there is a clear distinction emerged between the new and the old Rotterdam. The exact line of Brandgrens (Fire Boundery) will be unknown to many people, but nevertheless has had much to do with the current architecture of Rotterdam. The project shows that everyone should be proud of the new Rotterdam! The project Brandgrens is produced for Rotterdam 2007 City of Architecture. The 128 so-called “Spacecannons” (each with an output of 7000 watts) are seen between 22:45 and 02:00 hours in the air thanks to the sponsors: Eneco and Deloitte. It’s an important issue for the inhabitans of Rotterdam, in this case technology helps in community sense building.
The climate game is a program which belong to the Rotterdam Climate Initiative. This game – sponsored by the Rotterdam Climate Proof programme, the National New Urban Developments and Restructuring Delta Programme and the Water Governance Centre – makes players aware of the dilemmas involved in climate-proof construction/restructuring and spatial developments, both inside and outside the network of dikes. Players can experiment with a realistic representation of the Rotterdam Feijenoord district. While playing the game, they will also start to become aware of the multilayer safety approach. In addition, measures can be weighed against one another. Considerations of budget and the possibility of applying for a grant are also part of the game. The game was developed by Tygron Serious Gaming.
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6.CLUSTERS AND INNOVATION
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Science Port Holland is an international Centre of Excellence for High Tech knowledge exchange and innovation, located in the Delft-Rotterdam region, one of the most vibrant and dynamic economic regions in the Netherlands and Europe. Science Port Holland is organized around the highly advanced technological innovation clusters located in the region. Its focus is on the key challenges currently facing society: Clean Technology and Medical Technology. As for Clean Technology, Science Port Holland concentrates on innovations in Industrial Biotechnology, Energy & Climate and Water & Delta Technology. In Medical Technology, its focus is innovative developments in advanced medical equipment and instruments, such as Imaging and Image Guided Medicine, Interventions and Care, and Targeted Molecular Technology. Science Port Holland will accommodate renowned knowledge institutes, start-ups and international companies active in its focal areas. The primary goal is to provide an attractive environment in which technology innovators can bring breakthrough innovations to market and achieve commercial success. A unique cluster of top experts from leading High Tech entrepreneurs, corporations and knowledge institutes, works closely together in the various Science Port Holland locations, which are firmly embedded in one of Europe’s leading regions in innovation, economic and infrastructure development.
Within the Delft-Rotterdam region, Science Port Holland and its locations provide: -A highly attractive and stimulating environment for cooperation and knowledge transfer in open innovation networks -A unique cluster of international technology corporations, knowledge institutes and entrepreneurs in the immediate vicinity of two Universities -An International community of leading companies and institutes, active in Clean Technology and Medical Technology -A location which is firmly embedded in one of Europe’s key infrastructure and logistics hubs -A sustained long-term commitment of local, regional and national government to the development of and investment in a knowledge & innovation region Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University (especially Erasmus Medical Center) have joined forces with the municipalities of Rotterdam and Delft in their ambition to develop Science Port Holland.
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MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY CLUSTERS
The healthcare sector is in constant motion, both in terms of quality and organization. Innovative technology and scientific breakthroughs are key to the continuous improvement of our medical care for the future. The aim is twofold: to enable faster and earlier diagnoses and to develop more personal and less invasive therapies with better results. Aftercare and home care as well as patient monitoring are also part of the new research programmes.
logy focuses primarily on the development of increasingly advanced medical instruments and equipment, notably Imaging Technology, where patient interests (such as safety) as well as the sustainability aspect play a major role. In order to consolidate and, where possible, reinforce their position as strong international players, Erasmus University, Erasmus Medical Center, Delft University of Technology, Leiden University and Leiden University Medical Center have decided to set up a partnership: Medical Delta. The municipalities involved also support this initiative. The aim is to develop and implement new technologies that promote effective treatments, fast recovery and disease prevention. A secondary aim is to join up the region’s international marketing and acquisition efforts in order to achieve a greater impact abroad.
Within Science Port Holland’s field of activity, Erasmus Medical Center (the biggest university medical centre in the Netherlands) and Delft University of Technology are active in fundamental and applied medical technological research. Both have built up an international scientific reputation: Erasmus MC is particularly highly rated for its scientific research in cardiology, oncology and virology. Delft University of Techno-
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INDUSTRIAL BIOTECH CLUSTERS
Though processes and products in Industrial (white) Biotechnology & Chemistry have obvious overlap in such areas as energy, climate and water, the differences in terms of scientific context and market are such that it is both desirable and sensible to devise a cluster-specific marketing and acquisition strategy. At its locations Science Port Holland NV offers excellent opportunities for the further international development of the industrial biotechnology and chemistry cluster. The Applied Sciences Faculty and the associated Kluyver Centre jointly form a globally renowned competence centre. The leading role that Delft University of Technology plays in carrying out the national BEBasic programme and the expansion of international alliances with foreign univer-
sities will further strengthen its cuttingedge position. In addition, the presence of large multinationals such as DSM will serve to attract smaller companies. One important new facility is the Bioprocess Pilot Facility, a unique test facility for trialling and upscaling biotechnological and chemical processes. This new facility is unique in the world and is located on the DSM site in Delft. It’s also available to external companies, thus giving new impulses for the reinforcement of the region’s competitive position. Moreover, Science Port Holland can offer sufficient physical space on its campuses to accommodate new companies.
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6.3 SHAREHOLDER AND PARTERNS
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30
Within the Rotterdam-Delft Region, Science Port Holland NV brings parties together in unique locations, with the highest density of knowledge and public institutions in the world and a wide variety of mature and start-up businesses in its focal areas: Clean Technology and Medical Technology. Their mutual aim is to create a leading international Science Parks for High Tech knowledge transfer, innovation and business in an open innovation space – thereby providing an excellent base for growth and prosperity for all parties involved and helping society to move forward on its key challenges. Science Port Holland NV has adopted an ambitious objective which it aims to realize in the coming years. Market parties interested in any of the projected innovation campuses will be offered the following proposition: A highly attractive and stimulating envi-
ronment for cooperation and knowledge transfer in open innovation networks, where High Tech companies can accommodate their research and production activities, bring them to market and achieve commercial success. A unique cluster of international technology firms, knowledge institutes and spin-offs in the immediate vicinity of one of Europe’s best universities of technology and two highly reputed academic medical centres. Partners combine their leading international position in key scientific areas – Climate & Energy, Industrial Biotech, Water & Delta and Medical Technology – with a presence in a top European knowledge infrastructure location. A location which is firmly embedded in one of Europe’s key economic, infrastructure and logistics hubs.
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7.PROGRESS EVALUATION
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The overall evaluation the initiatives of the city of Rotterdam can only be positive. If we take into account the principles that a smart city should follow to be a “first in class“ in the field, Rotterdam got almost all of them. The city counsil has approved a long term vision for the city, which is clear and sharply developed: Climateproof Rotterdam. This vision is taken into account as the main guideline that every specific project and initiative has to follow. Furthermore, it is well coordinated with hierarchical programs belonging to the Netherlands and specially Europian Commission initiatives. Inside the plan there is not a clear distinction between urban planning and digital planning but they are quite combined together. All the stakeholders and potential collaborators (public and private) are involved in the plan, not only the local actors but also international authorities (Connecting Delta Cities Program). Despite the fact that the financial resources and sources are not specified clearly in the plan, Rotterdam Municipality and specially the Port of Rotterdam had proved to manage in an efficient way their financial resources. Improvements are monitored evey year and they are published in online platforms, so everybody can be informed; the trasparency issues are well organized. The goals are setted in a long term roadmap ( approximately 20 years) and their process in monitored by quantitative indicators as CO2 emmissions etc.
games in order to train their officers for every eventuality and dangerous situations. This innovative tools are focused in climate change games, security issues and health care games. All the initiatives belonging to the Sustainable Plan are re-organized in a unique office inside the Municipality Departament which orient their efforts to the climate proof initiatives. By empowering this office, the Municipality of Rotterdam proves their willingness to go further in their sustainable programs, and at the same time, offers to citizens and businesses concrete ways to partecipate in the plan. The services and initiatives are equipped with online platforms and easily recheable documents. The efforts of the Municipality of Rotterdam to achieve its vision of a water and climate proof city are accompanied by private sector istitutions as Cisco, ABB, IBM and local entrepreneurs organized in the Science Port Holland clusters. Their cooperation is quite noteworthy in the Port of Rotterdam ICT development as well as in the support for the secure delta city of Rotterdam. Furthermore, the public administrations encourage bottom up initiatives (I MAKE ROTTERDAM) for promoting ideas and successfull crowdfunding activities which could benefit common issues.
The planning process is characterized by an innovative approach. The municipality of Rotterdam and Rotterdam Media Commission have founded digital serious
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STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE SMART CITY The strategic plan for Rotterdam Water proof is well shaped in objectives, actions,targets and roadmap. The vision is set in a long term perspective, while the actions are organized in the timeframe according to the short, medium and long time needs. The involvment of citizens and stakeholders is quite encompassing.
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-1
+1
+2
STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE SMART CITY GOVERNANCE & LEADERSHIP CONSENSUS AND INTERACTION WITH CITIZENS IN TAKING DECISIONS FINANCING PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER ADMINISTRATIONS PARTNERSHIP WITH ICT COMPANIES MARKETING & COMMUNICATION OF THE SMART CITY BENEFITS ACHIEVABLE MONITORING THE PROGRESS
MARKETING & COMMUNICATION OF THE SMART CITY BENEFITS ACHIEVABLE The initiatives which belong to Rotterdam Climate Proof Plan are highly advertized by the local authorities. All the projects, actions and ideas are exposed in the floatting pavillion in the city center, which is playing a key role in informing the citizens on the targets reached until now. The benefits are also shared with the other cities partecipating in the Connecting Delta CIties program.
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MONITORING THE PROGRESS The progress of the Climate Initiative is monitored every year. The report of the progress is published online by the special office of sustainabilty and climate change. They are analysed thanks to quantitative indicators which measure for istance the quantity of emmissions of CO2 ejected. However, must be added that the progress is monitored by the same entity that is responsible for the implementation of the action projects.
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+2
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GOVERNANCE & LEADERSHIP
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Ahmed Aboutaleb is the first Muslim mayor of a major Dutch city as well as globaly important logistic hub. His rise to power is characterized by many obstacles due to his double nationality attracting so the public attention. Due to his background, Aboutaleb owns a great carisma and has gained the support of many political parties as well as Rotterdam citizens. CONSENSUS AND INTERACTION WITH CITIZENS IN TAKING DECISIONS
+2
The citizens of Rotterdam (and in the Netherlands generally speaking) are intensively partecipators in public discussions and decision taking. In the development of Rotterdam Climate Proof Strategy the Municipality of Rotterdam involved in the process citizens and keyplayers. In the same time, their organzation is supported by special programmes and funds supplied by the public bodies.
FINANCING
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In the documents published by the public administration regarding the Climate Proof Strategy, the financial management of the actions and projects was not clearly described. Actually there was no explanation of the financial resources allocated for the projects and the sources were not identified. However, taking into account first the presence of one of the main important ports in the world and the dutch enterpreneur approach of territorial entities, the sources could be assumed. In a context of global economic crisis the crowfunding gather an important value like the I MAKE ROTTERDAM initiative.
PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER ADMINISTRATIONS
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The municipality of Rotterdam is holding tight economic and socio-cultural with the Municipality of the Hague, Delft and Leuven. The most intensive exchanges are developed in cooperation with the Municipality of Delft: they have set up important clusters specialized in Medial Technology and Industrial Bio Tech. Moreover, Rotterdam is the initiator of CDC (Connecting Delta Cities), a worldwide organization of cities as New York, Singapore, London, Hong Kong etc. PARTNERSHIP WITH ICT COMPANIES
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The cooperation between Rotterdam and ICT companies present some ambiguos aspects. There are some efforts for common initiatives involving especially IBM and Cisco, but the great ideas have not fleshed out in significant project - actions. The most noteworthy case is the Smart Delta City concept developed with IBM.
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1 - 30%
31 - 60%
61 - 100%
online public services
university incubators high tech poles or clusters
e-tourism
digital homes ebuilding digital citizens digital enterprises
Rotterdam
social networks & communities
videoconference telework e-commerce
e-democracy City Management traffic control
environment safety & monitoring & security control control
public trans. control
digital schools cultural heritage
digital hospitals
e-learnings e-health teleassistance
Broadband Infrastructure Wi-Fi Hot Spots PC and Mobile Penetration Ability to use ICT
public, private or public-private initiatives
The model of the Digital City shows some lacking aspects in regard of the city of Rotterdam programs. The e-tourism platform is well organized in itself, but the city is competting with important and well established cities in the tourism field. More efforts should be spent to attract tourists and newcomers. Although Rotterdam own advanced ICT tools, very few progress is achieved in the traffic control in the urban environment, while the opposit happens in the port managemene. For the same reason, Rotterdam should be the leader in telework and teleconference usage. In regard of the incubators, the city of Rotterdam is highly specialized in economic terms. Incubators should be the first actors to improve the variety of business making. Given all the infrastructure that Rotterdam own, the developments are insignificant.
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0
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Innovative spirit Entrepreneurship Economic image and trademarks Productivity Flexibility of labour market International embeddedness
+2
SMART ECONOMY Level of qualification Affinity to life long learning Social and ethnic plurality Flexibility Creativity Cosmopolitanism/Open-mindness Partecipation in public life SMART PEOPLE Partecipation in decision making Public and social services Transparent governance
+3 +3
SMART GOVERNANCE Local accessibility (Inter-)national accessibility Availabiltiy of ICT-infrastructure Sustain., innov. and safe transport sys. SMART MOBILITY
+3
Attractiveness of natural conditions Pollution Environmental protection Sustainable resource management SMART ENVIRONMENT Cultural facilities Health conditions Individual safety Housing quality Education facilities Touristic attractiveness Social cohesion SMART LIVING
+3 +2
Going more into detail, the evaluation of the specific areas of a Smart City initiative undertaken by Rottedam shows the results described in the picture above. As can be seen, almost all the areas have reached the maximum mark, except for the economy and living spheres. The city of Rotterdam is economically highly speciallyzed in port management issues. This situation could produce highly rewards for the city as it becomes the leader in that field, but at the same time, this strategy brings with it great risks (Detrait collapse). In regard of it, the city of Rottedam suffer the clear economic leadership of the capital Amsterdam and its leading position within the national bounderis. The other area which could be improved more is the living aspect. Again here, Rotterdam has to compete with healthy neighbour cities in order to attract newcomers, tourists and significant cultural events.
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8.Future Potential Development
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TELEWORKING
TELECONFERENCE
Taking into account the advanced infrastructure Rotterdam is equipped with, this technologies are not exploited sufficiently in regard of telecommunting. This term refers to teleworking as well as teleconference, two aspects which are strongly related to each other in their target of discouraging traditional commuting phenomenon to workplaces. At the same time, this applications permits a lot of facilities to workers and create the opportunity of new interactions. These themes were not event mentioned inside the official documents of Rotterda Strategic Plan for being a Smart City. The feature that aggravates this lack is, as mentioned previously, the availability of advanced infrastructure and internet penetration: Rotterdam Internet Exchange Point, datacenters, Rotterdam Media Organization etc.
TRAFIC CONTROL The Netherlands are known for the widespread use of alternative and sustainablemethods of mobility: in fact it is the first country to use the bike in the movements within the city. The municipality of Rotterdam is fostering through their strategic plan the usage of eletric vehicles for private usage, while the vehicles which work for the municipality are being substituded by new ecological means of transport. However, due to the conformation of the polycentric metropolitan agglomeration named Randstad Holland (including Rotterdam as the second biggest city in size and importance), flows involving these centers have historically caused problems of congestion. This issued is ignored by the public administration and alll the documents are not paying attention to their consequences. This story appears so controversial if we consider the great efforts in the trafic control and management of port routes and movements.
COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH Rotterdam Climate Proof is a Strategy wich requires all the energies of Rotterdam City and citizens. The development of the strategy until now have prooved to be efficient: all the stakeholders, key - players and citizen associtations seems to be involved in the strategic goals. Does these features assign to the Rotterdam Smart City Strategy a comprehensive approach? Undoubtedly it do, if we take into account the partecipation of different interest groups. However, if we consider the specificity of the goal Rotterdam want to achieve, it does not include other secondary goals which are different from climate related initiatives. In this case a more solid cooperation could be developed with ICT companies recognized worldwide as well as local ICT developer. The focus of this cooperation could not only be on climate initiatives, but it should involve other perspective of smart perspective.
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BIBILIOGRAPHY http://www.rotterdamclimateinitiative.nl/ http://www.rotterdam.nl/home_english http://www.portofrotterdam.com/en/Pages/default.aspx http://www.eur.nl/english/ http://www.deltacities.com/ http://www.scienceportholland.nl/ http://www.rotterdaminvestmentagency.com/ http://r-iv.nl/ http://www.r-ix.nl/content/ http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/home/default.htm http://www.rmc.rotterdam.nl/ http://www.rotterdamopendata.nl/dataset http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/ http://www.rotterdam.nl/gemeenterotterdam http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
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