AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE
CP
COMPLEX PROJECTS D E PA RT M E N T O F A R C H I T E C T U R E
2017
City of Innovations Seminar AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE
Research Coordinator Manuela Triggianese
Seminar Leaders
Tanner Merkeley Manuela Triggianese Luc Willekens
Editing
Manuela Triggianese Kasia Piekarczyk
Students
Anna van Oers Duowen Chen Eric Eisma Lou Krabshuis Marcin Baranski Maäyan DaniÍl Nora Hartman Tom Hulsman Davide Niccolini Erik Stigter Eva Heldeveg Maruli Heijman Nick Wenham Sebastiaan van Arkel Victor Koot Yana Daynovich Agnieszka Borowska Chenxi Dai Hatto Kienhuis Hendrik Vogelpoel Lisanne Rissik Rosa Steenkamp Sjoerd Boomars Wietse Elswijk
Chair Complex Projects Kees Kaan
Department of Architecture Delft University of Technology 2017
Antoine De Saint-Exupery. French writer and aviator. In Citadelle, 1948
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
“As for the future, your task is not to foresee but to enable it!”
INTRODUCTION
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
AMSTERDAM MID-CITY Assuming that largest changes will happen in Mid-City of Amsterdam, the current fringe-belts, Complex Projects team selected three urban areas for developing a scenario analysis on future developments of Amsterdam: Zuidoost, Amstel and Centraal, and starting from the map “Space for the City 2025” and the structural vision 2040. In Mid-City there is a room for 50.000 housing projects, that might cause huge impact on the city, in terms of energy efficiency, climate, noise and air pollution, waste water treatment and mobility. At the same time, technological innovation will also affect the development of our cities. We, as designers, can speculate on their evolution and project new realities that technology may construct (speculations at building/urban scale, highway and buffer zones, district, town, neighbourhood). Based on the analysis of strategic areas, Complex Projects students focus on interrelated urban challenges for Amsterdam 2050 scenarios, starting from the research topics unlisted below: Topic 1 Healthy Cities (the relationship with the natural and built environment) Topic 2 Multimodal Transportation Hubs and the impact to the public realm (combination with alternative sharing system and new mobilities) Topic 3 Smart, Sustainable and Eco Districts. The CP City of Innovations seminar runs parallel to AMS MID CITY studio and it consists of a capita selecta (lecture series on Health, Energy and Mobility-technology and data) at TU Delft and AMS [Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Metropolitan Solutions] and brainstorming sessions with tutors, researchers and experts. The collected articles are the result of students’ positions and fascinations, based on theoretical researches and on-site visits in Amsterdam (ZuidOost, Amstel Area and Centraal) and field trips abroad (Vienna and Singapore Smart Cities).
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TABLEINTRODUCTION OF CONTENTS
p.12..........................................................................................................SEMINAR BRIEF p.17.......................................................................................................CAPITA SELECTA
ON ENERGY p.20......................................................................................................................Scenario p.22...................................................................CREATING LOCAL VALUE by Eric Eisma p.34...........................................DECENTRALIZED ENERGY SYSTEMS by Tom Hulsman p.44........................................WATER AND ITS EMBODIED ENERGY by Maayan Daniel p.54..........................................................FINITE RESOURCE DESIGN by Wietse Elswijk p.66.......................OPTIMISED DENSE CITY DEVELOPMENT by Agnieszka Borowska p.80...........................................THE CHANGING FACE OF ENERGY by Maruli Heijman p.92.........................................PRODUCTION AND THE CITY by Sebaastian van Arkel
p.108....................................................................................................................Scenario p.112................SUBURBAN TRANSPORTATION HUB AS A ENGINE by Duowen Chen p.124..............................................................CITIES OF TRANSIT by Nicholas Wenham p.138..........................................................BREAKING THE BARRIER by Sjoerd Boomars p.150...........................................................................BUFFER ZONE by Puck Vogelpoel p.160...........................................................................MOOD-ILITY by Davide Niccolini p.168..........................................THE BIKE, AN ELEVATED INVENTION by Hatto Kienhuis ON HEALTH p.176....................................................................................................................Scenario p.182.......................PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AN URBAN NECCESSITY? by Lisanne Rissik p.194............................................................LINKING OLD AND YOUNG by Erik Stigter p.204....................................................THE SOCIAL FACILITY HUB by Rosa Steenkamp p.218 ..........WORKSPACE AS A MEDIUM FOR COLLABORATION by Yana Daynovich P. 230 ............................................................................OPEN HEALTH by Lou Krabshuis p.238..................................................................................HEADSPACE BY Eva Eldeweg p.248....................................................................A MENTAL ESCAPE by Anna van Oers p.258.....................................................TOWARDS A STRESS FREE CITY by Chenxi Dai
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AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
ON MOBILITY
RESEARCH INDEX BASED ON TOPIC The proximity of the Mobility, Health and Energy essays
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he ut t an o t Cu le m d mid
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AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
llab lth ora hea l t a is t ion oci ce s he la key workp rking o w co- ation tion a c edu munic com
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ture Na ces u red s s stre
n tal h ature eali n gre g e indo n o soc r ial
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258 Stim
ula phy ting si act cal ivit y
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men
ity ctiv ina tyle ies it s life ern c d l mo nica o chr ases e s i d
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229
hea partici lth p pati rom on otio n ope senso n so rs edu urce cat ion
r h fo Tec an humbeing ll we
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env Hea iron ling me nts
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am terd le s Am wab e ren 0 205
tive pro city con ducer foo sume ma r nuf d cha act in urin g
alth l he a t n me s nt s e r t s ronme i v en hilia tive p a bio empl e t tur n o c itec h arc
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ene sc rgy pow enario erp lant comheatin par g ison
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De ns imp me ity rov ans em ent
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t por
ns Tra s hub
inte
rco
Mo v wit ing hou stre t ss
B ghbeing ou in k rs ind
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nne
ctio den ns sub sity u per rban iph zuid ery oos t
ting mu m co s s stre s sa a ma ility a b mo ice v r e s
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34
nei
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sity lity den n qua ss e a urb pactn ity l i m co ainab t s y su ienc c effi
nei g mu bourh ltig e ood par nerati s tici on p soc ation hea ial lthy hub gre en
gy ner e l a n Loc uctio d pro
f re o
u Fut g in bik
ies tra of nsi t
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eh
igh wa e y seg -bike com ratio mu n ting
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Cit
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bik
ort airp phol i r sch cente nomy o y cit al ec b glo
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lth hea l a i soc ing s u ho ent d stu or i ion n se icipat t 203 par
ef
me
li s re
es
Str
nta lh urb ealth a rela n life x typ ation olo gie s
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238 Buf
fer
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zon
e
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floo drin d pro kin tec wa g wat t ste e wa r rec ter ycle
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Cre
atin lue val g va nsitionnomy ue tra eco e
blu l ion a lus loc al inc i soc
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ng lati
u Stimilt nal mu ratio e gen action r inte
aki
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nei gh mu bourh ltig e ood par nerati s tici on p soc ation hea ial h lthy ub gre en
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204 Bre
ays
hw ng hig nni A10 ial pla t spa ers d r o b
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ed odi b Em gy r ene
ng t bar he rier
ture ruc t s a d infr mate o t u a cles ct i e veh ier eff r r a b ing r sha
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AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
ite Fin urce o res gn i des
co dec nstruc ons t truc ion ma tion com teria ls p bui onent ld t o la s st
MSc3
SEMINAR
CITY OF INNOVATIONS SEMINAR AR3CP040 seminar within AR3CP010 AMS MID-City studio (CP) in collaboration with AMS (Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Metropolitan solutions) SPRING 2017
innovations and this shape has to be defined and designed. With the emergence of the Internet of Things devices for example we can ask ourselves “how can the right data be used to facilitate the process of urban transformation”. The Global City will be creative rather than fully planned. For planners/architects/designers, the challenge is to translate the impact of these rapid changes into architectural research and design questions, to bring the topics of Smart to the domain of urban planning and design. The central question is “How can the Smart City really be imagined? In the coming decennia Amsterdam Smart City will change radically as a result of availability of new technologies. We are interested in seeing how technological development and big data (mainly on mobility and connectivity, health and energy systems) will affect the City.
SEMINAR CONTEXT The aim of the seminar is to: - analyse and understand how technological innovation and new concepts on health-mobility and energy will affect the development of our cities. - examine examples of around the world to compare with Amsterdam understanding the effect of data-driven city developments [Singapore/ Vienna] - collect data into research books SEMINAR BRIEF Arguably the biggest buzzword in urbanism right now is the ‘Smart City’. The idea, although certainly inclusive of eco-friendly practices, has even replaced “sustainability” as the major intent of cities planning for positive future development. But what exactly are Smart Cities? What benefit do they bring us? The answer IS in the hands of architects. In the near future cities will assume a different physical shape as a result of fast and smart
Mobility for example has significantly evolved in the past, under the influence of industrial evolutions. Today we are entering what could be called a fourth industrial revolution, represented by industry and technology convergence, leading to the emergence of for example clean energy vehicles or connected mobility solutions. The development of self-driving solutions, sensors and mapping systems that help to achieve the goal of driverless mobility, is growing rapidly. We are interested in understanding that, the multimodal travel options, the electric vehicles and behaviours in relation to new urban opportunities, including bike and car sharing, cycling and smartphone travel apps. Main research questions are: Which are the implications of new mobilities for the city and its residents? What are their future needs? How can we prepare the city for these self-driving solutions? And more than that, in what ways can a city benefit from these solutions? How will those changes impact on existing street profiles, parking facilities, use of space in general? How can we link the use of big data on urban mobility to new urban configurations?
SEMINAR OBJECTIVE In the seminar sessions, students are dealing with the following research themes and they are writing and developing the scenarios based on them: Health_ E-health, Connectivity, Medical neighbourhood, Patient centred care/health promotion Health promotion in social hub Mobility_ Multi-modality [train, tram, bus, Car and bike], Travel Behaviour, New Mobility (automated vehicles, car sharing-bike sharing ... ) Energy_ Policy, Smart Grid Sustainability, Waste cycle and treatment, Food production, Heat islands The effect of congestion is a major constraint in urban environments and is felt significantly both economically and environmentally.
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AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
SEMINAR LEADERS Manuela Triggianese, AMS Research Fellow (Coordinator of the Seminars) Luc Willekens, seminar tutor Tanner Merkeley, seminar tutor
AMS MID CITY
CAPITA SELECTA
AMS MID CITY
Articulated in 4 sections - SMART CITY, HEALTH, MOBILITY and ENERGY, the combined lectures of both researchers and professionals will be multidisciplinary. They will vary from the field of architecture and planning, transportation policy, to big data analysis and energy concepts. The main focus of the seminar (as part of the research project ‘Urban Makeover-Amsterdam 2050 scenario’) is on city design based on data collection from the region to neighbour-hoods and the building level by means of tangible locations in Amsterdam (fringe-belts).
AMS INSTITUTE
COMPLEX PROJECTS
AMS
CP RESEARCH
CP SEMINAR
CP STUDIO
RESEARCH THEMES
RESEARCH THEMES
RESEARCH TOPICS
DESIGN SCENARIOS
CONNECTED CITY
CROSSOVERS
MOBILITY
AMSTERDAM CENTRAAL
VITAL HEALTH CITY
VISUALIZATION
HEALTH
AMSTERDAM AMSTEL
CIRCULAR CITY
DESIGN
ENERGY
AMSTERDAM ZUID - OOST
Image credits .UNSTUDIO
CITY OF INNOVATIONS AMS CP SEMINAR
2 PM
2:45 PM
4 PM
AMS MID-CITY
THE FUTURE OF A10
FINAL DISCUSSION
CP students groups
UNStudio
CP students groups/tutors
URBAN STUDY A10 RING ROAD Commissioned by The Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA), in consultation with the Rijkswaterstraat and Amsterdam City Council, a multidisciplinary team consisting of UNStudio (architects/urban designers), Goudappel Coffeng (mobility consultants), GeoPhy (data specialists) and 2getthere (automated transit systems) has collaborated on a study that examines the future potential of the integration of infrastructure and city development around the area of Amsterdam’s A10 ring road and the Leylaan area. Currently the A10 ring road in Amsterdam forms a barrier that inhibits connection between the inner and outer parts of the city and renders its immediate surroundings both uninhabitable and unused. As population growth has propelled development further outward from the city centre and along the ring road, an opportunity was identified to integrate the highway and the city in a way that generates new forms of living and improves mobility for future inhabitants. The result of the study formulates solutions that reconcile the disparate nature of the highway and the city through the injection of new programmes and amenities, alongside improved accessibility, to make the A10 and its surrounding neighbourhoods a desirable destination with a positive presence in the city. The goal of the proposal is twofold: a proposition for a new multimodal transport hub located on the intersection between Cornelis Lelyaan and the A10, and new urban developments on both sides of the A10 that link the adjacent neighbourhoods and create a unique new address in Amsterdam.
Complex Projects
WWW.TUDELFT-ARCHITECTURE.NL/CHAIRS/COMPLEX PROJECTS
CHAIR Kees Kaan CHAIR COORDINATOR Manuela Triggianese STUDIO/SEMINAR leader Manuela Triggianese Luc Willekens Tanner Merkeley Hrvoje Smidihen Olindo Caso
CP
2
AMS MSc3/MSc4
AMS & Complex Projects Collaboration
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
MARCH 21ST 2017 UNSTUDIO LECTURE AMS LECTURE ROOM
Complex Projects Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment Delft University of Technology Julianalaan 134, 2628 BL, Delft Netherlands
COMPLEX PROJECTS
AMS MID-CITY STUDIO MSC3 STUDIO PINUP FRIDAY 17TH MARCH 2017 09:00 - 13:00 ROOM 00.Oost.650, TU DELFT BK Tutors Hrvoje Smidihen - studio Olindo Caso - studio Luc Willekens - studio and Health seminars Manuela Triggianese - Mobility seminars Tanner Merkeley - Energy seminars AMS Centraal Davide Niccolini Erik Stigter Eva Heldeweg Maruli Heijman Nick Wenham Sebastiaan van Arkel Victor Koot Yana Daynovich AMS Amstel Agnieszka Borowska Chenxi Dai Hatto Kienhuis Hendrik Vogelpoel Lisanne Rissik Rosa Steenkamp Sjoerd Boomars Wietse Elswijk AMS Zuid-Oost Anna van Oers Duowen Chen Eric Eisma Lou Krabshuis Marcin Baranski Maäyan Daniël Tom Hulsman CHAIR Kees Kaan
CURATOR Tanner Merkeley
RESEARCH COORDINATOR Manuela Triggianese
STUDIO COORDINATOR Hrvoje Smidihen
WWW.TUDELFT-ARCHITECTURE.NL/CHAIRS/COMPLEX PROJECTS
Complex Projects
Complex Projects Design and Research Studio - Discussions at AMS
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CAPITA SELECTA
SPRING 2017
CAPITA SELECTA 14.02 Principal Investigator at AMS
KEES KAAN
- Time in Architectural Design Projects -
Research Fellow at AMS
Guest Teacher at TU Delft
MANUELA TRIGGIANESE
HRVOJE SMIDIHEN
- CP and AMS collaboration -
- CP Graduation Studio -
17.02 Scientific Director at AMS
Urban Design at Gemeente Amsterdam
- Ubikquity The Illuminated City -
- Ring Zone Studio -
ARJAN VAN TIMMEREN
ESTHER REITH
Urban Planner at Gemeente Amsterdam
MAURITS DE HOOG - Triple Jump towards 2050 -
ROYAL HASKONING DHV
Professor at Industrial Design Enginnering TU Delft
EELCO THIELLIER
GERD KOURTEM
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
21.02 Project Manager at Schiphol Airport and Floriade 2022
Research Fellow at AMS
BERT VAN EEKELEN
SIMEON CALVERT
- Mobility as a Service -
- DiTTLAB Research on Mobility -
28.02
03.03
Complex Project Teacher at TU Delft
Complex Project Teacher at TU Delft
LUC WILLEKENS
ROBERTO CAVALLO
- ON Health -
- Amsterdam and Vienna historical developments -
21.03 Dana Behrman and Lars van Hoften, designers at UN Studio
UN STUDIO
- A10 Amsterdam Lelylaan -
07.03
24.03
OMA Architect, tutor at TU Delft
Stanford University Center for Design Research
- ON Energy -
- Regent Village Concept -
TANNER MERKELEY
JAMES EHRLICH
03.04 - 09.04 Smart City Wien, City of Wien, Architectural offices
ETHZ FUTURE CITIES, MIT FUTURE URBAN MOBILITY
- Urban Innovations -
- Initiatives and research projects -
IN VIENNA
IN SINGAPORE
06.06 Urban designer at Gemeente Amsterdam
MARCEL BLOEMENDAL - Crossing IJ-river -
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- Smart Amsterdam Centraal -
- Internet of Things and Smart City-
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
ON ENERGY
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The beginning of the 21st century is characterized by a major energy transition and the awareness that a more sustainable society is necessary. This transition has a major influence on the built environment of our sites in Amsterdam Central, Amstel and Zuidoost. We expect a decentralized energy network with the advantage of being more efficient, resilient, equitable and adaptable to changing conditions. Current waste will be a resource in the future. This resources will be collected and reused in innovative products to create value or function as new energy sources. Buildings will be a mix of functionalities that are connected due an immense volume of real time data in a smart and efficient way. The buildings are composed out of modular components and everlasting structures. In 2050 energy, resources and building components will all become part of a smart network, creating a circular future in Amsterdam.
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
A circular future
Group collage of the future of energy.
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CREATING LOCAL VALUE
ERIC EISMA
With the renewable energy transition
Introduction
Zuidoost Amsterdam is having a large economical problem. In this thesis I research how social-economical value can be created in the district in the future. This should solve problems such as the high unemployment rate and low incomes. Moreover it also can bring more social inclusion in the divided area. The social-economical value should be created in synergy with the transition towards renewable energy production and sustainable business models. This transition will also help to reach the energy goals of the future set by the municipality of Amsterdam, consisting of more local solar energy production, more waste recycling and a lower CO2 footprint. By studying different case studies world wide, including the BürgerInnenSolarkraftwerk in Vienna and RegenVillages, business model systems are analysed and adapted to the Zuidoost district. In the conclusion a new sustainable business model is set up in the form of a Local Resource hub, which generates new jobs, new investing possibilities for the local citizens and an eco-friendly community.
86,000 Inhabitants
146
Nationalities
In this thesis I am very curious about whether a synergy can be generated by solving the low economical problems with the transition of new energy sources and business models in the poor districts. This research will examine the Zuidoost district in particular, since this is the site of the graduation project. The research topic is related to the ‘Energy’ seminar group which has a strong focus on the future of energy until 2050. I focus on how to solve the social-economical problems in the Zuidoost area of Amsterdam, such as high unemployment rates and a big low income group. The solution will be found in the transition phase towards the use of renewable energy and a more circular and sustainable business models. Case studies around the world will be researched and the goal is to implement them in a new way in the Zuidoost area to add local value in the future.
How can local value be created in low social-economical districts such as Zuidoost by using new sustainable economical models and architectural interventions?
12%
Unemployment
The research question is: How can local value be created in low social-economical districts such as Zuidoost by using new sustainable economical models and architectural interventions? With ‘value’ is meant both the economical value the district has in terms of money, revenue and job opportunities and the social value of creating a strong future prove community with future prospects. In the conclusion a new economical model for the district and my position towards the solution is explained.
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Low economical value
$
The Zuidoost area of Amsterdam is nationally known for its poor economical situation. Today around 86,000 inhabitants live in the area and with 146 different nationalities it is one of the most multicultural districts of the world. The area has the 22
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22.8% Low income
72%
Rental housing
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
The gap between rich and poor is growing rapidly in the Netherlands. Every major city is struggling with districts that have low economical value and a high unemployment rate, such as the Zuidoost district in Amsterdam. In the working-class quarters, people are increasingly struggling with financial problems, while other districts gentrify. It is expected that 67% of the world population will live in cities by the year 2050.1 Mostly people who do not have much to spend will live in these areas and make the problems grow. An other noticeable change in cities is the desire for a smarter and more eco-friendly city. The municipality of Amsterdam has set goals for 2040 to reduce CO2 emissions by 75% and to install 1,300 MW of solar panels for renewable energy production.2
Thus by keeping the companies smaller, more economical value is added to the neighbourhood.
Community
Customers
Employees
Tax
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
IKEA
High education jobs
Regional focused
Mid education jobs
Local focused
Luxembourg
Low education jobs Jobs education level in Zuidoost Amsterdam.i1
Jobs local or regional in Zuidoost Amsterdam.i2
highest unemployment rate of Amsterdam, namely 12% and a big low income group of 22.8%.3 The current housing stock in the Zuidoost area consists for 72% of rental housing, where it is 40% national wide. The disadvantage of social rental housing is that the renters do not invest money in their own homes, creating low economical value in the area. It can be concluded that the social-economical situation in Zuidoost is very poor and the largest problem the district is facing.
economical situation is still a present problem. An other problem is the major office building vacancy in the Amstel lll district. The above maps give an insight in how the residential zone and the business zone do not generate a synergy at the moment. In the Amstel III area there are a lot of mid- and high-educational jobs provided by for example the AMC hospital and the big office building blocks. The amount of low educated jobs in this area is lower. The inhabitants of Zuidoost are mostly low educated and thus the supply and demand of the level of education do not correspond. The offices and shops in the Amstel III area focus on a national and regional scale and not on the needs of the Zuidoost region. The companies all do not invest in the Zuidoost area but bring the economical value towards other regions.
The poor economical situation started shortly after the construction of the Bijlmerflats at the end of the 60s and begin 70s.4 The main reason was that the facilities stayed behind in the mono-functional area with poorly designed public space. Because of this the flats were inhabited by the lower-class and immigrants instead of middle-class families from Amsterdam for whom it was designed. The mono-functionality of the area and the nondiverse housing stock let the social problems grew enormously. In the 90s the area had problems with high crime rates, urban decay and drug nuisance.5
For example a company such as IKEA has people working from Zuidoost but the earned money is later transferred to the head-quarter in Luxembourg. This way the company can profit from a very favourable tax climate without having to invest in the local community. Opposed to this are the local stores that has the locals as clients. Not only do this kind of businesses invest more money into the community, also the social-economical value will increase by making and selling local products.
Nowadays the problems are partly solved by building better facilities and a more diverse dwelling stock together with the introduction of small scale owner-occupied housing. However the low
The municipality wants to transform the monofunctional zones of Zuidoost into a multifunctional district. The area will densify to ensure that the growing demand of housing will fit. In the close future there is a need for 2,500 new dwellings in Zuidoost.8 In the article “Amsterdam in 2050” urbanist Slot states that the Bijlmer finally comes to its right, because of its central location in the country and Hemel predicts even new high-rise in the blooming and dynamic area.9 In the future the area should even compete with satellite cities like Almere.10 These new developments, together with new potential investments of large funds, bring new opportunities to add local value and new sustainable business models in Zuidoost. The transformation can be focused on innovative circular city concepts and new renewable energy methods to create a sustainable Zuidoost that helps reaching the energy goals. In this case all different parties can benefit from the situation.
Community
Tax
Employees
Customers
Owner
The value of energy
€
Next some case projects will be studied to see how local economical value can be added by creating a more sustainable society. The BürgerInnen Solarkraftwerk in Vienna is one of these reference projects, researched during the study trip (see next page). After the construction of the first citizen solar energy plant in Vienna another 25 were constructed with a total of 14,000 solar panels. By the summer of 2015 in total 5,500 citizens participated with a total investment of 20
Pension
Local shop
Money flows of multinationals and local shops.i3
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AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
Amsterdam is working hard to become a more sustainable city. The municipality has set ambitious goals for the city of the future, such as 75% CO2 emission reduction in 2040. From business, universities and investment funds, there is also a great demand for a faster transition towards a sustainable economy. For example, 150 large Dutch companies call for a sustainable governance agreement. Pension funds and banks also want to invest more and more in sustainable projects. For example in 2020 ABP, the biggest fund in the Netherlands, invests 23 billion Euros more in sustainable projects compared to 2015.6 Mark Karney, CEO of the Bank of England warned from a financial stability point of view that we have to invest in sustainability.7 This new focus of banks and pension funds offers new opportunities for ambitious renewable energy projects. There can be concluded that a trend towards investing in sustainable projects is visible.
IKEA
10,000 Solar panels 1,200 Mwh a year 385 Households
Business district
AMC Hospital
12,000 Solar panels 1,440 Mwh a year 465 Households
The BürgerInnen-Solarkraftwerk Wien business model.i4
BürgerInnen Solarkraftwerk
by 800 ton each year.12 This way the city will not only become cleaner but it will also help to reach the energy goals for 2050 to produce 50% of the energy in a renewable way.
The Smart City Wien Agency gave a presentation about its innovative, smart projects in the city of Vienna, during our city trip. One of them was the BürgerInnen Solarkraftwerk project, that fits the thesis topic well. The project is set up by the company Wien Energie together with the Smart City Wien Agency and gives the inhabitants of Vienna the opportunity to invest in a solar power plant and thus the chance to participate and profit in the transition towards renewable energy.
Wien Energie rents the bought panels from the individual citizens and they receives an annual of 3.1% interest each year in return. After the life span of the panels (around 25 years) Wien Energie buys back the solar panels for the same amount. This will create an income of 29.45 Euro per solar panel per year with a total refund of the invested money. This project gives the inhabitants of Vienna the possibility to invest in renewable energy, for the energy company it makes it easier to find fund for the solar plants and it will help the city of Vienna to reach its energy goals. The fact that within 26 hours all the 2,100 panels were sold, shows the interest of the citizens in participating. This project is a great example of how local economical value can be created by a renewable energy concept.
Since around 80% of the citizens live in rental housing in Vienna they do not always have the opportunity to install solar panels on their roof. Large scale of solar panel plants can be a solution to transform the energy production towards a more renewable and sustainable society and can have a big impact on the reduction of CO2 emission. In the solar plant project these citizens get the chance to invest 475 Euro into half a panel or 950 Euro for one panel. In total there are 2,100 photovoltaic modules with each 500 kWp of energy.11 Together all these panels can create enough energy for around 200 Viennese households. It is calculated that the production of energy in this renewable way reduces the cities CO2 emission
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Potential solar production in Amstel III.i5
Coal plants, such as the one in Amsterdam (630 MW) are getting closed in the future. This renewable energy production plants can help to full-fit the energy demand while reducing the CO2 emissions enormously. In West-Amsterdam already a similar company like Wien Energie is set up in a small scale, called Amsterdam Energie. These company provides solar panels for the inhabitants but does not work with the smart lease contract like in Vienna. Disadvantage is that investors still pay maintenance costs and the return time depends on the amount of sun hours. The projects are also smaller than in Vienna and thus have a small impact. For Zuidoost a company as Wien Energy can help creating social inclusion for the inhabitants. They can be part in the transition towards renewable energy production while they can earn money and create local value. Nowadays there is a 1.8 billion Euro energy business in Amsterdam.13 If all this money can stay within the city a lot of local value can be created in the future. New technologies such as solar panels in the road and bike paths have as advantage that the roofs can be used for vegetation, adding biodiversity and renewable energy production at the same time.14 Since wind around Amsterdam is stronger than in Vienna this could be an option to produce renewable energy and create local value.
million Euro. By then it became also possible to start investing in wind energy projects. With a historical low interest on bank accounts (0 0.5%) this kind of projects become very interesting nowadays. In the Zuidoost, where also a lot of social housing is built, this could be an opportunity for the citizens to create more value and transform to renewable energy production. Since the solar projects need big open spaces and the Amstel III area has a lot of empty roofs this could be the perfect area to start. This will contribute to a stronger relation between the two mono-functional zones of businesses and dwelling. An average solar panel of 1.0 m2 needs around 2.5 m2 of flat roof to function optimally in the Netherlands. By mapping the large empty roofs of the Amstel III area I found out that the IKEA roof has enough space for around 10,000 solar panels. An average household in the Netherlands uses 3,100 kWh a year, thus the solar roof of the IKEA can produce enough energy for 385 households. The roof of the AMC can produce energy for 485 households and the large roofs in the industry zone enough to provide energy for 2420 households. If one panel costs 950 Euro than a total of 85 million Euro can be invested in renewable energy only in Amstel III.
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67,500 Solar panels 7,500 Mwh a year 2,420 Households
Make it local
Energy from ArenA
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An example of this principle is the Start-Up RotterZwam. The owners found out that coffee, after oil, is the most traded commodity in the world and its waste, the coffee ground, is very valuable. In the Netherlands alone annually about 120 million kilos of coffee grounds are disposed and mostly burned in the waste incineration plant with high CO2 emissions.18 The RotterZwam company is not seeing the coffee ground as waste but as a resource to produce valuable mushrooms. The company can produce 1 kg of mushrooms with 5 kg of coffee ground and sell it for 20 Euro. This would be only in the Netherlands a business of 480 million Euro with as a positive side effect less CO2 pollution. Pauli even mentions that companies can earn six times more money on coffee grounds than on the coffee itself, making the ‘waste’ more valuable than the product.19 The company is currently only producing and selling in Rotterdam. This way the money stays within the local area and the CO2 emissions of transport is reduced.
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AMC Hospital AMC energy plant Fast food restaurants Fletcher hotel Auto dealers Car window company Gamma / Blokker / Kwantum Praxis Large office building Printing company IKEA
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1 AMC Hospital 2 AMC energy plant 3 Fast food restaurants 4 Coffee ground Fletcher hotelGlass 5 Auto dealers 6 Car window company Plastic Metal 7 Gamma / Blokker / Kwantum 8 Praxis 9 Large office building 10 Printing company 11 IKEA 12 Large office building 13 Fast food restaurant 14 Datacenter 15 Food company 16 Auto dealers / garage 17 Datacenter 18 Datacenter 19 Clothing company 28 20 Car garages
Cardboard Electronics
AMC Hospital AMC energy plant Fast food restaurants Fletcher hotel Auto dealers Car window company 1 2 Gamma / Blokker / Kwantum 8 Praxis 9 Large office building 10 Printing company 11 IKEA 12TextileLarge office building Thermal energy 13 Fast food restaurant 14 Datacenter Electrical energy Rubber 15 Food company 16 Auto dealers / garage 17 Datacenter 18 Datacenter 19 Clothing company 20 Car garages 21 Metalworking company 22 Toys shop 23 Restaurant 24 Large office center 25 Hotel
This example of the blue economical model is very interesting for the Amstel III area because it can create jobs to reduce the high unemployment rate, keep value in the area, reduce the waste of the companies that are currently located in Amstel III and help the municipality to achieve the set energy goals on CO2 reduction. In the image all the potential waste of the Amstel III offices and companies are mapped. This map shows the currently wasted value that in the future can be collected to make new products. When a space for innovative start-ups is added in the area new jobs can be created for the Zuidoost citizens. This has the benefit of extra local value, social inclusion
Potential resources in Zuidoost.i6
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A new idea about the economy is the Blue Economy principle founded by Gunter Pauli. This is a new economical system that ‘represent a sustainable and competitive business framework based on innovations that offer investors and society financial, social, and environmental benefits’.15 Different from the Green economy this system goes beyond substituting one product or one process with another and instead improves the whole system.16 The Blue Economy is based on entrepreneurship and innovation in a largely connected economical system. The goals of the blue economy are to invest less, innovate more, generate multiple cash flows, create jobs, built up social capital and stimulate entrepreneurship.17 It is very much focused on creating local value by finding new resources that were labelled earlier as waste and using it in a economically profitable way.
€
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Pension Funds & Banks
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Social inclusion in the RegenVillages.i7
garden, to receive discount on their energy or water bill. ‘33% of our income is spent paying for our household consumption - rent, energy, heating, water and food’, according to the designers of the RegenVillage.22 Around 23% of social housing tenants have trouble paying their energy bills in Amsterdam.23
A social city The RegenVillage is a self-sufficient and smart future neighbourhood in Almere, designed by Effekt. The first 100 homes of the pilot eco-village will create an off-grid community. The village will be, due innovative technologies such as, energy storage, vertical farming, water management and waste-to-resource systems very sustainable. Moreover the village also creates “a framework for empowering families and developing a sense of community, where people become part of a shared local eco-system: reconnecting people with nature and consumption with production”.20 The aim of the concept is to create a solution for water and healthy food shortage and scarce arable land in the future to provide the 10 billion people with enough resources by 2050.21
The circular business model of RegenVillages is extremely suitable for the Zuidoost area, because extra jobs are created where citizens can work to lower their household expenses. This way working for the community is beneficial for the citizens and value is created within the neighbourhood. Interesting is to find out how such a system can function on large scale within the city to create and sell local food, energy and water. An example of this large scale urban gardening is the Aerofarm company that built large vertical farms in the cheap district of New York and produces food for 25,000 local people.24 This type of social farming together with innovative new models like the blue economy principle of using new resources can be implemented in a region such as the Zuidoost, to make it the food production site of Amsterdam.
The neighbourhood will function in the future as a micro-economy with closed circles of resources and products and a very strong community. The neighbourhood will have a system where citizens in the future can work in, for example the vertical
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Part of hub / community Resource flows
Invest / Interest
in the Amstel III area and less waste and CO2 emissions.
Local Workers
Money flows Social flows Principle of the Local Resource Hub.i8
Conclusion
these gardens or do other community work to get discount on the water and energy bills. In a local market the innovative products and the food from the gardens can be sold. The hub should create opportunities for its surrounding citizens but also strengthen the local economy and the social cohesion in the community.
There can be concluded that renewable and sustainable project become very interesting as investments of both large funds and banks and local citizens. To achieve the goals of ‘creating economical and sustainable value in the Zuidoost area for the inhabitants’ the investigated case studies show a right solution for the analysed problems. But they still need to be translated towards an architectural idea in the Zuidoost area. That is why I came up with the idea of the Local Resource Hub, see image 8. The aim is to create a central point in the neighbourhood of Zuidoost where the problems of low economical value, unemployment, vacancy and new sustainability goals are solved.
Unlike similar creative clusters for start-ups, the aim is to create a large scale network of renewable energy projects and resource exchanges between hubs. The large framework is funded by sustainable investment programs of banks and pension funds since they a more and more interested in investing in sustainable projects. The small mechanism of the system, like the citizens solar power plants are paid by the local investors. This way the project can grow and spread towards other districts forming a linked system. Due new innovations all companies in the neighbourhood can provide live data of possible resource exchange. Together all resources hubs together can have a huge impact in the transition towards a more sustainable society. In the studio project the idea of the Local Resource Hub will be elaborated to answer question such as: Which program is needed to let the system function? How will this be translated into the design of a building?
The Blue Economy fosters our transition from a product-based economy to a system-based economy. Here citizens can invest in local energy programs such as citizens solar power plants, work in new innovative start-ups and collect resources from the Amstel III area and work in vertical urban gardens to produce food for the community. A company, located in the hub, takes care of vertical urban gardens and resource collection. Citizens can, like in the ReGenVillages work in
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Vertical Gardening
Resource Hub other district
Images:
Dietmar Offenhuber and Carlo Ratti, Decoding the city: Urbanism in the age of big data (Birkhäuser: 2014), 7. Municipal Council of Amsterdam, Sustainable Amsterdam (Amsterdam: 2015), 11. 3 Municipality of Amsterdam, Amsterdam in cijfers 2016 (OIS Amsterdam: 2016) 187. 4 Frank Wassenberg, “Van Prachtwijk naar probleem wijk en weer terug”(April 15, 2013). socialevraagstukken.nl. http://www.socialevraagstukken.nl/van-prachtwijk-naar-probleemwijk-en-weer-terug/ 5 Marnix Koolhaas, “Vijftig jaar Bijlmermeer: Omstreden woonwijk kreeg slechte naam” (December 13, 2016). anderetijden.nl. https://anderetijden.nl/artikel/4796/Vijftig-jaar-Bijlmermeer 6 De Nederlandsche Bank N.V., Duurzaam beleggen in de Nederlandse pensioensector (Amsterdam: 2016), 12. 7 The new interest of large funds and banks in circular economies is mentioned in this episode. Rob van Hattum and Gijs Meyer Swantee, “Groene Dromen,” Tegenlicht video, 46:49, April 2, 2017, https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/afleveringen/2016-2017/groene-dromen.html 8 Liedewij Loorbac, “AMSTERDAM in 2050,” Uitkrant (2017): 16. 9 Liedewij Loorbac, “AMSTERDAM in 2050,” 20. 10 Arjan Snellenberg and Gerard Lont, “Gaasperdam: onbekend maakt onbemind?,” Plan Amsterdam (2014): 27. 11 Smart City Wien, “BürgerInnen-Solarkraftwerk – Sonnenenergie für alle,” smartcity.wien.gv.at. https://smartcity.wien.gv.at/site/projekte/menschen-gesellschaft/burgerinnen-solarkraftwerk/ 12 Smart City Wien, “BürgerInnen-Solarkraftwerk – Sonnenenergie für alle,” 13 Municipal Council of Amsterdam (2015). Sustainable Amsterdam. p. 10. 14 Example project of were solar panels are used in a road. The article also reference to the solar cycling path in the Netherlands. Kim Willsher, “World’s first solar panel road opens in Normandy village”(December 22, 2016). theguardian.com https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/22/solar-panel-road-tourouvre-au-perche-normandy 15 Gunter A. Pauli, The Blue Economy: 10 years, 100 innovations, 100 million jobs (Taos: Paradigm Publications, 2010), 4. 16 Gunter A. Pauli, The Blue Economy: UN-EP Our planet making it work (02-2010), 25. 17 Gunter A. Pauli, The Blue Economy, 6. 18 RotterZwam, “De uitdaging”. rotterzwam.nl. https://www.rotterzwam.nl/page/de-uitdaging 19 This episode of Tegenlicht explains the Blue economy principles and shows more start-up companies working with this principles, such as Fruitleather and Spireaux, all located in the Blue City in Rotterdam. Rob van Hattum and Gijs Meyer Swantee, “Groene Hattum and Swantee, “Groene Dromen”. 20 Effekt, “ReGen Villages,” effekt.dk. http://www.effekt.dk/work/#/regenvillages/ 21 Regenvillages, “The Problem,” regenvillages.com. http://www.regenvillages.com/ 22 Effekt, “ReGen Villages,” effekt.dk. 23 Municipal Council of Amsterdam, Sustainable Amsterdam, 11. 24 This episode of Tegenlicht about urban farming shows also how biodomes of urban farming in Masdar City, Dubai can be designed withing the masterplan and create social inclusion. Geert Rozinga, “Boer zoekt voedselflat,” Tegenlicht video, 47:09, April 23, 2017, https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/afleveringen/2016-2017/boer-zoekt-voedselflat.html
i1-2-3-5-6-8 Diagrams are made by the Author i4 Smart City Wien. BürgerInnen Solarkraftwerk. http://www.tinavienna.at/de/stadt-themen/smart-city/b%C3%BCrgerinnensolarkraftwerk i7 Effekt. http://www.effekt.dk/work#/regenvillages
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Bibliography: De Nederlandsche Bank N.V. Duurzaam beleggen in de Nederlandse pensioensector. Amsterdam, 2016 Effekt. “ReGen Villages.” http://www.effekt.dk/work/#/regenvillages/ Hattum, R. and Swantee, G. M. “Groene Dromen.” Tegenlicht [video]. April 2, 2017. https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/ afleveringen/2016-2017/groene-dromen.html Koolhaas, M. “Vijftig jaar Bijlmermeer: Omstreden woonwijk kreeg slechte naam.” December 13, 2016. https://anderetijden.nl/ artikel/4796/Vijftig-jaar-Bijlmermeer Loorbac, L. “AMSTERDAM in 2050.” Uitkrant mrt17 (2017): 10-17. Municipal Council of Amsterdam. Sustainable Amsterdam. Amsterdam, 2015. Municipality of Amsterdam. Amsterdam in cijfers 2016. OIS Amsterdam, 2016. Offenhuber, D and Ratti, C. Decoding the city: Urbanism in the age of big data. Birkhäuser, 2014. Pauli, G. A. The Blue Economy: 10 years, 100 innovations, 100 million jobs. Taos, Paradigm Publications, 2010. Pauli, G. A. The Blue Economy: UN-EP Our planet making it work. 2010. Regenvillages. “The Problem.” http://www.regenvillages.com/ RotterZwam. “De uitdaging.” https://www.rotterzwam.nl/page/de-uitdaging Rozinga, G. “Boer zoekt voedselflat.” Tegenlicht [video]. April 23, 2017. https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/afleveringen/2016-2017/boer-zoekt-voedselflat.html Smart City Wien. “BürgerInnen-Solarkraftwerk – Sonnenenergie für alle.” https://smartcity.wien.gv.at/site/projekte/menschengesellschaft/burgerinnen-solarkraftwerk/ Snellenberg, A and Lont, G. “Gaasperdam: onbekend maakt onbemind?.” Plan Amsterdam 02 (2014): 27. Wassenberg, F. “Van Prachtwijk naar probleem wijk en weer terug.” April 15, 2013. http://www.socialevraagstukken.nl/van-prachtwijknaar-probleemwijk-en-weer-terug/ Willsher, K. “World’s first solar panel road opens in Normandy village.” December 22, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/ environment/2016/dec/22/solar-panel-road-tourouvre-au-perche-normandy
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DECENTRALIZED ENERGY SYSTEMS An indexation of benefits and risks
The world is facing a great challenge with the transition from conventional fossil fuelled energy to renewable and clean energy sources. Several approaches have been formulated to provide a method for this transition and the city of Amsterdam identified the approach of a circular economy as a valuable guideline. This article has a short digression on the principals of circular economy and explains how this method can be applied on a geographic scale. The supply of reliable and affordable energy has become an important aspect for cities and communities in their plans for a sustainable future. Local energy production seems as the way forward to provide clean, reliable and affordable energy. The main goal of this article is to develop a clear overview of the advantages and disadvantages of local energy production in comparison to large-scale centralized energy production. Typically, a strong policy for local energy production creates substantial numbers of job opportunities and thus contributes to the local economy, provides social and environmental benefits, improves energy security, and reduces emissions of greenhouse gases. For the city of Amsterdam, a combination of local and centralized energy production will be the prominent option in the current situation. However, with increased efficiency and technological advancement in energy generation a shift towards a more decentralized flexible energy system in the future is likely.
This article will consider the circular economy concept and its geographical approach or implementation. Furthermore, will it discuss the advantages and disadvantages for a city to produce its energy locally. A conclusion will be given in reference to the city of Amsterdam in remark to an approach in local versus international energy production.
The world is facing a great challenge with the transition from conventional fossil fuelled energy to renewable and clean energy sources. This transition has a variety of reasons, from climate change to decreasing deposits of fossil fuels and the sources of these fossil fuels from political unstable countries and regions. The impact of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide on the earth’s atmosphere was already demonstrated in the mid-19th century1, and with evidence which reveals that current warming of the atmosphere is occurring roughly ten times faster than the average rate of ice-age-recovery warming2 the effects of our fossil fuelled economy on the climate can no longer be ignored. With this there is an uncertainty on the amount of fossil fuels still left; sources agree that oil and gas will be depleted within 50 years and coal within 150 years3. Not only is there a risk of the depletion of fossil fuels, the most important deposits of oil and gas come from regions which are politically unstable4. All these impacts have been a source for concern and given rise to a multitude of sustainable approaches. Amsterdam understands that with an increase in energy consumption, the dependency on imported fuels from unstable regions and rising energy prices a transition must be made to provide its citizens with an affordable and reliable source of energy. To become a sustainable and healthy metropole region they identified the approach of the circular economy as a valuable guideline. Amsterdam also has the aim to investigate in ways to produce renewable energy within or near the city.
The circular approach What exactly does it mean to be a circular economy? The economy we are currently in is a linear economy, which means that resources have a beginning and after their use are discarded. Circular economy or CE, is an industrial economy in which greater resource productivity through design or intention, reducing waste and pollution, is promoted. It divides resources in two branches; biological nutrients and technical resources, in which biological nutrients are designed to re-enter the biosphere and the technical resources to circulate in high quality in the production system without re-entering the biosphere. For the aspect of energy, the philosophy of CE focuses primarily on the aspect of renewable energy, the production of energy without depleting finite resources5. CE does not offer a hands-on approach on how to become a circular city. How can these general principles for a circular economy be translated to an urban or regional level? The main factor when translating these principles to a geographic area is scale. When looking at the life cycle of a present-day product, the production, distribution and use all take place on a different scale. CE tries to maintain the life cycle within the closest boun
Countries with largest oil reserves and biggest importers of oili1
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Introduction
regions that are self-sufficient in their basic needs, but have an active trade with other regions for rare or specialty products6. When we consider energy production only ten countries in the world have an abundancy of fossil fuels7, so to maintain resource flows as efficient as possible local resources for the production should be considered. In most cases, local resources for energy production are equivalent to renewable resources, such as solar, wind or biomass. Renewable resources however, do not have to be local in any advanced meaning. They may often be national, such as large scale wind-farms or hydropower stations which can even be used by several countries. Here, however, I will refer to local taking
place from the inner-city zone to the edge cities zone taking place on a variety of scales from energy-independent houses to larger power producing facilities. Decentralized energy production
Int Nation er al a na nd tio ne igh n bo u Fa Ne ar rh hi Edge cit nt ies e City pe ri
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With the economic aspect, we will first look into the costs of manufacturing and maintenance of large infrastructural projects necessary to transport large quantities of energy from a centralized producer to decentralized users. The Netherlands already has a large infrastructure to process energy, but the electricity grid will need to be adapted to match the changing demands of renewable energy sources9. Exact costs of these adaptations are impossible to give but estimations indicate an amount between 20 billion and 71 billion euro’s will have to be invested up to 205010. For the price of local energy, we take the example of the town of Gßssing in Austria. The sustainable powerplant which provides the town with energy, has a capital cost of 16 million. The operation costs are 1,6 million per year, with a general lifetime of 40 years this accounts to an amount of 64 million. Combined we have an amount of 80 million per powerplant 11. For the costs of adaptation of the power net we could also build up to 890 of these powerplants, which could power almost 3 Amsterdam’s. Local energy production also provides new opportunities for local employment. According to Eva L. Sastresa et al. the production of renewable energy creates a high potential of new job opportunities12. These job opportunities are not only reserved for a higher educated workforce but provide employment to a variety of educational levels13. The possibility of local energy production thus gives Amsterdam an important socio-economic acquisition for its residents and contributes to a stable and healthy economy.
zone ery ph inner-city z on ar Ne
Inne r
The Circular Economy approach.i2
To consider the case of local energy production we take Amsterdam as an example and use its economic, ecologic and geographic characteristics to explore the advantages and disadvantages of local energy production. We can divide the question of local energy production in four different topics: economy, resilience, production and social context.
In 1977 the city of New York experienced a long lasting power outage due to an overload of the grid through lightning. This power outage resulted in city-wide lootings and other disorders, such as arson14. This is just one example of problems resulting from a large-scale power outage throughout history. Blackouts in the Netherlands have a low
Geographic circularity zones.i3
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dary to the end user, which means that the material cycle should be kept as local as possible. In general, the more complex a material is the more acceptable it is to encompass more scales and time. Cities themselves also have a variety of zones based on the land use, economical land value, density of living and working and intensity of a variety of activities. These zones are: 1 inner city, 2 near inner city, 3 city peripheries, 4 edge cities, 5 near hinterland, 6 far hinterland, 7 national region, 8 international region. Every zone has its own characteristics and possibilities of closing loops. Within this context regions will maintain their own character for closing material cycles based on the local ecological, climatic, cultural and economic context. What emerges is a worldwide network of
Finally, we can look at the improvements on the access and control of civilians on their power supply. With large-scale centralized power production, there is a need for large initial investments and maintenance of the supporting transportation grid. Only large multinationals can provide enough funds to maintain and build this infrastructure and there is a high political barrier for the extension of these grids and plants. Local energy supply however has substantial smaller initial investment costs and no need for an extensive grid, so smaller companies can attribute to this20. With smaller companies, there is an increase in involvement of local municipalities and active participation of civilians. Typically these companies are public/private partnerships through which civilians can attain a more prominent role in the decision-making process. The case of G端ssing, Austria In Austria, the town of G端ssing has developed itself into a completely self-sufficient town regarding energy, heating and transportation within 11 years. With the appointment of a new mayor in 1992 a new policy on energy was defined. A pilot
Biomass Gasification Power Plant of G端ssing, Flow Diagram.i4
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nure of which the Netherlands has a huge surplus in combination with CHP gasification plants. Another future option is the so-called Power-to-gas or Power-to-liquid option, in which energy is transformed in a gas or liquid as a storage mechanism. With a higher share of variable income of solar or wind this option can become an important player to make the electricity market more flexible. Since the Netherlands already has a static grid in place, which will be expanding25, the chance of this completely disappearing is not very likely. In the transition from a fossil fuelled economy towards a sustainable and renewable economy the importance of local energy production will probably increase over time. Large scale power production will probably maintain a prominent player in the energy economy, but will be combined with a flexible network of local power stations, varying from household energy production to neighbourhood power plants.
project was set up in the town with a new Combined-Heat and Power (CHP) plant which used wood-chips as fuel for the Fast Internal Circulating Fluidised Bed (FICFB) gasification process, with a total efficiency of 81%20. With this power plant the village received heat, through added district heating, electricity and fuel for transportation. The buildings of the village were also drastically improved, resulting in an increased energy efficiency of almost 50%. These combined efforts made the village self-sufficient and in the process created more than 60 new companies and 1500 new green jobs. This attributed to the decrease of 40% of commuters to other regions for work. The value added to the village due to the sale of surplus energy products is 28 million per year and greenhouse gas emissions dropped with 80%. Conclusion With the continuation of the improvements on end use efficiency of household appliances and lighting21 and improvements on the energy efficiency in housing, the demand of energy can potentially be decreased with 60% in the coming 20 years22. Together with the improvements in renewable energy technologies, the possibility of completely self-sufficient cities becomes a reasonable future. From the examples given before we can see that local energy production has some clear advantages over centralized power production. Local energy production creates a substantial increase in employment and thus contributes to the local economy, provides social and environmental benefits through empowerment of the civilian and improves energy security. Large scale wind farms, solar farms or hydropower stations have the advantage of producing high amounts of energy and through a capital-intense fixed infrastructure can transport large amounts of energy throughout Europe, when and where demand is necessary. If we look at the city of Amsterdam for local energy production we must consider the resources available to produce energy. Solar and wind power have the potential to provide Amsterdam with 13 times its current demand23. This is a potential and relies on large areas covered with solar panels and wind turbines, which is not always possible or wanted within the boundaries of a city. Solar and wind furthermore have the problem of intermittency, producing only at certain moments not corresponding with peak demands of energy.
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throughout different countries. The transport of electricity over larger distances creates losses of 2% to 4%19. Though these losses seem small, due to the high amounts of electricity moved these losses can still become large quantities.
occurrence and are generally quickly rectified15. However due to climate change we can expect and already see a higher rate of extreme weather16. With centralized power generation the risk of blackouts is substantially higher in comparison to a more distributed network17. When one of the main energy producers is affected due to extreme weather, terrorist attack or other acute shocks the entire network could be crippled. With a more distributed energy supply the risk of a large-scale blackout is almost impossible due to the more flexible nature of this system. A problem with renewable energy sources is the problem of intermittency. Renewable energy supply is not constant but changes according to weather patterns, day and night time and seasonal changes. To solve the problem of intermittency there are a variety of options. First there is the option of storage of energy to redistribute it during moments of low income. This could be done through storage in batteries, however the island of El Hierro uses a wind/pumped hydro storage which pumps water 700 meters up to fill the crater of an extinct volcano to store the surplus of energy18. Another option is the variable application of fossil fuelled energy plants or biomass plants to absorb peak demand or low renewable energy income, as in the example of G端ssing. Finally there is the option of transporting energy over a larger region to accommodate energy demand. Regarding this last option, a large-scale high-power network is required to move large quantities of electricity
Amsterdam has several local resources which could provide an alternative renewable energy source, such as geothermal power for heating, biomass from households and local farmers or ma39
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Combining foreign functions
in such a way that there is a variety of buildings, all part of the industrial process, spread out over a vast surfaced area. Heatherwick studios found that the placement of these buildings wasn’t the most efficient way and weren’t capitalized upon. As an alternative they proposed a composition of these buildings in an efficient and surface reducing way. In addition to this the plant has a social dimension and a symbolic importance as well. The region in which the plant is situated is voted the worst place to live in England and the region is one of the poorer regions of England. Nowadays we are not proud of where our energy comes from, because it is a source of pollution and produces a lot of negative effects on our environment and personal health. Heatherwick studios found that instead of a negative impact, this new power station should provide a sense of pride and include the surrounding neighbourhoods instead of keeping them out. In order to achieve this, the functional sheds of the plant are placed around the necessary chimney stack to improve efficiency and provide a simplified composition. The facilities however are noisy, creating a sense of pollution even though it is a clean source of energy. To dampen this the facility is surrounded with a hillside and to include the nearby residents, this hillside is covered with a park landscape. Included is the perception of the plant as a school of power, opening the facility to visitors as a museum, through which they can learn more about the history and future of energy.
Within the circular approach the flow of resources should be kept within the same scale or kept as tight as possible to increase efficiency and remove additional transport costs. For the supply of energy this would mean that most energy should be produced as close to the consumer as possible. When there isn’t enough energy production from renewable resources within the district or city further production could come from new energy plants which will be situated within the city itself. When new energy plants are placed within the vicinity of homes new conditions and regulations will be in place to provide a safe and healthy environment. With the introduction of renewable and clean energy these new power plants have a completely different effect on its surroundings and they can become a powerful catalyst for the development of a region. A good example of the combination of plants and ostensibly incompatible functions is the proposal for the Teesside power station of Heatherwick studios. The power plant is located on a former gas-fired power station in Redcar & Cleveland in England, which will be dismantled due to increased costs and decreased efficiency of the plant. The new plant will be a biomass power plant, which is a renewable power source and a cleaner source of energy. Within the vicinity of the plant a new neighbourhood was planned, comprised of 2000 new homes. Instead of building a plant which retains the outdated ideals of the fossil fuelled energy plants, a new design which should add value to its surroundings is proposed. Former industrial complexes are set up
The landscape continues on to the power station.i6
The necessary industrial facilities are encased, protecting the environment from noise pollution.i7
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Teesside powerstation on the former industrial terrain in Middlesbrough.i5
Bibliography:
In the 1860s, physicist John Tyndall recognized the Earth’s natural greenhouse effect and suggested that slight changes in the atmospheric composition could bring about climatic variations. In 1896, a seminal paper by Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius first predicted that changes in the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could substantially alter the surface temperature through the greenhouse effect. Holli Riebeek, “Global Warming,” Nasa Earth Observatory, June 3, 2010, accessed April 15, 2017, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ Features/GlobalWarming/page1.php 2 Research Council (NRC), “Surface Temperature Reconstructions For the Last 2,000 Years”, National Academy Press, 2006, accessed April 15, 2017, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/page1.php 3 Shahriar Shafiee and Erkan Topal, “When will fossil fuels reserves be diminished?”, Energy Policy 39 (2009): 182. 4 Shafiee and Topal, “fossil fuels diminished?”, 184. 5 Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation, Towards a circular economy: Business rationale for an accelerated transition, (Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation, 2015), 5-7. 6 Eva Gladek et all., Circulair Buiksloterham: Living Lab voor Circulaire Gebiedsontwikkeling (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2014), 78-85. 7 Lars Rydén, “Is local energy supply a main road to sustainability?” in Sustainable Development, Knowledge Society and Smart Future Manufacturing Technologies, ed. W. Leal Filho et al. (Springer, 2015), 20. 8 International Energy Agency (IEA), Energy policies of IEA countries: The Netherlands 2014 review (Paris: IEA publication, 2014): 8688. 9 Ministerie van Economische Zaken, Energierapport: Transitie naar duurzaam (Den haag: Xerox/OBT, 2016): 114-115. 10 Markus Bolhàr-Nordenkampf et all. “Biomass CHP Plant Güssing – Using Gasification for Power Generation.” (Paper presented at the 2nd Regional Conference on Energy Technology Towards a Clean Environment, Thailand, Phuket, February 12-14, 2003). 11 Eva L. Sastresa et al., “Local impact of renewables on employment: Assessment methodology and case study”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 14 (2010): 679-690, accessed March 11, 2017, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.10.017. 12 Blanca Moreno and Ana J. López, “The effect of renewable energy on employment. The case of Asturias (Spain)”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 12 (2008): 732-751, accessed March 11, 2017, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2006.10.011. 13 Jennifer Latson, “Why the 1977 Blackout Was One of New York’s Darkest Hours,” Time, July 13, 2015, accessed May 9, 2017, http://time.com/3949986/1977-blackout-new-york-history/. 14 International Energy Agency (IEA), Learning from the Blackouts: Transmission System Security in Competitive Electricity Markets (Paris: IEA publication 2005), 28. 15 Stefan Rahmstorf, and Dim Coumou. “Increase of extreme events in a warming world,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (2011): 17905-17909. 16 Peter Alstone, Dimitri Gershenson, and Daniel M. Kammen. “Decentralized energy systems for clean electricity access.” Nature Climate Change, April 2015: 307, accessed May 10, 2017, DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE2512. 17 Rydén, “Is local energy supply a main road to sustainability?”, 27. 18 IEA, Energy policies of IEA countries, 86-88. 19 Alstone, Gershenson, and Kammen. “Decentralized energy systems”, 309. 20 The following article goes into depth in the exact process of the CHP FICFB power plant. It provides a clear overview of energy efficiency, operation experience, environmental impact and economy of the demonstration plant. Bolhàr-Nordenkampf et all. “Biomass CHP Plant Güssing.” 21 Alstone, Gershenson, and Kammen. “Decentralized energy systems”, 307. 22 Gladek et all., Circulair Buiksloterham, 80. 23 Calculations have been made based on the potentials from the following source: Geert den Boogert et all., Energie Atlas Amsterdam Zuidoost, (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2015), 36-50. 24 IEA, Energy policies of IEA countries, 86-88. 25 The Netherlands has already planned the installation of two high-power lines between the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. There are already connections between the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom. IEA, Energy policies of IEA countries, 86-88.
Alstone, Peter, Dimitri Gershenson, and Daniel M. Kammen. “Decentralized energy systems for clean electricity access.” Nature Climate Change, April 2015: 307. Accessed May 10, 2017, DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE2512. Bolhàr-Nordenkampf, Markus, Christian Aichernig, Reinhard Rauch, and Hermann Hofbauer. “Biomass CHP Plant Güssing – Using Gasification for Power Generation.” Paper presented at the 2nd Regional Conference on Energy Technology Towards a Clean Environment, Thailand, Phuket, February 12-14, 2003. Den Boogert, Geert, Laura Hakvoort, Robert Heit, Stef Le Fèvre, Berthe Lemmens, Bob Mantel, Ruben Voerman, and Bart de Vries. Energie Atlas Amsterdam Zuidoost. Gemeente Amsterdam, 2015. Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation. Towards a circular economy: Business rationale for an accelerated transition. Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation, 2015. Gladek, Eva, Sanderine van Odijk, Pieter Theuws, and Albert Herder. Circulair Buiksloterham: Living Lab voor Circulaire Gebiedsontwikkeling. Gemeente Amsterdam, 2014. International Energy Agency (IEA). Energy policies of IEA countries: The Netherlands 2014 review. Paris: IEA publication, 2014. International Energy Agency (IEA). Learning from the Blackouts: Transmission System Security in Competitive Electricity Markets. Paris: IEA publication, 2005. Latson, Jennifer. “Why the 1977 Blackout Was One of New York’s Darkest Hours.” Time, July 13, 2015. Accessed May 9, 2017, http:// time.com/3949986/1977-blackout-new-york-history/. Ministerie van Economische Zaken. Energierapport: Transitie naar duurzaam. Den haag: Xerox/OBT, 2016. Moreno, Blanca, and Ana J. López. “The effect of renewable energy on employment. The case of Asturias (Spain).” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 12 (2008): 732-751. Accessed March 11, 2017, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2006.10.011. Riebeek, Holli. “Global Warming,” Nasa Earth Observatory, June 3, 2010. Accessed April 15, 2017, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ Features/GlobalWarming/page1.php Rahmstorf, Stefan, and Dim Coumou. “Increase of extreme events in a warming world.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (2011): 17905-17909. Research Council (NRC). “Surface Temperature Reconstructions For the Last 2,000 Years.” National Academy Press, 2006. Accessed April 15, 2017, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/page1.php Rydén, Lars. “Is local energy supply a main road to sustainability?” In Sustainable Development, Knowledge Society and Smart Future Manufacturing Technologies, edited by W. Leal Filho, A. Úbelis and D. Berzina, 19-31. (Springer, 2015). Sastresa, Eva Llera, Alfonso Aranda Usón, Ignacio Zabalza Bribián, and Sabina Scarpellini. “Local impact of renewables on employment: Assessment methodology and case study.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 14 (2010): 679-690. Accessed March 11, 2017, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.10.017. Shafiee, Shahriar, and Erkan Topal. “When will fossil fuels reserves be diminished?”, Energy Policy 39 (2009): 181-189.
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Images: Diagram is made by the Author. Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation. Towards a circular economy: Business rationale for an accelerated transition. Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation, 2015, 6. i3 Gladek, Eva, Sanderine van Odijk, Pieter Theuws, and Albert Herder. Circulair Buiksloterham: Living Lab voor Circulaire Gebiedsontwikkeling. Gemeente Amsterdam, 2014, 83. i4 Gasification for Power Generation.” Paper presented at the 2nd Regional Conference on Energy Technology Towards a Clean Environment, Thailand, Phuket, February 12-14, 2003, 3. i5 Heatherwick Studio. 2009. Teesside Power Station: View1. Acessed May 19, 2017, http://www.heatherwick.com/teesside-powerstation/ i6 Heatherwick Studio. 2009. Teesside Power Station: View4. Acessed May 19, 2017, http://www.heatherwick.com/teesside-powerstation/ i7 Heatherwick Studio. 2009. Teesside Power Station: Structure. Acessed May 19, 2017, http://www.heatherwick.com/teesside-powerstation/ i1 i2
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Endnotes:
WATER AND ITS EMBODIED ENERGY
MAAYAN DANIEL
A re-evaluation of Amsterdam’s water network
be a logical extrapolation that water needs to be regarded as an opportunity instead of a problem or threat. As Yatish T. Shah states:
With a required renewable energy-transition and an ineluctable need for flood-protective measures, the urban planning of Amsterdam requires strategic thinking. Since both issues; the energetic and the flood-protective, might imply different and maybe even conflicting solutions, an integrated approach for which both matters are taken into consideration is highly needed. This research will therefore dive into the quantitative and qualitative implications of an optimized strategy for wasted drinking water. First of all trying to establish an understanding on the current system of drinking water distribution and wastewater collection and its energetic implications. Secondly trying to find alternative ways to provide the consumer with water and opportunities for water flows to be recycled or reused in order to save energy. This will be done by studying case studies. Thirdly, applying the alternative ways to the case of Amsterdam hence maximizing the given opportunities. And finally, defining the advantages and disadvantages of this maximized strategy for which conclusively an optimized strategy will be given. Ultimately answering the question: How could waste water contribute to energy-efficiency and what are its spatial implications?
44
Amsterdam is a city known for its authentic canal structure. A structure engrained within the material culture of the Dutch. The ingenious structure could be considered highly integrative due to the fact that it both tackled the quests of health (sewage), water protection (drainage), transport (boats) and financial capacity.1 Integrative approaches, however, seem to have been lost within the construction of the Dutch built environment. With the increase of technical possibilities within the era of industrialisation the need for integrative approaches was lost since the practical resources and capabilities (economic, oil, machinery etc.) seemed infinite. This need has however returned with the prospect of a costly transition towards renewable energy production and the increasing amount of economic loss by weather hazards due to the phenomenon called ‘Climate Change’ (See appendix for thorough explanation).2-3-4
“While the world is craving for more sources of energy and fuels, one source of energy that is most abundant and environmentally acceptable is water. Water in all its forms (i.e., subcritical, supercritical, steam, heavy water) is the most important solvent in the development of new “energy economy.”6 And as the authors of urban flooding and energy efficiency state: “Bundling energy and water services can contribute to a future of reduced operating costs and safer, healthier buildings”.7 Since both issues; the energetic and the floodprotective, might imply different and maybe even conflicting solutions an integrated approach for which both matters (the energy issue and the flood protection issue) are taken into consideration is highly needed. This research will therefore dive into the quantitative and qualitative implications of an optimized strategy for wasted drinking water. First of all trying to establish an understanding on the current system of drinking water distribution and wastewater collection and its energetic implications. Secondly trying to find alternative ways to provide the consumer with water and opportunities for water flows to be recycled or reused in order to save energy. This will be done by studying case studies. Thirdly, applying the alternative ways to the case of Amsterdam hence maximizing the given opportunities. And conclusively defining the advantages and disadvantages of this maximized strategy for which ultimately an optimized strategy will be given. Ultimately answering the question: How could waste water contribute to energyefficiency and what are its spatial implications?
Illustratively, regarding the situation of Amsterdam, the flow of water entering the built environment might increase in the coming years due to the sea level rise and more frequent and heavier rainfall. Urbanisation and its related issue of increased hardened areas are an additional factor which contributes to the problems of water safety and water quality in the built environment.5 An integrative approach for energy efficiency and flood protection is hence highly needed. Until the present day this question seems to have been untouched or answered on the base of isolated domains missing the opportunity for energy efficient measures to comply with water efficient or flood protective measures. A phenomenon which can be illustrated accordingly: Drinking water flows abundantly through the built environment. Following a planned course which encompasses an initial step of abstraction, following up with the transport towards the consumer and ultimately reaching the purification system, missing however the opportunity for its embodied energy to be reused or reduced. One could think of the reduction of purification energy consumption, the reuse of waste water heat etc. Hence an energy and water efficient approach which could issue an immense rate of energy saving and simultaneously contribute to the water management quest. One should therefore ask oneself if the current drinking and waste water flow could be optimized in terms of energetic losses. When regarding both the opportunities for waste water energy extraction and the problems of water capacity one might state that it would only
Current Drinking Water System in Amsterdam Waternet, is a public company responsible for the abstraction, distribution, collection and purification of Amsterdam’s drinking water. The daily demand of drinking water in Amsterdam is currently easily met due to the abstraction of naturally and artificially filtered dune, river and lake water reaching the homes of 922,000 inhabitants.8 After the clean drinking water has reached the homes, the industry or other services, the waste water will be returned to Waternet which then purifies the waste water in order to be able to return it to the surface water. This sophisticated system thanks its origin from the beginning of the 20st century when an underground sewage system was created in the Amsterdam on the base of hygienic reasons 45
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Introduction
Required quality High Low
Industry Services
27
Housing
27 44 4
Consumed 1.7
10 26
Output to purification system
Input drinking water
86
59
Output to surface water
40
Current Water Fllow in million m3 in Amsterdam (based on calculations).i1 immediate discharge
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CURRENT
When regarding the prospect of urban intensification and an increase of rainfall the risk of flooding however will persist and even increase.14 According to the authors of the Atlas of Dutch Water Cities the guideline for the amount of surface area should be 10 procent.15 The question therefore arises in what way the water flow which enters the built environment could be reduced or in what way the water could be retained in order to reduce the pressure on existent water structures and the sewage system.
49 million m3 River Water abstraction
immensely regarding the fact that certain services do not require high quality drinking water and can be replaced by rainwater or naturally purified rainwater. The following diagram shows the current drinking and waste water flow in Amsterdam from which the following conclusion can be deduced: • When regarding the drinking water input the actual needed amount of water with drinking water quality amounts to only 50 % of the current amount of drinking water production. This amount can therefore be reduced immensely which might imply a huge reduction of drinking water and waste water purification energy costs. • Secondly, the amount of rainfall ending up at the waste water purification plant is still relatively high (40 %) due to the fact that 40 % of the current sewage system is a so-called ‘segregated’ system. An introduction of more of these segregated sewage infrastructures would be recommended. 25 amount of costs and This however requires a high energy concerning its construction according to 4 the authors of ‘Water and Energy’.16 The amount of rainfall ending up at the waste water purification plant can moreover be reduced immensely when both the rainfall is used and 1.7stored for those services which do not require drinking water quality.
Decentralize
& Store
12 million m3 DuneWater abstraction
25 million m3 Surface Water abstraction
When relating this notion to the aspect of energy efficiency the previously addressed quest of wasted water and its embodied wasted energy comes into play. Since the water flow should be reduced in regard of flood protection which implies that we should search for reduction of waste water production in order to reduce the pressure on the sewage system and the waste water purification plant, the quest of energy efficiency automatically becomes an issue at stake. This due to the fact that our drinking embodies a certain amount of energy which could then be simultaneously reduced. The aim of wastewater in that way synchronizes with that of a search for energy efficiency since a certain amount of energy is needed to purify water and since waste water heat could be reused.
Both Energy and Water Waste heat reuse
PROPOSED
7 times MORE Energy Efficient Current and Proposed situation - Diagram.i2
46
When regarding the current situation of Amsterdam’s drinking water consumption and its related wasted water one could state that the amount of drinking water could be reduced 47
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67
67
and technological possibilities.9 This led to the disappearance of several waterways in the city of Amsterdam and hence to an increase of hardened area. The lock at the mount of the IJ inlet and the 38 enclosure dam which were built in respectively 27 1872 and 1932 however ensured water safety in Amsterdam which made this disappearance of 40 in terms of flood control.10 waterways acceptable However, the large-scale building over the last fifty years 2 resulted into an increase of flood risk especially in the since then newly constructed areas where 17 water capacity was not ensured by the means of canals.11 The introduction of the socalled ‘seperated’ sewage system therefore came into play which ensured a decreased amount of pressure on the waste water purification plant and 28 hence the sewage system during rainy periods. The system constitutes of the fact that the 10 rainwater will be separated from the wastewater 4 and directed directly towards surface water, preventing the rainwater to be contaminated unnecessarily. A system which was introduced in 1930 and currently encompasses 60 percent of the total sewage network in Amsterdam.12-13
Rainwater falling on hardened area
67
67
Ra g llin fa er s at o o f inw n r o
27
40 86
38
Output to surface water
40
59
Waste heat circulation
2 17
Cooling Industry
27
44 4
1.7
10 26
Input drinking water
Rest need
27
Dwelling
28
Housing
10 4
Services Industry
Black water
Biogas Highly contaminated
25
Consumed Hammarby Sjöstad, Sweden.
ment process is recycled and used for fertilising farmland and forestry land. Furthermore the waste releases biogas during processing. This biogas is ultimately used as a fuel for vehicles such as buses, taxis and waste collection trucks and to heat 1000 homes in the area.18
Case Study and its related solutions The idea of extracting energy from waste water and reducing the amount of wasted drinking water has been applied within the architectural realm. The following project will therefore reveal the possibilities and potentials of using and reducing waste water for energy and environmental purposes and the spatial implications of such solutions.
A second waste water strategy is the extraction of heat from the treated water in the treatment plant, which is then used for district heating. With a range in temperature between 10°C and 20°C over the whole year, the wastewater is highly suitable for both heat and cold extraction which results in the fact that in summer the cold water can be used for cooling and in winter the warm water can be used for heating.19
Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm, Sweden Hammarby Sjöstad used to have a reputation for being a run-down, polluted and unsafe industrial and residential. Hammarby Sjöstad has however been transformed into one of Stockholm’s most pleasant residential districts and one of the world’s most successful urban renewal districts. In 2016, the second and final phase of the building activities has been completed resulting into an area which accommodates 25 000 people and offer work for 10 000 people.17 Hammarby Sjöstad is highly sustainable on the level of various domains. When regarding its wastewater strategy Hammarby Sjöstad could be considered a model example of efficient energy reuse. First of all, wastewater is treated locally. The sludge produced by the waste water treat48
1.7
Minimized energy and water waste in Amsterdam in million m3.i4
i3
Maximized Strategy for Amsterdam’s Water System
of drinking water consumption and waste water discharge is fairly effective with the following system of flows. Only the highly contaminated drinking water needs to send towards the waste water purification system which amounts to merely 4 million m3 per year (see diagram).
When applying the previously presented solution to the case of Amsterdam on a maximized level the following flow diagram will be applicable. The flow diagram encompasses the following previously presented solutions: 1. Reducing the amount of drinking water production and waste water discharge by using rainwater for those services which do not require drinking water quality in order to reduce the energy costs required to purify and transport the water. 2. Segregating the black water (toilet waste water) from the other waste water in order to optimize biogas production and hence being able to generate electricity. 3. Reusing the heat from the cooling water from the industry in other functions following a sequence of Industry, offices, and ultimately homes.20 When regarding the presented maximisation of the previously presented solutions the following quantitative and qualitative conclusions can be deduced. 1 a. (Water-reduction) As previously stated, merely 50 percent of the current drinking water supply needs to be actual drinking water from which most drinking water is needed for homes. The reduction
1 b. (Energy-reduction) Although the energy used for purification and transport is in this way decreased by almost 80 % the energetic costs of purification and transport are relatively low when applying it to the amount per person. The reduction will amount to merely 12 W per person per year. An amount which resembles merely 2% of the yearly household energy consumption.21 2 a. (Water-reduction) By using rainwater to flush toilets and segregating the black water (toilet waste water) from the other waste water both the amount of drinking water consumption and waste water discharge to the central purification system is decreased. 2 b. (Energy-reduction) The (estimated) amount of black water from both companies and homes results into an opportunity to generate maximum of 43 000 homes and a minimum of 20 000 homes. The system however requires a huge amount of black water storage space since the biogas needs 49
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4 Output to purification system
within the urban fabric is highly valued. A mix-use urban plan is therefore an optimal goal. This goal simultaneously tackles the issue of high cost in infrastructure since the pipe distances will then be reduced. When regarding flood protection the segregated system is still highly valuable in order to reduce the pressure on the sewage system. Allowing grey water to circulate through the area would only amount to the need of more area for surface water or green. One could however issue the fact that this retention capacity is needed anyway. A notion which would conflict with the introduction of underground infrastructures such as pipes and biogas installations. In order to compensate this matter future architecture could therefore play an important role. If one issues that the public domain should be reserved for pipes and installations, the private building domain will be left with the task to tackle the issue of water retention in or underneath the building. Another morphological solution would be to reintroduce big water structure in the public domain on a structured level which does not conflict with the underground piping or biogas installation system thus depending on the positioning of different functions (industry, offices, dwellings).
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3. a. (Water-reduction) The other amount of contaminated water is trapped within a closed circulation of heating homes and cooling industry and therefore does not necessarily need purification (by heat recovery). The pH-value of this water however needs to be controlled and monitored by the industry itself in order to prevent corrosion within the piping system.22 3. b. (Energy-reduction) When all industry currently present in Amsterdam would connect to a grid of waste water heat reuse the system would be able to heat 3 million households (estimated calculations). This estimation could be considered feasible when comparing it to other sources which for example state that one factory heated 56 000 households and that it would be 6 times more energy-efficient.23-24 The proposed circular system requires however huge financial investments within the infrastructure.
Optimized Strategy for Amsterdam’s Water System The previously established conclusions will be evaluated in this chapter in order to ultimately generate an optimized strategy for Amsterdam’s Water System. Both the biogas solution and the reuse of industrial heat turned out be highly effective in terms of energy. Its financial costs, which are due to the construction of massive infrastructure fairly high, could however be put into a positive perspective. When regarding the introduction of biogas installations, the decentralisation of energy generation could amount to a high rate of job creation within the urban fabric and moreover make the system more resilient for flood damage. When keeping the biogas installations on a low human scale the spatial impact can be reduced, preventing both a monopoly of huge energy generation companies and providing an opportunity for inhabitants to earn their money within proximity. Storage of both electricity is less needed than other renewable resources since the input is relatively constant. In order however to be flood resilient storage is recommended, reducing the impact of failure.25 Water-batteries could than come into play since the environmental (pollution) impact of flooding is minimal (for more information see appendix).
Conclusion Over the past few decades the highly integrative communal approach of the construction of the Dutch canal system seems to have been lost in the vocabulary of Amsterdam urban constructions. An approach which is currently however highly needed in order to tackle crucial future risks and assignments such as water risk and energy reduction. A search for bundling opportunities in one strategy is therefore highly recommended. A bundling which has great potential since the reuse of waste water streams and its embodied energy could reduce the incoming water flow. A strategy which had already been applied in Stockholm, Sweden. Though the proposed reduction of the drinking water input did not have significant effects on the reduction of purification and transport energy costs (since these were already low), the inverse was the case: a reuse of waste water for energy purposes reduced the amount of input within the built environment. This strategy encompasses both the issue of reuse waste heat from the industry and reusing black water (toilet water) for biogas generation. Both strategies however result into certain morphological implications such as: if
The low-scale factor also applies for the heat exchange circulation. In order to reduce heat loss a high proximity between different functions 50
certain areas need to be reserved for massive infrastructure, where could one still be able to create surface water area for flood protection. And a second implication included the proposal for decentralisation of both systems for optimal energy efficiency, job-creation, and resilience within the scope of flood-protection.
Strategies which hence imply a huge shift within the morphology and the program of the urban fabric. A shift which might however reintroduce the Dutch material culture and increase our awareness of energy and water use since the effects will be within our sight.
Endnotes: Fransje Hooimeijer,The tradition of making Polder Cities. (Delft: TU Delft, 2011), 25, 50 David Timmons, Jonathan, M. Harris, & Brian Roach, The Economics of Renewable Energy (Medford: Tufts University, 2014), accessed May 5, 2017, http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/education_materials/modules/RenewableEnergyEcon.pdf 3 Bollinger, L. A. & Dijkeman, G.P.J., Evaluating infrastructure resilience to extreme weather – the case of the Dutch electricity transmission network. (Delft: TU Delft, 2016), accessed May 10, 2017, http://www.tbm.tudelft.nl/fileadmin/Faculteit/TBM/Onderzoek/ EJTIR/Back_issues/16.1/2016_01a_07.pdf 4 World Energy Council, World Energy perspective; The road to resilience- managing and financing extreme weather risks (London: World Energy Council, 2015), accessed April 11, 2017, http://www.mmc.com/content/dam/mmc-web/Files/20150921_Resilience_ extreme_weather_PRINT.pdf 5 Gemeente Amsterdam, Structuurvisie Amsterdam 2040; Economisch Sterk en Duurzaam (Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2011), accessed May 15, 2017, https://www.amsterdam.nl 6 Yatish, T. Shah, Water for energy and fuel production (Boca Raton: CRC press, 2014), 5 7 Marjorie Isaacson, et al., Urban flooding and energy efficiency: Leveraging Community Action (ACEEE, 2014), accessed, May 4, 2017, http://www.elevateenergy.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/Urban_Flooding_and_Energy_Efficiency1.pdf 8 P.J.J.G. Geudens, Vewin, Dutch Drinking Water Statistics; The water cycle from source to tab. (Rijswijk: Vewin, 2012), accessed May 10, 2017, http://www.vewin.nl/SiteCollectionDocuments/Publicaties/English%20_publications/Vewin_Dutch_Drinking_water_ statistics_2012.pdf 9 Fransje Hooimeijer, Han Meijer & Arjan Nienhuis, Atlas of Dutch Water Cities (Amsterdam: SUN, 2009), 175 10 Camiel van dribbelen, Rob Koeze & Ellen Monchen, Waterproof Amsterdam (Amsterdam: Waternet, 2013), accessed, April 10, 2017, https://www.amsterdam.nl/publish/pages/570156/planam-07-2013engwww_art_2.pdf 11 Fransje Hooimeijer, Han Meijer & Arjan Nienhuis, Atlas of Dutch Water Cities. (Amsterdam: SUN, 2009), 178-180 12 “Geschiedenis van het riool in Amsterdam.”, Lennaert van Hoogdalem, last modified November 19, 2015, http://www.riool. amsterdam/geschiedenis-van-het-riool-in-amsterdam/ 13 Waternet, Gemeentelijk Rioleringsplan Amsterdam 2016 – 2021. Stedelijk afvalwater, afvloeiend hemelwater en grondwater in Amsterdam (Amsterdam: Waternet, 2016), accessed May 5, 2017, https://www.waternet.nl/siteassets/ons-water/gemeentelijkrioleringsplan-amsterdam-2016-2021.pdf 14 Gemeente Amsterdam, Structuurvisie Amsterdam 2040; Economisch Sterk en Duurzaam (Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2011), accessed May 15, 2017, https://www.amsterdam.nl 15 Fransje Hooimeijer, Han Meijer & Arjan Nienhuis, Atlas of Dutch Water Cities (Amsterdam: SUN, 2009), 122 16 Harry de Brauw, Jeroen Kluck, Wouter Stapel & Martijn Tilma, Water en Energie. Feiten over energieverbruik in het stedelijke waterbeheer (Ede: Rioned, 2012), accessed May 12, 2017, http://www.verenigingvpb.nl/_images/ck_files/RIONED_Water_en_ Energie_lr.pdf 17-18-19 ‘Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm, Sweden’. Atelier GroenBlauw, accessed May 15, 2017, http://www.urbangreenbluegrids.com/ projects/hammarby-sjostad-stockholm-sweden/ 20 Laure Ittard, Energy Conversion and Distribution, Lecture, Urban Environments and Infrastructures from TU Delft, June, 11, 2017 21 Harry de Brauw, Jeroen Kluck, Wouter Stapel & Martijn Tilma, Water en Energie. Feiten over energieverbruik in het stedelijke waterbeheer (Ede: Rioned, 2012), accessed May 12, 2017, http://www.verenigingvpb.nl/_images/ck_files/RIONED_Water_en_ Energie_lr.pdf 22 Yasumoto Magara, Industrial Water (Japan: Hokkaido University, n.d.), accessed May 11, 2017, http://www.eolss.net/SampleChapters/C07/E2-19-02-04.pdf 23 ‘De nieuwe warmteweg’, Visser & Smit-Hanab, accessed April 11, 2017, http://www.vshanab.nl/nl/projecten/detail/de-nieuwewarmteweg-dnww 24 Laure Ittard, Energy Conversion and Distribution, Lecture, Urban Environments and Infrastructures from TU Delft, June, 11, 2017 25 World Energy Council, World Energy perspective; The road to resilience- managing and financing extreme weather risks (London: World Energy Council, 2015), accessed April 11, 2017, http://www.mmc.com/content/dam/mmc-web/Files/20150921_Resilience_ extreme_weather_PRINT.pdf 1 2
Bibliography: Bollinger, L. A. & Dijkeman, G.P.J., Evaluating infrastructure resilience to extreme weather – the case of the Dutch electricity transmission network. (Delft: TU Delft, 2016), accessed May 10 2017, http://www.tbm.tudelft.nl/fileadmin/Faculteit/TBM/Onderzoek/ EJTIR/Back_issues/16.1/2016_01a_07.pdf De Brauw, H. Kluck, J., Stapel, W. & Tilma, M., Water en Energie. Feiten over energieverbruik in het stedelijke waterbeheer (Ede: Rioned, 2012), accessed May 12, 2017, http://www.verenigingvpb.nl/_images/ck_files/RIONED_Water_en_Energie_lr.pdf Gemeente Amsterdam, Structuurvisie Amsterdam 2040; Economisch Sterk en Duurzaam (Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2011),
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to be developed over a certain period of time.
accessed May 15, 2017, from https://www.amsterdam.nl Geudens, P.J.J.G., Vewin, Dutch Drinking Water Statistics; The water cycle from source to tab. (Rijswijk: Vewin, 2012), accessed May 10, 2017, http://www.vewin.nl/SiteCollectionDocuments/Publicaties/English%20_publications/Vewin_Dutch_Drinking_water_ statistics_2012.pdf Hettiarachchi, H & Ardakanian, R., Environmental Resource Management and the Nexus Approach (Germany: United Nations University, 2016) Hooimeijer, F., Meijer, H. & Nienhuis, A., Atlas of Dutch Water Cities (Amsterdam: SUN, 2009) Hooimeijer, Fransje, The tradition of making Polder Cities. (Delft: TU Delft, 2011), 25, 50 Isaacson, M., Gudell,, J.D., Miller, J., Wiese, J., Wilson, R. & Center of Neighbourhood Technology. Urban flooding and energy efficiency: Leveraging Community Action (ACEEE, 2014), accessed, May 4, 2017, http://www.elevateenergy.org/wp/wp-content/ uploads/Urban_Flooding_and_Energy_Efficiency1.pdf Ittard, L., Energy Conversion and Distribution, Lecture, Urban Environments and Infrastructures from TU Delft, June, 11, 2017 Magara, Y., Industrial Water (Japan: Hokkaido University, n.d.), accessed May 11, 2017, http://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C07/ E2-19-02-04.pdf Shah, Y.T. Water for energy and fuel production (Boca Raton: CRC press, 2014) Timmons, D., Harris, J., M. & Roach, B., The Economics of Renewable Energy (Medford: Tufts University, 2014), accessed May 5, 2017, http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/education_materials/modules/RenewableEnergyEcon.pdf Van Dribbelen, C., Koeze, R. & Monchen, E., Waterproof Amsterdam (Amsterdam: Waternet, 2013), accessed, April10, 2017, https:// www.amsterdam.nl/publish/pages/570156/planam-07-2013engwww_art_2.pdf Van Hoogdalem, L. “Geschiedenis van het riool in Amsterdam.”, last modified November 19, 2015, http://www.riool.amsterdam/ geschiedenis-van-het-riool-in-amsterdam/ Visser & Smit-Hanab, ‘De nieuwe warmteweg’, accessed April 11, 2017, http://www.vshanab.nl/nl/projecten/detail/de-nieuwewarmteweg-dnww World Energy Council, World Energy perspective; The road to resilience- managing and financing extreme weather risks (London: World Energy Council, 2015), accessed April 11, 2017, http://www.mmc.com/content/dam/mmc-web/Files/20150921_Resilience_ extreme_weather_PRINT.pdf
Images: Diagram is made by the Author. Atelier GroenBlauw, ‘Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm, Sweden’, accessed May 15, 2017, http://www.urbangreenbluegrids.com/ projects/hammarby-sjostad-stockholm-sweden/
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FINITE RESOURCE DESIGN
WIETSE ELSWIJK
An exploration into the possibilities of future material use in the built environment
Build to last
“In the long sweep of history, the twentieth century will not be known for either technology and innovation, or violence and conflict. Instead it will be remembered as an era in which we dared to imagine the welfare of the entire human race as a practical objective.” Bruce Mau, designer and initiator of entrepreneurial design education, pulls this idea into the twenty-first century:
In the twenty-first century our project is the welfare of all of life as a practical objective.” The world population and its consumption is growing steadily and without designers being aware of the issues this brings with it, it could end catastrophically. This article aims to clarify the opportunities for architectural value while dealing with the problem of finite resources.
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First is the real depletion of the earth’s resources. Companies have to deal with increasingly constrained resources – be it energy, land or materials – adding to price volatility of raw materials.
In 2012 Amsterdam had to import waste to keep its ovens running, 2007.i1
Second is the change in society’s perception. Customers and markets increasingly demand sustainability. This poses the challenge to decouple growth from resource use. A new economic paradigm of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ is required.
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The built environment is shaped by the values of a society. Those values are prone to change. Little by little, the consequences of depleting the earth’s finite resources are dawning on society. As designers, as architects, we have the possibility to shape the future to our vision of what it could be. The designer is there first and gives the raison d’être before any work or extraction of materials can begin. With this capacity comes the responsibility to envision a world that can be a positive environment to explore. Especially as architects we should be aware of what we leave behind, what our architecture can signify as it outlives us. Arnold Toynbee, who wrote a twenty volume history of the world, in a Nobel lecture in 1957:
For investors, the maintenance of value is key. Business models of producers currently revolve around the planned obsolescence of components. As the quality of the building industry is regulated, the norm becomes the standard. Norms usually indicate the absolute lowest required standard of performance any thing needs to be able to maintain for an x amount of time. This way of working is known as the ‘take, make and dispose’ mindset, which has sent the global economy on a steep growth trajectory since the start of the industrial revolution more than 250 years ago. Business cannot go on in the same way for two reasons.
It was wealth creation - by building huge amounts of stuff from virgin materials - which led to the decline of the deconstruction practice. Deconstruction was a common practice before the industrial revolution. A building was taken apart by a ‘barman’, named after his tool. The barman would start at the roof and work his way down. Public auctions could be held in parks or, as Van Gogh depicts, on site. Deconstruction was also a business, where the professional could buy a house to be deconstructed if he saw enough value in its material. This calculation is still used by ROTOR today and it is very straightforward, deconstruction can only be undertaken when:
Sale of the old church ‘Verkoping van afbraak’, Vincent van Gogh, 1885.i2
Material value > Labour cost + Logistics
An example of the condition the modern builder was confronted with is the wrecking of the Hotel Majestic in 1929. Its construction had cost $2 million in 1894, but salvage would yield only 10 percent of that. “To re-cut the rosewood, mahogany and black walnut used in the interiors of the old Glow Room and the Rose Rooms of the Hotel Majestic, among the sights of the city when the hotel was new, would have cost more than to use new materials” prospective builder Irwin S. Chanin explained. Because of carrying charges “the technique of building demolition has become tremendously important in the past few years.”2 Can we even build something to last?
The Hotel Majestic, New York, 1894 - 1929.i3
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8
Cladding is another problem for long lasting buildings. The elements and biosphere have the tendency to try to include the buildings in the natural landscape. Concrete gets overgrown and rots away if left unpainted or untreated. This was part of the spiritual meditation which was invoked by Toyo Ito in the U-house project. After building it for a family which had lost the husband to cancer, the house was left to nature and overgrew quickly. This project was never meant to last, but it shows how much maintenance is needed to keep even a concrete building from nature’s destructive tendencies.
Left to nature, without any maintenance, the building became part of it.i5
There are no strict regulations when it comes to the cleaning of building facades in public spaces. Monumental buildings in the Netherlands actually often get damaged in the process of cleaning. They lose the typical patina, the masonry can get damaged and natural stone can lose its refinements.
After 21 years and 3 the building was demolished.i6
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There are bricks from6Hamburg under Manhattan. With the efforts to establish international democracy, tools were developed 5 in a rapid pace that were more powerful then ever. The hydraulic pressure, combined with continuous tracks and a massive 4 engine, was used in Vietnam to clear and flatten fields of coconut trees to make way for a military 3 Once the wars were over, camp or landing strip. the equipment was taken back to America and used to flatten land2and demolish buildings all across the country.
600
World GDP
500 Copper Steel Oil
400 300 200
1
100
In reflecting on the social and cultural phenomenon of post-war reconstruction in the Netherlands, 0 N. John Habraken in the 60s investigated an alternative to mass housing. His solution purports the separation of the supporting structure from the more changeable components will give individual people the freedom to enact their way of living.3 Rural Unravelling the layers a building consists of aids us Population in the conceptualisation of a new mode of design, namely design for deconstruction Urban or disassembly. How can changes to adaptable building be monPopulation itored through the years? How do we see if the investments have been worthwhile?
2007
1950
2050
0 International Harvester TD-20 tractor/bulldozer, Vietnam, 1967.i7
In the 80s some of Habraken’s principles of adaptable building were put in practice. However none of these projects has had a post occupancy analysis to see to what extent changes were made to the building. For example in a housing project in Dordrecht extra foundation and demountable front and rear façades were installed, to facilitate expansion to both sides. After ten years however it become apparent that none of the inhabitants had made use of these additions. The main reason being that they weren’t aware of it. One of the biggest issues is communication, as long as the occupant is unaware of the possibilities, the extra investments won’t have any effect. The investor often doesn’t see the benefit in involving the resident.
Stuff Space plan Services Skin Structure Site
Building layers: 6S, Steward Brand, 1994.i8
‘All buildings are predictions, and all predictions are wrong’ was the slogan of Steward Brand’s campaign in the 90s to expose the problem of buildings as static objects.4 His distinction of different life cycles within a building proves useful to understand the work of deconstruction and the complexity of modern buildings with its many stakeholders. What is the relation between the earth’s resources and adaptable building? Either alternatives or substitutes will be found to replace the rare resources used today or resources are depleted and waste becomes valuable.
The empty NEST, ready to be filled in, Dübendorf, 2016.i9
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U-House, Toyo Ito, 1975.i4
Paper
2000
However when we observe standing churches and ruins of old times, the reason the structures stand is their virtually indestructible stone ediface. The modern buildings made of concrete and steel rebar are constructed for the efficiency of construction method in terms of cost and time. The floors are kept to a minimum amount of concrete, so as to keep down the weight and save of further construction of the columns and beams while making large overspans possible. It might well be that the area which remains clear of columns is over rated if we consider a buildings’ longevity as one of its design parameters. An additional interesting opportunity could be the replacement of the steel rebar, which strengthens the concrete but also makes the structure more collapsible in case of fire. Glass fibre and bamboo are two components which may in the future replace the steel in concrete. In combination with shorter overspans this may be a way to make structurally sound long lasting buildings.
700
1950
The material make up of structures is only part of the decisive factor for its survival. Survival depends mainly on the agreement of the building to the predominant local culture. It is commonly understood that in order for a project to stay relevant it must be able to be adapted to future uses. In this case from the start of the design process the program is second to the spatial concept and the context of the design.
7 Building without waste
1900
Build to last
Aluminium
800
Florian Schätz, founder of FACE2050 is Assistant Professor of Design and Construction at the National University of Singapore and a practicing architect based in Singapore. He was one of the authors behind the 1000Singapores Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2010. His Design Research team focuses on prototyping modular components of the tropical building envelope using reusable 3D printed formwork to cast structural concrete modules.
WE - You know Future Cities Laboratory. Did you meet Felix Heisel or Dirk Hebel? Are you aware of their research on construction and reuse of building components? FS - Sure, Dirk and I graduated from ETH Zurich. Their research explores alternative building materials, design and construction methods, using waste, alternative aggregates, and building materials. Our research is using additive manufacturing to improve traditional construction methods and (re-)using the formwork to cast concrete.
Florian Schätz, credit: Jing Quek, 2016.
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We want to approach this form of waste management and recycling in the building industry from a different angle. In Germany practicing architects are confronted with more stringent regulations of the new energy saving laws. The EnEV 2014 - which is the German Energy Saving Ordinance - requires the reduction of the U-value to below 0,24 W/ (m²·K) in outer walls. The EnEV increases the costs and lowers the quality of architectural design. It is hard to construct a new building with traditional construction technologies of solid bricks or solid concrete walls without insulating the envelope. To lower the energy loss and keep the structure within a usually small budget a typical house uses up to 20cm polystyrene cladding (EPS) as the primary building material of the envelope. It is disastrous. EPS used before 2016 is already a special waste. In ten to fifteen years, when the first round of refurbishing these building starts, there are going to be about 250’000 containers full of special waste, even hazardous waste. This waste is incinerated under severe EU Conditions and high energy consumption to avoid toxic fumes emerging from the burning process. How can we reuse that waste?
1000 Singapores can house the entire world population, Venice, 2010.i11
For the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, part of the statement was to use, reuse and recycle the lightweight foam structure. Breaking used EPS down into small pieces makes it an aggregate for new foam with fewer requirements, that is mostly used in infrastructure systems or artificial topographies. But at the end of the lifecycle, the foam will mainly end in incinerator plants causing
The role of the architect.i12
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the usage of concrete as a structural element with prefabrication, automation, and additive manufacturing, make it lighter and stronger to fulfil that demand of rapid urban growth. Ideally, we need to lower the cost of the building construction itself and improve the performance.
high energy costs for dismantling, transportation, and burning. I foresee that this special waste finds its way to countries outside of the EU, which will burn waste without Europe’s firm restrictions. That is the paradox of the German Energy Saving Ordinance. At the end of the day, we might measure these toxic fumes in our atmosphere. Besides that, the higher costs of hybrid structural Low energy construction systems invested in a new building, can not be used for the extra mile in crafting and giving value to architecture. It’s currently a huge problem that comes along within governance in the construction industry.
In Singapore, the HDB (Housing Development Board) brought tropical mass housing to its perfection based on modernist principles. Open corridors, open stairs, void decks and open windows allow cross ventilation, and the upper floors hardly need air-condition with a felt temperature of around 27 degrees. Open spaces are becoming community spaces, activity zones like outdoor gyms. Its architectural and urban form is monotonous. That’s why we are working on form, production, and performance of the tropical envelope which covers 20-30% of the building. There is a massive potential to apply the research in the industry. In that sense, we drive the research through pragmatism, function, and technology.
Given this restriction we are currently working on a small building, testing to cast TECHNOlith concrete with foam glass aggregates besides of using wood pellet as a renewable primary heating system. We are trying to convince the local authorities, to calculate the overall performance of the building per year using alternative heating systems. With that we can increase the EnEV u-values for the wall system. Our approach to this problem is to rethink not just construction materials, but also to challenge regulations. We need not just rethink our energy production, energy storage and usage of alternative energies, but also our building codes, construction methods, and material aggregates.
WE - You are working on automatisation, robotisation of the building industry. What is the role of the architect, when the building blocks chosen by the environmental concern, the weather, and structural forces? These can all be calculated, what is left of the role of the architect? FS - Rational imagination becomes our central role. Architecture offers much more that concept driven, iconic and aesthetic design. In the 80s and early 90s celebrated architects became focussed on the literal translation of conceptual ideas, form making and creating statements of iconic art. Design Pop Stars discriminated Baukunst to fashion. Suddenly, developers, contractors, and engineers, took the opportunity and entered into the domain of architecture. Meanwhile, architecture schools in Europe continued to graduate students, who had a lack of knowledge in constructing architecture, learning this later the hard way in practice. As architects, we have always been the centre of a spectrum of several experts. With the shift in new technologies, involving engineering and robotics into the process there is a super exciting time ahead. Our work becomes fascinating when each project is research and a journey of discovery that generates new knowledge and pushes innovation. With the beginning of the 4th industrial revolution, this is even more changing. We are using different tools, software, and technologies to create and to design. I am positive that the speed of new technological achievements will change architecture per se. 3D printing is just one element within that discourse, making its first baby steps, becoming more affordable, so more students and innovative
In Asia, the new generation of architects must find solutions to house masses of people. 60% of the world population will be living in the sub-tropical belt within the region of South-East Asia. That means building cities for millions of people in the hot and wet climate with an average temperature of 28 degrees, heavy rain and rapid urbanization. 1000Singapores, the Model of the compact city which was our exhibition of the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and last year at the Cité de l’architecture in Paris is analysing liveability, urbanism, and high density in the tropics. It is hard to image the amount of housing that will be necessary within the next 20 years due to a rising demography and a growing middle class in Asia. We are questioning high-density housing as the preferred urban solution and propose low-rise density, faster access to urban sprawl and alternative construction methodologies. How can our knowledge of reusing waste, the Energy Saving Ordinance or European concrete technology contribute to the Asian Challenge? There are tremendous opportunities. Even concrete has a high CO2 imprint; I am intrigued by its possibilities in casting, forming, and performance. It is by far the most established material for mass housing. We are aiming to improve 59
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INTERVIEW WITH FLORIAN SCHÄTZ
One unique and fantastic characteristic of humans is that we are curious. That curiosity takes the main role in our progress as a species over the last 50 years. What will be problematic is all that knowledge that is available and daily generated, how can we keep up with it and access it? How can we learn the fundamentals of natural science, social behaviour, and philosophy, before we can use that knowledge to improve our lives? Soon the classical lecture theatre will be redundant. All education will be online, hopefully, free and accessible to everyone. A new generation gains knowledge from the internet, from Youtube and through online classes. There is a generation of younger students in Asia that is hungry to learn and that wants to change policies, governance, the impact of globalization and the effect of humans on our environment. They will soon come up with new ideas and test them out. We will need to open that possibility of education to the last corner of the world to active all of our human intelligence.
Also, we will soon have the singularity of computing and artificial intelligence entering the field of architecture. A forecast that Raymond Kurzweil gave early 2000, how IT will influence our lives, has already become part of our daily lives. Let’s be visionary and look one generation ahead. One day with the support of Artificial Intelligence (AI) humans, printing robots will be brought to Mars and manufacture shelters out of local resources. Machines will be drilling minerals from the ground, mixing them and then literally print new forms of the found ground. We will have 3D printing drones or flying-building components as construction modules. Matthias Kohler and his team have already built a wall with drones in Zürich. That is fascinating. Currently, the problem in additive manufacturing as a construction method is the slow speed of printing the layers. Each architectural product is unique in making. To solve that problem, we will need to have more printers, more nozzles, more robotic arms, or we scale up the process by printing the formwork. We are testing to increase the making of facade modules by printing and recycling the formwork. Once we want to size the structures, we must consult engineers to help us with substructures, shear forces, limits in pressure and density. In our work at the very early stage engineers and experts in different fields come on board to consult us on the design research.
Singapore makes funding for developing new technologies possible with a core focus on robotics and automation. As a small Island Nation-state, with a global shift in trade and production, it is a necessity for survival. The government encourages innovation and makes it one of the leading strategies of the National Development Plan. I enjoy that forward-looking approach with pro-progress through technology. Data-exchange, information sharing and collaboration over 12.000 km like this Skype conversation, is only possible because of the internet, which was developed out of a military agenda. Today it makes our life easier, helps us to communicate, to share and to learn. Why should I be retroreflective?
WE - Circular economy, is it not a thing to consider? In Europe, this is the topic everyone is working on, to change the economy. Felix Heisel, one of the researchers from Future Cities Lab, in his European work, works on the problem of the finite resources, according to him, if we keep mining in the same way, within 30 years, the earth reserves of copper, zinc, and tin will have been completely depleted.
Some architecture wants to talk about sustainability, circular economy, social community building, that appears to me as social or green porn. It is just provocative, gives arousal for a short moment and makes money. Since the Cradle to Cradle idea entered academia, there are more and more renderings which have hanging greens from the facade, a forest of trees on the roof with a swarm of birds flying towards a golden sunset. It cannot be that simple.
FS - Markets and the crisis-of-not-having activate innovation. I’m not afraid of less zinc, limited oil or dry copper mines. I do not get a panic attack about running out of sand in 10 years for casting more concrete. And I prefer not to live in a recycled shipping container as a cheaper form of modular of housing. The Cradle to Cradle movements with 3R and the circular economy is one moment of conscious reflection of our consumption. It reminds me of Neo-classicism following Rococo, in opposition for our overexploitation over the last 30 years, where we are re-considering natural values to protect and save our habitat, yet the best-selling cars are SUV’s, and the Air Traffic is increasing daily. Isn’t that another paradox?
We live in beautiful times, where there is much more to discover. In our design studios, small research groups and in small practices of architecture, we will need to look into alternative methods of making architecture, taking more risks, experimenting with new nanotechnologies, intelligent building systems, and architectural space as the result of construction. I am looking forward, not backward.
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Design for disassembly: NEST, Dübendorf, 2016.i13
Build with robotic precision: NEST, Dübendorf, 2017.i14
In that case the economy around material use will change and be interested in the reuse, such that:
the plasterer to fix it, who tells the carpenter to do it who tells the painter... It should be understood that imperfections are unavoidable and to a degree should be accepted in the building process. The robotic arm, already common practice in factories, might be able to solve some of the issues of alignment. The dfab house, built within the same NEST project, is one of the first in the building industry to apply robotic building.
Material value = scarcity x re-usability
If the value of materials rises adaptable building could play a role from Steward Brand’s “shearing the layers” point of view. In adaptable building this is mainly concerned with providing room for changes within the building, but from the material point of view, it is also a valuable way to regain materials. Keyword in this question is disassembly. Such a mode of building is being practiced next to Zürich, in Dübendorf, where Felix Heisel is designing and constructing NEST together with Dirk Hebel. In NEST there are more start-ups and there is space for trial and error, so long as there is a serious idea behind it. This building will function as a material laboratory to put the “urban mining” idea to the test.
Deconstruction in the US As deconstruction is two to three times as expensive as traditional demolishing, US deconstructors The Reuse People (TRP) make use of a government instrument: tax deduct-able donation which is beneficial for richer people to contract the deconstructor. This in turn allows low-income families to gain access to high quality, low priced materials. TRP is a successful non-profit, it had a twenty million dollar turn-over in 2016. The main problem TRP face is the logistics, moving lath from Chicago to Nashville or low cost building components from Los Angeles to Ghana. Governance focussed on clarifying, for example through the use of material passports for buildings, where and which materials become available could relieve this problem somewhat. TRP’s main competition actually comes forth from government rules: recycling or material recovery factories. These also prevent material from ending up in a landfill and thus fall under the same category from a legislation standpoint. It is absurd to stimulate the burning of building materials, or put it at the same level as reuse.
Everything is designed for disassembly. In between concrete floors different panels will be used to test materials such as loam, felt, denim and copper foam. The project tries to explore the feasibility of seeing buildings and the city as a mine. The detailing and construction of such a building is radically different from what is usually done in the industry. No glue can be used, no parts permanently fixed. The design doesn’t stop at the product, it comes from the material. The material should remain as pure as possible. The crucial question is how to make the connection of two components. It is common practice in the building industry for a builder to take the architects’ plans and redraw all the detail in order for his crew to be able to make it. And when it inevitably goes wrong, PUR foam is a quick fix for irregularities. A slanted wall? Tell 61
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practices will be using this technology and start shifting the boundaries of architecture.
World population growth
World material c
Billion
Comparison 2005 - 2015 reserves to production ratio
2015
11
1100
10
1000
9
900
8
800
7
700
159,000
Bauxite
234,000
98
6
600
21
3,150
4,710
6
5
500
4
400
119
1.340,000
Iron ore
3.320,000
41
Planet Earth made of plastic in front of IJdock, Amsterdam, 2012.i16
3
300
32
14,600
Copper
19,100
16
2
200
44
1,400
Nickel
2,100
21
1
100
0
0
13
61
0,141 Molybdenum 0,250
26
Niobium
62
Building from waste
23
0,260
Tin
0,300
11
46
17,460
Chrome
29,000
20
134
0,052
Cobalt
0,112
55
129
0,034
0,063
28
0,002
Tantalum
0,002
18
130
5,000
Titanium
6,090
97
323
0,051
39
Vanadium 0,082
0,073 Wolframite 0,086
193 24
Urban Population
World material consumption % 1100
10
1000
9
900
Recycling & the future of mining will 8 take up 3040% of the total production.6 The more engineered electronics become, the less likely7they are to be recycled. The engineering is most valuable when it 6 can negate the use of rare/valuable components.
700
Paper
600
World GDP
500
5
Roughly seven percent of the earth’s crust is alu4 minium, making it the third-most abundant element after oxygen and silicon. Yet it has no biological 3 function to organic life on earth (except for humans). This may be explained by the 2 geochemical process needed for the production of aluminium 1 oxide) is reout of bauxite ore. Alumina (aluminium fined from bauxite ore through a mixture of caustic 0 soda and lime and used to produce primary aluminium. For one ton of aluminium, two tons of alu
Cement Aluminium
800
Copper Steel Oil
400 300 200 100 0
Data is based on global estimates of mining, does not include recycling.i15
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Rural Population
2007
7
2050
13,600
2000
Zinc
1950
9,400
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9,350 Manganese 18,500
23
1950
41
The proposal is to put data about the material usage in the BIM model, in such a way material availability can be tracked in the city. The question arises with all the data used in ‘smart city’ planning: who owns the data? Ownership of the material is also a key point for moving into a circular economy model of the city planning. In the USA the organisation Building Materials Reuse Association is actively support because manufacturing companies are dreading the take back regulations. Instead these companies are pushing for more reuse of materials, so they don’t have to worry about the warranty of their products. Providing building components as a service and replacing them when they don’t work, is also being pushed on population the Dutch growth World agenda by the architect Thomas Rau. In fact Rau Billion wants to propose The Universal Declaration of Material Rights to the general assembly of the UN, 11 as a basis of how to treat materials on the planet.5
1950
Lead
2050
157
2000
Production mio. t Years left
1950
Mineral
1900
Years left Production mio. t
1900
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2005
%
Global statistics.i17
Rural Population
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Conclusions
mina is needed, for which seven tons of bauxite is used. The leftover bauxite residue is known as ‘red mud’. Aluminium oxide forms aluminium after electrolysis, where the oxygen is freed by electricity to bond with carbon, forming CO2. Aluminium is used for bodies of cars and aeroplanes, it can be used as the active ingredient in an antiperspirant or to be the colouring agent of a popular sweet. Aluminium is one of the most efficient metals to be recycled as none of its natural qualities are lost in the recycling process.7
It’s no surprise that through industrialisation and scaling of production in addition to creating welfare a lot of feedstock was used. The article provides three ways to approach the problem: 1. Build to last. This approach requires an architecture which can withstand all sorts of adaptations and accommodate different forms of usage. A building then has to almost become a sublime thing. Its otherworldly, non referential character is the ultimate condition to deal with the finite planet earth. Even so, it is impossible to say what will happen to the building in the future. 2. Building without waste. Use components which can be ‘taken back’ and upgraded/repaired or replaced. Design buildings for disassembly. Materials can be taken out of the economic loop for a while. These dynamics have become a topic of research and commercial interest in recent years. 3. Building from waste. Recycle, put a norm on the building industry to use a percentage of the building materials from recycled sources. Artists and designers are more interested and involved with the material source now then ever, because of the urgency of the problem.
Aluminium production is fundamental to Bahrain’s economy.i18
Bibliography: Mau, Bruce. [Harvard GSD]. (2012, May 24). Bruce Mau, 2012 Class Day Lecture [Video file]. Retrieved on April 16, 2017 from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Q5bjDOYoQ&t=21m59s 2 Byles, Jeff. “Rubble: Unearthing the History of Demolition” (Three Rivers Press, New York, 2005). 3 Habraken, N. John Supports: an Alternative to Mass Housing,Urban International Press, UK, Edited by Jonathan Teicher, 1999. Edited reprint of the 1972 English edition. 4 Brand, Steward. (1994). How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built. Penguin Publishing Group. 5 “The Universal Declaration of Material Rights”, accessed 21 May 2017, http://theuniversaldeclarationofmaterialrights.org/ 6 “Recycling & the Future of Mining”, accessed 21 May 2017, https://thebusinessofmining.com/2012/04/15/recycling-the-future-ofmining/ 7 Holtrop, Anne. Places of production (Bahrain pavillion, Venice Biennale 2016). 8 “Titanium metal market emerges from past excesses with more changes anticipated”, Roskill, May 9, 2017. https://roskill.com/news/ titanium-metal-market-emerges-past-excesses-changes-anticipated/ 1
Images: Klamer, H. garbage disposal at Afval Energiebedrijf Amsterdam, 2007. Van Gogh, Vincent. ‘Verkoping van afbraak’, 1885. i3 The Hotel Majestic, New York, 1894 - 1929. i4,5,6 White U, Toyo Ito, es.wikiarquitectura,1975. i7 International Harvester TD-20 Bulldozer photographed during construction at Phu Cat Air Base, Vietnam. operated by member of the 819th RED HORSE Squadron, USAF, 1967. i8,15,17 Diagrams are made by the Author, after Building layers: 6S, Steward Brand, 1994. and Rogers, Richard. “Cities for a small planet.” (Faber and Faber, London, 1997), 4. and Hebel, Dirk E. “Building from waste” (Birkhäuser, Basel, 2014). i9,13,14 Empa Pictures, 2016 & NCCR Digital Fabrication, 2017. i10 Quek, Jing. Picture of Florian Schätz, 2016. i11 1000 singapores: a model of the compact city at venice architecture biennale, Designboom, 2010. i12 Architect and engineer (1947), wikimedia, 2014. i13 Table made by the Author, after Forschungsprojekt Nr. 09/05, Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie (BMWi), 2005 and U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2015. i16 ‘De Wereld van Zwerfvuil’, Peter Smith, 2012. i18 Linke, Armin & Bruno, Giulia. Places of Production, Aluminium. Curated by Noura Al Sayeh and Anne Holtrop. 15 biennale di Venezia. Bahrain Pavilion, 2016. i19 Licari, Giuseppe, Schlak, TENT Rotterdam, 2017. i1 i2
Steel production transforms Luxembourg into a vulcanic landscape.i19
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In the titanium industry there is already an overproduction of recycled scrap and the “peak sponge” output of mining raw materials has been reached.8 Will other, more generally used materials follow the same trend as titanium? Rotterdam based artist Giuseppe Licari went to Luxembourg to see the steel manufactoring process and the landscape it leaves behind. 40 tons of patented high quality steel (used in WTC and by OMA in Dubai) is produced there every day. The European Union was formed over the production of coal and steel. Material then ties together whole continents. The scale of the problem is often the problem in exacting governance measures.
AGNIESZKA BOROWSKA
Research on direction and methods for efficient city densifying process.
Most people who desire to live in urban areas will already be in them by 2100, but by that time it will be too late to act. (...) If the land required for public works or public open spaces is not protected from encroachment before it is developed, it will be next to impossible to ensure the orderly development of cities to make them more efficient, more equitable, and more sustainable. (Shlomo Angel)
city life quality. Finding the exact formula of the space management which would lead to efficient building up the density, locate the functions and reducing demand for the energy would make the city growing in the sustainable and future-proof way. High Density: opportunities and risks Having in the near future perspective an increasing population, the consequences of that has to be investigated. Obviously, more people in the area significantly impacts the local economy, environment and society. Starting from physical benefits, the fact of reducing private car travel give the opportunity to create more public space, well-mixed land use. People spend less time on commuting, cars produce less warming emissions so consequently the environment quality raises. Nowadays, “over 90% of air pollution in developing world cities is attributed to old, poorly-maintained vehicles running on low-quality fuel and to roads prone to traffic jams”. (5) Density also creates the fundament for new businesses, people, by their demands, set the requirements for more services and amenities. The area with the new functions is much more attractive for all generations, which mix in the location and create a livable community. Density can obviously cause the negative consequences. Nowadays, the highest dense cities contend with dramatical poverty located within the central power of economy. Global Risks 2015 expose four main issues topic correlated with densified cities. Infrastructure connects people with services and makes a base of the general urbanisation process. It generates enormous costs and usage of energy and other sources. Compact cities would lead to “public-private collaboration to involve the private sector in the design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure”, but the problem of goods delivering, the inner city logistics and supply chain still will exist and it strongly need more smart solutions. Secondly, a health problem of density is located of damaging the environment by pollution the air, reducing greenery contribution in space and, more radically, great population concentration lead people to sanitation problems, waste accumulation and serious illness. The environmental problems of density are more linked with the city location. The mega cities most of the times accurate ecologically attractive places which are consequently damaged and impact on the surrounded environment. Architecture looses its unique character because of accumulation of the buildings in the same place, the city became anonymous and soulless. High density means much higher energy demand. The average use per household in Amsterdam was 1800 kWh per year, the city already reacts on that
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Background
The city expansion is related to many logistic and managing issues but in the same time the problem of wasted space reserves, budget and energy. The urban management focuses then on optimising demands, but not every trait can be reduced. There is already many strategies for extremely efficient building planning with high technology solutions which make the design more sustainable. Nevertheless, within the city, there is a strong need for greater intervention, a complex urban solution which could support further development of the city in a matter of population and economy. Efficiency, on a city scale, means the cautious management of the resources: space, energy and living conditions. Every step towards a better environment, reduction energy consumption, waste production and CO2 emission makes the city even more future-proof. Following those ideas, the studies on density and efficiency are needed to research on the range of possibilities for the future optimised city development. This data introduce the complex problem of city growth, an implication of the population increase, urban development footprint and its consequence for the future and apply the efficient planning to Amsterdam 2050 strategy.
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People desire to locate themselves in the city, in consequence, they densify the city. Unplanned population growth could cause several problems starting from lack of living space, jobs and not an accurate capacity of amenities. Nevertheless, the densification is a fact. In 1950, only one-third of the global population lived in the cities, but in 2008 more than 50 percent of all people chose urban environment as better for a living. 2050 population forecasts point out the tendencies to set the 3:1 ratio between urban and rural settlement. (2) The enormous scale of urbanisation is expected worldwide no matter the level of development of a particular country. The greatest danger associated with increasing density concerns mostly developing countries in Asia or Africa, nevertheless Europe should find the strategy to wisely absorb people in their borders. For instance, there are real plans to expand Paris area of 10.500.00 to 11,124,389 people and London from 8.674.000 to 9,749,547 in 2050. (3) Amsterdam is also a growing city. Current population includes not only 800 000 but 2.2 million of people among the surrounded metropolitan area. Human inflow in the city, predicted in 2040 Amsterdam City Council strategy, is set on the level of 150.000 inhabitants just by migration. Municipality claims the need of 70 000 dwellings up to 2040, with the corresponding amenities such as schools, shops and obviously working space. Nevertheless, the city expansion can be slightly higher in 2050 due to applying the already maken strategies, steps towards smart city economy, efficient system of infrastructure and innovative solutions with technology support. (4) The challenge for urban planners, economists, sociologist and all professions is to find an efficient and sustainable solution for unstoppable city expansion. Due to a constant population growth in the city, there is a strong need to look for the potential area to locate new inhabitants and support them with all services, including working space, education, health centres. City expansion not always means pushing the borders out, but finding the solution to densify the space, defining anew the city character and functionality without any harm on the 67
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OPTIMISED DENSE CITY DEVELOPMENT
Beginning with the first, floor ratio describes the gross floor area divided by the total plot area, coverage defines the relativity between the built area to a size of the plot, spaciousness explains the pressure of non-built area and, finally, height shows the relation between FAR and GSI. (Figure 1ab). In terms of the land use efficiency the FAR measure is the most profitable, but taking the fluxes into consideration the competitiveness scale and height substantially matter. Those measures came originally from the zoning policies originated from the 19th century. It was widespread in the 20th century and from this moment the experiments on the densification never stopped. An interesting example of that fascination is 1916 building of Suitable Office in New York. This building had calculated FAR 30 and it was the most the lightest level for this time. Due to incredibly massive shadow area and incommode value of the area, the investment was not accepted by people and next experiments on FAR was taken in the frames of the city policy. (10) In 1958 American Society of planning officials developed the “reasonable in relation to their effect on adjoining areas and to the high-density district” setup for the city development which determines the optimised FAR for the exact type of development. The community business centres and industrial areas, as follow, should keep the FAR of 4.0, but small community centres only 0.5. Nowadays methods of the research allow for more courageous but still rational approach for density. The method called Space Matrix, developed by Meta Berghauser Pont and Per Haupt cluster all main physical measures as FAR, GSI, OSR and heights to compare the buildings typologies and their space potential. There are nine main types of buildings, from the low-rise strip type to the most hybrid high-rise point type. It is an instrumental measurement of the buildings to estimate the possible value of the property, its function and population capacity. Following the graph (Figure 4) some typologies are in favour to use on the plot in terms of its high density and medium coverage. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the physical plot measures is not complete because it does not show the differences in the space use or even the population capacity, it is more informative in terms of preferences the exact typologies to built up the city density, but to describe entire spectrum of density possibilities some more data is needed. (11) (Figure 1) A good example which explains the lack of accuracy problem is the efficiency of high building typologies. Each of the function within the building needs exact construction grid, service and communication space. Even if the towering intensive development should, in theory, solve a problem of lack of housing, it makes more problems
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Efficient Density The matter of “good density” was discussed through centuries, from the point when the first city was set. Always the urban development tends to follow current specific contexts of politics, economy and also the planning tendencies. For instance, Amsterdam one century ago contended with the population huge concentration, what causes the sanitation and other life quality related problems. The city tried in this time fight against the overwhelmed density, which caused dramatic value damage. Today higher density is often connected with decreased life and environment quality and lower level of safety, but also with the economic prosperity and metropolitan wealth. Accurate urban planning should allow to keep the greatest advantages of the dense city and add to it the value of liveability, productivity and health. Density is incredibly important for the city in its aspect of expansion. It is strictly connected with the sustainable urban planning, which includes the efficient spatial approach toward green and urban densification without unnecessary sprawl. It has two different aspects, which affect each other simultaneously. There are more physical aspects of densification, which explains the dependency between land and space use, objective efficiency in terms of square meters potential and its value. The more important trait is the density perception, which determines the final adaptability to the real demands, which include the life and environment qualities. Physical Aspects Depends on the land use and space use, the value of the building is determined, its effectiveness, functional and contextual value. The calculations start from defining the floor area ratio (FAR), coverage (GSI), spaciousness (OSR) and height.(9) 68
Single Family House FAR = 0.5 GSI = 0.25 H = 2.00
Row Housing FAR = 1.20 GSI = 0.60 H = 2.00
Double Slab FAR = 1.80 GSI = 0.30 H= 6
Slab FAR = 1.65 GSI = 0.15 H = 11.00
Tower FAR = 1.89 GSI = 0.09 H = 21.00
Point Building FAR = 1.44 GSI = 0.24 H= 6
Closed Urban Block FAR = 3.84 GSI = 0.64 H= 6
Plinth with towers FAR = 1.16 GSI = 0.36 H = 3.22
Urban Block with Towers FAR = 3.10 GSI = 0.88 H = 3.5
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Figure 1a and 1b. Comparing the physical density measures. Collecting the most efficient one. Based on the diagrams in (Per, Aurora Fernández., 2015) p. 59 and 85
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and set the ambitions to reduce that by 30-40% until 2040.(6) There is also a waste problem, CO2 emission and increasing water usage issue, which the cities are facing. “Cities occupy only three percent of the world’s landmass, but consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy and account for more than 60-80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions”.(7) Socially cities more gains that loss, but crowded population creates clusters or the anonymous islands where the level of safety declines. (8) Consequently, the future cities should counter this with alternatives and create more opportunities for future development based on technology and social contribution. Creating density on purpose is a hassle task in order to generate the environmentally neutral, but livable area which could compete with the rural conditions.
High Risk
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Crowd Density (people per square metre) Figure 2. Crowd influence on the city perception. Based on the diagram (Keith. G., 2000)
ved as more dangerous, not accepted by people. In consequence, space probably could be efficient in a mean of transportation but not in a matter of livability. (13) The measure of creating a crowd in public space has to also included in making plans for the density in the area. Fluxes Combining the data about the necessary area population capacity and also the most efficient typologies by the space use still the complete view on the exact high density is not reached. Defining the relationship between density and its performance could make good receipt of the positive high density which could be future-proof and, through adequate evaluation, expand even more. When this balance is lost then the buildings are full of stocked closed blocks of the housing with isolated spaces, a high cost of maintenance in terms of lack of cooperation in sharing the facilities, there is also no space for accurate social life and recreation. The complexity of density is built on its physical traits and three main types of fluxes: natural, virtual and material. (14) First one focus on the nature impact on the particular site. Virtual fluxes concerns taken decisions, the changeable character of planning by the influence of many actors involved. Density research which could predict only part of the decisions consequences, mostly the physical or social effects, but the political or economic changes are mostly unpredictable. Finally, the material dependencies emerge from the people and goods fluctuations and flows which come as the effect of the natural and virtual fluxes. The most influential in terms of creating a healthy environment and socially accepted space are the nature fluxes. They determine the light access and green necessary contributions in the area and
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Blocks 5 floors 24m in between distance (EW) 19m in between distance (NS)
Blocks 13 floors 62m in between distance (EW) 50m in between distance (NS)
Towers 5 floors 24m in between distance (EW) 19m in between distance (NS)
Towers 13 floors 62m in between distance (EW) 50m in between distance (NS)
Pyramid Blocks 26 floors 32m in between distance (EW) 20m in between distance (NS)
Pyramid 24 floors 22m in between distance (EW) 10m in between distance (NS)
Figure 3. Comparing the physical density measures. Collecting the most efficient one. Based on the diagrams in (Maas, Winy, Jacob Van Rijs, Richard Koek, and John Kirkpatrick., 2006) p.210-211
ction which does not require the light that much as the living and working conditions. Increasing density, following this thought, means appearing the potential “dark” spots in the area, which has to be adapted to the very exact function to avoid unused space and in consequence the inefficient city density. The greenery contribution in space also regulate the density, create directly the city life quality in a way that it improve the air and general space perception. The Breeam method of measuring the building value and applying the sustainable tools describe the minimum access to greenery by a singular person. The Accessible Natural Greenspace Standard describes, for instance, a demand of general 2ha of greenery within 5 minutes walk and 1km2 per 5 km from the building. (15) It constitutes the requirement of creating the balance between economic, ecologic and social benefits and making plans for further development with keeps the
the possibilities for sustainable development. In the physical aspect of the built area, the light access is the most important factor, in terms of defining the maximum possible height of the building. Dutch law predicted 3 hours of direct sunlight per every living room facade per day from 21st of March to 21st of September. It gives very specific data about the angle and direction of the sun rays towards the built mass on the area. The east or west facade need an unbuilt zone of 32 degrees and 38 degrees on south for the living conditions, whereas the offices need the sun angle of 52 degrees. Following those rules, it is impossible to infinitely grow FAR aspect because of the real usage of the space with a decrease in lower levels of the building. Similarly, high buildings increase the shadow coverage on surrounded area what, in consequence, decline the area efficiency. The most efficient light performance is reached by a mixed-use environment. There are plenty of fun-
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in the end. Too high building increase its value by additional costs of construction and maintenance. In addition, towers need more energy to keep all inner services working, especially the installations, ventilations and so on. Those elements also take a lot of gross area from floor plans what makes the sky-scarpers also relatively not space efficient. (Figure 4) Technology solves some of those problems, but to build an efficient city the high-rise buildings has to be neutral in the area, just add the value and living space. What built the price of the high buildings is, firstly, its form and technical complexity, iconic character, so the facades, further the services, installation, lifts and logistics. The high building needs a solution to correlate some services and functions, optimise the basic floor plan for better space efficiency and finally determine the maximum high of the building which still will create the interactions with street-level. Some floor plans are more efficient than others in terms of lower contribution of service space. (Figure 6) This factor can be regulated by minimising the circulation area. The flexibility of the plan also helps, by adding only as many space divisions as they are currently needed. In addition, there is a preference for higher walls for better light penetration.(12) Well optimised building in terms of use can be then planned to be also efficient in a sustainable way for energy use, reducing waste and CO2 emission. Current building regulation and also technology allow to built low- or zero-energy buildings and in future, even more, possibilities will arise. To finally determine the optimum FAR, floor plan, buildings height the accurate population density capacity, namely a number of people or household, has to be defined per building and per site. It would help in specify the possible influence of the higher human concentration on the city life and environment quality. In addition, population density calculation allows to specifically measure the demand for the particular amenities and help to define the trends in living place demand which could influence the city growth. There are many methods of specifying the population, but the most accurate are gross and net density. They differ by taking into consideration the public street in counting the inhabitant’s contribution in a residential building. Gross density is then the most basic and also most accurate measure. If the level of 4,908 people per square kilometre for Amsterdam is taken as the actual data for 2016 then following the predictions for 2050 the future population will grow by 22-35%, what gives the general view on the space demand. Interesting from the point of the population impact on the space is the measure of the public space usage. The graph (Figure 2) show that the increasing density in public space can be percei-
76-80% 21-30 storeys
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78-81% 11-20 storeys 80-83% 0-10 storeys 81-84%
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Figure 5. sunlight angle on the facade based on Dutch building regulations. The scheme is reproduced from (Maas, Winy, Jacob Van Rijs, Richard Koek, and John Kirkpatrick., 2006)
Figure 4. Efficiency of High-rise building.
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Figure 6. Efficiency of high-rise building plan. Based on (Barton J., 2014)
nature area value. Keeping that in mind would add to the dense city a great contribution of the value, which is very important for long time planning and the positive perception of the high-dense city. “Lastly the climate strategy imposes sustainable development and determines that the construction uses renewable energy sources and manages rainwater and seasonal flooding” Virtual fluxes are even stronger connected with perception values of the space than the natural fluxes. They emerged from the personal demands and expectation from comfortable living in the city. It is everything that motivates people to come and accommodate within the city. The greenery and light factors, for sure, actively impact on the living conditions, but there are a few more factors which are important to use city effectively. First of all, in terms of directly connected with living, people have to feel free and comfortable in using this space. It means creating a good balance between public and private space. According to Dutch regulation, a singular person needs minimum of 18m2 of living space. (16) As effective working conditions are deemed 7-9m2 per person. (17) Increasing that space for sure influence the space usage, but efficiency stands not only on the maximising the population density in the area. It is important to find the perfect balance between creating good living conditions which could be accepted by as many as possible people and the high added density. The block value increases if space would be divided in a balanced way, maybe by the adaptable space distribution which could adapt to the actual needs of inhabitants. That could be a method of setting the percentage of privacy to public life, add the shared space. Great contribution in finding good method is the people participation in planning and designing. The constant dialogue between plan-
ners and future inhabitants and space users would lead to developing perfectly balanced space use which satisfies everyone in long term perspective. (18) Within Virtual Fluxes, the demands in city services should be included. Effective city, as it was mentioned in the introduction, has to provide easy access to necessary amenities around the living space. Breeam requirements describe the accessibility measure by a maximum walkable distance to the exact point of to the transport hub, which stands on 650m in urban and 1300m in a rural environment. (19) Densified cities allow to follow this requirement for more people and keep the city in more compact measures. Amenities access influence significantly the mobility within the city. High populated areas obviously need more at hand functions, the closer they are the better and more efficient they are in terms of the way of using them. Less transport means less wasted time and lower influence of environment by the transport pollution. Within the walkable distance, people need the community space with communication services, education or library services, leisure and sports facilities, health services, food supply and children care around their live and working space. (21) Those diverse functions can be located easily in a well-performed space efficient city and they could enrich the mix-use local character. Finally, the material fluxes are responsible for a more productive aspect of the density. This means the efficient using natural and virtual fluxes together to create the space not only well balanced and livable but also sustainable in an ecologic and economic way of thinking. The human activity footprint displays the minimum daily requirement for energy, food and water per person. Those demands increased over the years and the tendency would stay in growing measures to keep the life
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for energy and food production which could support inhabitants in basic necessities. With taking into consideration the future technological improvements, still 1km2 of the city where 30% are filled with the built up area, 28% should be covered by solar panels to fill 100% of energy requirements and 19% has to be an active farming greenery for food consumption. (24) Those calculation do not include layering the functions and also applying other ways of energy production.
Change by 2050 Item 200% PV efficiency -75% Building energy consumption in 2050 Field Agriculture -20% Land -20% Cultivation energy -20% Food processing
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Water Personal consuption Agriculture Recycling Net Water Use Overall Land Use Energy Food Net Land Use
-50% -94% 525% -99%
6 steps toward efficiency By following all measures, physical and connected with perception, getting high-dense cities is difficult. The tendencies for creating more compact cities are reasonable in terms of the very great pressure of growing population. The same, city has to expand in terms of economic and technology influence. The new city model should support and more effective public transport, promote self-sustainability by well energy and resources management, create more opportunities for flexible space use and adapt new functions, support rising communities. Unfortunately, from high density emerge many issues as the overcrowded and anonymous public sphere, poor air quality, urban heat islands and waste. Those all matters need a good management system which could simultaneously regulate the city, its expansion to very high FAR ratio but without disturbing its working process and the overall city life quality. First of all, the plan has to very individual, it is much easier to find the local problem, demands and comprehensive situation. The exact boundaries of the project have to be defined, the necessary population and expected proportion and public space main purpose. Secondly, the place of the highest building has to be set in the plan. The skyscrapers, even their not necessarily create the space efficiency, define the city frame, locate centre or landmark and define the highest possible density in the area. Further on, the frame planning of the block structure needs the flexibility for being future-proof. The system defines the ground and functions which can be adapted through using time. The adaptiveness of the space design would be based on the basic space needs and their expand or increase depends on the user’s response. Then, the light access to the building define the floor heights by functions, organise services which do not necessarily need the light access. In this level of planning, possibilities for sharing space has to be defined. It would lead to final designing the zoning, the levels and floor for exact function. Everything emerges to high FAR with high density. The quality of that solution is added by flexible planning, light and greenery access and community incentives. The great dense ma
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Figure 7. Efficiency of high-rise building plan. Based on (Kiss G., 2015)
quality at least on the same level as it is currently. Energy consumption depends on the household requirements and the keeping functioning all other city functions. All activities within the city are based directly on electricity. Due to limited space for energy production and the highest energy consumption city requires enormous supply network of the energy what is highly inefficient. Reduction way of the energy distribution, decreasing demand combined with using alternative energy sources are the first steps toward a more productive city. Densely populated areas are even more motivated to a more coherent management of energy use in order to consume less, but getting more, as in the perfect economy conditions. Multi-functional areas can easily organise local dynamics in production and consumption by creating the cascade use of energy. Heat cascades work only on short distances and the mix of function within the area allowed to use all heat qualities when the industries are on the top and residential on the bottom of the cascade. (22) Nevertheless, the future predictions about the energy consumption are positive. “The 2050 City is essentially self-sufficient the major input is solar energy; other elements of the system exist within city boundaries”. (23) The energy footprint in general yearly consumption by production, transport and building’s consumption would decrease up to 2050, because of the economic use of the sources but also greater contribution the natural energy sources in the general production. The diagram (Figure 7) shows the possible improvements in technology. Consequently, reaching the energy efficiency on even reduced in size space is not a problem in the future, especially by applying the energy local community of sharing and storing or, before mentioned, energy cascade. Nevertheless, even in future, the city will require a lot of space
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41-50 storeys
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parts. The plan of London Thames Gateway 2026 as the one of the first realisation of the city new development plan seems to really take the urban sprawl in the frame of creating the new city centre. (27) Similar attitude represents the future urban planning of Paris. The main goals are to get the sustainable expansion, with restoring existing parts of the city and build up the well-connected new form. ``Create a Polycentric Metropolitan Paris`` is based on creating the ring of the new centres around the historical one. The new concetrations settle the well balanced communities and functions within Open Space Network with High-Quality Design. Paris expansion reduce the environmental footprint by complete metropolitan transport network. The policentric, ring development seems to be more accurate because there is no emphasise on any of the regions, the ring push the development towards the city center and not allow cross the borders by urban sprawl. The example of the new development is La Defence district. Densified area with strong identity becomes the very important city point also for tourists, newcomers and business representats. (27) Vienna represents also a similar attitude for reconstruction the inner city and push the limits of densifying and reuse the existing forms of the inner city. The main city core, with strong heritage and great services network, has to become more flexible space for growing tourist number and also because of social expectations towards highquality living within the very city centre. This part of the city is prone to spatial changes, for instance, Mariahilferstrasse transformation into the Austrian version of woonerf - living street. Nevertheless, the city is developed further from the city centre freely, it could be even called as the urban sprawl. In case of Vienna, thus, it is framed by extremely well organised connectivity. The strategy is based on the very strong rule in the city planning which stays on providing maximum 40 minutes of travelling from the farthest point in the city to another one. This fact makes the Austrian capital city as one of the most well-connected cities in World. In consequence, the satellite city parts offer great living qualities where all generation can live together with easily access to city centre services, including working space. For instance, the new investment in near the Seestadt metro station. Divided into 8 phases development started from creating many apartments blocks, designed by many Austrian architecture offices. The assignment for the site development was to create living space for a mixed generation with supporting their community and small businesses. Enormous interests in new housing were measured as the success of the area. Future plans for Seestadt is to build more working
The 21st century is characterised by the enormous people flow around the globe. People settle down in the cities more, due to much more possibilities in finding a good job, getting an education, better health assistance. City governance nowadays is planning the city expansion to be prepared for population increasing and its consequences. The most significant problem is seen in providing adequate transport through the city without tensions, traffic jams and superfluous pollution. London, Paris, Vienna and Amsterdam are comparable in a level of developing cities with great heritage engagement. Even if the cultural background and also the population density is different, still challenges are comparable. Smart City idea has to find a form of thinking about the future development of all these genuine locations. Initially, cities expand gradually by adding the space in the city around the very city centre. Created Ring Zones indeed located more citizens, but the further the zone has located the fewer city traits stayed locally. Consequently, people were pushed to travel to an essential amenities which they cannot have found anymore locally. Cumulative communicating very harmed the city, but the process of the urban sprawl never stopped. There are still the examples of the space overtaking cities, however, urban planners are taking into account the harmful character of the sprawl and they proposed the new ways of better connected and balanced in functions cities. London is mentioned as one of the most developed European city in terms of the strategic expansion plan, adapted innovation, the fastest economic growth and life quality. The attractiveness of British capital city causes the rapid population growth. City predicts systematic increase in number of people and prepared a plan for it. First of all, in the global scale of the city, the main plain is based on keeping the green belts, reconstructing, reusing and adapting the already existing built forms in the inner city, densifying those areas and finally manage the growth by the 3 main streams of development towards the main international connections. These main goals should reduce the congestion, add more affordable housing within existing city, keep the greenery and fresh air in the city. In the same way the streams enrich the city with more public spaces and create the network between all the regions around the inner city. Nevertheless, the stream system of development still put the main focus in the original main city center what could cause the urban sprawl. This strategy has to focus on very strict planning of the new centers, putting the stress on building up the functionality and connections between all
spaces close by the metro station. Nevertheless, this area represents strongly Vienna citizens desire to live in the community supportive area with more rural than city traits. In this case, it is hard to judge the efficiency of space use. The success of the investment depicts that the most crucial goal is reached, the area is increasing in population. Nevertheless, the area is not planned as selfsufficient and its existence does not enrich the functionality of the core centre, just by providing the living conditions. This solution, for sure, fulfil the citizen’s needs for good quality living, but still, they need to travel get to any more services. During the day, then, the area loose its quality because of fewer people there who could run and manage the services within the neighbourhood. Nevertheless, the Smart City Wien provide some strategies towards more efficient space use to avoid unnecessary city sprawl. People inclusion, making transport even more public and finally include the new energy regulations. The technological part of the smart city is included only to solve some people demands by giving them the freedom of using new city solutions. Avoiding urban sprawl can be done then in many ways, by city development in creating the functional concentration between the original city centre and the main international transport hub (London way), emerging new centres in the wellconnected ring (Paris way) or developing first the great public transport and based on the transport hubs build up the city there (Vienna way). Future Amsterdam should mix those solutions, with finding more carefully the potential within the inner city, to spread more the tension of the people flows in the very city centre. Then finding the location of the future concentrations and connect them in the open space network by the more efficient public transport with simultaniously reducing the traffic tentions.
Figure 8. London urban development 2025
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City Sprawl modern planning.
Figure 9. Paris urban development 2025
Figure 10. Vienna urban development 2025
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Flexibility Buildings
Districts
City
Infrastructure
Surrounding
Figure 11. Diagram of City development and the scale of flexibility
population capacity, what in the end determine the organisation range of activity and the size of one of the city note. (28) The current way of city development divides the city in a hierarchical way in the rings of the functional range, from the urban core, through suburbs to a rural fringe. It comes from the city development heritage when settlements start from some points and population expansion moves the borders further and further from the core and built there the most necessary functions. This solution nowadays turns into a functional conception of metropolis what allow each of the part of the city to develop in their own directions. Dutch Randstad character is a perfect example of that connectivity, where the relation between functions is the most important. The physical connection by well-working transport is the main link between all parts. This kind of relation is still present in current urban planning. Metropolitan Paris plan for 2050 is based on the plan for doing a core with the ring of nodes. Following the plan, this kind of planning rebalance the regional economy, reduce the space barriers, create open space network by functions and decrease the environmental footprint and, in the end, allow to focus more on investing in high-quality design. (29) The nodes planning, first of all, determines not exact functions within them but creates a strong frame for the network. To gain efficiency in that system the nodes needs closer relation, where more than only transport measures are common. The ego networks system combines the values of core and network city, where the efficiency is reached by sharing the functions and services within all nodes but the role of coordination is kept in the centre. The size of the network and number of efficient links can be counted by a simple calculation (N2-
The city expansion vision The mixed land use and efficient space adaptation to the sustainable requirements would not make the city efficient if those all solutions do not work together in a coherent way. Thinking about the city as the machine with interconnected parts helps in determining the involved elements which influence the working process. To make city efficiently working all components has to work smoothly and become an active part of the network. Those connections are evolving and its efficiency means not just its effectiveness but more in being flexible. First of all the city contains dozens of organisations which want to be involved in creating the city system. Their interactions have to work not as a hierarchy but as a network, then all benefits affect the whole system. Organisations are grouping the elements which influence the city. Generators connect all businesses and government, consumers are all city users, Transmitters organising resources, Isolates connect those groups in an international scale. The organisation determines the global and local goals and their range of responsibilities. Those depend on the available resources and possible 76
SIZE DENSITY
4
6
0.66
0.26
8 0.14 Figure 11. Ego Networks method within Amsterdam. Measures come from (Neal Zachary P., 2013)
the more populated areas. In Amsterdam case, for the future, a good space management would become even more crucial than it is nowadays within a city and also in the whole country. Urban planning shifts into the constant management of the functions and typologies relations. Amsterdam is an expanding city, but increasing population is a not a risk, it is more a chance for even better development in the case of the economy, technology and urban live conditions. Density means improvement. Combined with the nodes system and compact city idea it decreases the transport harmful influence on the environment, then it reduces the energy demand due to local production and consumption in the regulated limits, the heat and electricity usage cascade system. All of those makes the city smart because of more carefully using its resources, especially the space essential for being self-sufficient in food and energy production. City starts taking care of cooperation between functions, what follows the whole system to balanced, thoughtful and futureproof development.
N)/2 where N is a number of alerts connecting the nodes. The diagram shows the examples of the structure and the general density in an exact network. (30) In a case of the densifying city, the core with 4 to 6 connected nodes make is more efficient. It means that to create a broad and highly efficient city the system of ego networks has to multiply and be linked via the transport links. Each of the nodes represents the strongest function within it and is sustainably self-sufficient with the support of other nodes. It is possible by keeping the already mentioned rules of the building shapes, light availability, greenery space and other fluxes. However, the functions need the strong relationship between all organisations who support the functionality of the particular node. That means simultaneously managing the space and resources availability and consumption and regulate it and improve the general efficiency of all systems. Conclusions Smart city expansion is a complex issue which starts from singular buildings which become the significant element of the whole density system. There are many fluxes and dependencies on what architect and planners have to focus while designing
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chine needs the self-sufficiency aspect. The local production, circulation of goods and waste and energy communal production would proof that the high dense city has the productivity aspect. The last step of planning on the plot are the predictions for future, to add next high FARs or an even greater load of population density, developing more scenarios which not destroy the already given live quality. (25) (26) (Figure 8) Besides developing the planning frame, some system has to emerge, mostly on the beginning of the high-density planning to constitute not changeable rules. Mirroring Hong-Kong planning for High-density HK2030+, the most important aspect of great working density is stopping or reducing CO2 emission, especially by reduction traffic. That could be reached by organising mix land use, provide locally living and working places without the need to often travelling. The mass transit should be based on alternatives developed by people based on their demands and local possibilities. The contribution of greenery area has to be associated with lower density households to even increase the fresh air distribution and give an access people from higher densities to open space. Optimising use space considers not a topside ground layer but also underground. The planning has to based on the mixed use, it allow to set multiple configurations and led functions to correlate and share some services. “mixed use zoning has been introduced to promote compatible and synergistic mixed uses�. (27)
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Footnotes: 1 Scalabre O., “The next manufacturing revolution is here”, Filmed [August 2016]. YouTube video, 12:26, Posted [September 2016] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyWtIwwEgS0 2 Global Risks 2015.2.3 City Limits: The Risks of Rapid and Unplanned Urbanization in Developing Countries from http://reports.weforum.org/global-risks-2015/part-2-risks-in-focus/2-3-city-limits-the-risks-of-rapid-and-unplanned-urbanizationin-developing-countries/#view/fn-4 (viewed: 05.05.2017) and Angel, Shlomo. Atlas of Urban Expansion. Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy,Vol 1., 2016 3 City population 2050. University of Ontario. Institute of Technology. From: http://sites.uoit.ca/sustainabilitytoday/urban-and-energysystems/Worlds-largest-cities/population-projections/city-population-2050.php (viewed 04.05.2017) 4 Amsterdam. “Structural Vision Amsterdam 2040.” Amsterdam.nl. May 11, 2017. Accessed May 10, 2017. https://www.amsterdam.nl/ wonen-leefomgeving/structuurvisie/structural-vision-am/ 5 See: UNEP, “Urban Air Pollution”; http://www.unep.org/urban_environment/Issues/urban_air.asp. 6 “Amsterdam: a different energy” 2040 Energy Strategy, City of Amsterdam 7 The United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals FACT SHEET 8 Betanzo M., “Pros and Cons of High-Density urban Environments. The benefits of higher density environments are worth pursuing as they give us more choice,argues a student of architecture.” Victoria University, Wellington, Built April/May 2007 p.39-40 and Written by Axel P. Lehmann, Group Chief Operating Officer, UBS Group AG. “Sprawling Cities, Growing Risks? World Economic Forum.“Accessed May 14, 2017. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/01/sprawling-cities-growing-risks/ 9 (Berghauser Pont M. and Haupt, 2009) 11 Ibid. p. 84-86 12 Barton J., “The Economic of Building Tall”, AECOM MidCity Place, London, 29.05.2014 and something more about even higher buildings in Hyeong-ill K., Mahjoub E., “Space Efficiency in Multi-Use Tall Building”, Research Associate, College of Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2014 13 (Still, G. Keith, 2000) 14 (Per, Aurora Fernández, 2015) 15, 19, 20 BREEAM Communities technical manual, Reference: SD202 – Issue: 1.1 16 Bouwbesluit 2012, Afdeling 4.1 Verblijfsgebied en verblijfruimte 17 This is just an average measure which counts 3m3 of free area office space per working person. It does not include the optimum space for effective personal or group working. 18 (Agger G. S.,1979) 21,22 (Stöglehner, Gernot, Nora Niemetz, and Karl-Heinz Kettl., 2011) 23,24 (Kiss G.,2015) and (Nelson N., 2009), citation from (Kiss G.,2015) p.329 25 Lainton, /. Andrew. “Floorspace Area Ratio – Making It Work Better.” Decisions, Decisions, Decisions. July 11, 2011. Accessed May 13, 2017. http://andrewlainton.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/floorspace-area-ratio-making-it-work-better/. 26 A more universal solutions for city development was introduced by Dioxiadis, who also proposed the planning for Detroit. The method was based on creating the very clear system, by finding the strategic connections, points of gravity (a main city activeness points) and based on this information depict the main core and future centers of development. Nevertheless, the balanced city development needs more flexibility and reaction on the changes, what exclude any of the universal planning. Dioxiadis A C., “Projects: The Developing Urban Detroit Area”, http://www.doxiadis.org/Downloads/DETROIT%20POST%20FINAL.pdf 27 Hong Kong 2030+ Planning and Urban Design for A Liveable High-Density City Planning Department 2016 28,30 (Neal, Zachary P., 2013) Chapters: 2. Lost or Found, 6. Workinig Together and 7. From city to Metropolis 29 (Rogers R.,2009) Bibliography: Agger G. S., “Urban Self-Management: Planning for a new society”, White Plans, New York, 1979 Argyle, M. “Subjective Well-Being.” In Offer, A. In Pursuit of the Quality of Life. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. January 1997, p. 18-45. Barton J., “The Economic of Building Tall”, AECOM MidCity Place, London, 29.05.2014 Berghauser Pont M. and Haupt P. “Space, Density and Urban Form.” Thesis. Urbanism. Delft University of Technology 2009 Keith. G., “Crowd Dynamics”. Chapter: Crowd Safety and risk Analysis, University of Warwick, 2000. Kiss G., “The 2050 City”, International Conference on Sustainable Design, Engineering and Construction, Procedia Engineering 118, 2015 p.326 – 355 Maas, Winy, Jacob Van Rijs, Richard Koek, and John Kirkpatrick. “Farmax: Excursion on Density”. Rotterdam: 010 Publ., 2006. Narodoslawsky M, Stoeglehner G “Planning for local and regional energy strategies with the ecological footprint”. J Environ Pol Plann 12(4), 2010, p.363-379 Neal, Zachary P. “The Connected City: How Networks Are Shaping the Modern Metropolis”. New York, NY: Routledge, 2013. Nelson N., “Planning the Productive City”, Doepel Strijkers Architects and Delft Technical University, 2009 Per, Aurora Fernández. “Why Density?: Debunking the Myth of the Cubic Watermelon = Desmontando El Mito De La Sandía Cúbica.” Vitoria-Gasteiz: T Architecture, 2015. Rogers R., “Urban Age” Istambul Conference, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Architecture for Sustainable Cities: London, Paris + The Compact City, www.urban-age.net Rogers R., “Urban Age” Istambul Conference, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Architecture for Sustainable Cities: London, Paris + The Compact City, www.urban-age.net Stöglehner, Gernot, Nora Niemetz, and Karl-Heinz Kettl. “Spatial Dimensions of Sustainable Energy Systems: New Visions for Integrated Spatial and Energy Planning.” Energy, Sustainability and Society 1, no. 1, 2011, p.4 Troy, Austin. The Very Hungry City: Urban Energy Efficiency and the Economic Fate of Cities. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014 Images: Figures 1-7,11,12 : Diagrams are made by the Author based on mentioned sources; Figures 8: Key Diagram form Greater London Spatial Development Strategy, “The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act”, Ministry of Environment, 2004; Figure 9: (Rogers R.,2009);, Figure 10: Urban Development Plan Vienna “Step 2025: True Urban Spirit”
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THE CHANGING FACE OF ENERGY
MARULI HEIJMAN
Energy has continuously changed the appearance of our cities and landscapes. Currently the energy sector faces great challenges in transitioning the system from fossil based production to sustainable & renewable based systems. Energy systems world wide are undertaking a critical transition to sustainable and renewable sources. This is providing opportunities to reimagine the relationship between the renewable energy industry and the cities. So how could sustainable and renewable energy interlace with the current built environment of Amsterdam? Within this part of the energy research book this paper investigates the relationship between industry typologies in relation to renewable energy sources and the potentiality to interlace with the current built environment? By doing so Amsterdam is taken as case study and the exploration of this paper will be on the transitions in ways of energy production of Amsterdam to a sustainable and renewable based city for its 2050 ambitions.
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Introduction In the course of time energy has continuously changed the appearance of our cities and landscapes. When new technologies are developed, new typologies arise to facilitate space for the generation and distribution of energy. The composition of the urban fabric is in some cases the result of new energy typologies that entered the city, as for example seen in oil based industrial cities. In other cases the composition of the urban fabric could be a driving spatial force for the location of energy typologies as seen in the periphery structures of 1700s Amsterdam where windmills where located on the defence dikes. In present day circumstances we see landscapes transform by the growth of wind turbines. The thin vertical white energy suppliers are changing periphery areas along dikes and the Dutch sea areas in the North sea. Just as energy is related to supply and demand, it is also related to space and place. In the contemporary discourse, new energy production methods are focused on renewable and sustainable methods. Governments are setting ambitious goals to reduce fossil energy productions and transition to a new form of society based on sustainability and renewability. This general mentality shift on the production of energy challenges the contemporary energy companies like Shell to innovate onto new methods that in essence, wont compromise the future generations. But in parallel, it also provokes urbanists to rethink the role of energy within our urban environments. It potentially creates a longlasting opportunity for urbanists to develop a greater synergy between industry and city. It might be an opportunity to integrate leisure spaces with productive spaces. Diffusing segregated areas within the city and potentially diminish undesirable areas within our habitats. Within this part of the energy research team this paper investigates how future sustainable and renewable energy systems will affect the current built environment of Amsterdam? By doing so Amsterdam is taken as case study and the exploration of this paper will be on the transitions in ways of energy production of Amsterdam to a sustainable and renewable based city for its 2050 ambitions.
How will the future energy production of Amsterdam affect the current built environment?
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Developments on energy production and the synergy with the city Explorations of Amsterdams 2050 renewable energy system
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Roughly 1170 Windmills exist in the Netherlands of which most are still operational.
Shell envisions a combination of renewable and fossil energy sources
in different places across all sectors of economic activity creating new risks and opportunities’. According to Shell the energy power sector has to transform into a combination of renewable sources of energy, nuclear and natural gas in its cleanest way which they call ‘hydrocarbon’. The emissions should then be captured and stored for future energy fuel developments in the so called ‘CCS’ technology. Shell takes four main contributions to reducing global emissions which are: supplying more natural gas to replace coal for power generation; progressing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies; developing alternative energies; and implementing energy-efficiency measures in our operations. Currently in the Netherlands, Shell is working with policymakers and industry representatives to help determine the shape and speed of the transition to a low-carbon energy future. 3
European Union would like to reduce 80-95%
Carbon
Emissions by 2050.
Four trusts of the Dutch Government:
In extend of the European policy, the Dutch government also sets ambitious goals to transform into a sustainable and renewable energy system. The Dutch government outlined their ambitions in the 2020/30/50 energy agreement where they confirm to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by 80/95%. Within the ambitions the government names 4 technologies to achieve her goals. Reducing energy demand by new domestic sustainable technologies, use of biomass, clean energy production (Solar and wind) and the storage of co2 emissions. Furthermore, sustainability and renewability will be achieved on different scales depending on the energy outlet. The Energy Agreement divides this notion into 4 main energy focus areas: energy for city heating, industry, transportation and power/light. These focus areas require a custom approach to achieve sustainability since they can be developed in different scales. Primary opportunities for the Netherlands on sustainable energy would be according to the energy agreement: from wind, water, sun and biomass. 4
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Ambitions & prognosis on energy Energy is a driver of civilization. We need it to run our technologies such as phones and laptops, but also our amenities, such as transportation, industry and infrastructure which drive our economies. A greater awareness on the negative effects of the current fossil based energy system on our environment grows steadily. Energy systems world wide are undertaking a critical transition to sustainable and renewable sources. This is reflected in recent governmental papers on ambitions and goals.
Wind
Water
The Roadmap 2050 paper of The European Union outlines their ambitions for a 2050 decarbonized based energy system. Its main objective is to reduce carbon emissions by 80-95% by 2050. By doing so, the demand for new energy systems will create a market for future commercial innovation. Due to this it is believed that energy prices will rise onto 2030. When technology is developed a tipping point will come where costs will decline. As a result of this ambition, serious pressure is put on the current energy industry which currently relies mainly on gas, coal and oil technologies. 2
Solar
Biomass
Hence this ambition can also be seen at one of the front running energy companies Shell which are also represented with an innovation centre on the Amsterdam Centraal group S scale map. Shell confirms the urgent transition in the global energy production. They describe this as ‘the transition to a low-carbon future that will unfold at different paces 82
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Energy has continuously changed the appearance of our cities and landscapes. When new technologies are developed, new typologies often arise such as windmills, train stations (as spin off effect from the steam invention), oil refineries etc. The new facilitation of space for the generation and distribution of new energy productions hence change the face of cities. A specific example of this are the Dutch windmills. The Netherlands was originally a marsh landscape and changed enormously when its civilization grew and started using wind as it’s driving source for energy. This was used to reclaim land from the water, to saw wood into practical parts and to grind grain into flour. The variety of deployment made the windmill a typology that appeared all across the country and changed the landscape for good. 1 Currently the energy sector faces great challenges in transitioning the system from fossil based production to sustainable & renewable based systems. Within this paper, energy is mainly perceived as electrical energy.
Amsterdam case
Amsterdam Gas Usage.i1
Electricity Usage.i4
Amsterdam Central Waste & Waste Incineration The maps also show a high amount of waste being produced in the ‘Overhoeks’ neighbourhood and scattered around the city centre of Amsterdam. This is close to the industrial areas of the Amsterdam harbour and the Amsterdam Central area. Amsterdam currently owns one waste to energy plant that is run by the ‘Waste Energy Company’ of Amsterdam. This plant now facilitates less than a 5th of Amsterdam’s electrical power. Waste to energy is by Shell perceived as one method of renewable energy production. 8 A waste to energy plant is taking out the ‘useless’ waste and converts it into energy by combustion. This would transform waste into fuel for power plants. CO2 would still be emissioned but in smaller numbers than coal or oil. An extended plan should be developed for the further CO2 emissions that the waste to energy plant will cause. This could potentially be developed by help of the Shell CCS technology. A waste to energy plant could significantly improve Amsterdam’s energy production system since it would make use of the high amounts of waste that exists today. Moreover, the canals could be used as a symbolic infrastructure where this waste would be collected and delivered at a waste energy plant close to the river banks.
From power plants to wind & solar The electrical energy of Amsterdam is mainly driven by two power plants. The Sloterdijk power plant which is divided into 3 parts and the Diemen power plant which consist of 2 gas driven electro installations and 1 gas driven central heating installation. Besides those power plants Amsterdam is also driven by the smaller AMC, Arena, VU and Slotervaart Hospital plants. The most likely source of renewable energy to replace all the gas generated energy would be wind and solar energy. The Energy Atlas suggests that if the whole ‘build’ area of Amsterdam would be covered by solar and wind energy, it would be enough to meet with the cities energy demand. 7 Though there is not always wind and solar energy available, and the times where these would generate the most don’t always meet with moments of need. An alternative way of passive energy storages should be developed. This could be a water power which empties when energy is needed, or another passive carrier of energy. Though if this is profitable is the question.
Harbor of Amsterdam Areas
District Heating Grid.i2
Potential Wind Energy Areas.i5
Sloterdijk Powerplant Waste to Energy Plant
Diemen powerplant
District Heating & Data Centres The ‘Energy Atlas Amsterdam’ maps various aspects of the cities behaviour in relation to energy. Remarkable elements of this potentiality analysis is the very small central heating system of Amsterdam that is mostly located on the periphery of the city. District heating is considered
Powerplants & Energy labels.i3
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Energy Potential Waste.i6
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The argumentation to transform to new energy production systems are evident. So how is the current situation on energy production in Amsterdam and more importantly, what could we expect to change for the future? To start with, also the municipality has developed ambitions for the future transition into a sustainable environment. The city expects sustainable developments to be a motor for society and economical development. A significant goal of the municipality is to increase renewable energies. It is desired to increase this supply by 20% compared to 2013. On regular energy production, the city wants to reduce this demand by 20%. The city currently spends 1.8 billion euros on energy bills which they want to reduce by 10%.5 To achieve this they want to reduce the demand of energy. To explore the transition into renewables, the municipality developed a case study on Amsterdam to map sustainable energy potentials called ‘Energy Atlas Amsterdam’. In the following paragraphs, three potentials are described based on the information of the ‘Energy Atlas Amsterdam’.6
as a less energy intensive way of heating due to the collective generation of heat which trough insulated pipes would be guided to the various homes. The current condition of Amsterdam is that most housings have their own central heating machine which will use gas to heat the cold water for every single moment hot water is demanded. The moment where the central heater will turn on and heat the water until its desired temperature is taking significant energy. On top of this comes the fact that most houses in the centre of Amsterdam are old and in most cases badly insulated. Either due to outdated windows but also bad details as can be seen on the maps of the ‘Energy Atlas Amsterdam’. Creating a relationship to an existing producer of heat to create a sustainable district heat system is evident. The loss of heat in Datacenters on the map of the study is striking. A potential could be to guide cold, or even river water of the IJ, trough a Datacenter to cool the Data machines and at the same time export the heated water to houses in the old centre.
Spittelau wast plant from river.i8
led trough a heat exchanger creating steam. From this steam, hot water is send trough the district heating grid and energy is created. Recently the plant has been refurbished with new technologies. It is now three times more efficient due to replaced parts of the machine. 10
Spittelau waste incineration plant The power plant responsible for the district heating of Vienna processes around 250.000 tonnes of household waste every year. The plant as built in 1969 and 1971. In 1987 the plant caught huge fires and destroyed major sections of the building. Instead of tearing the plant down, the Viennese Municipality decided to rebuild it mostly due to two reasons. The plant was responsible for huge parts of the city and the infrastructure was already present and the waste was being processed right where it was created, in the middle of the city. This location would save large amounts of travel time for waste cars. 9
Incineration
Fabric filter room
Gass rain room
Dentrification room
250.000 tons of waste per year
Water filter
Interestingly, the major back at the time, Helmut Zilk, envisioned a plant that was especially set on clean and new standards. In addition, he proposed on making the plant a work of art, changing the typical perception of a power plant. The designer of this plant became environmentalist and artists Friedensreich Hundertwasser. This new design was finished in 1992 and can be seen as an example how industry merges in the city. Behind the facade of the plant, waste is first weighted, categorized and incinerated. The heated gas generated by the waste furnaces are then
Clean water
22% Left over waste
1,6% Ash
0,1% Filter residu Underground storage and dike reinforcement
Underground depot Germany
Spittelau plant diagram.i9
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Spittelau plant.i7
Besides the technical transition, the energy transition would also take into account a human scale transition. With a changing environment, there is also a changing perception of energy. Designing the interface between people and technology in such a way that energy is accepted is a big challenge. 13 Energy is invisible and the technology complex. This applies for changing technologies in our homes as wind turbines covering landscapes or potential solar panels covering fields as energy farms. There is a certain balance to be achieved between the technical and the human/emotional aspect of setting the step to the next civilization.
Currently Amsterdam is facing lots of urban developments. Along the IJ-river new buildings will appear with are densifying the area. Also the infrastructural strip on which Amstel and ZuidOost are located will face dramatic changes either infrastructural as architectural. With new forms of energy production transitioning Amsterdam in the future, this role of energy production within the urban layout is a new opportunity to reimagine. With possible data centres used as heat-hub for the city and waste to energy plants taking care of our garbage, new possible typologies could enter the urban environment. What could be their role? MIT professors Tali Hatuka, Eran Ben-Joseph and Sunny Menozzi Peterson describe this as part of the ‘fourth industrial revolution’. This revolution will focuses on mainly three developing trends: technology, manufacturing, and cities. The professors mapped these trends into three interlinked dimensions for the future development of industrial areas in cities: geographical proximity, localism, and planning regulations.11 In regards to the relation of the city and its ‘productive’ industry the MIT professors state that:
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Reinmagining industry in the city
‘Urban manufacturing requires a different approach that recognizes people as a vital factor in the competitive advantage of cities. Instead of single-use industrial parks and stand-alone factories, industrial urbanism encourages the convergence of users and activities to create vibrant economic clusters. The new industrial urbanism should reintroduce human centred design to manufacturing facilities. Moreover: places where productivity takes place where usually defined and managed by the same systems that where used almost a 100 years ago according to the MIT professors. Trough rezoning the supply of industrial land gets reduced and as a result, industrial programs have to fill in sites whenever possible. By focussing reuse of existing urban industrial land, outward sprawl can be avoided as well as potential drawbacks of certain area’s.’ 12
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Energy has continuously changed the appearance of our cities and landscapes. Currently the energy sector faces great challenges in transitioning the system from fossil based production to sustainable & renewable based systems. Energy systems world wide are undertaking a critical transition to sustainable and renewable sources. This is providing opportunities to reimagine the relationship between the renewable energy industry and the cities. So how could sustainable and renewable energy interlace with the current built environment of Amsterdam? First of all, the ambitions on different parts of the issue are evident. Amsterdam, the EU as well as the notable company in Amsterdam ‘Shell’ agree that the industry should change to a model that wont compromise future generations. By doing so, Shell is currently developing different techniques to close energy loops and make them circular. When we look at Amsterdam, mayor issues seem to be the heating of the city and the energy supply. Much likely will a waste to energy power plant be a valuable addition since the old city centre produces high amounts of waste compared to it’s surrounding city parts. Since the Netherlands are also having lots of farmlands, biomass power plant could also be a consideration. The professors from MIT tells us that former industrial areas where build in separation of city parts. Currently these areas are of low value since they are hard to be reused for other functions. Therefor they are not made for long therm development and do not add potential value. The professors advocate an industrial area which sets the human as central subject. Instead of a mono functional industrial productive area, it should rather be a economic cluster which reintroduces human centre design for manufacturing facilities.
Endnotes: Vossestein, J. (2014) The Dutch and their Delta: living below sea level. XPat Media European Commission (2012) Energy Roadmap 2050 Shell (2016) Sustainability Report. Royal Dutch Shell PLC 4 Ministery van Economische Zaken (2016) Energierapport transitie naar duurzaam. 5 Municipal Council of Amsterdam (2015) Sustainability Amsterdam. Municipality of Amsterdam 6-7 Den Boogert, G., Hakvoort, L., Heit, R., et al. (2014) Energie Atlas Amsterdam Zuid-Oost. Gemeente Amsterdam. 9-10 Wien Energie (2017) Spittelau Waste Incineration Plant, 11-12 Hatuka, T., Ben-Joseph, E. & Menozzi Peterson, S. (2017) Facing Forward: Trends and Challenges in the Development of Industry in Cities. Build Environment Vol.43 No.1. 13 Sijmons, D (2014) Landscape and Energy, Designing Transition. Nai010 Publishers 1 2
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Bibliography: Den Boogert, G., Hakvoort, L., Heit, R., et al. (2014) Energie Atlas Amsterdam Zuid-Oost. Gemeente Amsterdam. European Commission (2012) Energy Roadmap 2050 Gladek, E., Van Odijk, S. & Theuws, P. (2014) Buiksloterham Circular City Hatuka, T., Ben-Joseph, E. & Menozzi Peterson, S. (2017) Facing Forward: Trends and Challenges in the Development of Industry in Cities. Build Environment Vol.43 No.1. Ministery van Economische Zaken (2016) Energierapport transitie naar duurzaam. Municipal Council of Amsterdam (2015) Sustainability Amsterdam. Municipality of Amsterdam Shell (2016) Sustainability Report. Royal Dutch Shell PLC Sijmons, D (2014) Landscape and Energy, Designing Transition. Nai010 Publishers The Economist (2017) Clean energy’s dirty secret: Wind and solar power are disrupting electricity systems. Economist retrieved 3th march 2017: http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21717371-thats-no-reason-governments-stop-supporting-them-wind-andsolar-power-are-disrupting Vossestein, J. (2014) The Dutch and their Delta: living below sea level. XPat Media Wien Energie (2017) Spittelau Waste Incineration Plant, retrieved 29 may 2017: https://www.wienenergie.at/eportal3/ep/channelView. do?pageTypeId=72164&channelId=-51715 WILDPOLDSRIED (2017) A world turned upside down. Economist retrieved 2th march 2017: http://www.economist.com/news/ briefing/21717365-wind-and-solar-energy-are-disrupting-century-old-model-providing-electricity-what-will Worland, J (2017) Renewable Energy Continues to Beat Fossil Fuels. Time, retrieved 29 may 2017: http://time.com/4662116/ renewable-energy-fossil-fuels-growth/?iid=sr-link9
Images: Amsterdam Maps. Retrieved 29 may 2017 at: www.maps.amsterdam.com Wien Energie. Retrieved 29 may 2017 at: www.wienenergie.at i10 Collage made by author i1-2-3-4-5-6 i7-8-9
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Lessons learned
PRODUCTION AND THE CITY
SEBASTIAAN VAN ARKEL Introduction
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The progressive globalisation leads to increasing distances between sites of manufacturing and dense areas of the consumption of goods i.e. cities. The relation between Dutch cities and production has been evolving constantly through history. Starting from a strong relationship, in a time before the industrial revolution, when manufacturing was embedded in our cities, to a time of segregation of industrial sites. Manufacturing and other functions such as living and commercial space got more separated. Producer and consumer are moving away from each other. Manufacturing is relocated to suburbs and developing countries because of lower production costs. This paper is looking into supply chains of consumer goods and aims to improve these and make them more sustainable in a way that sets an example for other industries and businesses. ‘Re- shoring’ certain manufacturing functions back into cities could help to decrease CO2 emissions. Bringing producer closer to consumer helps decreasing the number of transport kilometres consumers goods have to travel to our front doors and thus the level of CO2 emissions. Innovative manufacturing with the help of robots will lead to cleaner production processes that can have a place within residential areas in cities. Since the use of robots will increase and the costs will decrease off-shoring production facilities to low-wage countries will be less favourable. More important, urban manufacturing will provide the city with jobs, stimulates local economies and increases public awareness of the production process and the meaning of goods.
different flows such as social flows (people), food, air, goods, sediment, energy (heat), within the city. Regarding the city of Amsterdam analysis of the flows of material shows that the flows of goods, building materials, food and electricity production in the city are the most relevant in terms of environmental quality and sustainability.
Global climate issues forces governmental institutions to look carefully at their city’s urban metabolism and how to make flows of energy, social flows (people), food, air, goods, sediment, energy (heat) moving through the city more sustainable. The energy goal of the city of Amsterdam is stated in the structural vision entitled ‘Structural Vision Amsterdam 2040: Economically strong and sustainable’ 1. In the document a non-quantitative goal is stated: “Amsterdam chooses to generate a large part of its energy demand itself.” 1. Amsterdam wants to achieve a CO2 reduction of 75 percent by the year 2040. The total net reduction of Amsterdam by that year 2040 should be 3.925 kiloton CO2 1. This number is equivalent to the CO2 emission caused by the burning of 3.3 square kilometre of coniferous forest. This number is consists of energy savings and energy production. By the year 2040 Amsterdam is planning to reduce 500 kiloton CO2 through wind energy (400 MW energy production2) and 650 kiloton CO2 reduction through solar energy (1000 MW energy production3), mainly on roofs, all within its municipal borders 1.
Therefore, this paper examines the flows of both goods and food from the producer to the consumer and looks into possibilities to shorten the supply chains, and therewith contributing to the energy goals of the city of Amsterdam. Improving consumer goods supply chains contributes only little to the accomplishment of the goals stated by the municipality of Amsterdam. However, this paper shows a method how also other industries and businesses should look carefully into their supply chain and research ways to make these more sustainable. This paper tries to find answers to the question: In what way can the city play a role in adapting the current production-consumer chain to decrease the ecological footprint of our consumer goods? The following sub-question are raised:
These numbers show a great ambition for the future in terms of transition from fossil energy towards sustainable sources of energy. This is in line with the endorsement by European leaders to reduce CO2 emissions with 80% to 95% by the year 2050 4.
• In what way could cities not only be consuming but also productive? • What could be the energy savings when certain goods are produced within the urban environment instead of (far) outside the city or abroad? • How could the productive city stimulate the local economy by keeping financial resources within the city? • How can we increase the public awareness regarding energy used in production and transportation of our goods? 7.
Urban metabolism and designing with flows as studied by people as Dirk Sijmons but also AMO, the think tank of the architectural office 5, and Eric Frijters and Olav Klijn (FABRIC)6. FABRIC studies
2017
2040
energy savings + energy production
2040
wind energy 500 kT
3.925 kT
solar energy 650 kT CO2 EMISSION 5.233 kT
CO2 EMISSION 1.308 kT
energy savings 2775 kT
Sustainability goals of the municipality of Amsterdam for the year 20401.
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Shortening the supply chain between producer and consumer
22.3 ton CO2 Dutch household
32.9%
indirect (production of consumer goods)
consumption goods
73% 32.9%
service & trade
17.8%
7.2% 4%
7.3% 32% caused abroad
0.9 ton CO2 food & drinks
5.4 ton CO2 consumption goods
16.3 ton CO2 indirect emissions
building
3.6%
?%
production
?%
transport
?%
storage
?%
disposing
Potatoes 73 g / day Vegetables 127 g / day Pulses 4 g / day Fruits, nuts, olives 122 g / day Dairy products 355 g / day Breads, cereals, rice, pasta 192 g / day Meat (products) 101 g / day Fish and shellfish 15 g / day Eggs 12 g / day Fats and oils and 22 g / day Sugar confectionery, and 38 g / day Cakes and pastries 39 g / day Non-alcoholic drinks 1725 g / day Alcoholic beverages 152 g / day Seasoning sauces and 37 g / day Broth 24 g / day Miscellaneous 4 g / day Savory snacks 20 g / day
food & drinks
other clothes furniture
Total 3060 g/day
5.1 ton CO2 direct emissions direct
23%
other
4%
5.3%
gas
8.5%
transport
electricity
CO2 footprint of an average Dutch household .2
The ecological footprint of consumer goods
consequences on our ecological footprint. The production of our consumer goods resources seize space and energy which cause environmental pressure 10. 20 years ago 85% off the spending of a Dutchman was used for purchasing consumer goods related to living (furniture, kitchen stuff or garden tools), food and clothing. The spending on these consumer goods have risen significantly and will even increase more the coming years till 2030 and thus will the CO2 emission caused by the production and transportation of these goods 11.
The average CO2 emission of a Dutch family with two children is around 22 tonnes a year. Only 23 percent of the greenhouse gasses emission is produced directly by heating our homes, personal transportation and electricity. The other 73 percent of greenhouse gasses is released during the production of consumer goods, 43 percent takes place abroad. Most of the CO2 emission is released outside the Netherlands, in places in which our daily consumer goods (such as food and clothing) are produced, packaged and transported from 8.
At the same time the world population is growing rapidly, as is our total goods consumption. By 2050, there will be 2 to 3 billion more people living on earth as there are now. Moreover, these people will consume twice as much as now 12. 70 percent of the people will live in cities by 2050, far away from production. These numbers tell us that environmental pressure caused by production and transportation of goods is rising and will continue to do so in the future if we hold on to our current system of supply chains.
Great human impact on the environment originates from transportation and manufacturing of consumer goods. From the food we consume, to the clothing we wear, to the objects we fill our houses with. Almost a quarter of the total CO2 emission in Europe is caused by the transport sector, mostly by road transport and short sea shipping 9. Due to globalization this impact is growing since distances between producer and consumer are increasing 9. This means that our goods require more transport kilometres to get to our front doors. Moreover, different from other sectors, the share of the total CO2 emission caused by the transport sector is growing. The
Dutch
consumption
behaviour
Improvement of the production chain can have a positive effect on the Dutch CO2 profile as shown in the diagram above. Bringing production program of consumer goods closer to the costumer base (i.e. cities such as Amsterdam) can result in the reduction of CO2 emission caused by transport
has 94
Food consumption, 1-79-years olds.3
and storage of goods. These measures will contribute in achieving the stated CO2 emission goals of Amsterdam.
materials, including water, emission of pollutants such as fertilizer, pesticides and greenhouse gases. Also food production has an environmental impact due to its use of land area 7.
The food supply chain
“If all Europeans would eat vegetarian - no meat products and eggs - then the would EU achieve half of its environmental objectives before 2020”13
The second largest human impact on the environment comes from food 12. 30% percent of the CO2 emissions effect caused by Dutch consumers in their daily life are due to their food consumption 7. The environmental impact of the average diet (‘food print’) of a Dutchman is 8 kilograms CO2/per day 13. The Columbia University, Wageningen University, and NASA together did a research on food demand per capita (in kilograms) 14 .
Research shows 31 transport kilometres (per truck and per boat) are needed to bring the food for a single person from the producer to the store during one year. The CO2 emission strongly depends on the amount of kilometres and the mode of transport (overseas or locally produced).
The human yearly menu consists of starches, fruits, vegetables, proteins, dairy and fats. Per capita more than 550 kilos is consumed during the year. For comparison: this is almost as much as the weight of a cow. The food we consume has a certain carbon footprint. This footprint is build-up of growing, rearing, farming, processing, transporting, storing, cooking and disposing of the food.
Especially fruit and fish are mostly imported from abroad. The total import food mileage for Dutch consumption amounts to 207 million kilometres per year. Broken down, the import from the mainland (continental) is 206 million kilometres (99.4%) and the overseas import is 1.3 million kilometres (0.6%). Decreasing the food print could be achieved by implementing different measures. Vertical urban farming could help making the food supply chain more efficient.
During the production of food load on the environment is mainly generated in the form of energy consumption, consumption of raw 95
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9.2%
The dynamic relation between industry and the city. 10
Farmers’ M ark ets
Impression Stadshaven project 4
Case study: Stadshaven
needs 20 square meter of green house to produce the food it needs in one year. This number includes an estimation of additional infrastructure needed 14 . The number builds upon the notion that the efficient of urban food production will be bigger in the future. There will be innovative methods of food production regarding the stacking of trays of crops, efficient digital inside climate regulation and innovative nutrients. Also not all types of food are suitable to be produced in greenhouses. Fruits are preferable grown outside in public space. Also, meat production should still happen outside the city. The estimated number of citizens (25,000) in the newly developed area is divided by the number of square meters greenhouse (750,000 m2) created in the master plan. This number could be achieved by the stacking of greenhouses on top of existing buildings and on top of each other. The need for 20m2 * 25,000 citizens = 500,000 m2 greenhouse needed is comfortably met. The overproduction of good can be sold within Rotterdam.
Stadshaven is the city harbor region of Rotterdam. Exemplary for many cities in Europe, such as Amsterdam 22,23 , Malmö 24, commercial port activities are migrating further outside the city. Rapid urbanization puts more pressure on the post-industrial district close to the city centre. Also in Rotterdam the municipality want to transform the area in a mixed-use working and living neighbourhood. For the Merwehaven and Vierhaven (part of de Stadshaven) criteria were set up for sustainable city development. A set of these criteria regarded the self-productivity of the plan. One of these criteria was that the district is a net producer of food and clean water. This criteria is planned to be met by the implementation of dual-functional with greenhouse production stacked over the warehouses and workshops. A fish farm is planned in a area on the East side of the district. The food balance is calculated by the means of calculation food consumption versus production based upon standards. The food consumption per group per person is converted to square meter greenhouse needed per person. Research shows that one person
The project does not look into the infrastructure facilitating urban food production. This should be investigated further.
Consumers 16.7 million
Suppliers 1,500 Purchasing companies 5
Shoppers 7 million Supermarket concepts 25
The strong concentrations in the food chains gives the purchasing managers of supermarkets a great deal of power. 5
Different vertical urban programs such as Square Roots in Brooklyn, New York are proving that urban food production on a large scale is feasible. To make the food supply chain more sustainable following measures should be taken:
Urban food production, close to the market is causing less food surplus since production can be better tailored to the demand.
• Reducing the footprint is possible by changing the type of food we consume. The energy load of vegetables and fruit are the lowest. Where the energy demand for animal products are the highest. Meat production is in general not suitable for vertical urban production.
Research on the transport of goods executed by Carla Eickmann and Marcus Halder tells us something about the changing relationship between production and the urban environment.
The role of production and the city
“The progressive globalization leads to increasing distances between sites of manufacture and the area of the consumption of goods”9.
• Changes is de mode of production can make the food production process more efficient. Vertical urban farming requires no soil and reduces use of water. Moreover vertical farming takes place in an extremely controlled environment taking away the chance of crop failure and increasing the efficiency.
However, this was not always the case. The relation between Dutch cities and production has been evolving constantly through history. Researchers Minjee Kim and Eras Ben-Joseph define a few key periods which describe the evolving relationship 15. The first period is the time prior to the industrial revolution starting in the second half of the 18th century. Artisanal production took places in inner city areas. Also because of infrastructure to transport goods over long distances was lacking. Industry and housing was situated in the
• Transportation: especially transport by air contributes significantly to the energy demand. Producing food in an urban environment ensures short lines between consumer and producer, reducing energy of transportation. • Buy size: About 10% of food sales are discarded.
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Supermarkets 4,400
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Farmers and horticulturalists 65,000
Food manufacturers 6,500
Case study: Freie Mitte Vienna
6
existing property of the neighbourhood. This added value can be invested through the property owners in the park. The landscape keeps the rough and organic character of the current informal park. The financial costs of the design of the park are there for significantly lower than for an intensely designed park. Also, because of industrial functions in the past, part of the plot contains polluted soil. The pollution is mainly concentrated on the inner part of the plot. By not building on the central area costs of cleaning and moving the soil are avoided. Moreover, the natural filling of the inner space has a purifying effect through which the pollution will slowly disappear.
The ‘Freie Mitte’ project North-East from the inner city of Vienna is one of the most important urban development areas of the city. The plot of about 85 hectares acts like a void in the dense city center. The former railway district has been vacant for many years and is currently used as an informal park by residents. Studio Vlay used a SMART strategy which resulted in the following financial, ecological and urban quality benefits. The urban office Studio Vlay decides to, instead of filling the entire plot with flat building blocks to keep the precious open space and to own use the edges of the plot to build on with a high density. Focus of the urban plan is therefore on the design on the landscape of the urban inner space and note so much on the surrounding buildings. This urban intervention leads in numerous ways to savings of resources. Due to the compact buildings on the edges of the plot no additional roads cutting through the area are needed. The plan relies on the existing road network. Financial savings can be used to invest in slow traffic through the inner space. Also, the added value of the large inner space increases the value of the newly developed building on the edges of the plot and
Part of the developing strategy of Studio Vlay was the way they dealt in a flexible way with municipal policies on urban development. Municipal policies provide for fixed budgets for certain elements of urban developments such as infrastructure, parks, squares, playgrounds and nature. By the abovedescribed strategy Studio Vlay made sure certain budget would remain almost untouched, such as infrastructure. Intensive consultation with the municipality took place to use untouched budgets to broad that of others. This resulted in added value for the inner public space.
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Correspondence relating to the shipment of farm produce by postal motor truck service 7
Postal zone map 8
city started the second half of the 20th century. Manufacturing and other functions as living and commercial space got more segregated. Producer and consumer are moving away from each other. Manufacturing is relocated to developing countries because of lower production costs. European cities such as Amsterdam are now merely focused on research, development and other knowledgeeconomy services rather than production 17.
same areas and even within the same buildings. Amsterdam grew from the trade of goods. Examples are the numerous breweries spread throughout Amsterdam. The second period is the one of the industrial city: 1750-1880. The first industrial revolution leads to innovations within the manufacturing process such as the invention of steam power and powered machinery. Cities grew strongly with manufacturing driving urbanization and economic growth. The Westerlijke Eilanden part of the Western inner-city of Amsterdam both housing and manufacturing coexisted. Workers lived in close proximity to their job. The third period is the one of the planned city: 1880-1970. The community realised the consequences of polluting manufacturing industries on the residential environment. Zoning regulations had to segregate factories from living environments to provide for healthier living conditions for residents. Amsterdam was big in clothing industries. Almost half of all clothing factories were situated in Amsterdam 16. Industries were relocated more distant from the city centre, for example at the North bank of the river IJ. We are now in the period of the piecemeal city: 1970-present. The de-industrialisation of the
The consequence of this is not merely the energy required to bridge the distance between makers and user. Consumers also lose awareness of the production process. Regaining this awareness could possibly have a positive effect on the economical use of consumer goods, reducing waste. Shortening the chain The diverging trend between producer and consumer causes certain issues of which some are concerned with the environment. As more and more energy is needed to bring our daily products to from factory or farm to our front doors. Re-integrating some of the productive program back into the city can help shortening the chains
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From Block edge development with inner courtyards towards a free centre and neighbourhood-related facilities. Structural concept.
% 40 $1.50 35 Italy
$1.25
30 $1.00 25
$0.75
20
Germany
15
France England
SHARE OF JOBS IN MANUFACTURING
MANUFACUTRING WAGES CHINA
$0.50 $0.25
100
800
80
700
60
600
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
1985
2003
2002
2000
1995
1990
1985
1980
1975
1970
10
ECONOMIC RECESSION
500
40
SHIPPING COSTS
ROBOT PRICE 400
20
Jan 2011
Jul 2010
Jan 2010
Jul 2009
Jan 2009
2005
2000
1995
Manufacturing abroad gets less favourable 9 The productive city scenario and its consequences on the urban environment of the city of 2050 10
between producer and consumer. Producers have a more direct connection to the consumer base in the cities.
logistics. The postmaster managed information on goods and pricing from farmers and spread this information through posted advertisement, and bulk mails. At the other side of the chain local consumers mailed their order for groceries’ through the local post office which was then communicated to the farmers. The idea combines connecting local food production and consumers by use of existing (locally specific) infrastructure. The initiative was back then looked upon as a strong anti-middle man populism. The so called “Farm-to- Table (FTT)” program was later introduced in over twenty-eight cities. Within each of the cities the differ slight in terms of operation and was adapted to local circumstances. This was at the centre of the postal system.
Re-shoring production in the city also makes sure that commuter traffic will decrease, since production program will locate itself both close to its market but also close to right skilled labour. In the Netherlands commuter traffic has been strongly increasing the last 10 years because working people are living in bigger proximity to their place of work 18. People are living approximately about 20 kilometres from their work in 2014. In 2006 this was still less than 14 km. More than three quarters of these trips are made by car 19. The city provides for both shorter connections between living and working but also a more dense public transport which would make the car unnecessary for commuting. Farm-to-Table A short live program which worked with this idea was already present in 1914 when the United States Post Office Department initiated an idea to ship food directly from rural farmers to urban consumers through the mechanisms of the postal system 21. The plan relied on the existing postal
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the consumer. Moreover the program shows the indispensability of a platform that connections production and the community to each other in a direct way, and the need to adapt this platform to local demands and possibilities that differ from city to city and from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. The internet provides a communication system through could connect makers and users better, without intervention of purchasing companies that re-distribute food and goods.
goals stated by the municipality of Amsterdam. However, this paper shows a method how also other industries and businesses should look carefully into their supply chain and research ways to make these more sustainable. Besides the advantages urban production of food and goods also has its down side. Production costs will increase. Producing companies will have to offer additional services in return such as ondemand and personalized production that will outwage the expenses for consumers. Urban production will only be suitable for goods for which on-demand production is suitable and of which the public values its local origin.
Conclusion
The demise of the program started when the central government started to intervene The ability of the government to link the farmer and the consumer proved limited. The government intervention was aimed at achieving higher efficiencies but caused bureaucracies and therewith higher costs for both farmers and postmasters. The overly active government meant the end of the program in 1920.
Bringing producer closer to consumer helps decreasing the number of transport kilometres consumers goods have to travel to our front doors and thus the amount of CO2 emissions. Innovative manufacturing with the help of robots will lead to cleaner production processes that can have a place within residential areas in cities. Since the use of robots will increase and the costs of robots will decrease off-shoring production facilities to low-wage countries will be less favourable. Moreover, transportation costs and labour costs in third world countries such China are rising.
The Farm-to- Table program shows the potential of local food production and direct connection to
Urban production of consumer goods will contribute only little to accomplishment of the
Productive city Amsterdam Amsterdam became throughout history into an city which relies on consumption more then production. Bringing back production facilities into the city of Amsterdam will have its consequences on the urban environment. The existing city and future developments are focussing on residential, commercial and working program. By adding production to the list neighbourhoods will get an increasingly varied
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appearance. Since urban production relies for a large part on the interaction between consumer and producer, new production facilities will have an open, transparent. This invites consumers and local residents to observe and intervene in the production process. Users see what it takes to produce certain goods. As awareness grows of the energy used for production, the more economical users will use their consumer goods
(visible) and digital (invisible). Personalized production will replace mass production. This results in the production of smaller batches and more on demand production. Computer interfaces help costumer to communicate its preferences to the producer. CAD innovations will reduce high production costs now associated with customized production. Moreover, customized production of user goods will increase life of service and therewith production of waste.
Since the production process, due to digital production and the internet of things, gets cleaner, smaller and can have alternative shapes (vertical). Implementation of the production process in mixed, dense neighbourhoods short, direct and efficient distribution lines can be realised between maker and user. These line will be both physical
Gemeente Amsterdam, ‘Structuurvisie Amsterdam 2040: Economisch Sterk En Duurzaam’, (Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2011). 2 Gemeente Amsterdam, ‘De Windvisie: Ruimte Voor Windmolens in Amsterdam’, (Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2012). 3 Gemeente Amsterdam, ‘Schaalsprong Zon: Uitvoeringsprogramma 2016 - 2018’, (Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2015). 4 Council of the European Union, ‘Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council 29/30 October 2009’, (2009). 5 OMA/AMO, Roadmap 2050: A Practical Guide to a Prosperous, Low-Carbon Europe, (2010). 6 Eric Frijters, Presentatie Onderzoeksresultaten Iabr-Projectatelier Rotterdam: Urban Metabolism, (Rotterdam: FABRICations, 2014). 7 Linda Nijenhuis et al., ‘Co2-Labeling Van Voeding: (Hoe) Kan De Consument Rekening Houden Met Klimaatgevolgen Van De Aankoop Van Voedingsmiddelen?’, (Amsterdam: Stichting DuVo, 2008). 8 Statistics Netherlands, ‘Environmental Accounts of the Netherlands 2009’, The Hague/Heerlen (2009). 9 Carla Eickmann and Marcus Halder, ‘Environmental Impact Calculation of Transport’ (paper presented at Proceedings of the European Tranforport Conference (ETC), Strasbourg, Year). 10 JPM Ros, ‘Voetafdrukken Van Nederlanders. Energie-En Ruimtegebruik Als Gevolg Van Consumptie. Achtergronden Mb98 En Mb99’, (2000). 11 K Vringer et al., ‘Nederlandse Consumptie En Energiegebruik’. 12 Jason Clay, ‘Freeze the Footprint of Food’, Nature 475, no. 7356 (2011): 287-9, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/475287a. 13 PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, ‘The Netherlands in 21 Infographics. Facts and Figures on the Human Environment.’, (Den Haag: PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, 2012). 14 Nels Nelson, ‘Planning the Productive City’, (Delft Technical University, 2009). 15 Minjee Kim and Eran Ben-Joseph, ‘Manufacturing and the City’ (paper presented at the AESOP-ACSP Joint Congress Dublin2013). 16 Johan W Schot et al., ‘Techniek in Nederland in De Twintigste Eeuw-Deel 6: Stad, Bouw, Industriële Productie’, (Walburg Pers, 2003). 17 Bruce Katz, ‘Restoring the Productive City: ‘The March of the Makers’’ (paper presented at the 5th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, Making City, Rotterdam2012). 18 Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, ‘Banen Werknemers En Afstand Woon-Werk; Woon- En Werkregio’s’, (Den Haag/ Heerlen: StatLine, 2016). 19 Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, ‘Transport En Mobiliteit 2016’, (Den Haag/Heerlen: CBS, 2016). 20 Nina Rappaport, ‘Hybrid Factory| Hybrid City’, Built Environment 43, no. 1 (2017): 72-86. 21 M White and M Przybylski, ‘On Farming: Bracket 1’, (Actar, Barcelona, 2010). 22 Rens Wijnakker Steven Delva et al., Buiksloterham Circulair: Ontwerpen Aan De Postindustriële Stad, (Amsterdam: DELVA Landscape Architects, 2016). 23 Eva Gladek et al., Circulair Buiksloterham: Een Living Lab Voor Circulaire Gebiedsontwikkeling. Visie & Ambitie, (Amsterdam: Metabolic, Studioninedots, DELVA Landscape Architects 2014). 24 Danish Architecture Centre, ‘Malmö: Bo01 - an Ecological City of Tomorrow’, (accessed April 12, 2017). 25 Bernd Vlay and Lina Streeruwitz, ‘Freie Mitte Vielseitiger Rand: Handbuch Zum Städtebaulichen Leitbild Nordbahnhof ‘, (Vienna: Magistrat der Stadt Wien 2015). 1
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek. (2016). Banen werknemers en afstand woon-werk; woon- en werkregio’s. Den Haag/Heerlen: StatLine. Clay, J. (2011). Freeze the footprint of food. [10.1038/475287a]. Nature, 475(7356), 287-289. Council of the European Union. (2009). Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council 29/30 October 2009. Danish Architecture Centre. (2014). MALMÖ: BO01 - AN ECOLOGICAL CITY OF TOMORROW Retrieved April 12, 2017 Eickmann, C., & Halder, M. (2003). Environmental impact calculation of transport. Paper presented at the PROCEEDINGS OF THE EUROPEAN TRANSPORT CONFERENCE (ETC) 2003 HELD 8-10 OCTOBER 2003, STRASBOURG, FRANCE. Frijters, E. (2014). Presentatie onderzoeksresultaten IABR-Projectatelier Rotterdam: Urban Metabolism. Rotterdam: FABRICations. Gemeente Amsterdam. (2011). Structuurvisie Amsterdam 2040: Economisch sterk en duurzaam. Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam. Gemeente Amsterdam. (2012). De windvisie: Ruimte voor windmolens in Amsterdam. Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam. Gemeente Amsterdam. (2015). Schaalsprong Zon: Uitvoeringsprogramma 2016 - 2018. Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam. Gladek, E., Odijk, S. v., Theuws, P., & Herder, A. (2014). Circulair Buiksloterham: Een Living Lab voor circulaire gebiedsontwikkeling. Visie & Ambitie. Amsterdam: Metabolic, Studioninedots, DELVA Landscape Architects Katz, B. (2012). Restoring the Productive City: ‘The March of the Makers’. Paper presented at the 5th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, Making City, Rotterdam. Kim, M., & Ben-Joseph, E. (2013). Manufacturing and the City. Paper presented at the AESOP-ACSP Joint Congress Dublin. Nelson, N. (2009). Planning the productive city: Delft Technical University. Nijenhuis, L., Waart, S. d., Timmermans, T., Eppink, M., Rosekrans, W., & Dutilh, C. (2008). [CO2-labeling van voeding: (Hoe) kan de consument rekening houden met klimaatgevolgen van de aankoop van voedingsmiddelen?]. OMA/AMO. (2010). Roadmap 2050: a practical guide to a prosperous, low-carbon Europe. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. (2012). The Netherlands in 21 Infographics. Facts and Figures on the Human Environment. Den Haag: PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. Rappaport, N. (2017). Hybrid Factory| Hybrid City. Built Environment, 43(1), 72-86. Ros, J. (2000). Voetafdrukken van Nederlanders. Energie-en ruimtegebruik als gevolg van Consumptie. Achtergronden MB98 en MB99. Schot, J. W., Lintsen, H., Rip, A., & Albert de la Bruhèze, A. (2003). Techniek in Nederland in de twintigste eeuw-Deel 6: Stad, bouw, industriële productie: Walburg Pers. Statistics Netherlands. (2009). Environmental accounts of the Netherlands 2009. The Hague/Heerlen. Statistiek, C. B. v. d. (2016). Transport en mobiliteit 2016. Den Haag/Heerlen: CBS. Steven Delva, R. W., Jorritsma, J., Pislariu, C.-S., Herder, A., Pieroth, M., Behm, M., & Odijk, S. v. (2016). Buiksloterham Circulair: Ontwerpen aan de postindustriële stad. Amsterdam: DELVA Landscape Architects. Vlay, B., & Streeruwitz, L. (2015). Freie Mitte Vielseitiger Rand: Handbuch zum Städtebaulichen Leitbild Nordbahnhof Vienna: Magistrat der Stadt Wien Vringer, K., Aalbers, T. G., Drissen, E., EIM, R. H., EIM, C. B., Rood, G., . . . Annema, J. Nederlandse consumptie en energiegebruik. White, M., & Przybylski, M. (2010). On Farming: Bracket 1: Actar, Barcelona.
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own image based on Gemeente Amsterdam, ‘Structuurvisie Amsterdam 2040: Economisch Sterk En Duurzaam’,
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Footnotes
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(Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2011). 2 own image based on Hertwich, E. G., & Peters, G. P. (2009). Carbon Footprint of Nations: A Global, Trade-Linked Analysis. Environmental Science & Technology, 43(16), 6414-6420. doi: 10.1021/es803496a 3 Van Rossum, C., Buurma-Rethans, E., Vennemann, F., Beukers, M., Brants, H., de Boer, E., & Ocke, M. (2016). The diet of the Dutch: Results of the first two years of the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey 2012-2016. RIVM letter report 2016-0082. 4 Nels Nelson, ‘Planning the Productive City’, (Delft Technical University, 2009). 5 PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, ‘The Netherlands in 21 Infographics. Facts and Figures on the Human Environment.’, (Den Haag: PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, 2012). 6 Vlay, B., & Streeruwitz, L. (2015). Freie Mitte Vielseitiger Rand: Handbuch zum Städtebaulichen Leitbild Nordbahnhof Vienna: 12 Magistrat der Stadt Wien 7 National Archives and Records Administration, 1917 8 Post Office Departmet Annual Report, 1917 9 own image based on Brendan I. Koerner (2011). Made in America: Small Businesses Buck the Offshoring Trend 10 own image
have a subscription on each space they use. This forces housing companies to provide for sustainable buildings. Here for they have three options. They can provide for building that last for a long time, they provide for buildings that are modular and can be demounted or buildings that are build out of recycled materials.
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In 2050 Amsterdam has completed the energy transition from fossils to renewable energy. The city is now fully independent from fossil fuels. Energy complete generated locally through clean natural sources of energy such as the wind and sun. Also more innovative sources are used to generate energy, such as waste water and the extraction of its embodied energy and biogas. The heat produced by digital server farms is now used to run the district heating.
Also changes in flows of goods have got consequences on the urban character of the city. Most of the consumer goods will be produced locally inside Amsterdam. Due to digital production and CAD innovations production facilities can be small, clean and embedded in mixed use neighbourhoods which provides for short supply lines to the consumer base, shared facilities and knowledge institutes. Production facilities are scattered around and form local clusters, making full use of the advantages that Amsterdam provide.
Energy produced by wind and sun is stored in the form of gas or liquid on a local level, close to the demand. In this way energy produced in times of small demand can be stored and demand peaks can be taken care of in later stages. Common in the energy production and storage is combined with public functions. In this way these facilities generate a certain public awareness for the origin and use of the energy we use in our daily lives, which leads to a more economical use of energy. This connection between renewable energy production and creating higher social-economical value is for the inhabitants of Amsterdam is created by local hubs in which citizens their selves can invest in for example collective realisation of solar panels. Again community sense and public accessibility are important.
Creating Value In the future waste does not exist. All resources are collected in a hub were new local value is created. Water and its embodied energy Gathering the wastewater for reuse of its embodied energy such as biogas and heat on a decentralised level for the sake of resilience and economic yield.
Decentralized energy systems With an increase in local energy production through solar and wind there is a need for storage of energy. Local power to X plants can transformed the surplus into liquid or gas form.
The high variety of functions and increased density give Amsterdam an advantage in terms of efficiency and productivity. New build projects city become the park of the bigger structure, it should enrich the self-sufficient system. They have to be optimised by the space use, the function needs to relate not only to the citizens demands but to the general needs of the city. Amsterdam has a flexible and hybrid space use which enables the city to adapt to future changes in needs and keep the optimum balance between green space, housing, commercial, etc.
In 2050 the city of Amsterdam has managed to adapt nor only flows of energy in a more sustainable way but also flows of goods, people and material. Houses will no longer be seen as a product but more as a service. Corporation will own the complete Amsterdam building stock. Residents and tenants of office or commercial space will
Optimised dense city development Cities with combined functions can operate in a more efficient and smart way. There is no longer waste of time, space and energy.
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Production and the city Making of consumer goods takes place in the city, embedded in the costumer base and close to shared facilities relate to distribution, selling, production, recycling and knowledge institutes.
The changing face of energy The relationship between the renewable energy industry and the cities is changed through human centred design for manufacturing facilities.
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Finite resource design The depletion of resources is an opportunity to evaluate the way we use material. To give a long lifespan to buildings and components is a challenge for the designer.
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ON MOBILITY
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Vision For Mobility - Intermodalities & Polycentric Hubs
The inner ring will be a leisure and people-oriented green boulevard. The modes of mobility will be walking, cycling and public transports. The current highway ring (A10) will downgrade to a city boulevard as the cars and trains disappear in the centre because of a focus on automated vehicles as an intercity service. The role of the station changes because of this in a more regional scale instead of a national scale. The second or outer ring will be the new highway ring. It consists of a ring road for cars and hubs connected to this ring. These hubs will serve as the major transportation hubs for the city. Self-driving cars will circulate in this ring and commuters will transfer in these hubs to public transport to get into the centre. They will smooth transfers and services on a local scale.
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As known to all, Amsterdam is one of the most important cities in the world. It has more than 1,000,000 inhabitants and there will be increasing tourism in the city centre in 2050. Consequently, the future mobility in Amsterdam will play a crucial role for the city. As a general vision concerning mobility, the city will be divided into two rings.
For the airports, Schipol Airport will be focused on the international level of mobility, connecting well to Zuid-As (Central Business District). Lelystad Airport will be a more tourist-oriented airport, with a focus on connecting to the city centre. All these different forms of mobility are based on route planning apps, which are based on a real time data collection. This real time monitoring enables travelers to choose the travel modality they prefer. Furthermore, the apps will help to choose alternative routes when one feel too stressed. With the app-based traveling in the future, people can choose their preferential way of traveling to ease their stress of traveling.
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WW II 62% of the rail network destroyed
Train
2050 Elon Musk introduces the Hyperloop. It is a pod in a vacuum tube which alows it to reach almost 1000 km/h. 1981 Poster showing the new direct connection towards Schiphol Airport
1839 Inauguration of the first Dutch railway on September 1839, connecting Amsterdam to Haarlem.
1863 The first metro line opened in London
Metro
2045 Tesla introduces the Boring Company. Cars can be loaded on a platform, transporting them through underground tunnels to the other side of the city.
2018 2018 The North South metroline is completed. It connects the upcoming North of the city with its central business district, the South Axis.
1977 The East line is put in use, it connects the newly built Bijlmer with the center of the city, to Waterlooplein.
1908 The first highway in the world. Long Island MOtor Parkway under construction in New York.
Car
1771 French invention, the velocifĂŠra, a walking bike
1962-1972 1962-1972 The The A10 A10 ring ring road road around around Amsterdam Amsterdam was was constructed. constructed.
1962-1972 Future car-sharing system proposed by IDEO. Customized Pod experience, private storage are in it.
1962-1972 Barcelona to ban cars over 20 years old in effort to fight pollution.
1900 The Californian cycleway: 2km’s of wooden construction for bikes
Bike
2040 Prototypes for flying bikes are being developed. 1973 Car free Sundays because of oil embargo. People bike and picknick on the highway
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SUBURBAN TRANSPORTATION HUB AS A ENGINE
DUOWEN CHEN
To investigate the future the role of suburban transportation hub
The concept of “TIME“ is of great important in this graduation studio. At the very beginning of this studio Kees Kaan gave a lecture about “TIME“. Since we are dealing with the scenario of Amsterdam of 2050, the “time“ is one of crucial issues to be considered. Technology grows ever since, which brings great improvement of urban development and architecture.
Zuid-Oost area is now still in a relatively separa-
ted situation. The train track lifted on the ground separate the living sector and the business sector. Although several tunnels are open under the train tracks, the gaps are still there. Moreover, the
tunnels are also the places for crime and drugs. The Zuid-Oost area is an unsafe area compared to the rest of Amsterdam. In the future, there is a tendency to make the station more transparent and almost invisible, to give back the public space to the citizen.
Introduction
As city center is getting denser ever since, the massive construction of station and infrastructure construction will be removed. At the same time, the suburban transportation hub will grow in size and inherit the function of the center hubs. Suburban transportation hub is also the entrance for the city. Intercity train and bus will be more integrated into these suburban hubs. Moreover, the future suburban hubs will also be the engine for suburban development and integrated with social and cultural aspects, in order to diminish the massive unfriendly construction feeling
Site - Amsterdam Zuid-Oost From Administrative point of view, the image on the left, we can see that Zuid-Oost area is in an isolated situation. To the north, Zuid-Oost touchs the boundary of Diemen and Duivendrecht. To the south, the Zuid-Oost border touchs the boundary of Northern Holland, which is the north border of Utrecht.
After these researches and analysis, I found Amsterdam Zuid-Oost is a very particular area to analysis mobility. It is in the edge of the city. People from Almere will come in the weekends for shopping and leisure. A9 highway is passing through the area. The train and metro tracks are extended from the central to Zuid-Oost, which makes the transportation system rather complete and diverse.
From the upright image, we can see that in Amsterdam 2040 infrastructure plan, the focus will be on development along the infrastructure bundles. The development is spatial. from points (transportation hubs) to lines (conectivity of the hubs). Clearly based on the BIjlmer Areana Station, the development of Zuid-Oost will hapen on next period. Thanks to the infrastructure bundle, the
Looking at the Bijmermeer area, we learned that the Utopian like city is not the answer for the future. The simple division of car lanes and public transport with the pedestrian passage made the mobility of people and car inconvenient and dull. Living sector and Public sector were strictly divided, which means the accessibility become very poor. Learning from the lesson of Bijmermeer, the smart city’s mobility should be something else. Today, it is the ‘future’ of after Bijmer was first planned. And we are now planning the future again, which is very interesting. The smart mobility not only means the real time data collection and calculation of a genius solution, but also means the basic human needs, for example a human scale street or neighborhood. As Luc said in the health lecture, the mental health is an important part of our life. 112
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Urban area and suburban area are two interconnected concept. Due to large cities such as Amsterdam has always been experiencing urban sprawl. As the population growth the suburban area become denser and denser. After a certain time span, the current suburban area will become urban. In this transition period, the connectivity between urban & suburban is of importance.
Given to fact that Zuid-Oost is at a suburban area and almost separated from the city center, I think the most important development drive is the mobility. Now, there are already several means to travel from the city center to Zuid-Oost. However, from the satellite image we can see that the car parking area still taking up a lot of space. The majority of people living there tend to use cars to commune every day. In the future, new devices will appear, with less volume and lower carbon emission.
In the initial suspicion, I wrote about the goal of Amsterdam 2040 and the expectation of the growing population. The tendency of growing population will reflect on mobility. The city should be planned ahead to face the growing population and have smart solutions for it. While the city sprawls, suburban areas or the fringe of the city will firstly being used. As the urbanization trend is getting more and more dense, opportunities are often found in the suburban areas. According to the ‘Amsterdam 2040’, the Zuid-Oost will be densified in the future. More and more housing will be provided and the area will be internationalized. Consequently, the connection between suburban area and the city center become really important.
Problem Statement Accordding to the data, the Motor vehicles in Zuid-Oost have just 10% in Amsterdam. And the Motor bike has 8.2%. It was a small number of motor vehicle usage in Zuid-Oost compared to the whole Amsterdam. Moreover, we can see that there are only 5.2% of family in Zuid-Oost own more than one private car. We can deduce from the data in the Zuid-Oost area people tend to use public transportation as a commuting method.
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The cycling system in Zuid-Oost is well developed and well connected with the city infrasttructure system. However, the bike lanes is hardly seen being used by the people living there. As the city sprawl continues in Amsterdam, the population in Amsterdam will reach more than 10,000,000 people. The Zuid-Oost area has the densification task in the coming 30 years. 70,000 housings will be provided to Amsterdam till 2040. The Bijlmer Areana station now is the main transportation hub in Zuid-Oost. In the future, as the vacant office area Amstel III will be revised and the Holendrecht will be an important living quator in Amsterdam. Certain area along the infrastructure line will experience gentrification. Consequenntly, the problem is to accomodate the future needs of living. As people living in Zuid-Oost rely a lot on the public transport, the Holendrecht station will be an important hubs in the future. Future Vision A7
Throughout history we know the city growth rely on the infrastructure development. We can see the strip where AMS studio coping with is the same situation. The rail and infrastructure lines are extended from the centraal station to the Zuid-Oost. As for the future, massive infrastructure such as trains and metro lines will disappear in the city centre, in order to free the limited lands and break the barrier of current massive infrastructure construction.
A8
A10
As a result, the mobility task falls on the suburban transportation hub. In the coming future, the Holendrecht station will be enlarged and become an important center for the area. The hub in the future will integrate the current mono-functional situation in Zuid-Oost.
Almere
A1
A9
A4
Schipol Zuid-Oost
A2
Zuid-Oost in Amsterdam.i1
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Utrecht
A6
Centraal 19min
LELYLAAN
22min AMSTEL
11min
Zuid 17min
VAN DER MADEWEG
8min 5min
DUIVENDRECHT
Schiphol
Bijlmer 3min
GEIN
5min
the mode of mobility changed, the role of transportation hubs will change to accomodate.
The srounddings of Holendrecht station are currently complicate and diverse. The huge national hospital AMC situation at the south-west side of the station, connected with a covered passage. The Amstel III office area is situated right next to the AMC. As the gonernment plans, the bussiness oriented district will developed into a multi functional area. For instance,the current Holendrecht center is going to be demolished. A new student housing will be built . However, Zuid-Oost has more to expect. The greenery and the nature is unique in Amsterdam. So, the hub will be a device to attract tourists and facilitate them to enter the picturesque Zuid-Oost . within these years. More and more functions will be implemented into Amstel III. To the east of Holendrecht station, there are mono-typology social housing. The separated parts are only connected with scarcely used cycling path. Consequently, the Holendrecht center will be an device implenmented into this area to soften the border feeling created by the elevated train tracks. On the other hand, as technology advanced, new ways of mobility will appear such as car sharing, self-driving car. Car-sharing system is already happening in Amsterdam. There is already partly self-driving car in the market. The massive production period will soon be seen in the future. As 116
Zuid-Oost has more 140 nationalities. It’s one of the most diverse area in the world. It’s a “melting-pot“ in Amsterdam. The Suburban hubs will also be a place for culture communication. Peopele arrives at Zuid-Oost in the transportation hub and then distribute to their destination. Cultural and social aspects will be integrated into the hubs to meet the needs of poeple living there.
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HOLENDRECHT
trams were built to connect the city center and the District center and new inter-city highway - Shuiguan Highway was built to facilitate the residences. However, just like the other big cities in the world, Shenzhen witnessed housing price rising in the recent years. As a result, more and more people purchased houses in LongGang District. However, It’s not until 2010 when LongGang was finally included into ‘the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone’. When the check-point station was removed, the gap between LongGang and the center had became very big. Nowadays, LongGang’s visionary future will be another center focus on education and innovation. Since the home price grow rapidly in Shenzhen’s city center, many family who working in the center choose to live in LongGang. The majority of them commune every day by car with the widest highway in Asia, Shuiguan highway (14 car lanes) [img. 1].
As a perticular casestudy, LongGang District in Shenzhen is comparable to Zuid-Oost area. Shenzhen is one of the mega cities in China. Since the city is near HongKong, it has natral economic advantages. The LongGang District is on the North-East fringe of the city. Although this area takes up 1/3 of the land of Shenzhen, its economic volume is behind the avarage of the city. It’s defined as the so-called suburban area. However, as the city is continuely expanding, LongGang District has is own days. New inter-city trams were built to connect the city center and the District center and new inter-city highway - Shuiguan Highway was built to facilitate the residences. However, just like the other big cities in the world, Shenzhen witnessed housing price rising in the recent years. As a result, more and more people purchased houses in LongGang District. What is interesting is that I found the situation in Zuid-Oost is very similar to one of the district in Shenzhen - LongGang District, China. Firstly, the location. LongGang District is located at the edge of Shenzhen, which was the most rural areas in Shenzhen. As everybody knows, Shenzhen was a result of top-down planning. In 1980, Shenzhen Special Economic Zone was established. The special zone means more resources and more priority to develop. has is own days. New inter-city
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From the image you can see that at the morning peak hour one side of the high way faces severe traffic congestion and the other side is almost empty. In the afternoon the situation is reverse. Secondly, new stadiums [img. 2] were built in 2011 due to the Universiade ( the World University Games ). After the sport event, the stadium will host music festival annually. In the Zuid-Oost area, the Arena is famous for its football matches. And there will be 3 events in that same area at the same time. So the smart mobility become badly needed. Because of its particular location, the connectivity become really important. To the west, LongGang need to be well-connected to the center. To the east, LongGang need to be wellconnected to the neighboring cities to drive their developments. Zuid-Oost is an important junction between Amsterdam and its satellite city. The Holendrent station is an important station for public transport. There are train station, metro station and bus station connect this area with the center and the neighbor cities.
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Morning Peak Hour in ShuiGuan Highway.i1
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Morning Peak Hour in ShuiGuan Highway.i1
Public Transportation Plan from Shezhen Government.i1
Public Transport from LongGang District to city center.i1
Shenzhen Train station
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Baoan Airport, Shenzhen.i1
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What we can predict is that, in the future, the suburban transportation hubs will grow in size and number to meet the needs of urban sprawl in Amsterdam and act as a generator for the suburban gentrification and densification. At the same, the hubs will be more and more human-centered and integrated with the community functions such as dwellings and shoppings inorder to eliminate the massive feeling of transportation construction.
Footnotes: Oliver Wainwright, “Cuba for Sale: ‘Havana Is Now the Big Cake – and Everyone Is Trying to Get a Slice’,” The Guardian (2016). Fernando Ravsberg, “Cuba Inaugura El Puerto Más Moderno De La Región,” BBC Mundo (2014). 3 Greg Miller, “Cuba’s Fast-Growing Mariel Targets Transshipment Cargo,” JOC (2016). 4 Sean Cronin, “Russia and Abu Dhabi in Talks to Develop Major New Airport in Cuba,” The National (2015). 5 Wainwright, “Cuba for Sale: ‘Havana Is Now the Big Cake – and Everyone Is Trying to Get a Slice’”. 6 Miller, “Cuba’s Fast-Growing Mariel Targets Transshipment Cargo”. 7 Ibid. 8 Dan Bilfesky, “François Hollande of France Meets Fidel and Raúl Castro in Cuba,” The New York Times (2015). There has been a struggle between the City of London and the London Docklands because of the location of the city’s main financial centre. It used to be the “Square Mile” but many companies have moved to Canary Wharf due to more favourable conditions. 9 Carol-Ann Beswick, “Urban Regeneration: The Experince of London,” in Urban Regeneration: Learning from the British Experience, ed. Sasha Tsenkova (Calgary, Canada: Faculty of Environmental Design - University of Calgary, 2002). P.18 10 The city saw new 23.000 dwellings being built in its core. “The Docklands area itself would be a novel version of a New Town not at some distance from London, but in the middle of the city.” Han Meyer, City and Port. Transformation of Port Cities. London, Barcelona, New York and Rotterdam (Utrecht, the Netherlands: International Books, 1999). P.88-99 11 Tatcher’s government saw the Docklands as a way to uplift London’s position as the major European financial and cultural capital, disputed at the time with Paris.Ibid. P.93 1 2
Bibliography: Beswick, Carol-Ann. “Urban Regeneration: The Experince of London.” In Urban Regeneration: Learning from the British Experience, edited by Sasha Tsenkova, 17-34. Calgary, Canada: Faculty of Environmental Design - University of Calgary, 2002. Bilfesky, Dan. “François Hollande of France Meets Fidel and Raúl Castro in Cuba.” The New York Times (2015). Butler, Tim. “Re-Urbanizing London Docklands: Gentrification, Suburbanization or New Urbanism?”. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 31.4 (2007): 759–81. Cronin, Sean. “Russia and Abu Dhabi in Talks to Develop Major New Airport in Cuba.” The National (2015). Gossop, Chris. “Towards a More Compact City - the Plan for London.” In 40th ISoCaRP Congress, 2004.
Images: Diagrams are made by the Author Jovaiša, Marius. “Unseen Cuba: a unique view of Cuba’s timeless landscapes and cityscapes, never before photographed from the air.” Lithuania: Unseenpictures, 2015. i1-2-3-4-5-6-7 i8
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The role of the hubs will change since the mode of travel will change in the future. Locally, the transportation hub act as an engine to drive the development of the area and act as a cultural and social center for the locals. Nationally, the suburban transportation hubs will be the entrance of the city and bear the task of massive transportation loads . That is, it will act as an converge point for various mobilties.
CITIES OF TRANSIT
NICHOLAS WENHAM
The Rise of the Airport City and Redefining the City Centre
Airports, Either Loved or Loathed
The role of airports in the contemporary city are shifting rapidly. No longer merely sites of transit, airports are playing a growing role and importance within a city’s urban environment. This can even extend as far as being a key player to economic vitality on a national scale. This is developing the notion of the ‘Airport City’, or the ‘Aerotropolis’, where the airport is no longer a peripheral element but rather is now host to a range of activities and functions that gain benefit from greater collocation with the airport and the ease of mobility it provides. This is exemplified with the importance that is now placed on Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport as a global hub and the subsequent economic influence this wields on both the city of Amsterdam, as well as the Netherlands. Therefore the research question was centred on what is the airport’s role in the future of cities, and what are the strategies it can use to successfully achieve this role. This was framed through looking at the historical development of Schiphol and its evolution over the last century, as well as seeing what are the expected trends for it as an airport, as well as airports in more global sense. Cities are realising the need to invest in airports, their organisation, and their associated infrastructures in order to be competitive and integrated in the global economy yet this raises questions as to what are the urban benefits, problems, and requirements that need to be considered when moving towards an Airport City. It also raises the question of how cities can therefore become centred around a series of polycentric aviation hubs that can help in the more targeted management of flows of people, goods and information.
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On one side of the divide sits those such as Rem Koolhaas, who has voiced whether today’s cities are becoming influenced by the airport and thus are transforming into being increasingly the same. This is framed by how airports and technology in aviation is standardised, which means that their environments are also quite consistent to one another.1
i3. Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (Google)
On the opposing side are those who view the airport as being the ultimate symbols of urban space, which is designed around purely the technological and infrastructural needs of current society. This is as expressed by the English writer JG Ballard.2
i4. Dubai Airport (Google)
Yet, as cities invest more into their airports in order to remain globally competitive, these sites are beginning to demonstrate signs of holding urban characteristics. As we begin seeing the rise of the phenomenon of the Airport City, it is useful to question what does this mean for cities moving towards the future and what are the implications of this phenomena.
i5. Frankfurt Airport (Google)
One of the key sites where this transformation is taking place can be seen at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, an airport that is aiming to position itself as a global aviation hub. i6. Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Airport (Google)
i1. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (Google)
i7. Beijing Capital Airport (Google)
i2. Toronto Pearson Airport (Google)
i8. London Heathrow Airport (Google)
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Attitudes towards airports has been undoubtedly divided, with this rupturing only getting wider as airports evolve towards having a larger presence due to their growing sizes, their expanding regional influence, and the facilities they offer.
1928 Terminal building under construction
1986 Pier E now in use
1998 Schiphol Island expansion proposal developed in conjunction with OMA
The Historical Development of Schiphol Airport
1991 New Air Traffic Control Tower completed as existing one could no longer oversee all operations Pier D now in use
1940 Airport had 4 asphalt runways at 45 degree angles and running 1020m or less
2005 First flight of Airbus A380, world’s largest passenger airliner
16 September 1916 Opened as a military airbase
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1945 Schiphol bombed and destroyed during WWII
1903 Orville Wright takes off and flies 37m in 12 second, considered the first controlled, powered heavier-than-air flight
1970 First Boeing 747 Jumbo lands
1949 Schiphol became primary airport of the Netherlands 1949 World’s first commercial jet airliner flies
1960s Expansion of new runways and central complex came at cost of small town called Rijk, new central complex was operational by 1967
2008 Alternative Schiphol Island proposal developed in conjunction with Royal Haskoning DHV
1992 Development of west terminal, including Pier G Post WWI Commencement of airport for civilian use, eventually completely lost its military role
Post WWII Despite being destroyed during WWII, was restored quickly afterwards 1957 First flight of Boeing’s 707, a mid-sized, long-rnage, narrowbody, four engine jet airliner
2015 Approval to develop new terminal and pier at existing airport site, expected to be operational by 2023
1994 Schiphol Plaza under construction
2017 Dutch Council of State approved expansion plans for Lelystad airport, originally aimed to be able to handle commercial traffic by 2018 but has been postponed until 2019
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With the advent of flight only commencing in 1903 with the Wright Brothers, it is quite remarkable to see how rapid the evolutions in flight has been over the last century. Schiphol only began as a military airbase in 1916, yet already by the end of World War I it had already taken on the role as a civilian airport. Whilst the airport experienced expansion during the early portion of the 20th century, the arrival of Boeing’s 707 jet liner saw the explosion of air travel as a form of mass transportation. Since this time, Schiphol has undertaken a series of large-scale expansion manoeuvres to cope with continued growth in air travel. It is undeniable that now Schiphol is a megastructure that is critical for the Netherlands to connect it to the global economy and the economic opportunities that this provides. It will be of interest to see whether it will continue consolidating at its current location, or whether a polycentric approach will be taken to ease some of the congestion issues that are creeping in at Schiphol.
2003 Sixth runway completed at quite some distance from rest of airport, connecting taxiway over A5 motorway. Due to distance, taxi times to and from this runway can take 10-20 mins, also required construction of an additional Control Tower
The Airport City Concept
As Schiphol Airport witnesses 63.6 million passengers passing through its site per year, accompanied by 479,000 flight movements, it has positioned itself as one of the leading airport hubs in the world.3 The airport is now a vast sprawling site that is difficult to perceive as a whole due to its multilayered complexity caused by relentless expansion that has happened over a short period of time.4 Yet it is becoming increasingly clear that the impact of the airport extends beyond solely its capabilities as a transportation centre of arrivals and departures. Instead, it is becoming representative of the evolving role of the airport as centre-points of activity in the future urban development of the city. This then subsequently brings implications towards flows, economy, and the urban experience.
These are conditions that are not unique to Schiphol, and indeed are occurring in other cities around the world as they race towards developing their own airport-driven hubs to remain relevant and competitive on the global stage. This is a new urban condition that John Kasarda advocates for under his concept and argumentation for the ‘Airport City’, or what he terms as the ‘Aerotropolis’. He argues that the driving attitude for the future will not be centred on the physical location of the airport, but rather on accessibility to networks, of which the airport is vital in providing this connectivity.7
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It is evident that airports are becoming critical economic and development hubs for cities, with over 58,000 people employed on Schiphol grounds alone. This is complemented with the arrival of the world headquarters of both ABN Amro and ING banks just 6 minutes from the airport, as well as projects like the neighbouring World Trade Centre, which contains the regional headquarters for firms like Unilever. There are also aviation-focused financial and consulting firms who are setting up camp by the airport, as well as imposing business parks that need ready access to the connections of the airport. This sudden desirability of land by the airport for big-name companies is demonstrative of how businesses are beginning to see the value in being closely located to the airport. This is then complemented with the shopping plaza of the airport, this acting as the first interaction between passengers and locals, as both users make use of the favourable opening hours these retail outlets can work under. 5
i10. Schiphol Terminal (Google)
Therefore the airport now operates under four main forms, each of these developing the airport region into an essential zone for both Amsterdam and the Netherlands in general. The first of these is that it is an engine for transfer, which allows it to be a hub for internationalisation and encounters between various cultures. It has also developed into a consumer haven, as seen with Schiphol Plaza. As well as this, Schiphol is a prominent figure in terms of cargo transport. Finally, the airport has operations in land and real estate that better helps it control how the areas in and around the airport develop. These considerations have formed the megastructure that is now the contemporary airport, one that is based around the concept of the Airport City.6
i11. Schiphol Departure Lounge (Google)
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He states how urban development and economic vitality have historically been centred on the dominant form of transportation of the time. This has seen a chronology that commenced with the role of harbour ports, to the railroad, to the highway, and what he now sees as the role of aviation as the driving force. Wayne Curtis discusses how airports are now shifting from being undesirable, peripheral infrastructural elements to now becoming more like the centre of cities as they integrate themselves into the region. Kasarda bases this claim on how airports are a key tool in eliminating friction in the movement of people and goods, which is critical in a global economy that is driven by the need for speed and connectivity.8 This is an idea that is supported by Thomas Barnett, who states that this obsession for accessibility and speed is being manifested through the fact that air cargo has grown four times faster than global trade over the last few decades, and is the most popular form to move small, high-value goods.9
i12. Airport City Concept Scheme, as developed by John Kasarda
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i9. Schiphol Plaza (Google)
The Context
Three main industries that already have begun taking advantage of the benefits of co-location with the airport are those of manufacturing, services, and hi-tech industries. For manufacturers, being positioned in this way allows for rapid and flexible modifications to customers’ demands as they are better connected to suppliers and can access components quickly, thus this gives them the ability for some agility in their production systems. Businesses that are focused in information and communications technology also view the need for aviation-driven accessibility to be essential for their operations, with these professionals flying 60% more than other professionals. Thus, what is being witnessed is that knowledge networks and air travel networks are supporting each other more and more, with Barnett commenting that it is not individual companies that are competing but rather it is supply chains, networks, and systems.10
i13. Flow Diagram Developed for Schiphol Airport demonstrating Reciprocal Benefits between Airport Traffic and Airport City
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The Rise of the Airport City as Urban Phenomenon The ascension of the Airport City, or at least the growing influence the airport has on cities around the globe, has come about due to some major global trends that have encouraged a blooming reliance on the airport.
1917
The first of these is globalisation, which promotes the creation of networks that link institutions like businesses, banks, science, music, art, and many others, together. These networks lead to a sharing of economic, social, and cultural capital between various parties connected to the network. Airports operate as the gateway that facilitate these connections, and assist in breaking down the barrier that physical distances can play.
Already the airport is heading perilously close towards its capacity of handling 500,000 flight movements per year and there are concerns over the airport’s level of traffic along with its ability to handle this traffic as it continues expanding.14 Despite the development of a new terminal and pier, along with associated facilities, being carried out to increase its operations, there are also problematic issues as the airport site becomes surrounded by urban expansion and communities are developed closer to the airport.
1950
Another trend has been the role of the growth in air cargo as a form of movement of goods, especially high-value products that are not large to transport. Therefore the role aviation plays in facilitating global transactions and business to occur has exploded, with aviation now accounting for 8% of the total global economy. This has been exacerbated by the rapid-fire growth in the tourism sector as commercial planes operate more and more like a type of mass transportation for people.
The Need for Harmony As a site centred on motion and flows, the airport can never operate in isolation from the urban context it is placed within. The airport is influenced by flows of traffic, energy, and communication that come from outside, these being essential to the smooth running of the airport. The most obvious example of this is electricity brought in from outside via cables, and the problems that are caused if these are not working, ranging from the ability to move people quickly to security problems caused if scanning systems crash.15
1961
Finally, there has been a growing liberalisation of the aviation industry, allowing more airlines to have access to foreign airspace, as countries open up their boundaries. This is then fuelling growth in global demand for aviation-driven mobility. This is all in the pursuit towards a single aviation market, where airlines have access to other airlines’ domestic markets and can freely determine their own investments and provisions. As increasing competition develops and prices are cut to remain competitive, airports are looking at other sectors for profits, like how Schiphol has been operating its own terminal out of John F Kennedy Airport.11
1969
Maintaining the Power from the Inside As a site where high volumes of people, goods, and information continually transfer around, the airport must be vigilant with how they manage to cheroegraph the pathways to ensure these many elements can move efficiently and smoothly to their next destination. This is related to the ‘zero-friction’ society, which is based in developing a society where traffic flows have minimal obstruction.12
2004 i14. Schiphol Buildup and Integration into City over Time These maps highlight the evolutions that have occurred at the airport over the last century, with noticeable dramatic expansion occurring during the 1960s. This coincided with the arrival of commercial aviation opportunities and the need to develop adequate infrastructure to cope with this high demand. The growth in the early 21st century coincides with
Yet this concept demands highly considered planning and control to be effective, which is made increasingly challenging and hard to predict
the development of the A380 and its ability to transport greater numbers of travellers (maps courtesy of topotijdreis.nl)
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as infrastructure and construction is continually added to the existing airport megastructure. For now, much of this development of Schiphol, as with many ‘Airport Cities’, has been spontaneous and market-driven.13 Whilst the airport has managed to maintain its strong position through the role that the Schiphol Real Estate Group has played in the organisation of its landside commercial development such as office complexes, hotels, meeting and entertainment facilities, logistics parks, and shopping, nevertheless there are constraints it faces moving forward.
This demonstrates the functioning of the airport goes beyond its boundaries, and consideration is required to ensure the airport is highly connected to their surroundings, a point provided by Mauro Peneda. Even if the airport is well linked by the air network, it will likely struggle to be a viable hub if it is poorly connected on land to road and rail infrastructure and cannot be freely accessed. This will also make it less desirable for companies and facilities to position themselves nearby, reducing the economic potential of the area.16
i15. Diagram Demonstrating the Need for Airport to Connect to both Air Hubs and Local Infrastructure The airport sits as the central red dot, and establishes connections with other airports on a national or international scale. Yet it also needs access to local infrastructure points and networks in order to let it be a wellfunctioning aspect of a city. This is indicated via the rail tracks, the road of the highway, and the services lines for aspects like energy.
Therefore the airport must continually think ahead, in order to identify trends for the future that will ensure it can maintain its ambition for this ‘zerofriction’ movement. This can be illustrated by how Schiphol Airport’s connection to the train network played out. During the 1960s, the airport was still unconnected to the rail network and reliant on the 131
i15 & 16: Denver’s Stapleton Airport - Before and After (Google)
Another such example is that of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport, which was closed in 1998 when the new Chek Lap Kok Airport island was opened as the new aviation hub for the city. The runways have been preserved and will now be the site for the Kai Tak Runway Park. Housing developments for various demographics will also be developed on the site, along with the Kai Tak Cruise Ship Terminal being positioned in the airport site as well. Kai Tak was already originally situated in a highly dense environment, sandwiched in between high-rise neighbourhoods, therefore there has been a natural reintegration back into this urban environment.
Management at airports are required to work in situations that are volatile and able to change quickly, which is becoming more the case as competition continues to grow and become increasingly ruthless. This then causes a need to obsess over the future, the drive for change, and for adaptation. This is then a reason why parts of airport cities are left be abandoned or demolished without hesitation. In light of this, it could be of use to briefly study some examples of airports that have successfully reintegrated their abandoned facilities into urban environments to ensure civic value is provided, and to counter their status of ‘ghost towns’. Sara Favargiotti discusses how the process of ‘post-cycling’ airport infrastructure can actually help initiate an active recovery of the context by attracting various incoming flows such as tourism, commerce, culture, health, or energy. She suggests that the recovery process intiated on the airport site can actually lead to positive improvement for not only the site itself, but also to the quality and development of the surrounding areas.24
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THE RE-USAGE OF AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
i17-18: Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport - Before and After (Google)
Croydon Airport provides a template for how to handle a historical airport. It was an airport based in South London, that once operated as the main airport for the city until it was replaced by the Northolt Airport, Heathrow Airport, and Gatwick Airport. It ceased operations in 1959. Croydon has since had parts of its airfield built over, whilst the main Airport House has been repurposed into now being a museum and visitor centre.
i19-20: London’s Croydon Airport - Before and After (Google)
A more common approach is that which is seen with Berlin’s Tempelhof International Airport, which was closed in 2008 due to three other airports already servicing Berlin. The main terminal was once the world’s largest building, and now this has been preserved in amongst the rest of the airport site being turned into a public park. There were concerns this park would be opened up for development, but was determined to remain a park via a referendum. Now the main terminal building will be used to house refugees, whilst 80% of the former airfield is now vital habitats for some endangered birds, plants and insects.26
Stapleton International Airport in Denver was closed down following the building of Denver International Airport in 1995, which saw the Stapleton neighbourhood converted into a vibrant neighbourhood of homes, shops, and a large park. Yet the control tower from the original airport fell into disrepair, until businessman Robert Thomson invested into converting the tower into a nightlife precinct, whilst still retaining the tower in order to preserve the historical legacy of the area.25
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i21-22: Berlin Tempelhof Airport - Before and After (Google)
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in the long run. This is exemplified with the current expansion, which is the construction of a new pier and terminal, which will increase the number of annual passengers by 14 million. The terminal aims to be operational by 2023, but this will also require significant changes on the road network leading to the airport, as well as a relocating of car parking facilities. Already there is a crunch of growth in passenger numbers, with a temporary departure hall required to handle this additional traffic.19 Therefore, as the airport continues this large-scale growth, active engagement with integrating these additional flows into the wider urban network is necessary to ensure a smooth result is achieved and reduce the strain of congestion.
The Dutch government kept stalling on the implementation of this, to the point where the airport placed a portion of a tunnel for a future rail line underneath the Buitenveldert runway it was building in 1968. This ensured that the runway wouldn’t be out of operation when the train line finally came in, as well as gave the airport control over how the train line was positioned on its site. The airport cannot be frozen by construction developments, and thus must always be focused on how to implement these changes as smoothly and with as much future planning as possible.17
Towards Polycentric Hubs?
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Future Integration
Another element to the Kasarda’s ‘Aerotropolis’ model that is useful to consider is the potential for cities to begin developing a polycentric network of airport hubs in order to alleviate congestion issues that develop on one sole large-scale site. Much like how cities would have various rail stations that would support different parts of the city that nurtured varying types of industries, there is the potential that airports can operate in a similar manner to better assist in managing efficiencies of flows of movement and economy.
What this suggests is that moving towards the future, the airport must work closely with its surrounding region to ensure expansion and adaptation can be carried out in a productive way that benefits both the airport and the city. This is even more important when considered the region currently is relatively hostile against the rampant expansion of the airport into becoming one of the main urban centres of Amsterdam. This is essential to resolve as Schiphol begins taking on a more metropolitan role, where aviation is just one component it handles, whilst also hosting housing, business, and public leisure space. No longer is the airport a peripheral zone of transition, but now has grown into shifting towards a city forming.18
The potential of this is already being raised with the recent approval to increase the length of Lelystad Airport’s runway, making the airport suitable to handle heavier aircraft types. This outcome was met favourably by Schiphol Airport, who hopes that Lelystad can begin taking some of the short to medium length flights, and establish itself as an airport that handles leisure-oriented flights. This
This will only increase as the airport expects to expand the total number of passengers to 72 million
i24: Diagram of a Polycentric Network of Larger Hubs connected in a networked loop, supported by smaller regional hubs (Drawn by author)
areas as they become better integrated into the city, as well as global networks. Whilst the economic importance of Schiphol has already been discussed, one only has to study the example of Memphis in regards to the role an airport can play for developing an economically strong city. It is at Memphis Airport where FedEx has situated their global headquarters, which saw the airport for a long period of time being the airport that handled the largest amount of cargo traffic. Onethird of jobs in Memphis are associated with facilities at the airport, therefore the role it has and its relationship with FedEx is essential to the economic prosperity of Memphis.21 Whilst being an extreme example, it nevertheless shows what an airport with a targeted ambition can achieve for periphery regions of the city, where they can gain a greater profile and importance.
would then allow Schiphol to place its attention more towards intercontinental flights and the commercial markets these types of flights favour.20 This setup provides some useful conclusions about the potential implications that establishing a series of polycentric hubs that each target a particular market can provide. Deliberate Management and Control of Flows A more deliberate managing of flows may help alleviate some of the congestion problems that not only can plague airports but also the historic city centres and CBDs. Referring to Amsterdam in a broader context, the city is currently suffering from severe congestion in its heart as many layers of traffic congregate at Centraal Station, making it renowned for crowds and a stressful environment. If a polycentric network of airports can be established, then this may help solve this crunch by allowing people to engage only with the areas they need to. As an example, if Schiphol tailors itself as a commercially driven hub, then this allows for visitors who are coming to Amsterdam for business to only need to engage with the immediate vicinity of Schiphol and the commercial enterprises situated there, rather than contribute to the traffic of the city centre. By also developing Lelystad as the focused hub for leisure, then more tourist traffic can be diverted away from Schiphol, helping to reduce the burden placed on the airport.
Rise of the Citizen in Transit? Whilst the economic benefits and the advantages for efficient flows of movement that can arise from Airport Cities can be seen, there are critiques to this type of urban construct. The main argument to the notion of cities being developed around airports is demonstrated from the comments of Wayne Curtis. He is of the belief that this form of development will see the rise of ‘pop-up’ cities that are disconnected from local heritage and culture, and ultimately lead to a network of generic places. His example of Bangkok’s approach to the Aerotropolis, which aims to provide golf courses, shopping malls, movie theatres and schools that could have been transplanted from anywhere in the world. To him, the notion of place has been eradicated in these environments.22
Economic Stimulus for Peripheral Areas
i23: Proposed Expansions at Schiphol (Airport-Technology.com)
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Another possible implication of a polycentric network of airport hubs relates to the ability for them to provide economic stimulus to peripheral 135
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roads to connect with the city. Schiphol became concerned with the slow rate of development of the roads, as well as with the potential congestion, and aimed to push the construction of a rail link.
way that pronounces itself as a critical centre for Amsterdam in order for the city to have a significant global influence. This comes in a climate that favours globalisation and the influences this has had on the movement of people and trade, along with advances that have occurred in aviation that have allowed for the rapid explosion in aviationbased mass transportation.
These environments play host to a form of living, one based in a setting of continuous motion. It is a population on the move, one that forms a global network. The rigid structures that dictate people’s movements and behaviours as one travels through the airspace forms a unique spatial experience, one that people must submit to in order to experience movement through the network. They have to allow themselves to be subjected to surveillance operations, and pass through layers of screening that permit further entry. The passport becomes the main form of uniqueness in this space that favours a culture of the generic. Despite the amount of people who are a citizen in continual transit and have no sense of orientation of place is still small, there is still the possibility that the “full-time citizen of nowhere” could become a future potentiality that gains prevalence as Airport Cities become more common.23
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Centres of the Future So, as airports continue to promote themselves as the beacons of the future for a city’s economic success, it is to be seen if Kasarda’s predicted rise of the ‘Airport City’ will ultimately come to fruition. Certainly Schiphol Airport is positioning itself in a
Just as the train station and the car park before it led the way for new forms of urbanism, will the airport now bring about the rise of the next way we will live, as citizens in transit?
i24: Personal Collage of a Future City Centre for Amsterdam at Schiphol
Footnotes:
Koos Bosma and Anna Nikolaeva, “The Airport: Prototype of the Global City?” In Megastructure Schiphol, ed. Koos Bosma (Rotterdam:nai010 Publishers, 2013), 199 2 Bosma and Nikolaeva, “The Airport: Prototype of the Global City?” 199 3 “Verkeer- en vervoerscijfers Schiphol Group 2016,” last modified January 09, 2017, https://nieuws.schiphol.nl/verkeer--envervoerscijfers-schiphol-group-2016/ 4 Bosma and Nikolaeva, “The Airport: Prototype of the Global City?” 201 5 John Kasarda, “The Airports now not about the Planes,” The Courier Mail, February 07, 2006, 17 6 Bosma and Nikolaeva, “The Airport: Prototype of the Global City?” 203 7 Kasarda, “The Airports now not about the Planes.” 8 Wayne Curtis, “The Cities of the Plane,” Wall Street Journal Eastern edition, March 02, 2011, 15 9 Thomas Barnett, “Globalization, Air Hubs and the City of Tomorrow,” World Politics Review (2010): 1 10 Kasarda, “The Airports now not about the Planes.” 11 Bosma and Nikolaeva, “The Airport: Prototype of the Global City?” 203-204 12 Marieke Berkers, “City of Unpredictable Fluvial Processes,” In Megastructure Schiphol, ed. Koos Bosma (Rotterdam:nai010 Publishers, 2013), 241-242 13 Mauro Peneda, “Critical Factors for the Development of Airport Cities,” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (2011): 7 14 nltimes.nl, “Expansion of Lelystad Airport Wins Dutch Council of State Backing,” last modified January 18, 2017, http://nltimes. nl/2017/01/18/expansion-lelystad-airport-wins-dutch-council-state-backing 15 Berkers, “City of Unpredictable Fluvial Processes,” 242 16 Mauro Peneda, “Critical Factors for the Development of Airport Cities,” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (2011): 8 17 Berkers, “City of Unpredictable Fluvial Processes,” 246 18 Bosma and Nikolaeva, “The Airport: Prototype of the Global City?” 217 19 Airport-Technology.com, “Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Expansion, Netherlands,” http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/ amsterdam-airport-schiphol-expansion/ 20 nltimes.nl, “Expansion of Lelystad Airport Wins Dutch Council of State Backing” 21 Barnett, “Globalization, Air Hubs and the City of Tomorrow,” 1 22 Curtis, “The Cities of the Plane,” 15 23 Bosma and Nikolaeva, “The Airport: Prototype of the Global City?” 208 24 Sara Favargiotti, “The Re-Cycle of Secondary Airports and New Opportunities for the Territory,” (paper presented at the AIRDEV 2012 Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, April 19, 2012) 1
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CBS News, “How America’s Abandoned Airports are being Reinvented,” last modified December 05, 2015, http://www.cbsnews. com/news/how-americas-abandoned-airports-are-being-reinvented/ 26 Panethos, “Abandoned Commercial Airports - Ruins and Reuse,” last modified February 15, 2016, https://panethos.wordpress. com/2016/02/05/abandoned-commercial-airports-ruins-and-reuses/ 25
Bibliography: Airport-Technology.com. “Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Expansion, Netherlands.” Accessed March 30, 2017. http://www.airporttechnology.com/projects/amsterdam-airport-schiphol-expansion/ Barnett, Thomas. “Globalization, Air Hubs and the City of Tomorrow.” World Politics Review (2010): 1. Berkers, Marieke. “City of Unpredictable Fluvial Processes.” In Megastructure Schiphol, edited by Koos Bosma, 241-252. Rotterdam: nai010 Publishers, 2013 Bosma, Koos, and Nikolaeva, Anna. “The Airport: Prototype of the Global City?” In Megastructure Schiphol, edited by Koos Bosma, 199-217. Rotterdam: nai010 Publishers, 2013 CBS News. “How America’s Abandoned Airports are being Reinvented.” Last modified December 05, 2015. http://www.cbsnews. com/news/how-americas-abandoned-airports-are-being-reinvented/ Curtis, Wayne. “The Cities of the Plane.” Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition. March 02, 2011. DutchNews.nl. “Schiphol airport to undergo major expansion, new pier and terminal.” Last modified March 16, 2016. http://www. dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/03/86889-2/ Favargiotti, Sara. “The Re-Cycle of Secondary Airports and New Opportunities for the Territory.” Paper presented at the AIRDEV 2012 Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, April 19, 2012. Kasarda, John. “Airport Cities and the Aerotropolis.” Last modified July 26, 2006. http://m.aerotropolis.com/files/2006_07_ AirportCities.pdf. Kasarda, John. “The Airports now not about the Planes.” The Courier-Mail, Brisbane. February 07, 2006. nltimes.nl. “Expansion of Lelystad Airport Wins Dutch Council of State Backing.” Last modified January 18, 2017. http://nltimes. nl/2017/01/18/expansion-lelystad-airport-wins-dutch-council-state-backing Panethos. “Abandoned Commercial Airports - Ruins and Reuse.” Last modified February 15, 2016. https://panethos.wordpress. com/2016/02/05/abandoned-commercial-airports-ruins-and-reuses/ Peneda, Mauro. “Critical Factors for the Development of Airport Cities.” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (2011): 1-9. Accessed May 01, 2017. doi:10.3141/2214-01 Schiphol Group. “Verkeer- en vervoerscijfers Schiphol Group 2016.” Last modified January 09, 2017. https://nieuws.schiphol.nl/ verkeer--en-vervoerscijfers-schiphol-group-2016/
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Nevertheless though, there are several potential accessibility and economic benefits that an airport-focused urban development can provide, especially if a well-considered series of polycentric hubs can be established in a city that can help alleviate some congestion issues. Yet in order for these benefits to be achieved, this requires a wellintegrated mobility network on the ground to let these peripheral sites to prosper. It also needs to be considered how to ensure airport infrastructure can contribute a sense of civic identity and value to the wider region, so that airports work positively with their neighbours on the ground. Just as vital is the need to focus on the future, and the trends that look likely to happen so planning of airport growth can begin already now.
BREAKING THE BARRIER
SJOERD BOOMARS
The influence of technological developments within mobility on the barrier effect of infrastructure.
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GOOISCHEWEG
With the expansion of cities the former suburban infrastructural constructions move into the urban fabric. The relation with its new surroundings can get lost and a barrier effect might be the consequence with the construction cutting new neighborhoods in two. But there are new and upcoming technologies concerning mobility. A shift towards a sharing based economy offers new opportunities to compete with the current national public transport system. With a focus on self-driving cars in between cities and a dense public transport network in cities themselves, one of the largest barriers – the train – could be eliminated. The current highway can be more densely used, but it is key to design a smooth and swift connection between the highway and public transport system.
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The strip as an important entrance to the city center of Amsterdam, with metro lines and roads.i1
of infrastructure there. There are two highways, of which one is the highway ring (A10) and the other one the backbone of the highway network in The Netherlands (A2) connecting to the inner city. Besides the highways a lot of railways are situated at the location, connecting the network to the Amstel station, the east of Amsterdam and the central station. Finally there is the metro network going through the location with a large junction in the middle of the location, connecting the southeast of Amsterdam with the city center and the South station. All this infrastructure causes it to be a highly accessible area from the city itself and around, but this comes with a price. The location itself is very fragmented and with all this infrastructure functioning as barriers pedestrians and cyclists hardly have any space to move. Especially the elevated train tracks forces people to take devious redirections, with its one kilometer without any options to cross or underpass it. Changes to the infrastructure will have to be made in order to make it a livable area in the future. The effects of infrastructure and the use of it can be interpreted on different scales. The main purpose of it is connecting countries, cities and neighborhoods and transporting people through it on a larger scale. However, on smaller scale this
Dealing with the existing infrastructure is one of the biggest challenges during the redevelopment of urban areas. Often not much care was put in the relation between the structure and its surroundings because the surroundings mainly existed out of industrial buildings and the desires of the surrounding residents were simply less important at that time. But with the current expansions of cities these pieces of infrastructure often clash with the new developments, creating barriers between newly built neighborhoods. Future technological developments within mobility can play an important role in solving these problems. So the research question is: “Will technological advancements enable architects to eliminate the barrier effects of infrastructure?” A fitting future scenario is where, because of the increasing popularity of automated vehicles, the train traffic could be eliminated. This will be studied through literature research and interviews about the current environmental effects of infrastructure. The Amsterdam Amstel area is a site in rapid transition, shifting from its original function for storage space and large commercial activities towards a residential district. It is as we call a mid-city, caught between the city center and the outskirts with important access routes into the city. This causes the location to have a large amount 139
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SPAKLERWEG
The Hub, a study done by UNStudio.i2
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Diagramatic overview for a new possible system.i3
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respect to time gaps, speed and lane changes5. The influence this has on the increase of capacity is directly connected to the penetration rate in the market and the level of communication between the vehicles. The better this communication is, the less space is needed between them. When the vehicles are able to directly communicate with each other the cars can react faster than any human driver ever could. Besides, the introduction of automated vehicles is expected to reduce the need for conventional road infrastructure investments (extra-wide lanes, wide shoulders, guardrails, rumble strips, stop signs)6. The self-driving part of cars is not the only innovation happening, also the usage and ownership are changing. Through apps on smart devices there now are possibilities as well to share a car for a nominal fee. Projects like Car2Go and Greenwheels have a growing user base, with the supply of transport on demand. So newer generations tend to focus more on a sharing based economy instead of an ownership based economy. For cars this could mean that when one user reached its destination, another user can ‘order’ the same car. In the end this would mean that less cars can be used to transport the same amount of people, causing less traffic on the road. An interesting aspect about self-driving cars is the fact that they know from each other where they are and are able to react directly to the movement of the other users on the road. In this way the cars can drive closer to each other than any human driver ever could, without the danger that tailgating brings whit it. Besides knowing from each other where the cars are, this technology also allows better flow management. Traffic lights might become unnecessary, changing the streetscape drastically. The car also knows realtime which roads are congested and which are almost empty, which enables the user to always go the quickest way and spreads the traffic more equally through a city. But not every downside is covered yet. Since not everybody moves from and towards exactly the same location at the same time, this would mean a lot of empty cars would drive around towards their ‘new’ driver. So less parking space might be needed by the sharing principle, but the
same piece of infrastructure might actually create a barrier effect. A barrier is not necessarily defined by a concrete form. It can range from a road or (elevated) train tracks to a height difference in terrain. The effect however has a definition. This barrier effect can be defined as the consequence of the movement and the (potential) presence from vehicles on a piece of infrastructure (or just the presence of infrastructure itself), which have a negative influence on the needs of a society, groups within the society, relations between these groups and the individual1. The degree of the barrier effect depends on the effort it takes to cross it and the need to cross it, irrespectively about the quality and presence of the destinations on both sides of the infrastructure, income, age or sex. Parallel to the effort of crossing a barrier is the attractiveness of the (public) space around it. Locations around a large barrier often have a mono functional program because of the low attractiveness of the area, causing it to be hardly used for social interaction. These locations are mostly situated around areas with a higher intensity of multifunctional destinations. They are generally known as a border vacuum and are mostly used by groups or individuals feeling attracted to these unattractive, vacant spaces (like loiterers or criminals)2. Besides the direct social effects – mainly a connectivity problem – intensely used infrastructure barriers are often a main source of health effects for the surrounding residents. Noise pollution is the most common complaint around an these areas. According to the WHO among other things it impairs communication and disturbs sleep, with far going consequences3. Besides noise pollution, also air pollution is one of the characteristics of a barrier area. The emissions of carbon dioxide and particulate matters are often way higher than elsewhere. New technologies in the mobility sector might help in solving the problem of barriers. Fully automated vehicles are already developed and to be introduced on the market in 2020. Ten years later a significant share of the vehicle´s fleet consists out of fully automated vehicles between 25% and 35%4. Automated vehicles could enhance road capacity by optimizing driving behavior with 141
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Spaklerweg barrier profile.i4
Amsterdam
Tuesday 21st of May 2050 Het Parool
The queen surrounded by the mayor and developers at the inauguration of the new metro line. SJOERD BOOMARS // AMSTERDAM
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oday the new East-West metro line is inaugurated by Queen Amalia. Despite it being ten years delayed the Amsterdam municipality can be proud of its dense and well functioning public transport network created in the last century. The new metro line is the final part of a long term vision developed by the municipality thirty-five years ago. The earlier East line, the Ring line and the North-South line were part of the same vision. This overall structure has an interesting history to it, full of controversy and ideology. The first plans to construct a metro system in Amsterdam date from 1922, when a metro line underneath the Keizersgracht was proposed, combined with a couple radial lines. The plans further developed towards a tunnel from the Central Station towards the Overtoom. In the end this this idea turned out to be too expensive and future plans were abandoned. After the Second World War new ideas about the modernity of cities came around and gained ground in Amsterdam as well. Part of this modernity was an increase in focus on roads for cars and modern public transport. Hundred years ago, a new discussion about a new metro network started because the city was so congested it would restrain economic opportunities. In 1968 the city council made a definitive decision about the construction of a metro network, being completed in phases. Four different lines were to be built: - North-South line (finally completed in 2018) - East-West line - East-West line 2 (finally constructed as the East line in 1980) - Ring line This entire project was set to finish around the year 2000, a date not nearly
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The high quality public transport mapped with in red the East-West line.
achieved. However, the current network is largely based on the agreement from 1968. In 1970 ground was broken on the construction of the East line. They started with this line because it included the smallest underground section and was meant to connect the newly built satellite city de Bijlmer. Because for the underground section through the city centers Nieuwmarktbuurt a lot of historical buildings had to be demolished, massive riots emerged in 1975. The demolition of houses during a housing crisis in Amsterdam caused a rage from squatter movements and they started something that looked like a guerilla war in order to preserve their neighborhood. In the end they gave in and the construction of the entire line finished in 1980.
“... and they started something that looked like a guerilla war in order to preserve their neighborhood.“ Because of the problems with the underground section of the East line, the decision was made to let the East line diverge after metro station Spaklerweg. Connecting the south of Amsterdam and its suburb Amstelveen with the Central Station, a new hybrid tram/metro line was introduced in 1990. This line was also the first connection with the South Station. Ever since nowadays this is the main business district of The Netherlands, it can be seen as an important step in the development of the South Axis. Merely five years later also the West of the city was connected to the metro network. With new tracks constructed from
the South Station to the northwest there was finally a ring constructed around the historic center of Amsterdam. However, it is not on connected as a full ring yet. In the northwest the line ends at an industry park, sky wide ‘only’ three kilometers away from the central station. The line running here is officially not a metro, just like the South line. Instead it was an express tram (Sneltram) because of trauma of the problems with the earlier metro. In 1997 a referendum about the construction of a full blown North-South line was held in Amsterdam. A vast majority was against the construction of it, being afraid of sagging of buildings. But because of a political hassle the city council still managed to get the plans passed, so from the start on it was a very controversial project. The five years after this decision new techniques were researched in order to be able to drill beneath the existing city. In 2003 the construction started and the project was set to finish in 2011. Seven years behind schedule and more than a doubled later the North-South line was finally opened. The line connects the north of Amsterdam through the city center with the Central Business District. After the completion of the North-South line new studies around the metro network were done. For completing the Ring line two options were considered; - Completing the Ring from Isolatorweg towards the Central Station - Connecting the Ring line with the NorthSouth line in Amsterdam North In the end the municipality city planners chose for the second option because of the focus of the expansion of Amsterdam North. With the North-South line so intensely used the connection to the west of the city also became very important. Another whispered reason to do this was because
of the controversy it would generate when drilling beneath the Spaarndammerbuurt. This is a historic neighborhood west from the station and people were afraid that just like with the North-South line the buildings on top would sag and be damaged. In 2025 they broke ground and it was completed five years later, almost within budget and only a few months delayed. Directly afterwards the completion of the ring line, the decision to start with the East-West line was made. With the first plans made in 1968 this idea was always there. The great success of the NorthSouth line caused the municipality began to investigate a high quality connection between the east of the city and airport Schiphol. After four years the city council agreed on construction of the metro line. Similar to the Noord-Zuid line thirty years earlier the entire process was surrounded by controversy and problems. The drilling beneath the south of Amsterdam caused historical buildings to sag, which caused severe damage. With lawsuits trying to determine who was responsible for the damage the project got delayed more than five years. And now finally, after sixteen years the queen is able to officially open the metro line for Amsterdam and its citizens. The conclusion can be drawn that creating a metro line beneath the historic parts of Amsterdam always is a controversial decision to make. But aside from all the controversy and discussion around this topic, it is important to understand that the metro lines constructed the last century are crucial for the city in order not to congest. The metro network offered new economical possibilities, causing the prosperous city it is at this moment. <<
Fictional newspaper article about the history and future vision of the Amsterdam metro network.i5
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In 2018 the North/South metro line is put in use. The new metroline will connect the upcoming north part of the city with its central business district (Zuid As) and function as the new backbone of the public transport network in the center, where the trams will radially connect to. This should relieve the center at least from some of the pressure caused by congestion. This project is the most relevant example under construction of the improvement the municipality of Amsterdam has in mind for its metro network. In order to be able to free the city (mostly) from cars, a high quality alternative should be offered. It is however not the only project with the aim to extend the metro network of Amsterdam. Several studies are done in completing the metro ring there is now, with either connecting to the Central Station or to the north of Amsterdam. Other studies include the extension of the network to Schiphol Airport and an East/West line, which would open up possibilities for the neighborhood IJburg. The (fictional) newspaper article which is set in the year 2050 explains the history of Amsterdam with the construction of metro lines and goes deeper into the vision of future lines. The construction of metro lines in Amsterdam usually go hand in hand with a lot of controversy, due to delays and going over budget. Still there are however constantly new developments concerning it. Especially with the new upcoming technologies and heavy congestion in the center, a dense metro network was never more relevant.
INTERVIEWS Bas (22) Living in the new student housing
Jules (22) Living in the temporary student housing
Where on the location do you live? I live in the Mokum apartment block. It is a newly built residence with partly student housing in it.
Where on the location do you live? Behind the former prison. It is temporary student housing in containers.
How do you experience the Overamstel area? It is a pretty dull area, there is not a lot going on yet. But the city center is really close by here, so usually I go there.
How do you experience the Overamstel area? To live it is far from perfect, but it is low-priced compared to the rest of Amsterdam. The storage and large commercial buildings give an edgy feeling to the area which I like. There is also an active squatters movement here, followed by a creative industry which I think is interesting.
When you go into the city, what kind of transport do you use? Well, this is Amsterdam and I am a student, so obviously I bike most often. But my parents live in Amstelveen, so going there the metro is most convenient. During going out I order an Uber every now and then with friends.
Do you think the area will keep that image on the long term? No, there are a lot of new houses being built. So it will probably transform into yet another neighborhood in Amsterdam where the middle class can live and bring their kids to school, with some students living here and there.
Do you experience all the infrastructure close to your apartment block as a barrier? I know that it is there, but I do not really mind. My house is on the other side of the block, so I look into the courtyard and I hardly hear anything. Besides that I never feel the need to go to the other side because I always go to the city center. For going there I do not need to cross.
What do you think about all the infrastructure at the Overamstel area? It brings the edgy feel to the area which I like. But then again it is really annoying that there is just one tunnel I can use to go through with my bike. Just to get food at a supermarket I have to cycle for ten minutes. And when I want to go to a biological supermarket even further. Those tunnels are also unsafe as a female in the dark. Just last year three girls got attacked around the corner.
Do you think this area can be a lively neighborhood when interesting functions are implemented? Yes, for the target group living here at the moment, there is simply nothing to do. When that changes I might spend more free time here.
The current barrer on the Amstel location.i6
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and studied by municipalities and city planners, but there are still a lot of problematic situations without any solution yet. Future mobility developments will help in solving parts of these problems and make it easier to adapt infrastructure to its new surroundings. Focusing on the sharing economy it might just drastically lower the car ownership and give a boost to efficiency. It opens up new possibilities for smart solutions like the UN Studio highway ring, or an entirely new public transport system on national scale. For the strip of Amsterdam this means that the focus on a transfer from the cars to public transport will become very important. This will need to happen in the South-East area, where the A9 will function as a new ring road and the metro system begins. For the Amstel site the key objective will be to become a smooth transfer hub within the city network itself. As earlier mentioned it is a place where different metro lines come together but the stations themselves are outdated, so the facilities would need an upgrade in order to reach this goal. For the Centraal area the focus will be on redesigning the newly gained space with the downgrade of the train system.
intensity of road usage would remain more or less the same. Also during peak hours this idea has not yet an answer, arguing that during times of lower usage the cars still need to be stored somewhere. In The Netherlands there are increasingly case studies done about eliminating the barrier effect of infrastructure with keeping in mind future developments. Currently all the contracts to make an underpass for the highway ring at the Central Business District of Amsterdam are signed and it is set to begin next year7. Also very interesting is the study done by UN Studios about the west side of the A10 Ring in Amsterdam. The starting point of the case study is retaining the existing infrastructure and increasing its capacity not by making it bigger, but by making it smarter. Making it smarter means in this case designing a new typology they call â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Hubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. This Hub is meant to transfer from the long distance mobility (mainly cars) on the Ring road to short distance mobility (public transport within the city center). The network of Hubs would function as a place to store your private cars and use those cars to cover the energy peak hours. Because of the public functions in there, it would function as a connecting element between the inner city of Amsterdam and the areas outside of the Ring as well, fitting into the vision of the municipality of densifying the Ring zone. Because of smart developments it would also be possible to create more dynamic highways according to UN Studio. When the pollution gets too high at a certain point the maximum limit speed at the road can automatically adjusted, directly lowering the emissions of the cars driving there. The scenario sketched by UN Studios could be very realistic according to the literature research done for this paper. I would suggest to take it even one step further. In the most optimistic scenarios 60% of all the cars are selfdriving. It would be logical for policy makers to mainly focus these way of transport in between cities on the existing highways because the inner cities are simply too congested and on these roads the least external interference can happen (unexpected maneuvers by pedestrians, cyclists). Since the cars are self-driving, no driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s license would be needed. In combination with the focus on the upcoming sharing-based economy this could end up in a system where private vehicles are merged with public transport providers. The intercity scale in the Netherlands is now covered by the train network, but with this combination of new technologies it will become less relevant and finally can be eliminated, removing a key element in a lot of barrier structures. The problems caused by the barrier effect of infrastructure are increasingly acknowledged
The Hofbogen situated in the Rotterdam urban fabric.i7
In New York the High Line is another example of a redesign of abandoned infrastructure. It is a park on top of a more than two kilometer long elevated steel structure built in the 1930s for freight trains. Since the 80s it was not used anymore and in 2003 a competition was held to convert the existing infrastructure into a public park. In order to get to this competition a nonprofit organization was founded in 1999, called Friends of the High Line. They envisioned preservation of the line and a reuse as public space, much like Promenade PlanteĂŠ in Paris. The support for preservation grew as also a fundraiser was held. The New York City government invested 50 million in the development of the park. Later it was backed by even more important supporters, with 150 million in funding in total. Construction began in 2006 and the first phase opened three years. The second phase opened in 2011 and the final phase officially opened to the public in 2014. The project stimulates real estate development in the neighborhoods along the line and increased the real estate values in a spectacular way. It was a true renaissance in the neighborhood, with in 2016 more than eleven projects under construction. These two projects only scratch the surface when it comes to the possibilities of redeveloping abandoned infrastructure. For the Amsterdam it is important to keep in mind that the gained space also should play an important role for the densification which the city has to cope with.
DIGRESSION There are multiple examples of what the opportunities are with the newly gained public space when a railway is abandoned, like in the scenario sketched earlier. I will discuss two of these. One in The Netherlands, the Hofbogen, and one in New York, the Highline. The Hofbogen is a train viaduct in Rotterdam which is transformed to an incubator space where entrepreneurs in food, fitness, design and leisure come together. In 1904 construction started on a train track between The Hague and Rotterdam. At the municipality border of that time a 1,9 kilometer elevated train track ran straight into the city center with 189 arches. At the end there was the Hofbogenstation situated. The space between the arches mainly functioned as storage space by which the open character of the structure got lost. It impoverished quickly afterwards and in 2006 the Dutch Railway company decided to stop using the train tracks. Directly after this two Housing corporations bought the viaduct. In their vision the image of the Hofbogen have a crucial influence on the quality of life in its direct surroundings. Now ten years later, the area is buzzing again with high quality leisure and creative industry and there are plans for a park on top of it. In order to make a fitting connection with the rest of the city and over the train tracks, the Luchtsingel was designed. It is a unique project where residents themselves were able to invest in by buying a wooden plank. By generating these investments, the city of Rotterdam was able to upgrade the area around the Hofbogen. Now events often take place and is it a loved public space in the city.
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One of the views from the Highline.i8
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People spending free time in the elevated park with new developed housing in the background.i9
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Endnotes: Boon, van Wee, Geurs , Defenition of a barrier effect. Boon, van Wee, Geurs , Vacuum function of barrier areas. 3 WHO, “Health effects of infrastructure”. 4 Milakis et al., Expected marketshare of automated vehicles. 5 Hoogendoorn, R., van Arem, B. and Hoogendoorn, S., The increase of capacity by the use of self-driving cars 6 Wainwright, Expected reduction of investments in conventional road infrastructure. 7 Marc Kruyswijk, “Megaklus tunnel A10 bij de Zuidas kan beginnen,” Het Parool (2017). 1 2
Bibliography: Arjan van Timmeren and Anthony M. Townsend (2015) Smart Cities From Smart Cities to Intelligent Cities Arjan van Timmeren, Laurence Henriquez, Alexandra Reynolds (2015) Ubikquity & The Illuminated City, Delft University of Technology BNA Onderzoek (2017) Highway x City The Future Of The Urban Ring Road Boon, W., Geurs, K., van Wee, B. (2010) Sociale effecten van verkeer Capita Selecta Part 4 Bussum: Uitgeverij Coutinho Boon, W., Geurs, K., van Wee, B. (2008) Social Impacts of Transport: Literature Review and the State of the Practice of Transport Appraisal in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom Transport Reviews Volume 29, Number 1 Delft: TU Delft Boon, W., Geurs, K., van Wee, B. (2003) Barrièrewerking van infrastructuur: A2 en Amsterdam Rijnkanaal barrière voor inwoners van Utrecht-Leidsche Rijn? Delft: TU Delft Faculteit Techniek, Bestuur en Management Hoogendoorn, R., van Arem, B. and Hoogendoorn, S. (2014). Automated Driving, Traffic Flow Efficiency And Human Factors: A Literature Review. Transportation Research Record, 2422, pp.113–120 Milakis, D., Snelder, M., van Arem, B., van Wee, B., Correia, G., (2017) Development and transport implications of automated vehicles in the Netherlands: scenarios for 2030 and 2050 EJTIR 17(1), 2017, pp.63-85 Shannon, K., Smets M. (2010) The Landscape Of Contemporary Infrastructure Rotterdam: NAI Publishers Peeters, P., Elffers, H. (2010) Do Physical Barriers Affect Urban Crime Trips? Crime Patterns and Analysis Volume 3, Number 1 Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit Silberg, G., Wallace, R., Matuszak, G., Plessers, J., Brower, C. and Subramanian, D. (2012). Self-driving cars: The next revolution. KPMG and Center for Automotive Research. KPMG: Center for Automotive Research. WHO, (2000) Transport, environment and health WHO Regional Publications, European Series, No. 89 Vienna: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
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UNStudio Amsterdam. “Urban Study A10 Ring Road & Lelylaan Area”, 2016. Diagrams, pictures and maps made by the Author Capture from Google Maps Photographs taken by Iwan Baan
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PUCK VOGELPOEL The research question is: Wat will be the future of the ring road A10 when the surroundings are being developed and get more dense. Following the trends for the future more people are living in cities. Cities will get bigger and denser. More people need to travel in and around cities. To make this possible more buildings (housing, offices etc.) and infrastructure are needed, the capacity of both needs to increase. Area’s in the city will get more dense, left over space will be filled. Already existing infrastructure will get more intensified or more infrastructure will be build.
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“spatial planning is about the distribution of space and particularly about the alignment of infrastructural planning and area development” 5 . From the 60’s highways in the form of ring roads were constructed around cities to suburbanize cities and there inhabitants 9. Most highways were located at the border of the city. They were designed without any relation to the city’s urban fabric. Because Amsterdam kept growing it grew over its former edges, so it grew over the highway. The highway first was at the edge of the city, now the highway is at most parts inside the city. Amsterdam will keep on growing in the future. In the coming time the edge of the city center will be developed. The edges of the city center are now located around the ring road A10. The ring road A10 has a lot of impact on its surroundings, when the surroundings are being developed its important to also take a look at the highway.
Mainly because of regulation, buffer zones had to be created around highways. A zone which had to deal with the negative effects of the highway, like air and noise pollution. It can be seen as the transition zone between infrastructure and the urban fabric. The effect of the buffer zone is that
the already bad relation between the city and the highway only increased. Because of this the relation between infrastructure and architecture will get more important. Architecture and infrastructure are not able to ignore each other anymore in the future, so the task for the future will be how to integrate the two into something new. The highway is often forming a barrier. Physically, because of its typology. A wide area of asphalt often on a dike, at both sides a buffer zone. A lot of space that can’t be crossed and is not “making” any relation with the surroundings. Only at certain area’s there are roads underneath the highway, or links to its surroundings to get on the highway 4. Mentally; In the mind of people the A10 still forms the edge of the city. For instance; Often if people want to buy a house in Amsterdam they look for a house inside the A10. Outside the A10 people are more poor and the unemployment is higher 8.
RBL 2007, Year average concentration. Road 4 hm: 42,7 Number of Cars: 11516/ daily, percentage transport: 9,0% NO2 background 25,7 ug/m3; PM10 background: 20,4 ug/m3 Corrected for seasalt: 6 ug/m3
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Future mobility and City’s, What will be the role of the A10 highway
not inside cities.
The city center of Amsterdam is slowly turning car free. In a article councilor Zeeger Ernsting is quoted that already in the 70s roads like the Klaverstraat and the Leidsestraat were made car free 2. The article is about the transformation of the Muntplein into a low-car traffic zone. Following this trend the city center will slowly become a car free zone. The center is better suited for traffic which uses little space, especially when the center is becoming more dense, all the space that can be gained is necessary. Already in 1966 The artist constant was writing about cars are very inefficient with use of space 7. By far the biggest part of the day cars are parked, just using public space. Public space which is needed in dense places like city centers.
Amsterdam has already grown over the A10 and in the future will keep on growing. Dense area’s will expand outwards. The surroundings of the A10 will become more dense, and will become more and more part of the city center. In the future when the surroundings of the A10 are becoming part of the city center the ring A10 as a highway is not suited for this location. The highway should be moved to the periphery of the city. A place where this type of road is better suited. Big infrastructure, for mobility in between cities has to be moved outwards of the city at the periphery. Inside the city infrastructure should be only focused on inner city traffic. The A10 should be downgraded to a road which is suited for inner city traffic.
The way the different types of roads are ranked shows a hierarchy. They hardly blend together, instead they form barriers for each other. A highway is built for traffic on a big scale. The biggest scale in the road system. It’s made for traffic in between different cities, intercity traffic. The infrastructure to connect different cities and the rest of the country with each other. A road system which should be located in between cities,
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The A10 and its surroundings will become part of the center, also this area will become more and more car free. Less cars are going to use the A10, so the road can made smaller. The road is slowly loosing it’s function. To make the road better suited for the surroundings its located in and in the future it should be downgraded, to a road which is suited for inner city traffic. To make connections between the road and the city. By downgrading the road to a connecting road, in the form of a boulevard, the road is better suited for this. On the boulevard the maximum speed will be lowered so less noise and air pollution is created by the traffic. Because of this the buffer zones can be reduced. the buffer zone can be seen as the transition zone between infrastructure and architecture. It forms the barrier between infrastructure and the urban fabric, but also forms the chance for creating a bridge between the urban fabric and infrastructure. The boulevard creates the change
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To overcome this barrier effect it’s important to look into the future of mobility in and around Amsterdam. Infrastructure can be sorted in different groups. For this research it will be sorted in the groups: - Drives on a track - Sails on water - Drives on a road Each group uses its own system and creates its own barrier. This research will be about the group that uses the road. In this group you find the following things. - Highway (intercity, cars) - Regional road (intercity, cars) - Connecting streets (city, cars) - Small streets (neighborhood, cars) - Bike paths (bike) - Sidewalk (walking)
Degresion City walls of Amsterdam
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The city walls were located at the edge of the city, and were forming a barrier between the city and the periphery. The walls lost their function so were taking apart. The city grew over the walls, because of this the walls were starting to form a barrier between old and new. Buildings were built on the former ground of the city walls, which helped to improve the connection. A situation very relatable to the situation that is or will exist in the future around the A10 when urban fabric will grow over it. And the A10 slowly will lose its function as a highway. What can be learned, in this case it seems like buildings stimulate the relation between the two parts. Let’s assume this is true and take a look
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- Map of Amsterdam in the 17th century
New Neighborhoods
i11
- The old city walls of Amsterdam
New Neighborhoods
i14
i12 - Weterings Circuit Amsterdam, a Park located on the former city walls
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i13
- Buildings placed on the former city walls
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- Sections of the city wall through time
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AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
In the 17th century city walls where build around the city, they were built to protect the city. Located all around the city and build op on islands. A section from inside out can be seen as: canal – island with city wall – canal. In the 19th century the walls lost their function because they were not needed anymore as defensive walls. Slowly the walls were taking apart. On the former ground of the city walls parks with trees and walking paths were created. The city kept on growing, because of a lack of space inside the walls it started growing at the other side. The city walls and the parks were in between the old and the newer part, so the connection between both was not strong. Also the ground prices kept on rising. At the end of the 19th century houses where build on the ground of the former city wall 6. At this time the city walls are gone, some of the parks still exist, most of the buildings are still standing.
i15
- The old city walls of Vienna
Opera house Build in Neo renaissance style, by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Edward van der Nüll. It’s seen as one of the best in the world, is stands as a symbol of freedom for Austria. One of the things noticeable is that there was a big screen with chairs outside where the opera is screened live outside. I lot of people were watching the opera over there for free.
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
Degresion Ringstrasse – Vienna The Ringstrasse in Vienna was built between 1857 and 1865 and is situated on the former city wall. That old city wall was forming a barrier for traffic between the old city center and the new surrounding neighborhoods. To connect to old and the new a ring road was built around the old city center. The road is built as a boulevard. There is mix of traffic using the road: cars, trams, busses, bike and pedestrians paths. Even underneath the road metro’s are riding. In this road every different type of infrastructure has its own space on the road. The road is surround by buildings with lots of grandeur. Buildings with a big scale, and with important functions for the whole city. The buildings are designed in very ornamented styles. “After all, it owes its nickname ‘lord of the Ring Roads’ and its world heritage status largely to the representative architecture of the buildings flank its routes 1.” The architecture is build in Neo Gothic, Classicism, Renaissance and Baroque. Some of the buildings that are build around the road are:
Hofburg It’s was a palace from the 13th century until 1918. So long before the Ringstrasse was created. It’s transformed a lot over time. From 1881-1913 the part of the building was made that really made the connection with the Ringstrasse.
i16
- The Operahouse of Vienna
i18 - Nolli Map of the surroundings of the A10 with the buildings surrounding the Ringstrasse in darker
Burgtheater Build in 1888 by Gottfried Semper. Almost exactly the same building is standing in Dresden. The building was heavily damaged in the war and rebuild after wards. It’s the integrated design of architecture and new typologies with infrastructure which makes the Ringstrasse a very interesting road. The connection between old and new neighborhoods was lost. In between a lot of space came free because the city wall lost its function. This big amounts of free space where used for big scale buildings with an important function. The buildings together with the boulevard form a very successful integration, which made a very good connection between the old and the new neighborhoods. 156
i17
- The ringstrasse and the Parlement - Vienna
i19
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- Section of the Ringstrasse.
Conclusions Because the city of the future will be more dense the relation between city and infrastructure will be more important, so important it can’t be ignored any more. The buffer zone is the zone which determines the relation between the two. Because the A10 highway of the future will become more and more part of the city it must be treated as a road inside the city which is willing to make connections with the city. The highway is a road system which makes intercity mobility possible, but is not suited for inner city travel. In the future the highway A10 needs to change in a city boulevard to make the connections possible. Much space will be gained because the buffer zone will decrease significally. Much space to increase the relation between the urban fabric and the infrastructure, and between the two sides of the urban fabric. The highway will lose its function slowly, like the city wall ones did. When such a big barrier loses its function there is a change to increase the connection between the two sides. It’s important to understand the qualities such a barrier brings with it, like the green zones. When this is understood designs can be made which take the qualities into account.
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Endnotes: Acker, Maarten van and Vijver, Samuel van de. No RIng Road No City, No City No Ring Road (2017). Highway x City. Autoluw Muntplein Historisch Besluit (2016). i3 Beuckens, Johannes, Bart van der Heijden, and Fokko Kuik (2012). De Aanpasbare Stad. i4 Geerst, F, and A Karavanas, eds. In View of the Road Profile (2017). Highway X City. i5 Hooimeijer, Fransje, ed (2017). In View of the Buffer Zone. Highway X City. i6 Kurpershoek, Ernest. De Laatste Stadswal Van Amsterdam. i7 Nieuwenhuys, Constant (1966). Nieuw Urbanisme. Provo. i8 Obbink, Hanne (2014). Waar Moeten Al Die Amsterdammers Gaan Wonen? i9 Swilling, Mark (2016). The Curse of Urban Sprawl: How Cities Grow, and Why This Has to Change. The Guardian. i1 i2
Bibliography: 10 bevindingen over de ring A10 (2014). http://www.stad-forum.nl/aanbevelingen/10-bevindingen-de-ring-a10/ Autoluw Muntplein Historisch Besluit (2016). https://amsterdam.groenlinks.nl/nieuws/autoluw-muntplein-historisch-besluit. Arjan van Timmeren and Anthony M. Townsend (2015) Smart Cities From Smart Cities to Intelligent Cities Beuckens, Johannes, Bart van der Heijden, and Fokko Kuik (2012). De Aanpasbare Stad: Robuuste Keuzes in De Amsterdamse Planning. Bijdrage aan het Colloquium Vervoersplanologisch Speurwerk. Amsterdam. BNA Onderzoek (2017) Highway x City The Future Of The Urban Ring Road Metz, Tracy and Zilvold, Rien (2014). Met de A11 wordt de A10 een boulevard. NRC (2014). Nieuwenhuys, Constant (1966). Nieuw Urbanisme. Provo. Nijenhuis, Wim (2008). De diabolische snelweg: over de traditie van de mooie weg in het Nederlandse landschap en het verlangen naar de schitterendev snelweg in de grote stad. pp 121 - 151. Obbink, Hanne (2014). Waar Moeten Al Die Amsterdammers Gaan Wonen? https://www.trouw.nl/home/waar-moeten-al-dieamsterdammers- gaan-wonen-~aacf2171/. Swilling, Mark (2016). The Curse of Urban Sprawl: How Cities Grow, and Why This Has to Change. The Guardian.
Images: i1 Knol, Anne (2013). “Een Analyse Van De Impact Op De Gezondheid Van Omwonenden.” edited by Milieudefensie. Amsterdam (2013). i2, i4-i9, i14, i18-i19 Diagrams, pictures and maps made by the Author i3 Capture from Google Maps i10, i11 http://historiek.net/oude-stadsmuren-en-bastions-van-amsterdam/40352/ i12, i13 http://leafywalks.com/amsterdam/walks/nicolaas-witsenkade-to-rijksmuseum-walk.html i15 https://munsonscity.com/tag/vienna/ i16 https://www.hotel-rosner.at/nl/infos/bezienswaardigheden/wiener-ringstrabe/ i17 http://www.wikiwand.com/la/Wiener_Ringstra%C3%9Fe
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The future of the ring road. By downgrading the highway, a lot of free space is created. There is less space for cars so less cars can use the new road. People are still able to use their car, but will be encouraged to use other ways of transport more often. People who have to travel long distances will be able to use their car, but people who have to travel small distances will be inhibited to use the car and encouraged to take the bike or use public transport. Car use is inhibited but public transport, cycling and walking should be encouraged. The new free space should be used for creating more and better bike/ walk paths and public transport. One of the most important things in urban planning, is trying to be future proof 3. To be future proof it’s important to reserve space for future mobility. It’s unknown what the future of mobility will look like, but by reserving space for it its easier for a city to change with the trends. Studying the current highway and the buffer zone it also brings certain qualities. Along the highway located in the buffer zone long green zones can be found. They can be found in a lot of different ways; playgrounds, parks for walking or cycling, waterways. Green zones that certainly have qualities which not can be overlooked.
MOOD-ILITY
DAVIDE NICCOLINI sources of stress or sense of relief and happiness based according to how much reliable and well connected these infrastructures are. As we know, commuting takes time and can affect our mood and productiveness, especially when the commuting trip is with public means, because many psychological factors come into play, among which, the most important one is the unpredictability and the sense of lost control of their own time. This topic is very interesting especially if put in relation with this period strongly characterized by a virtual component, intangible and highly interactive that is going to become even more predominant in the upcoming future. How can the virtual component help in this matter and at the same time help to reduce the stress caused by poor infrastructure connectivity? Therefore, how can smart route planning apps, enhance the quality of the chosen commuting modality in the upcoming future? Providing an alternative to the use of personal means. If our aim is to provide a better future is very important to redefine the parameters with which we design and plan new infrastructural expansions or new cities taking into account new problems, such as personal movement in relation to the public and shared means, how to interact in a smart way with the environment providing a better quality and fruition of it such as with a smart route planning. An example, would be to provide a valid alternative to the usage of personal means, such as the car, through smartly planning the commute using public transport, such as train, for long distances, and the bike, for short distances, to move within the city.
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
In search of new needs
The article deals with the evolution of the commuting in Holland and how the railway station, the main source of access to the city for those who commute using public means, has evolved over time into an intermodal junction where different modes of transport come together. This very often results in a loss of service quality due to the lack of spaces or services because they are inadequate to the capabilities they now have to undergo. Very often this results in unnecessary sources of stress for those traveling for work or pleasure. From this point, the article tries to explore the possibilities offered by the new ICT technologies, linking them with the public services offered on the territory. Investigating a valid alternative to the use of personal means by exploring the idea behind the Maas, mobility as a service. The alternative analyzed is the combination of train and bikes as main commuting source. Since every day, forty percent of those who commute using the train arrive at the station using the bike.
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If we look at the history of the city as a desire, like a lust for new needs, we realize that everything has been done to enhance and implement something that did not exist at the start, but which has created a need along the way. In more than three thousand years of history it has happened of things, sometimes good and sometimes bad. But all of them, in one way or another, have contributed significantly to enriching the city with new functions and needs at the same time. I would like to start from this point: how did we get to the “Smart City”? Why do we want a city to become “Smart”? How do we define a city “Smart”? Analyzing human history in relation to its habitat, one might say that there has been a shift away from the animal / natural realm into an artificial realm: the city precisely. During the first sixteen centuries, back when the idea of the city and civitas, for as we know it today, was yet to take shape, the focus was on the competition with nature by dominating and controlling it. So, the city was at beginning an analog response to nature, a kingdom made by the man for the man. Won the challenge with nature, for beauty and complexity of his realm, the man started to pay attention to the city itself. This is the period in which the artificial kingdom begins to have a critical view of itself, almost introspective. Utopias start to flourish, firstly the one written by Thomas Moore, from which derives the name of the new literary genre that was inspired by it1. Utopias: visions impossible to achieve for the times that generated them. In this sense, one could say that all utopias were preliminary because they have been able to bring out, or direct the attention to, problems with which one was not fully aware or simply there was no need since many may not deemed that as a problem. There is something fascinating in all this, something that every time manages to transcend the current state of facts to find a practical solution: the imagination. The fantastic story of Moore made possible, through literature, to imagine the city in every way from the social to the political aspect, with a hint of ideology and intellectual honesty that never hurts. Which then, was followed by another text, less known but more topical: “The imaginary Republic” of Agostini2. Agostini in the imaginary republic began to outline the characteristics of the modern city for the first time and again, for the first time he started to look at the city in a systematic way, as a body composed of various parts or infrastructures. The starting point, or rather the necessity that has brought forth this vision: lack of hygiene due to poor infrastructure development. Again, history is repeating itself but in a different context: how does infrastructures affect daily commuting? Providing unnecessary
The stress that doesn’t pay It is no coincidence that commuting has been labeled as the “stress that does not pay”3 because it often results in unnecessary sources of stress, whether it is by public transport or by private means, the connection between stress, good humor and sense of satisfaction has been widely demonstrated with the type and mode of transport chosen. The factors that define intense stress include the unpredictability or the sense of loss of control and the sense of anger and frustration. Especially if it is related to the journey from home to work and how to reach it either in an active or passive way4. The greatest repercussions are experienced by those who commute with the car. It is not difficult to imagine why, as one is often bottled up in traffic jams without being able to do more than wait, or even worse, to know that you have arrived at your destination but you are not able to find a place to park your car or even your bicycle! Furthermore, it has been calculated that for each extra hour spent in commuting, it has a 6% negative impact on time for activities related to leisure and personal wel 161
AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
The strees that doesn’t pay
If we look at the history of the city as a desire, like a lust for new needs, we realize that everything has been done to enhance and implement something that did not exist at the start, but which has created a need along the way. In more than three thousand years of history it has happened of things, sometimes good and sometimes bad. But all of them, in one way or another, have contributed significantly to enriching the city with new functions and needs at the same time. I would like to start from this point: how did we get to the “Smart City”? Why do we want a city to become “Smart”? How do we define a city “Smart”? Analyzing human history in relation to its habitat, one might say that there has been a shift away from the animal / natural realm into an artificial realm: the city precisely. During the first sixteen centuries, back when the idea of the city and civitas, for as we know it today, was yet to take shape, the focus was on the competition with nature by dominating and controlling it. So, the city was at beginning an analog response to nature, a kingdom made by the man for the man. Won the challenge with nature, for beauty and complexity of his realm, the man started to pay attention to the city itself. This is the period in which the artificial kingdom begins to have a critical view of itself, almost introspective. Utopias start to flourish, firstly the one written by Thomas Moore, from which derives the name of the new literary genre that was inspired by it1. Utopias: visions impossible to achieve for the times that generated them. In this sense, one could say that all utopias were preliminary because they have been able to bring out, or direct the attention to, problems with which one was not fully aware or simply there was no need since many may not deemed that as a problem. There is something fascinating in all this, something that every time manages to transcend the current state of facts to find a practical solution: the imagination. The fantastic story of Moore made possible, through literature, to imagine the city in every way from the social to the political aspect, with a hint of ideology and intellectual honesty that never hurts. Which then, was followed by another text, less known but more topical: “The imaginary Republic” of Agostini2. Agostini in the imaginary republic began to outline the characteristics of the modern city for the first time and again, for the first time he started to look at the city in a systematic way, as a body composed of various parts or infrastructures. The starting point, or rather the necessity that has brought forth this vision: lack of hygiene due to poor infrastructure development. Again, history is repeating itself but in a different context: how does infrastructures affect daily commuting? Providing unnecessary
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Relationship between live and work ratio.i2
Relationship between urbanization and labour workforce.i3
Diagram of the direct connections to Amsterdam.i1
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Means of commuting on normal weekdays.i4
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In search of new needs
The Dutch case: a nation in motion According to CBS, in a study conducted towards the end of 2011, more than 56% of people do not work in their home town. That means more than 4.5 million workers every day commute to reach their workplace, with the major cities attract the largest number of commuters (graph i2). The 4 major urbanized cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht) together are accountable for the 17% of the entire national workforce. Furthermore, the study pointed out that those cities are mainly used for work rather than residence6 (graph i3). With Amsterdam resulting to be still the main commuting destination for work and leisure. Therefore, it’s not a case if almost half of the entire train network has a direct fast connection to Amsterdam, including a high-speed track that links Amsterdam to Rotterdam in less than 40 minutes (graph i1). To put this in numbers means that about one-sixth of the workforce in Amsterdam is made up of commuters7. With approximately 100,000 people traveling daily from the neighboring areas to reach their workplace in Amsterdam. Principal way of commuting The same CBS in the latest mobility report, drawn up at the end of 2016 using data collected in 2014, emphasized once again that in Holland the car is still the main commuting source for covering long distances, reporting that the Dutch, on average, traveled something like 11 thousand kilometers domestically in 2014, without even mentioning holidays and business trips. Covering over 70 percent of this distance using the car, either as drivers or as passengers (graph i4). More precisely, CBS says that the daily trip to and from work is responsible for much of the travel distance and travel time, which then also contributes to the peak hours every day, resulting in rush hours and traffic jams. On average, during workdays in the period 2013-2014 there were almost 10 million trips to work. Workers travel a daily average of 24 kilometers, taking 34 minutes. On the other hand, commuter trips are down to less than one fifth on the weekends. Cars are accountable for the 77 percent of the commuting distance; 10 percent is done by train and 6 percent by bicycle. On average, daily commutes take about half an hour. Men commute on average 40 minutes while women 12 minutes less. The distance men’s cover is almost double: 30 compared to 16 kilometers. Because women often work part-time or have no job at all.
The stress that doesn’t pay
The always busy iconic bike park near Amsterdam Centraal.i6
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It is no coincidence that commuting has been labeled as the “stress that does not pay”3 because it often results in unnecessary sources of stress, whether it is by public transport or by private means, the connection between stress, good humor and sense of satisfaction has been widely demonstrated with the type and mode of transport chosen. The factors that define intense stress include the unpredictability or the sense of loss of control and the sense of anger and frustration. Especially if it is related to the journey from home to work and how to reach it either in an active or passive way4. The greatest repercussions are experienced by those who commute with the car. It is not difficult to imagine why, as one is often bottled up in traffic jams without being able to do more than wait, or even worse, to know that you have arrived at your destination but you are not able to find a place to park your car or even your bicycle! Furthermore, it has been calculated that for each extra hour spent in commuting, it has a 6% negative impact on time for activities related to leisure and personal wel165
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AMS MID CITY MAGAZINE 2017
Amsterdam’s bike network.i5
lbeing5. Simply put, more time spent on traveling around results in less time to devote to yourself and to your hobbies or relatives.
sources of stress or sense of relief and happiness based according to how much reliable and well connected these infrastructures are. As we know, commuting takes time and can affect our mood and productiveness, especially when the commuting trip is with public means, because many psychological factors come into play, among which, the most important one is the unpredictability and the sense of lost control of their own time. This topic is very interesting especially if put in relation with this period strongly characterized by a virtual component, intangible and highly interactive that is going to become even more predominant in the upcoming future. How can the virtual component help in this matter and at the same time help to reduce the stress caused by poor infrastructure connectivity? Therefore, how can smart route planning apps, enhance the quality of the chosen commuting modality in the upcoming future? Providing an alternative to the use of personal means. If our aim is to provide a better future is very important to redefine the parameters with which we design and plan new infrastructural expansions or new cities taking into account new problems, such as personal movement in relation to the public and shared means, how to interact in a smart way with the environment providing a better quality and fruition of it such as with a smart route planning. An example, would be to provide a valid alternative to the usage of personal means, such as the car, through smartly planning the commute using public transport, such as train, for long distances, and the bike, for short distances, to move within the city.
Plusnetten road layout.i7
Smart billboard in Wien.i8
From place to device: the raise of Mobility as a Service
to the chosen destination point . Similarly, Vienna, already vanguard in the use of smart apps in relation to urban fabric, is now investing heavily in pedestrian and cycling infrastructures, as its urban layout still leaves much to be desired. For this reason, in a participatory process involving both citizens and competent authorities in 2013, the municipality launched a pilot project: the redevelopment of Mariahilferstrasse on a pedestrian street16. This proved to be a great success because all the traders in the area saw a sharp increase in their earnings thanks to the new layout which favors a slow, relaxing mobility that invites to look around surrounded by historic façades but at the same time grant quick access to all the information you need to move or do things through smart billboards that provide free internet access.
As mentioned in the article, the rise and wide diffusion of internet and smart devices with 3G\ 4G\ 5G connections are comppletely changing the way in which people commute. Travel application s that embrace the MaaS philosophy, are gainingmore popularity everyday. Since they enable multi-modal trip planning with the advantage of paying everything in just one click. This proves to be cost and time effective, as it enables to have tailor made solutions for each single urban layout. As every inhabitant of Amsterdam already knows, the best way to move around the city is the bike. This is no coincidence, but the direct result of specific policies taken from the 70’s onwards. In addition to being a cultural fact in Holland, the magazine planAM reports that the bike is 10 percent faster than any other means for moving around the city15. For this reason, since 2013, the municipality of Amsterdam has introduced the “plusnetten zones”, which are comfort zones in which cycling or walking are prioritized. Smart apps, in this context, may represent the next step as they could make it easier to moving around the city bike by providing real-time information about the availability and location of the bike parks that are closer
one out of five bicycles sold is an e-bike, and 10 percent of the total biking distance is covered by e-bikes. Last but not least, children and students ride their bicycles or use public means to reach their school or university. This point is very relevant and can be interpreted in two ways: either the effect of governmental policies, whose encourage students and young people to use the public means granting them free access, or like the report is suggesting, it might be due to a switch in culture and habits: car ownership and usage under 45 is getting lower and lower, among which, the largest decline is among the under 25 group. Within this category, only the eighteen percent own a car.
Footnotes: 1 Benevolo, Leonardo. Storia dell’architettura del Rinascimento. Roma: Ed. Laterza, 2008. p,492 2 Ibid p,494 3 Wei, Marlynn. “Commuting: “The Stress that Doesn’t Pay”.” Psychology Today. January 12, 2015. Accessed May 09, 2017. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/urban-survival/201501/ commuting-the-stress-doesnt-pay. 4 Lancée, Sascha, Ruut Veenhoven, and Martijn Burger. “MOOD DURING COMMUTE IN THE NETHERLANDS” “ What way of travel feels best for what kind of people?” Accessed May 12, 2017. https://personal.eur.nl/veenhoven/. p,6-7 5 Osborne, Hilary. “Commuting makes you ‘unhappy and anxious’, says ONS.” The Guardian. February 12, 2014. Accessed April 5, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/feb/12/commuting-unhappyanxious-ons. 6 CBS, ed. Transport and mobility - 2016. p,1-34 Publication. Accessed May 12, 2017. 7 CLO, ed.”Werkgelegenheid en verhouding wonen en werken per gemeente, 2015.” Werkgelegenheid en verhouding wonen en werken per gemeente, 2015 | Compendium voor de Leefomgeving. Accessed May 12, 2017. http://www.clo.nl/indicatoren/nl2066-werkgelegenheid-en-verhouding-wonen-en-werken. 8 Ibid p,1-34 9 Ibid p,88-94 10 Lancée, Sascha, Ruut Veenhoven, and Martijn Burger. “MOOD DURING COMMUTE IN THE NETHERLANDS” “ What way of travel feels best for what kind of people?” Accessed May 12, 2017. https://personal.eur.nl/veenhoven/. 11 Scheltema, Noor. “Theory - Recycle city.” Master’s thesis, TU Delft, 2012. Accessed May 12, 2017. http://recyclecity.noorderwerk.nl. p,94 12 Ibid p,24 13 Goodall, Waarwick, Tiffany Dovey Fishman, Justine Bornstein, and Brett Bonthron. “The rise of mobility as a service.” DU Press. January 23, 2017. Accessed May 14, 2017. https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/deloitte-review/issue-20/smarttransportation-technology-mobility-as-a-service.html?id=dup-us-en%3A2sm%3A3fb%3A4dup_gl%3A5eng%3A6dup. 14 Ibid 15 Aluvihare, Brömmelstroet,Horst. PlanAmsterdam issue 04 2014 p.3 16 Landezine. “Mariahilferstrasse.” Accessed May 05, 2017. http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2014/11/mariahilferstrasse-bybureau-bb/. Bibliography: Aluvihare, Brömmelstroet,Horst. PlanAmsterdam issue 04 2014 Benevolo, Leonardo. Storia dell’architettura del Rinascimento. Roma: Ed. Laterza, 2008. CBS, ed. Transport and mobility - 2016. CLO, ed.”Werkgelegenheid en verhouding wonen en werken per gemeente, 2015.” Goodall, Waarwick, Tiffany Dovey Fishman, Justine Bornstein, and Brett Bonthron. “The rise of mobility as a service.” DU Press. January 23, 2017. Lancée, Sascha, Ruut Veenhoven, and Martijn Burger. “MOOD DURING COMMUTE IN THE NETHERLANDS” “ What way of travel feels best for what kind of people?” Osborne, Hilary. “Commuting makes you ‘unhappy and anxious’, says ONS.” The Guardian. February 12, 2014. Scheltema, Noor. “Theory - Recycle city.” Master’s thesis, TU Delft, 2012. Wei, Marlynn. “Commuting: “The Stress that Doesn’t Pay”.” Psychology Today. January 12, 2015. Images: Diagrams and image i8 are made by the Author i6 Airbete. “Bicycle parking lot in Amsterdam”, 2006. Usage and permission granted by CC, Creative Commons Agreement. i7 PlanAmsterdam 04 - 2014. “Plusnetten road layout”. p.20 i1-2-3-4-5 & 8
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Therefore, they commute less often. In addition, the study pointed out that women tend to live closer to their place of work. Commuting accounts for most of the distance traveled, while social and leisure activities take up most of the travel time. Almost half of all travel time is related to leisure, including visits. Shopping accounts for over a fifth of all trips. With a tendency to be short and brief. But there is more, there are some curious facts: for short distances (up to 5 kilometers) Dutch people of all ages regularly prefer to take their bike or walk. Dutch people cycle an average of 1,000 kilometers a year. Electric bicycles (e-bikes) are becoming more popular especially among seniors:
HATTO KIENHUIS
THE BIKE, AN ELEVATED INVENTION Placing the bike on a pedestal
radical way of giving space to the biker ? Why not put the bike on a pedestal and give it the podium it deserves.
Is the bike endangered ?
A current trend worldwide is the elevated bike-highway. Car dominated cities, start seeing the potential of the bike, but often lack the existing infrastructure. The smart solution is to integrate infrastructure like rails or buslanes with a bike lane. The elevated biketrack is not new. Appearantly even before there were highways for cars, a wooden bike highway elevated above Californian soil was built in 1900. Should Amsterdam step up and follow this ‘new’’ trend as a trendsetter, considering the prevalent norm of low rise and equality?
A short history of the elevated bike track. The first en masse produced bike was the velocipede, literally meaning ‘fast foot’, in 1887.6 The elite explored the country side on dirt roads, since there was no asphalt back then. However in 1900 there was already an elevated bike path made of wood, trying to connect Los Angeles with the nearby suburb of Pasadena.7 Biking production was at the time booming in Amerika. The entrepreneur considered a toll system to make his project profitable. But the project was never completed and cancelled after two decades. In Amsterdam the bike was until the end of the second world war by far the most popular means of transportation because of the economic and short distances. Streets were rather busy, filled with bikers. In 1937 Sarah William Bosman, an American living in Amsterdam, wrote praise fully on Amsterdam life in a letter to The New York Times : ‘ In America I had my own car. In Amsterdam I did not miss it at all and owned my own bike. When I was back in America, I was amazed with the enormous amount of motorized traffic. Terrifying, it was, to cross the street. I rather dodge bikers in Amsterdam.‘ 8
Biking is a preferable means of transport in many ways. For instance for health reasons: bikers are less ill, healthier and more productive.3 In between 2010 and 2015 there was an annually increase of 300 million biked kilometres. This supposedly lead to a decline of 50.000 sick days. Simultaneously, by choosing for the bike, the emission of 40.000 ton of CO2 was avoided. Also a bike takes a lot less space while it is almost as fast as a car and of course a lot cheaper. So there are many reasons to prevail the bike over other means of transport.
Then, with modernism and it’s most desired object the car, the bike was definitely not the popular choice for a long time in Amsterdam.9 Car ownership increased dramatically in the sixties, with a factor of five, to 2.4 million in the Netherlands. Even the left wing prime-minister Den Uyl stated in 1967 that everyone deserved a car. There was protest against the dominant role of the car. But an unexpected incident in 1973, an oil embargo, really changed the affinity from cars back towards bikes again.
But not everything is going so well recently. Bikers are currently experiencing stress and anxiety especially in the centre, because of busy and wayward behaviour and limited space. During traffic hours more than halve (55%) of the bikers is experiencing annoyance on the bike lane.4 So to avoid traffic, 42% occasionally opt for a different route and a 33% will choose to depart at alternative times. With an annual growing population of 10.000 a year and the planning of 70.000 of dwellings within the existing boarders for 2040, there will be even more pressure on the existing infrastructure. 5 Another issue is that non-western immigrants, a group that is still growing are reluctant to take the bike. Bike usage is rather low among the Surinam community in Zuidoost. However the better they are integrated, the more they will use a bike.
Understanding the possibilities of biking, cities in the Netherlands started to invest in seperate bikelanes which lead to an increase in popularity again. Was the bike for idealists in the eighties, in the nineties the bike became more generally accepted. Cities like Amsterdam grew rapidly and became congested and harder to reach by car.10 Then there were economic reasons like high oil prices or a financial crisis in 2008. Lately the invention of the e-bike, climate awareness and the need for physical excercise could be included.
This does not suite the bike friendly appearance Amsterdam wants to have. Therefor Amsterdam has formulated three targets to improve biking for 2025: comfortable biking, easy parking and the new biking. But that might be not enough. The proposed solutions all deal with relative small measurements, like widening every piece of road to a minimum of 2.5 meter. Is there may be a more 168
On a global scale cities had to deal with problems of congrestion and pollution due to motorized transport. So cities like Amsterdam with its bike 169
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Amsterdam has formulated the wish to be energy neutral in 2050. The bike plays an important role in achieving this. Therefor Amsterdam will continue to focus on maintaining its leading position as bike friendly city. Counting over a million bikes, almost every citizen has one nowadays.1 Numbers show that the bike has become an increasingly popular mode of transport within Amsterdam. The movements by bike have grown in the last 25 years from 445.000 to 665.000 in 2016, with an average of 2.000.000 km’s per day. This is 36% of the total amount of movements and by far the biggest means of transport in the city. Car ownership in Amsterdam however has faced in the last years a decline, especially among young people.2 But overall car traffic has risen in the city. This is mainly due to a growth of commuters and day trippers.
infrastructure became an example how to implement the bike in the city. But since they lacked the space on ground level, they started looking for new alternatives that make smarter use of the already existing infrastructure. In 2014 Foster and Partners presented on a popular architectural website a bike lane on top of the existing rail track in London.11 The project entitled ‘SkyCycle’ caused quite a stir on the forum of the website. The average opinion was that the bike was supposed to stay on ground level. Even more recently a bike highway by Dissing + Weitling was completed in Xiamen, China.12 Raised 5 metres above the ground and just set below the raised busline, the track leads bikers for 7.6 kilometres uninterruped through the city. Could this be the next step in bike infrastructure? So why build an elevated bike highway ?
Amsterdam, a city with radial roads.i1
Right now 44% of the bike trips in the Netherlands have a maximum of 2.5km.13 The optimal radius for bikes is 5 to 7.5 km. With the arrival of e-bikes, this radius increases considerably so that it becomes a good alternative for commuting. This is especially interesting with the upcoming developments in Amsterdam Zuidoost, Noord and the islands in the East of Amsterdam. Right now Amsterdam has a radial structure, most roads are leading towards the centre. A fast track circumnavigating the centre could connect the new upcoming areas, while avoiding the busy centre. It could be a social and economic generator in the city for improving intergration. This integration of areas can coincide with the integration of different ethnic and economic groups.14 People with a Surinam background not familiar with the Dutch way of living use the bike way less (55%) than natives. Currently biking from Zuidoost to the centre is difficult because illogic routing.15 It actually takes forty minutes from the hospital AMC to the Dam according to Google Streetview. More biking could stimulate better living conditions for people living in Noord as well. They are currently facing health problems likeobesity, due to sociol-economic reasons.
Interrupted bikelanes i2
Separating the bike lane from other traffic makes cycling friendly. When there is a long uninterrupted stretch, it will be even more safer. Because especially at nodes, traffic becomes hazardous.16 The e-bike will require longer uninterrupted routes as well. Another aspect is the arrival of the automated
The wrong pedestal i3
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Skycycle by Foster and Partners in 2014 i5
amount of people and actions followed. But it was not until an unexpected event, the oil embargo in 1973, that people realized the full potential of bikes again. Since then the popularity of the bike has known a steady growth again, mainly due to the realisation of good infrastructure and the Dutch appreciation for economics. There is an optimal range for bikes of 5 to 7 km and for even less in the city centre. This is also where it is most busy. The potential of the e-bike leads to a much bigger radius. Areas situated in the outer regions of Amsterdam, like Zuidoost and even beyond, suddenly become within biking distance from the centre. Existing infrastructure does not facilitate this optimal. People will still choose for public transport and thus miss out on the positive effects of biking. Other cities worldwide are currently revalueing the bike, seeing is positive qualities. But high density in the city forces them to integrate existing infrastructure with a bikelane raised in the air. These new elevated bikelanes can be an example for Amsterdam in the future, since the city has to deal with more density as well. It will also help in persuading commuters to change the car for a bike at hubs near the highway and thus releasing the inner city. Therefor Amsterdam should once again reconsider the value of the bike and place it where it belongs, on a pedestal!
vehicle. Since it is hard to predict the behaviour of bikers for humans, this will be even more the case for automated vehicles. While car ownership in the city is shrinking, the numbers of cars in the city is still growing due to commuters and daytrippers. For people coming by OV it is already common practice to take an OV bike at the station.17 A bike highway could be a very powerful tool to persuade people to park their car at the fringe of the city, A10 or A9, and continue their journey per bike. Conclusion The bike is popular right now in Amsterdam, with almost everyone owning a bike. But some cracks in this valuable image of Amsterdam ‘bike city’ are starting to appear. The inner city is very crowded and people are taking detours and travel at alternative times in order to avoid traffic. Bikers feel less safe compared with other road users. So new ideas are welcome to keep Amsterdam a bike city. In the first halve of the twentieth century Amsterdam had embraced biking, because of economical and time saving reasons. But after the second world war, the bike lost its dominant position to the car. This lead to protest among an increasing 171
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Amsterdam already has an intensive infrastructure for bikes and has formulated goals for improvement while it is currently reaching its limitations in terms of space, nodes and safety. What are reasons for considering a bike highway?
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Bike highway by Dissing + Weitling in Xiamen.i6
Bike highway by Dissing + Weitling in Xiamen.i5
The longest bicycle highway in Xiamen
with a plan for a 7.6 kilometre route that is elevated five meters above the road, but just below a raised busline. The skyway is 4.8 metres wide so several bikers can travel side-by-side, not hindered by other forms of traffic. The green floor expresses the sustainable aspirations.
Xiamen is a city in the province Fujian in China, with currently 3.5 million inhabitants. It has an area of 1.573 km2 and like so many Chinese cities has known substantial growth in the last two decades. The omnipresent traffic jams, causes a revival of the popularity of the bike. But space is often lacking so new solutions have to be found.
But is not only a long stretch of bike road from a to b. There are eleven entry and exit points, including a looped one, providing commuters with access to bus and BRT stations, overpasses, shopping malls and other public buildings. There are also pedestrian bridges, ramps, roundabouts, bicycle parking and bicycle service pavilions included along the route.
Therefor Xiamen Municipal Planning and Design Administration commissioned Dissing + Weitling for a design for a bike route. The Danish Architects are known for the the Bicycle Snake in Copenhagen. The route should decrease traffic congestion and promote greener and sustainable forms of transportation in the city.
Bike highway by Dissing + Weitling in Xiamen.i7
With the arrival of the bike highway, the government inspires people to take the bike and shows that it is fun, efficient and healthy especially for short commutes.
This route is to cover five major residential areas and three business centress in Xiamen. They came
Bike highway by Dissing + Weitling in Xiamen.i8
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Footnotes: Gemeente Amsterdam I, “Meerjaren plan fiets 2017-2022,” Amsterdam, (2017). Gemeente Amsterdam II, “Meer Amsterdammers fietsen in groeiende stad.” Retrieved April 20, 2017, from https://www.amsterdam. nl/bestuur-organisatie/college (2017) 3 Gemeente Amsterdam I, “Meerjaren plan fiets 2017-2022,” Amsterdam, (2017). 4 Gemeente Amsterdam I, “Meerjaren plan fiets 2017-2022,” Amsterdam, (2017). 5 Gemeente Amsterdam III, “Structuurvisie Amsterdam 2040. Economisch sterk en duurzaam.” Amsterdam, (2017). 6 Moran, J. , “On Roads: A Hidden History. “ Profile Books, (2009). 7 Koeppel, D., “An 1899 Plan to Build A Bike Highway in Los Angeles (And Why It Failed).”, (2015). 8 Jordan, P., “De fiets republiek,”Podium, (2013). 9 Jordan, P., “De fiets republiek,”Podium, (2013). 10 Jordan, P., “De fiets republiek,”Podium, (2013). 11 Frearson, A., “Norman Foster promotes “cycling utopia” above London’s railways,” Dezeen, (2014) 12 Gibson, E., “ Dissing + Weitling completes “world’s longest” elevated cycling path in China,” Dezeen (2017) 13 Parking, J., “Cycling and sustainability,” Emerald Group Publishing Limited, (2012). 14 Boggelen, O., “Het fietsgebruik van allochtonen nader belicht,” Fietsberaad, (2006). 15 Kruiswijk, M., “‘Zuidoost is per fiets bijna onbereikbaar’,”Parool, (2014). 16 Winters, M., Brauer, M., Setton, E., & Tescke, K., “Built environment influences on healthy transportation choices: Bicycling versus driving,” Journal of Urban Health, (2010). 17 Gemeente Amsterdam, “Meerjarenplan Fiets, 2012 – 2016,” Amsterdam, (2012). 18 Stapel, R., ‘Exploring ring culture in 21th century.’ Delft (2017). 1
Bibliography : Amsterdam, proposal for BikeHighlane network.i9
A scenario for an elevated bike network
bike into the city centre. The bike highway tracks are going radially in- or outwards to the city centre. They follow the lobed structure avoiding the green zones as was planned in the AUP by van Eesteren. It is also within these lobes that densification will take place in the upcoming years. The tracks can coincide with existing infrastructure, for instance the railtrack Amsterdam Duivendrecht - Utrecht. Or they can be combined with the metro lines or bus-lines, whatever is available. Accespoints can and should coincide with existing stations. Here OV-bikes can be stored and lend. The good thing of this network is that the city centre is being avoided. It will be an easy task pedaling from Zuidoost to Noord. This will encourage new connections within the city. Thinking on a bigger scale, with the e-bike even longer distances can be covered. Almere, Hoofddorp or Haarlem can become well within the reach of the Amsterdam centre.
So where should this elevated bikelane come? And should it be just one or even more tracks? The scheme above, depicts a network of multiple bikehighlanes. There are several ideas processed in this sheme. For instance the division of the city in rings. There is the old city ring, Ring I, following the outline of the old city walls. In a possible future this ring will become a car free area. Then there is the second ring, formed by the A10. According to the research of Rosa Stapel 18, the A10 will play a less dominant role in the future. The highway will become a city boulevard, where people drive less hard. Since there is less space necessary, the free coming space can be used as a bike highway. The third ring is currently formed by the A9. This will be the new city ring, taking up traffic from the highways A1, A2 and A4. It is here, at these intersections that people can park their car and take a 174
Bendiks, S., Degros, A., “Fietsinfrastructuur, Cycleinfrastructure,”nai010 uitgevers, Rotterdam (2013). Boggelen, O., “Het fietsgebruik van allochtonen nader belicht,” Fietsberaad, (2006). Frearson, A., “Norman Foster promotes “cycling utopia” above London’s railways,” Dezeen, (2014) Gemeente Amsterdam I, “Meerjaren plan fiets 2017-2022, “ Amsterdam, (2017). Gemeente Amsterdam II, “Meer Amsterdammers fietsen in groeiende stad.” Retrieved April 20, 2017, from https://www.amsterdam. nl/bestuur-organisatie/college Gemeente Amsterdam III, “Structuurvisie Amsterdam 2040. Economisch sterk en duurzaam,” Amsterdam, (2017). Gibson, E., “ Dissing + Weitling completes “world’s longest” elevated cycling path in China,” Dezeen, (2017), Retrieved from www. dezeen.com/2017/03/05/xiamen-bicycle-skyway-dissingweitling-worlds-longest-elevated-cycling-route-china/ (2017) Koeppel, D., “An 1899 Plan to Build A Bike Highway in Los Angeles (And Why It Failed),” Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http:// gizmodo.com/an-1899-plan-to-build-a-bike-highway-in-los-angeles Kruiswijk, M., “‘Zuidoost is per fiets bijna onbereikbaar’,”Parool, (2014). Jordan, P., “De fiets republiek, “ Amsterdam, Podium, (2013). Parking, J. “Cycling and sustainability, Bingley UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, (2012). Stapel, R., ‘Exploring ring culture in 21th century.’ Delft (2017). Wilson, D., “Bicycling Science, “ The MIT Press, (2004). Winters, M., Brauer, M., Setton, E., & Tescke, K. , “Built environment influences on healthy transportation choices: Bicycling versus driving,” Journal of Urban Health, (2010). Images : Pictures are made by the Author Skycycle in London. Frearson, A., “Norman Foster promotes “cycling utopia” above London’s railways,” Dezeen, (2014) i5-6-7-8 Pictures of bikehighway in Xiamen. Source: Gibson, E., “ Dissing + Weitling completes “world’s longest” elevated cycling path in China,” Dezeen, (2017), Retrieved from www.dezeen.com/2017/03/05/xiamen-bicycle-skyway-dissingweitling-worlds-longestelevated-cycling-route-china/ (2017) i1-2-3-9 i4
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ON HEALTH
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FUTURE TRENDS As part of building a framework for the future scenario of health in the city of Amsterdam, the future predictions on various health-related topics were combined in a collage, shown on the right page. The old city centre is graphically represented as a heart, from which the river Amstel flows as a main artery. The images surrounding the heart are visual translations based on the following statistics, all based on the Netherlands and implemented on the scale of Amsterdam:
stress. Predictions are that these numbers are still climbing in the future. Already, incapacitated workers dye to psychological issues are exceeding physical issues. In 2012 this cost employers 1,8 billion Euros annually. 7. Medical costs: next to medical costs caused by psychological issues, predicitions are that in 2070 19-31% of the Dutch GPD will be made up of medical costs (compared to 8% in 2011). The main expenses will be caused by coronary heart diseases and diabetes, which is the same as in our current situation. 8. Medical development: as techology is developing exponentially, so is technology related medical development. This will change our entire healthcare system, were the hospitals as we know them now will most likely be obsolete in the future. With the closing of care homes, elderly will be living at home longer where everything can be digitally monitored. This fits with the new trend of ‘e-health’ which is the current buzz-word in healthcare land. Other medical developments are care robots, 3D printed organs and artificial wombs.
2. Aging society: in 2040 4,6 milion people will be over 65 years old. This is 1,5 million people more than now (2017: 3,1 people are older than 65). 3. Diabetes & overweight: predictions are that in 2030 there will be 30% more diabetes patients. In 2040, 50% of the Dutch population will be overweight, which is the same as the current amount. 8% of the people will be obese, which is 2% less than in 2015.
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1. Dementia: the brain represents an increasing number of people being diagnosed with dementia & Alzheimer: in 2030 dementia will be death cause #1.
9. Work: predicitions are that in 2050 the normal eight our job is gone and 90% of the people of Amsterdam are living like artists, working themselves to pieces with three jobs (most likely causing more burn-outs). The other side of the medal is that 50% of our current jobs will disappear due to artificial intelligence and will not be replaced. Or they are replaced with ‘bullshit jobs’ which will not provide the people with meaning in life or satisfaction. A possible solution could be the ‘basic income’, which is already being tested in Finland with promising results.
4. Sedentary lifestyle: part of the obesity & overweight problems are a result of sedentary lifestyle: 1/3 of the Dutch life an inactive lifestyle; predictions are that this amount will remain the same until 2030. 5. Food: another issue causing obesity & overweight is unhealthy (fast) food consumption. Though it is very hard to predict how this sector is going to develop, already there are countermovements very current promoting a fit and healthy lifestyle, with exercise and super-foods on the daily agenda. If this trend continues in the future, this will cause a decrease in diabetes and obesity. With the urban farming trend a lot of food will also be produced within the city, enhancing food security for the inhabitants of Amsterdam which is nowadays still very much depended on its hinterlands.
10. Social: an important aspect of health is social health. Due to gentrification, a process of social exclusion is occurring in the centre of Amsterdam and spreading outwards towards the A10 ring road. The municipality is actively stimulating is gentrification by supporting high-end dwelling areas and decreasing the social housing stock in within the ring. If this trend continues, Amsterdam will become just like London, where only the wealthiest can afford a house in the city.
6. Burn-outs: nowadays, 1/7 people working in the Netherlands are suffering from burn-out complaints like over-exhaustion and chronic
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Collage ‘The future of Health in Amsterdam’
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Future Health Scenario The future of health care will change from a cure and care oriented system to a prevention and promotion orientated strategy. It is a threefold strategy concentrating on social, mental and physical well being of the people. The urban infrastructure and the functional organization of the neighbourhoods will play an important role in the implementation of this strategy.
FRESH FOOD FACTORY
VEGETABLES FISH FISH HEALTH
CENTRE
EDUCATION
FITNESS
ASSISTED
LIVING
CITY CANTEEN
FRESH FOOD FACTORY
VEGETABLES FISH FISH HEALTH
CENTRE
EDUCATION
FITNESS
ASSISTED
LIVING
CITY CANTEEN
FRESH FOOD FACTORY
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FISH FISH CENTRE FITNESS
ASSISTED
LIVING
CITY CANTEEN
Strategy for the Strip In the future the strategy will change from a cure and care system to prevention and promotion system of health within the city. For Amsterdam this means that focus will shift to network of neighbourhood hubs. They will provide social, mental and physical support in the close proximity of the living area. The hubs will offer places to enhance social cohesion, creating a generation-proof environment. On the city scale a linear network of greenery and water will connect the city districts and the health hubs. It will upgrade the already existing green, water and transport infrastructures and will create accessible public space that promotes physical activity.
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VEGETABLES HEALTH EDUCATION
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AN URBAN NECCESSITY?
LISANNE ADRIANA RISSIK
the inactivity problem
Societal indicators of reductions in human energy expenditure and increases in sedentary behavior during the past several decades are particularly striking. Sedentary lifestyle causes can be found in the increase of low-activity jobs, use of computers during work (6/10 adults in 2003) and in school (9/10 children). Also between 1989 and 2009 the number of households with a computer and Internet access increases from 15% to 69%. Other significant contributors to daily sitting time, like watching television and driving personal vehicles, are at all-time highs, with estimates of nearly, respectively, 4 hours and 1 hours per day.3 Within the classical built modern city – with functional zoned urbanism – commuting between functions like dwelling and working is part of a normal daily life. This commuting induces mobility, mostly sub-urban. The effect shows a sedentary lifestyle with a dominant role for car mobility.4
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o v e r w e i g h t i1
14,2%
“Within the classical built modern city – with functional zoned urbanism – commuting between functions like dwelling and working is part of a normal daily life. This commuting induces mobility, mostly sub-urban. The effect shows a sedentary lifestyle with a dominant role for car mobility” - Cor Wagenaar - 7
The Dutch, in comparison to the rest of Europe, is leader in leading a sedentary lifestyle.6 “Sitting is the new smoking”, was reacting statement the Diabetes Foundation made. Research Center TNO, named sedentary behavior the ‘modernday work risk’ which will on the long-term cause chronical diseases like diabetes type II and hart and artery diseases. In the short term, is can damage joints, bones and muscles. Who sits more than 11 hours per day, has an increased chance of 40% to die earlier than somebody who sits 4 hours per day. Modern life causes a sedentary lifestyle starting at a young age and which is common in all age-groups.
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8,7 hours/day excluding sleepingtime
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o b e s e i2
Despite the clear benefits of active living to both individuals and communities, Europe is facing a huge inactivity problem, which is a critical factor in increasing diseases like chronic diseases and obesity. This inactivity problem shows itself increasingly with the younger generation. Two thirds of the people older than 15 in the European Union are not physically active at recommended levels for health and less than one third of schoolchildren appear to meet recognized physical activity. Overweight affects 30-80% of adults within the European Union and about 20% of the children are overweight of which one third is obese.”5
sedentary lifestylei3
Compared with our parents, or grandparents, we are spending increasing amounts of time in environments that not only limit physical activity but require prolonged sitting – at work, at home, and in our cars and communities. Work sites, schools, homes, and public spaces have been (and continue to be) re-engineered in ways that minimize human movement and muscular activity. These changes have a dual effect on human behavior: people move less and sit more.1 From an evolutionary perspective, humans were designed to move – to locomote and engage in all manner of manual labor throughout the day. This was essential to our survival as species. The recent shift from a physically demanding life to one with few physical challenges has been sudden, occurring during a tiny fraction of human existence.2
49,2% of which ...
brains & lifestylei4
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THE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DATA8
“Physical inactivity increases the risk of many chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer”
WHO10
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Health & Economical impact of inactivity
To be able to answer this question, literature studies together with exemplary projects have been set out in this article, all in respect of their intervention strategy towards physical activity.
Already several medical research studies have proven that unhealthy lifestyles have a major impact on people’s health status. The chance to experience depression, for example, is related to, not only smoking and drinking, alcohol but also when physical inactivity is part of a person’s daily life.11 Sedentary lifestyles, the WHO warns, could very well be among the 10 leading causes of death and disability in the world.12 A sedentary lifestyle increases all causes of mortality, double the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity, and increase the risks of colon cancer, high blood pressures, osteoporosis, lipid disorders, depression and anxiety.
Through a further analysis of the problem statement, an overview of existing planning strategies and existing urban interventions regarding this problem, an insight is provided in the possibilities urban & architectural interventions can provide in preventing chronic diseases through stimulation of physical activity. Urban Health Prevention The world is urbanizing rapidly, and by the year 2005, over half of the world’s population will live in urban areas. The rate of urbanization has been particularly rapid since 1980.15 Numerous health and environmental issues arise from this unprecedented urbanization. The health of city dwellers is largely dependent upon their living conditions and lifestyles. The factors in our everyday life, which significantly influence our health status, are called “health determinants”. Health determinants include water supply, sanitation, nutrition, food safety, health services, housing conditions, working conditions, education, lifestyles, population changes, income, and so on. They are physical, social and economic environments that surround city dwellers.16
But also, the economic consequences of physical inactivity have been shown to be substantial for health care costs but even greater on indirect costs, which include the value of economic output lost because of illness, disease-related work disability and premature death.13 According to the Centraal Plan Bureau in the Netherlands, the expected healthcare costs will increase with 6% to18% of the BNP by 2040.14 Still, many studies now indicate the limits of healthcare provisions in improving health – perhaps only 20% of health outcomes can be improved through healthcare services. The question that arises with this introduction on future urban health is the following: can urban and architectural interventions prevent chronic diseases, like diabetes and depressions, through stimulation of a physical active lifestyle, or in other words, active behavior?
The way in which health determinants affect the health of city dwellers is complex. However, the control of health determinants is often outside the responsibility and capacity of the health sector.
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De Sportieve Stad, Amsterdam For the next ten years, to 2025, the municipality of Amsterdam developed a Sportvision for the city. This vision is built upon earlier published visions regarding movement within the city of Amsterdam. Herein, sport and active living is stimulated via communities and within the built environment.22
Healthy Cities projects aim to improve the health of city dwellers through improved living conditions and better health services in association with various urban development activities. An underlying intention of a Healthy Cities project is to bring together the partnership of the public, private and voluntary sectors to focus on urban health and to tackle health issues in a broad, participatory way.18 As professor Cor Wagenaar states: “The majority of health issues are solvable through preventing measures. Urbanism and architecture have always played a dominant role within these measures. Think about the construction of the sewage and water systems, public housing and the nowadays the popular ‘healthy cities’ concept.”19 Within the WHO European Healthy Cities Network, cities are working on three core themes: healthy ageing, healthy urban planning and health impact assessment. In addition, all participating cities focus on physical activity and active living. Herein it is stated that “… a healthy, active city is one that is continually creating and improving opportunities in the built and social environments and expanding community resources to enable all its citizens to be physically active in day-to-day life.”20
prospects health care costs24, i5 90 billion (2011)
8% of BNP
Promoting Active Living: Urban visions on physical activity
19-31% of BNP
... in 60 years
overweight & obesitas25,i6 49%
Local governments in Europe have a vital role in promoting physical activity in the daily life of its citizens. However, explicit investments in active living has been limited. One of the four core themes for Phase IV (2003-2008) of the World Health Organization (WHO) European Healthy Cities Network (WHO-EHN) was to encourage local governments and their partners to implement programs in favor of active living. This study analyzes the performance of network cities during this period. Most cities herein viewed “active living” as an important issue of urban planning; to improve visual appeal, enhance social cohesion, create a more sustainable transport system to promote walkability and cyclability and to reduce inequalities in public health.21
32%
... in 25 years
diabetes26,i7 1.200.0000
830.000
Stimulating physical activity – sport and/or 185
... in 20 years
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“Overweight, affects 30-80% of adults in the countries of the World Health Organization European Region. About 20% of the children in the European Region are overweight, and 1/3rd of these are obese”
movement – is not a new thing within urban planning. Over the years, several cities have implemented smaller and larger visions regarding the stimulation of movement of its inhabitants. Cities like London, New York, Copenhagen and Amsterdam try to direct its inhabitants towards a healthier lifestyle.
Therefore, in order to take effective actions to solve urban health problems, it is necessary to integrate the efforts of various sectors. These sectors include not only the health and other departments of governments, but also nongovernmental organizations, private companies as well as the communities themselves. Developing this integrated, intersectoral approach with community participation is an important feature of the Healthy Cities concept.17
THE HIGH LINE · NEW YORK CITY The High Line in New York City - United States of America, is a heritage projects that renewed the use of the existing lifted tracks located from the Chelsea district to the Meatpacking district. The redesign of the lifted tracks combined a variety of seasonal greenery, a continuous walking route, sitting and laying outdoor furniture.
High Line i8
Interesting about the High Line project, is the incorporation of the park on a higher level than street level. Although at several points connected with street level through staircases and even through buildings, the High Line functions mostly at plus one. It is with this, not a replacement of the street, but a green addition to city life, where a choice can be made from a green strolling park. or an urban shopping street.27 LIFTED PARK
ONE SPHERES
HERITAGE
COMMERCIALLITY
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WHITNEY MUSEUM CHELSEA TO MEATPACKING DISTRICT High Line i9
SUPERKILEN · COPENHAGEN Superkilen is a half a mile-long urban space wedging through one of the most ethnically diverse and socially challenged neighborhoods in Copenhagen, Denmark. The project has one overarching idea that it is conceived as a giant exhibition of urban best practice – a sort of collection of global found objects that come from 60 different nationalities of the people inhabiting the area surrounding it. Ranging from exercise gear from muscle beach LA to sewage drains from Israel, palmtrees from China and neon signs from Qatar and Russia. Superkilen i10
Superkilen i11
PARK GENTRIFICATION OUTDOOR SPORT CONNECTING NEIGHBOURHOODS THREE DIFFERENT SPHERES
The conceptual starting point is a division of Superkilen into three zones and colors – green, black and red. The different surfaces and colors are integrated to form new, dynamic surroundings for the everyday objects. The red square represents market, culture and sport activity, where the red square is conceived as an urban extension of the internal life of the sport hall. A reange of recreational offers and the large central square allows the residents to meet each other through physical activity and games. Fitness area, Thai boxing, basketball, playgrounds, plenty of benches, bike stands and parking area are incorporated in this area. The black square representas an urban living room, where the green park again facilitates sport & play. Here the existing hockey field with an integrated basketball court are in close vicinity to the adjacent school. Here soft hills and surfaces that appeal to children, young people and families facilitate picnics, sunbathing, breaks in the grass but also hockey tournaments, badminton games and workouts. To create better and more transparent infrastructure throughout the neighborhood, the current bike paths are reorganized, new connections linking to the surrounding neighborhoods are created.28
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Across all countries and regions in Europe, girls are less active than boys and the gender gap increase with age; • Social support interventions in community settings (such as neighborhoods, workplaces and universities) can result in a 44% increase in the duration of time spent being physically active and a 20% increase in the frequency of physical activity. With the plan for stimulating active living, some common factors of themes are shared among most visions of a healthy, active city31: • A wide range of accessible and attractive routes for active transport such as cycling and walking and access by foot or bicycle to efficient public transport; • Mixed-use, high-density communities with easy access to destinations such as shops, parks, schools and recreation facilities; • Walkable, attractive neighborhoods and trail connections between neighborhoods; • Schools, workplaces and health care facilities support active living choices; • Ample green and open spaces for physical activity, sport and enjoying nature; • Accessible facilities and equipment for physical activity; Furthermore, the research stated to provide convenient and visible stairs and signage for public spaces that encourages people to take the stairs. With that, design buildings that encourage the use of stairs and ensure that stairwells are unlocked in office buildings and health care facilities. Also, the strong involvement by a variety of stakeholders and citizens within physical activity places is a key factor.32
Healthy City: Active London Within the strategy of the city of London, cyclability within the city was a core aim. Cycling routes were developed and on existing routes cycling was increasingly facilitated. Easy access to lend bikes induces even more cycle activity by tourists and inhabitants.23 Healthy, Active Cities, World Health Organization A comprehensive active living strategy aims to enhance opportunities for all population groups, paying special attention to children and youth, older people, people and neighborhoods with low socioeconomic status, employees, people with disabilities and other ethnic minority and at-risk groups. The promotion of active living in the city also needs to focus on a variety of settings, including schools, workplaces, health care settings, neighborhoods and homes and recreation and sport facilities.29 Based on several research, the following key influences on physical activity in the built and social environment can be determined according to the World Health Organization30: • People walk and cycle more when destinations such as shops and schools are close by and are connected by pedestrian–friendly streets; • Policies that improve walkability and mixed land use also increase community cohesion and perceptions of personal security; • Traffic-calming measures and policy changes at the local level increase pedestrian and bicycle travel; • Disadvantaged populations are less likely to have easy access to the places that encourage a healthy lifestyle, such as safe streets and sidewalks, playgrounds, parks, trails and community gardens; • Participation in physical activity differs by sex.
The World Health Organization provided some action strategies for several interventions in the social and built environment. These interventions within the built environment regard active schools, active workplaces, active neighborhoods, leisure and sport settings and healthcare settings.
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In the following compact case studies, built and unbuilt project are analyzed in the way they address, provide and facilitate physical activity.
“Europe-wide, less than 1/3rd of schoolchildren appear to meet recognized physical activity guidelines”
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VIADUC DES ARTS · PARIS In 1859, a new train track was opened that connected Paris with Strasburg. In the old center of Paris, starting at the Place de la Bastille, the trail was lifted on top of an existing viaduct, known as the Viaduc de la Bastille. The train viaduct, the Bastille track, ran through the 12th arrondissement for several kilometers. In 1969, the train track was decommissioned and became an abandoned part of the city. In 1983, the first plans to address this piece of heritage, were presented and consisted of plans for a promenade, which was finished in 1994. The ‘Promenade Plantée’, as it was called, is positioned around the third floor and runs through buildings, on top of the viaducts and alongside buildings. The promenade is a garden route for walkers who wish to walk alongside a lifted path. The High Line in New York, is a comparable project. While the Promenade Plantee was built, the total name of the projects Viaduc des Arts came up. The arcades of the viaduct were removed into shops, galleries and ateliers. The spaces are by all kinds of artists and craftsmen. Also, several cafés and restaurants are incorporated in the Viaduc des Arts. Via steps at several locations, the Viaduc des Arts is connected with the Promenade Plantée, so every user can repeatedly choose between the two routes.33
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LIFTED PARK
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HERITAGE
ART, GALLERIES, RESTAURANTS
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“2/3rd of people older than 15 years in the Europeon Union are not physically active at recommend levels for health”
PROMENADE
SEESTADT · WIEN In the outer boroughs of the city of Wien, a new area is being developed called Aspern-Seestadt. In this new neighborhood, connected with the city through a vast metro line, new social and privately owned housing is being realized. Within this new project, fifty percent of the public space was reserved for green spaces. With a green park in the middle of the developed area, all the other public structures lead towards this public center. The in between areas, within the housing blocks but also in between the building blocks, cycling routes are facilitated alongside with wide pedestrian sidewalks. On top of this facilitation of slow mobility, playgrounds and playful elements dominate the spaces in between. Running tracks, small basketball fields, skateboard tracks and jumping games trigger children, but also grown-ups, to be playful and with that active, within the public space. Relatively little interventions, that stimulate physical activity throughout the day, in leisure time or while commuting within the area.
WHO [2000]
Conclusion
projects of the Viaduc des Arts in Paris and the High Line in New York, prove that the embedding of such interventions stimulate physical activity along a route. Connectivity is herein of great importance, when incorporating physical activity in daily life. The Superkilen intervention in Copenhagen and the Aspern-Seestadt development in Wien, not only facilitate sport and movement, but add the element of fun to it. Stimulation not only comes from its effectiveness of connection, but also from the added value of the joy physical activity can bring. All projects prove that the facilitation of physical activity bring people together and induces social cohesion. As Bauman once said “… sport is one of the few institutions in society, where people can still agree on the rules”. All in all, the role of urban and architectural interventions is of great importance to stimulate physical activity and with that improve urban health.
Physical activity is a key element within a healthy lifestyle. Urban health is therefore dependant on its possibilities to address physical activity in daily life. The health issues that arise from the increasing sedentary lifestyles people lead in modern cities, are clear and worrying. Not only the physical health impact it has, but also the economic impact on society induces awareness towards the necessity of physical activity in daily life. The role of the city within public health, is a historical and a contemporary role. Several research proves the importance of the public realm towards social, mental and physical health. The World Health Organization addresses the importance of the urban fabric, in the stimulation of a healthy lifestyle. Not only cyclability and walkability should be facilitated and stimulated, but also the awareness of the possibilities of physical activity. The heritage
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children, promotion of physical activity should be part of the built surroundings. Not only two gymhours once a week, but healthy behavior during the entire school day. The same would count for the home environment. Over the years, the comfort of not having to use the stairs or all functions in close vicinity within a dwelling, reduced movement within the home environment. Designers, developers and planners should take physical activity as a necessity within daily life and incorporate it within future developments on all scale.
DISGRESSION All the case studies that have been addressed in the article, comprise out of the intervention with public space. Not only research and institutions like the World Health Organization address the importance of physical activity but also within the visions and strategies projected by local governments physical activity is part of future planning. Still, all visions and strategies but also presented case studies represent interventions on an urban public scale. Public space is considered the right space where the interventions should take place, where government can stimulate the behavior they want to stimulate. On the other hand, is physical activity not only part of public space, but part of all elements of everyday life like education, work and living. Stimulation of healthy behavior and with that of physical activity should be incorporated within all built elements. There are more and more examples of workplaces where physical activity is part of the interior design. Flexible work places where sitting is not the only way of working but also standing and even cycling whilst working on a computer. Increasingly, designers and users are thinking about new ways of addressing our modern-day sedentary lifestyle. Especially in schools, with the prospect of the increasing inactivity of young
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Footnotes: Neville Owen, “Sedentary Behavior: Emerging Evidence for a New Health Risk” Mayo Clinic Proceedings 85 (2010): 1138. Neville Owen, “Sedentary Behavior: Emerging Evidence for a New Health Risk” Mayo Clinic Proceedings 85 (2010): 1138. 3 Neville Owen, “Sedentary Behavior: Emerging Evidence for a New Health Risk” Mayo Clinic Proceedings 85 (2010): 1138. 4 Hans Fuchs, “Interview met Cor Wagenaar: Gezond door Stedenbouw.” Stedebouw & Architectuur 2 (2014): 23. 5 Peggy Edwards and Agis D. Tsouros, A healthy city is an active city: a physical activity planning guide. (Copenhagen: WHO, 2008), 5. 6 “Alles over Sport,” last modified April 10, 2017, https://www.allesoversport.nl/artikel/wie-zit-hoeveel-cijfers-over-zitgedrag/. 7 Hans Fuchs, “Interview met Cor Wagenaar: Gezond door Stedenbouw.” Stedebouw & Architectuur 2 (2014): 23. 8 “Volksgezondheid en Zorg,” last modified April 20, 2017, https://www.volksgezondheidenzorg.info. 9 “Volksgezondheid en Zorg,” last modified April 20, 2017, https://www.volksgezondheidenzorg.info. 10 Peggy Edwards and Agis D. Tsouros, A healthy city is an active city: a physical activity planning guide. (Copenhagen: WHO, 2008), 5. 11 Coen van Gool, e.a. “Relationship between changes in depressive symptoms and unhealthy lifestyles in late middle aged and older persons: results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam.” Age Ageing 32 (2003): 82. 12 Peggy Edwards and Agis D. Tsouros, A healthy city is an active city: a physical activity planning guide. (Copenhagen: WHO, 2008), 5. 13 Peggy Edwards and Agis D. Tsouros, A healthy city is an active city: a physical activity planning guide. (Copenhagen: WHO, 2008), 5. 14 Albert van der Horst, Frank van Erp and Jasper de Jong, CPB Policy Brief. Trends in gezondheid en zorg. Den Haag: Centraal Planbureau, 2011: 3. 15 World Health Organization, Regional Guidelines for Developing a Healthy Cities Project. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, 2000: 6. 16 World Health Organization, Regional Guidelines for Developing a Healthy Cities Project. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, 2000: 5. 17 World Health Organization, Regional Guidelines for Developing a Healthy Cities Project. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, 2000: 5. 18 World Health Organization, Regional Guidelines for Developing a Healthy Cities Project. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, 2000: 5. 19 Hans Fuchs, “Interview met Cor Wagenaar: Gezond door Stedenbouw.” Stedebouw & Architectuur 2 (2014): 23. 20 Peggy Edwards and Agis D. Tsouros, A healthy city is an active city: a physical activity planning guide. (Copenhagen: WHO, 2008), 1. 21 Johan Faskunger, “Promoting active living in healthy cities of Europe.” Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 90, 1 (2011): 146, accessed March 13, 2017. doi: 10.1007/s11524-011-9645-7. 22 Gemeente Amsterdam, De Sportieve Stad. Sportvisie Amsterdam 2015. Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016: 9. 23 Jason Gilliland, Doug Rivet, Steve Fitzpatrick, Healthy City. Active London. London: Bureau De Sante De Middlesex- London Health Unit, 2012: 1. 24 “Volksgezondheid en Zorg,” last modified April 20, 2017, https://www.volksgezondheidenzorg.info. 25 “Volksgezondheid en Zorg,” last modified April 20, 2017, https://www.volksgezondheidenzorg.info. 26 “Een gezonder Nederland,” last modified May 4, 2017, http://www.eengezondernederland.nl/Een_gezonder_Nederland. 27 “Visit the High Line,” last modified May 23, 2017 , http://www.thehighline.org 28 “Superkilen/Topotek 1+ BIG Architects + Superflex,” last modified April 18, 2017, http://www.archdaily.com/286223/superkilentopotek-1-big-architects-superflex. 29 Peggy Edwards and Agis D. Tsouros, A healthy city is an active city: a physical activity planning guide. (Copenhagen: WHO, 2008), 6. 30 Peggy Edwards and Agis D. Tsouros, A healthy city is an active city: a physical activity planning guide. (Copenhagen: WHO, 2008), 18. 31 Peggy Edwards and Agis D. Tsouros, A healthy city is an active city: a physical activity planning guide. (Copenhagen: WHO, 2008), 18. 32 Peggy Edwards and Agis D. Tsouros, A healthy city is an active city: a physical activity planning guide. (Copenhagen: WHO, 2008), 18. 33 “Le Viaduc Des Arts,” last modified May 23, 2017, http://www.leviaducdesarts.com
Bibliography:
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Peggy Edwards and Agis D. Tsouros, A healthy city is an active city: a physical activity planning guide. Copenhagen: WHO, 2008 Johan Faskunger, “Promoting active living in healthy cities of Europe.” Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 90, 1 (2011): 142-153. Accessed March 13, 2017. doi: 10.1007/s11524-011-9645-7. Hans Fuchs, “Interview met Cor Wagenaar: Gezond door Stedenbouw.” Stedebouw & Architectuur 2 (2014): 23-25 Gemeente Amsterdam, De Sportieve Stad. Sportvisie Amsterdam 2015. Amsterdam: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016. Jason Gilliland, Doug Rivet, Steve Fitzpatrick, Healthy City. Active London. London: Bureau De Sante De Middlesex- London Health Unit, 2012. Coen van Gool, e.a. “Relationship between changes in depressive symptoms and unhealthy lifestyles in late middle aged and older persons: results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam.” Age Ageing 32 (2003): 81-87. Albert van der Horst, Frank van Erp and Jasper de Jong, CPB Policy Brief. Trends in gezondheid en zorg. Den Haag: Centraal Planbureau, 2011. Neville Owen, e.a., “Sedentary Behavior: Emerging Evidence for a New Health Risk.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings 85 (2010): 1138–1141. World Health Organization, Sustainable development and health: concepts, principles and framework for action for European cities and towns. Copenhagen: WHO, 1997. World Health Organization, Regional Guidelines for Developing a Healthy Cities Project. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, 2000. Other sources: Peter Mol. “Alles over Sport” Last modified April 10, 2017 https://www.allesoversport.nl/artikel/wie-zit-hoeveel-cijfers-over-zitgedrag/ Archdaily. “Superkilen/Topotek 1+ BIG Architects + Superflex” Last modified April 18, 2017 http://www.archdaily.com/286223/superkilen-topotek-1-big-architects-superflex Een Gezonder Nederland. “Een gezonder Nederland” Last modified May 4, 2017 http://www.eengezondernederland.nl/Een_gezonder_Nederland Volksgezondheid En Zorg. “Volksgezondheid en Zorg” Last modified April 20th, 2017 https://www.volksgezondheidenzorg.info Friends of the High Line. “Visit the High Line” Last modified May 23, 2017 http://www.thehighline.org Viaduc des Art. “Le Viaduc Des Arts” Last modified May 23, 2017 http://www.leviaducdesarts.com Images: i1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15 i16-17-18-19
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A COMPARITIVE STUDY ON COHOUSING FOR SENIORS AND STUDENTS
ERIK STIGTER
The past five years, politics have made major reforms in the care sector. Especially for elderly people with a light care demand much will change in the coming years. The care homes (verzorgingshuizen), which originally provided this group with sheltered housing and care, will disappear. The focus is shifting towards living at home as long as possible.The role that the care homes had, needs to be replaced by a new care system within the neighbourhood and the protected form of living needs to be reshaped. What were the changes that took place and how will the care be reintegrated in the neighbourhood? A number of care homes show that with some creative solutions they can still provide a protected environment with lower cost. Some of these projects provide cheap housing for students, who in return provide care and security. This could be in the role of a good neighbour, but also as a night watchman. There are also projects where elderly people and students in the neighbourhood are linked together on the web as a kind of buddy system. How do these projects function and what can be improved?
In 2015 the AWBZ has been replaced by a number of new and existing (care) laws, including the ‘Wet Maatschappelijke Ondersteuning’ (WMO); Social Support Act. The municipalities have been given more responsibilities in the care task. All tasks that were part of the AWBZ have been transferred to one of the following laws: The ‘Wet langdurige zorg’ (Wlz); the Act on long-term care. The Wlz is for people who need intensive care or supervision throughout the day. It includes elderly people with advanced dementia or people with severe mental, physical or sensory impairments. The ‘Zorgverzekeringswet’ (Zvw); The Health Insurance Act. The Zvw focuses on the care in the districts. These include care tasks like administering medication, wound care and support in dressing and washing. In some cases, personal care is the responsibility of the municipalities, namely personal care as part of the guidance in daily life when no physical assistance is needed. The ‘Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning’ (Wmo); Social Support Act. Municipalities are responsible that people who are not self-reliant receive the services, help and support they need. Elderly can apply for domestic assistance at the social (neighbourhood) team of the municipality. In addition there are supportive measures and facilities in the area of living, care, welfare, financial administration, transport and information and counselling for chronically ill, disabled and informal caregivers. Extramural care is also included in the WMO. This includes individual counselling and group counselling (such as day care).1
were they are on call for the senior residents; at Humanitas the students live between the elderly and are expected to be good neighbours; and there are online platforms were students and seniors are coupled.
Jeugdwet (municipality) 70.000 Wlz (government) Wmo 2015 (municipality) 250.000
Zvw (health insurance) 200.000
Redistribution of AWBZ (800.000 casus).i1
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61
The government’s care policies are based on the principle that the elderly and people with disabilities should be able to live independently and to participate in society as long as possible. The care reforms that have been initiated the last years are meant to facilitate and stimulate the transition towards home-based care. These reforms lead to a growing need for accessible and protected living environments and, on the other hand, the vacancy of existing care homes. In particular, the classical care home (verzorgingshuis), as an intermediary between the nursing home (verpleeghuis) and the independent retirement homes (serviceflat/ aanleunwoning) seems to disappear. With the care homes closing, the neighbourhood is losing a central place for care. The big question now is how the municipalities will bring this care back into the living environment of the neighbourhood.2
60 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Average retirement age.i2
250.000
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Some projects try to create safe and caring places for seniors by connecting seniors and students. This idea takes different forms: At EOKS, students and seniors live in one apartment building in separate wings and the students have nightshifts 194
280.000
Division of AWBZ
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places in care homes
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47 extramural apartments.6 But at that moment the politics around elderly care was shifting. Housing and care were separated from each other. The operating costs for care homes were not commensurate with the profits anymore. The project got cancelled. With the prospect of the renovation, apartments were left vacant. There was a need for a temporarily solution. The management decided to rent 15 vacant apartments to students. The students were given a temporary contract for a low rent. In return for the low costs they were expected to do the nightshifts in turns.
outdated and with the smaller amount of residents and caregivers the communal spaces were oversized. With a new architect, plans were made for a renovation/transformation into an apartment complex for seniors. Besides the 76 senior apartments there is a separate wing for 13 student rooms. The low-rise was demolished and replaced by a covered walkway connecting EOKS with the ‘aanleunwoningen’. On the groundfloor the new reception is situated surrounded by the communal spaces. The communal space is devided in a reading room/living room that is connected with the courtyard, a tea room, a billiard corner and a flexible space that can accommodate for example a concert or the morning gym. Offices for the staff are located next to the reading room and the reception.
GROUNDFLOOR
FIRST FLOOR
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Despite the fact that the plans for renewal of the care home stranded there was a need for some mayor changes. The rental income from the apartments were too low, the energy costs were exceeding, the interior and exterior were
design drawing communal spaces EOKS.i4
EOKS, AMSTERDAM Johanna Sophia Elisabeth Knoll (1818-1900) was a wealthy woman. With no children to leave her money to she decided to establish a foundation for the woman of the gentry. The foundation provided in accommodation and sustenance for decent ladies over 55 years old that couldn’t sustain themselves because they were unmarried or widowed, childless and preferably Protestant. In her will (1886) there is a precise description of the program for the institution. During the day, life had to take place in the common spaces. There had to be a dining room (Louis XVI style), a conversation room (Louis XVI style) and a reading room (Queen Anne style) which were connected with sliding doors. In that way it was possible to use these rooms as one big space on special occasions. The communal spaces were connected with the inner garden. The private rooms were quite sober. They were supposed to have a private entrance, a toilet and a room for a chair and a bed. The regency room (Empire style) and the director’s room needed to be positioned on both sides of the main entrance. In 1894 the foundation purchased a plot at the Eikenplein in Amsterdam. The construction of the institution started in 1904. In 1912 the building was finished offering sixteen apartments.3
In the period of the ‘wederopbouw’ the view on elderly care changes and in time the legislation requires more square meters for the apartments. The institution of the EOKS no longer meets the requirements and the board decides to realize a new care home. In 1980 the construction of a the new building started at the Loowaard in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert. In 1982 the new care home and the attached sheltered housing complex was completed.4 The rich interior and the plaque of the foundation are moved to the new building. They form a strange contradiction with the office like feeling in the communal spaces. The first setup of private rooms were one room apartments with a small bathroom unit. The food was prepared in the canteen kitchen and served in the communal dining room. Over time the apartments were combined and were carried out with a small kitchens. The kitchen was exchanged for meal service from an external company. After this renovation EOKS had 60 people living intramural and 72 people living extramural.5
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In 2014 there were plans to demolish the EOKS and replace it by a new building. This building was supposed to have 54 intramural apartments and
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Proathuus’, is used as the main communal space. It is used to serve the hot meal in the afternoon, it serves as a space for activities like gymnastics, wheelchair dancing and ‘sjoelen’ and of course bigger activities were the podium proves its value. Furthermore Humanitas has a lot of small communal spaces througout the building which are decorated by volunteers, family ands friends of the residents.
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In 2012, Humanitas Deventer decided to accommodate students in the rooms that no longer met the requirements for the elderly residents. There are now six students living among the other 160 residents. The students pay their rent in kind. On exception of the breadmeal that the students serve host at 17:00 in ‘t’ Proathuus’, they do not have real obligations. It is entrusted to them to be a good neighbour for about 30 hours the week.
Entrance Humanitas.i6
HUMANITAS, DEVENTER The care home Humanitas in Deventer was built in 1966. It was set up as a retirement home (‘bejaardentehuis’) of five stories high with a corridor to connect the apartments. The apartments were orientated on the East and the West. In front of the building, on the East side, a raised communal space marked the entrance and contained a two-story high theatre hall. At the back a low-rise with the facilities like the kitchen and laundry service. In 1984 the building was extended with a wing for the staff. Nowadays this wing is a closed department for elderly with dementia. In 1994 a new building was attached to the care home. This moon shaped building is meant for seniors that are still fit enough to live on their own. In the Netherlands this is called a ‘aanleunwoning’. People living her have the possibility to use some of the facilities of the care home where they are ‘leaning up’ against.7
free coffee. Free coffee is available throughout the building. Humanitas wants to be a ‘gezellige’ or cosy place for its residents and visitors. Free coffee is one of these examples of being a hospitable. The entrance hall is a popular place for the residents to stay. Many visitors come along and there is always someone who wants to make a small chat. The low-rise separates the garden in two, creating two inner courtyards. The inner courtyard on the south has a beautiful garden and the terrace is shaded with special shading trees. The courtyard on the north is connected with the neighbourhood. Since two years it is a picking garden that is maintained by people from the neighbourhood. A hairdresser, a laundry service and a small shop are situated at the place were in the past the kitchen was situated. There is a small conservatory next to these facilities offering a connection with the inner courtyard on the south. It’s a good place for small activities. Around the corner of the low-rise there is a small fitness, a billiards room, a local radio station and some of the spaces in the low-rise are leased to external parties, mostly care services. A small terrace opens up to the picking garden. The model train club from the neighbourhood has a big space in the basement of Humanitas. The old theatre room, better known as ‘t’
The entrance of Humanitas is nowadays located in the extension underneath the communal theatre space. The reception is on the opposite of the entrance and the management is also situated in this extension. The entrance hall has a welcoming character, furnished with ample chairs, a small library, a reading table and a coffee machine with
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house or just doing fun stuff together, like going to a museum or playing a game. There are also joint trips organised by the foundation Seniorenstudent. In this way they can have interesting conversation, build a special band and support each other. The Dinner Club for Young and Old In collaboration with the care institution Cardaan, Stichting SeniorenStudent organizes The Dinner Club for Young and Old. Ones a month fifteen seniors and two students prepare a delicious meal together. People get to know each other in preparing and enjoying the food together. Occasianaly their is also an event after dinner. With these moments the neighbourhood is invited to join the event.9
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There are also other ways to connect old and young people. On internet their are platforms that try to link people together. Two agencies that are focussing on seniors and students are Stichting SOlink and Stichting Seniorenstudent. Stichting SOlink Added value for students and seniors by living together. Stichting SOlink was founded as a response to the media attention for the social issues of loneliness among seniors and shortages in student housing. It is a foundation that brings together 50 plussers and students to create an added value. For the seniors this means that they can contact SOlink when they are willing to offer a room for a student. Students can contact SOlink when they are willing to rent a room from one of the seniors for their study period. A counselor of SOlink tries to make a good link between a student and a senior. Only when they find a match they will make an appointment for an interview with both parties. For the seniors it gives some company at home and of course some income from the rent. For the student a cheap room and someone to come home for. It is up to themselves how deep this band goes.8
Student and senior signing the contract of SOlink.i8
Stichting SeniorenStudent A friendship between young and old. In 2014, Stichting SeniorenStudent was founded. The purpose of the foundation is to support seniors in being as happy and independent as possible. The foundation tries to reach this goal by linking the seniors to a handy, energetic and reliable person: a student. The students can help with small tasks in and around the house and share their knowledge of the mobile phone and the computer. And maybe even more important, the seniors have some extra social interaction with a student being around. For the students, it is an opportunity to build social awareness during their study time and to gain relevant experience. They learn to work with different generations, build relationships, and provide support that seniors need to actively participate in our society. Participation is on voluntary basis. Stichting SeniorenStudent offers two differt programs: Young+Old=Gold In this project students and seniors are linked with each other based on similarities and shared interests. The students are expected to visit the senior at least 6 hours per month for one year. The student can help with small tasks in and around the
Ex-student and still senior of Yung+Old=Gold.
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CONCLUSION There is a big difference in the amount of space reserved for apartments. At Humanitas its hardly half the area of the building, while at EOKS the apartments count for more than three-quarters of the total space. Furthermore Humanitas reserved more than a third of the space for storage, service, office and circulation while at EOKS this is not even a fifth of the space. Humanitas uses nearly twice as much space (9%) for communal and public functions. This is inseparable by the role they still have in the complex itself and in the neighbourhood. The use of space at EOKS is far more efficient. This results in perceptually more income per square meter and less maintenance and heating costs for communal and public spaces. This is one of the interventions that made it possible for EOKS to enter the free market. Humanitas has 181 apartments of which six are occupied by students. EOKS counts 76 apartments with thirteen are reserved for the students. The average size of an apartment in Humanitas is 34,1m2 and at EOKS 76,5m2. At EOKS there is a variety of apartment layouts, offering two, three and four room apartments. In this way they respond to a broader market. The student apartments at Humanitas are 25,5m2 and at EOKS 29,5m2. When you put the shared space against the number of apartments there is another shocking fact. For EOKS there is 5m2 reserved per apartment. I expected a far bigger amount for Humanitas, but their itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just 6m2. And there are quite a lot of these spaces that are not used that frequently. Of course we need to take into account that there are more couples living in EOKS, but on the other side Humanitas also has a public role for the neighbourhood.
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LINKING SENIORS AND STUDENTS
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The diagrams of the projects make clear how the programs are aranged. At EOKS the students have a saperate section with their own communal space with a kitchen, living room, washing machine and dryer. In Humanitas the students apartments are scattered trueout the building and the students use the shared communal space when they want to eat together. Though, the students at Humanitas have their own small kitchen. The student rooms of both projects have their own toilet and shower in the apartment. In EOKS the students have an entrance for themselfs while at Humanitas the students and seniors share the main entrance. At Humanitas this has the effect that seniors and students come into contact with each other more often. In both projects the reception and the offices are located at the main entrance. The interviews revealed that the desk staff and the managers have an important role to get the students involved
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staff is still very present, with a smaller The construction of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;students and seniors living under one roofâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; brings some strong benefits for both groups. The seniors get to live in a better protected environment, more social care (bread meal, night watch, help with IT, etc.) and a new network of young people. For the students its quite the same. They get home to a place were people are more social and that for a smaller rent.
space. The communal and public spaces need to trigger people to interact and they should offer the possibilties for many different interests. Like a place to cook, eat, make music, watch a movie and gardening together with the senior residents. The projects attach a great importance to domesticity. At Humanitas it is expressed in the decorating certain shared areas with friends and families. In EOKS this happens with the nicely furnished communal spaces. Though, both projects still have places were you experience the feeling of the retirement home. Aspecialy in the long hallways with the frontdoors towards the apartments. At Humanitas the care and cleaning
For projects like this it is important to find the right balance. Its the balance between public, communal (students/seniors/both) and private
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Footnotes: 1 Platform Ouderenzorg. (2017) Veranderingen in de zorg. Retrieved May 14, 2017, from http://www.platformouderenzorg.nl/financien.php 2 Graaff, P.D. et al. (2016) Wonen Zonder Zorg(en). Van zorg met verblijf naar wonen met of zonder zorg. Rotterdam: Veldacademie. 3 Van der Heijden, Chris (1987) Sporen van Elisabeth. Uit de nalatenschap van Elisabeth Otter-Knoll. Amsterdam: Sjaloom & Wildeboer. 3,4 Hofjes in Amsterdam. (2017) Hofjes in Amsterdam: Elisabeth Otter-Knoll Stichting. Retrieved May 16, 2017, from http://www.hofjesinamsterdam.nl/elisabeth-otter-knoll-stichting.html 5,6 Van den Berg Groep (n.d.) Elisabeth Otter-Knoll Stichting. Retrieved May 16, 2017 from http://www.vandenberggroep.nl/projecten/project/52 7 Emmerik, M., Vanstiphout, W., Corbett, H., Bogaerds, S., & Berg, J. (2016) Ontwerpstudie zorg, stad en ontwerp. Keizerslanden, Deventer. Delft: TU Delft. 8 Stichting SOlink (n.d.) Retrieved May 29, 2017 from http://solink.nl/welkom/inleiding/ 9 Stichting Seniorenstudent (n.d) Retrieved May 29, 2017 from https://www.seniorenstudent.nl/
Bibliography: Emmerik, M., Vanstiphout, W., Corbett, H., Bogaerds, S., & Berg, J. (2016) Ontwerpstudie zorg, stad en ontwerp. Keizerslanden, Deventer. Delft: TU Delft. Graaff, P.D. et al. (2016) Wonen Zonder Zorg(en). Van zorg met verblijf naar wonen met of zonder zorg. Rotterdam: Veldacademie. Hofjes in Amsterdam. (2017) Hofjes in Amsterdam: Elisabeth Otter-Knoll Stichting. Retrieved May 16, 2017, from http://www.hofjesinamsterdam.nl/elisabeth-otter-knoll-stichting.html Platform Ouderenzorg. (2017) Veranderingen in de zorg. Retrieved May 14, 2017, from http://www.platformouderenzorg.nl/financien.php Stichting SOlink (n.d.) Retrieved May 29, 2017 from http://solink.nl/welkom/inleiding/ Stichting Seniorenstudent (n.d) Retrieved May 29, 2017 from https://www.seniorenstudent.nl/ Van der Heijden, Chris (1987) Sporen van Elisabeth. Uit de nalatenschap van Elisabeth Otter-Knoll. Amsterdam: Sjaloom & Wildeboer. Van den Berg Groep (n.d.) Elisabeth Otter-Knoll Stichting. Retrieved May 16, 2017 from http://www.vandenberggroep.nl/projecten/project/52
HUMANITAS
Images: made by the Author i1 Zorgwijzer (2014) AWBZ: alle wijzigingen op een rij. Retrieved from https://www.zorgwijzer.nl/zorgverzekering-2015/awbz-in-2015-alle-wijzigingen i2 CBS (2017) Pensioenleeftijd werknemers in 2016 niet gestegen. Retrieved from https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2017/12/pensioenleeftijd-werknemers-in-2016-niet-gestegen i3 Beukers, R. (March 9, 2015) Bekostiging VPT en MPT, presented at Invoorzorg-bijeenkomst. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/IvzCommunicatie/14-bekostiging-vpt-en-mpt-roland-beukers-vws) i6 Humanitas Deventer ( http://www.humanitasdeventer.nl/ i8 Reformatorisch Dagblad (2011) Solink koppelt oudere en woonruimte zoekende student aan elkaar. Retrieved from https://www.rd.nl/archief/2.727/2.730/solink-koppelt-oudere-en-woonruimte-zoekende-student-aan-elkaar-1.631815 i9 MUG Magazine (2017) Senior en student kunnen een ideale match zijn. https://stichtingseniorenstudent.nl/nieuws/stichting-seniorenstudent-in-het-mug-magazine/ i10 Stadsblad de Echo (2016) De Eetclub van Jong en Oud. Retrieved from https://stichtingseniorenstudent.nl/nieuws/de-eetclub-van-jong-en-oud-in-stadsblad-de-echo/ i4, 5, 7,11,12
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EOKS
ROSA STEENKAMP
THE SOCIAL FACILITY HUB Stimulating social interaction and providing daily needs
The Dutch society is ageing. It is calculated that by 2050, 20% of the Dutch population will be 65+ years old1. Due to changes in the Dutch health care system in 2015, more elderly live at home instead of in elderly care homes. The current Dutch care acts state that only the people who can not survive independently and have no relatives that could look after them, fulfill the requirements to be provided with intense long-term care at a facility or at home. If a person does not fulfill these requirements, one is expected to live at home independently and is only provided with some municipal support. The question that arises here, is how municipalities are going to cope with the increase of elderly in neigbourhoods. In what way should the neighbourhood be organised in order to stimulate the independancy of its inhabitants? Could architecture play a role in providing places for interaction and daily needs?
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specific care demand can be achieved and if, according to the Wmo, the municipality is responsible for the care provision. If so, the Wmo decides whether someone will be provided with a Wmo personal bound budget or with the provision of general or personal municipal services; such as a grocery service, meal service, wheelchair service, transportation, day care, home adaptations, or protected living. If not, the person pays for its own care costs. These costs are arranged according to the ‘Zorgverzerkeringswet’, the care insurance act. 4 Due to the ageing of the Dutch society, the municipal task to supply home support will grow. In 2050, 20% of the Dutch population will be 65+ years old1. These elderly have a smaller radius of action, and municipalities should react to this by providing these elderly with facilities on walking distance. These facilities should stimulate, self-reliance, social participation, and social interaction.4
Due to this reform, The Dutch government is now only responsible for providing intense long-term care (24h care) via the act ‘Wet langdurige zorg’ (Wlz). This act provides intense long-term care for the frail elderly, the chronically ill, and people with profound physical or mental disabilities. The Centrum Indicatie Zorg (CIZ) decides whether someone is eligible for intense long-term care and if someone is provided with intramural intense longterm care (at healthcare facility), extramural intense long-term care (at home) or a Wlz personal bound budget (in order to individually buy the appropriate care someone needs). The requirements to be provided with intense long-term care have been tightened and more specified. Only the people who can not survive independently and have no relatives that could look after them, fulfill the requirements to be provided with intense longterm care. 3
So, if municipalities need to provide more accesible facilities in the future neighbourhood; what kind of facilities should they provide? How could architecture facilitate this? Could a building stimulate social interaction and provide elderly with their daily needs on walking distance? In other words: What urban and achitectural elements construct a social facility hub? This article intends to give an answer to the above question through a literature research on on elderly needs and two case studies on Het Gebouw (Leiden, the Netherlands) and Alt-Erlaa (Vienna, Austria). Both case studies are interesting architectural examples that not only provide local facilities, but also create a social meeting place for the local residents.
People who can still live on their own or have a related care giver will receive care via the non-intense care act: ‘Wet Maatschappelijke Ondersteuning’. This act provides home support to elderly and people with disabilities. In 2015, the responsibility for the provision of nonintense care shifted from the government to the municipalities via the act ‘Wet Maatschappelijke Ondersteuning’ (Wmo). The objective of this act is to stimulate independence, self-reliance, social participation, and social interaction among all inhabitants. The Wmo act states that municipalities need to ensure that people can live at home as long as possible. This should lower the national costs on intense long-term care. The municipality is therefore responsible for providing support, day care, and daily facilities to its residents. The municipality is obliged to supply inhabitants with a psychiatric impairment with a protected living environment. Inhabitants with a care demand have to request municipal support via the municipal Wmo-team or counter. The municipality evaluates how the
Furthermore, this article provides a small digression on the effects of green environments on the wellbeing of people, since both case studies have used a notable amount of green in their designs.
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Since 1968 long-term care was organized by the act ‘Algemene Wet Bijzondere Ziektekosten’ (AWBZ). This act does not exist anymore. Since the beginning of 2015, changes were made to the Dutch health system, due to the fact that the national health expenditure growth under the AWBZ was financially untenable. The AWBZ has therefore been reformed in a number of new and existing care acts: de Zorgverzekeringswet (health care insurance act), de Jeugdwet (youth act), de Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning (social support act), and the Wet langdurige zorg (longterm care act). 2
Health facilities
CASE STUDY Het Gebouw, Leiden, the Netherlands, 2013
Dwellings Religious building
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For lots of elderly, grocery shopping is a stimulation to go outside, to be physically active, to meet someone or to small talk. Elderly prefer to their groceries at a market place rather than at a supermarket, since the market place offers more social interaction. Most of the time, elderly walk, bike or take the public transport to their shopping. To transport the groceries, elderly use a rollator or mobility scooter. Some elderly do their shoppings on a daily basis, since they are not strong enough to lift a big amount of groceries. The neighbourhood should therefore provide shops on walkable distance and these should be accesible for rollators and mobility scooters. Most of the elderly do not feel safe to get cash at an outdoor cash machine, since they feel like an easy target for robbery. They need cash machines in lively environments or within shops where the social control is higher. 5
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Within its urban context, the building is surrounded by dwellings. Het gebouw therefore provides the citizens with facilities on walkable distance. Het Gebouw also offers different facilities than its surroundings. Therefore it does not offer any Community centre shops or boutiques and does not house any religiousLibrary affairs. Het Gebouw clearly reacts to Community centre Day care centre the street plancentre through openings in the building Community Library Elementary school (45 groups) Library Day care centre corridors towards the enclosed mass creating Youth and family centre Day care centre Elementary school (45 groups) playground/communal square. The entrance Sport centre Elementary school (45 groups) Youth and family centre square and the large playground are inviting, since Youth centre and family centre Sport 50 rental apartments the plinth Sport of centrethe building houses many facilities 35 assisted care apartments and social is therefore visible and one 50 rentalcontrol apartments 9 school apartments 50 assisted rental apartments would not feel unsafe. 35 care apartments Next to that, a cycling path 9 starter apartments 35school assisted care apartments 9 apartments runs through the building from north to south.
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When the weather is nice, elderly want to go for a walk. Transparant green facilities make a walk attractive. Large green facilities, however, are mostly avoided due to the lack of transparancy Hobbies & Leisure time and an associated unsafe feeling. Werken, The presence of leren en ontmoeten in Werken, leren en ontmoeten in Het Gebouw Gebouw public toilets and benches are much appreciated. In terms of hobbies and leisure time,Het elderly Werken, leren en ontmoeten in A small park near a shopping streetHet isGebouw ideal in en order participate in various indoor and outdoor Werken, leren ontmoeten in 5 Het Gebouw to en rest after shopping. activities. At home, elderly practice the following Werken, leren ontmoeten in Werken, leren en ontmoeten in hobbies: knitting, reading, watching TV, puzzling, Het Gebouw Gebouw Het Safety and listening to music. Outside, elderly use the community centres to stay occupied. At the community centre, elderly drink a coffee, Most of the elderly do not go out at night. The amount of years one lives in a neighbourhood share a meal or take part in organised cultural, plays an important role in the sense of safety, recreational, reflective or physical activities in order since one knows the neigbourhood and its people to have social interaction. Community centres are therefore of great importance in sustaining the better. independence of elderly. 5 Some elderly do not feel safe at home. They only open the door by appointment. In care homes Support elderly do not feel safe either, since anyone could easily walk in and out. 6 In order to live independently, elderly need to be healthy, need to feel part of a social network (family Mobility and relatives), and sometimes need personalized home adaptations. In the context of independence, Most elderly walk, bike, use the public transport elderly want to do their own grocery shopping, or tailored transportation to go around. These cooking and transportation in order to be able transportation modes are used to go shopping, to give an individual infill of the day. Elderly enjoy visit the hospital, family, or relatives. The district sharing a meal at a community centre in order to bus is a way of transportation that also provides meet others. A lot of elderly are in need ofDwellings specific social interaction, due to the fact that the driver Car park assistence on acountancy, computer problems, and its users are known. Tailored transportation is Church and applying for home support services. A support not very reliable since its arrival time depends on Schools: day care elementary and vocational school centre were elderly get help on these Shopping matters fellow travelers. It is also quite expensive and one mall would certainly be useful.5 has have to book three days in advance. 6 Playground 50 huurwoningen 50 zorgwoningen huurwoningen 34 34schoolwoningen zorgwoningen 9 schoolwoningen 9 starterswoningen 9 starterswoningen parkeergarage 120 P parkeergarage 120 P
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Within the building, a clear distinction between the public and private areas is made. The private dwellings and care homes with their semi-private shared gardens are situated on the third or higher floors. In this way, the apartments â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;watchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the playground and children can also play here after school time. The public and semi-public facilities are accessible for all citizens via the entrance square in front of the entrance. This square dissolves into an indoor public square from where all public and semipublic facilities are in reach.
Garage
Entrance and ommunity space: chess clubs, home craft clubs
Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, in- and outdoor swimmingpool and sauna
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Community space: chess clubs, home craft clubs Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, swimming pool
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Elderly want to live at home as long as possible. Het Gebouw Good accessibility of a dwelling, also indoors, is a must. Elderly are not very positive about going to a care home, since they believe that these facilities Werken, Werken, leren leren en en ontmoeten ontmoeten in in will not provide them with proper spaces to invite Het Het Gebouw Gebouw guests, the institution will decide your daily routine, and it would not provide the individual care one needs.5
Het Gebouw by VenhoevenCS architects (2013) is located in the neighbourhood De Kooi in the city Leiden, the Netherlands. The building is the first project of the new centre of Leiden North. The most diverse social facilities have been gathered in a unique building that combines facilities and brings citizens together.
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Elderly need to live close to a general practice, physiotherapist and a pharmacy. They prefer a health centre where all health related facilities are combined. A health centre is transparant and a referral is uncomplicated. Elderly walk, bike or take the public transport to these facilities. In addition, medicines often get home delivered. Home care is very much appreciated in order to be able to live at home as long as possible.5
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This section provides a brief overview of results of a number of different studies in the field of elderly needs in the Netherlands.
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ELDERLY NEEDS
Multigenerational use SOCIAL CONTROL
The building is not only multifunctional, the functions also target various age groups, and is therefore also ‘multigenereational’. Within the design of the public playground, the different elements, attract multiple ages. The youth uses the playground and the play equipment during school breaks. After school, the playing continues, and parents stay around on the planters. The passage way for bikes is also more in use after school. The elderly in the care homes have watch the childre n play from within their communal space. Later in the afternoon parents arrive to pick up their children form kindergarten. The starters come home after a day of work, and sit down in their front gardens alongside the playground.
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The building provides a lot of space to relax and sit down. In the facade near the entrance a long bench comes out of the wall. This bench is used throughout the day by several age groups. In the morning they wait here before they go to the general practicioner and parents wait with their children for the school to open its doors. Throughout the day, teachers who do not have surveillance on the playground, take a break and eat their lunch. In the evening, the youth uses the bench to hang around. The big window next to the bench ensures social control. Behind the window people are reading books in the public library.
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After one has entered the buiding through the main entrance, one has a variety of choices. The public square can just be used to drink a coffee, have lunch, or read a book from the library. One could watch the children sport in the sport hall on the first floor above the library. In the morning, eldery sit around at the big tables and wait to get their blood pressure checked. The floor plan of the community square has a broad set up, so elderly can move around with their rollators and mobility scooters. From this community square one can enter the playground. The square gives a hint through introducing some elements for play. After school time, this square can be transformed in a stage, and from the steps and ramp that normally takes you to the health section of the building, one can watch a performance.
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APARTMENTS
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Garage Entrance and ommunity space: chess clubs, home craft clubs Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, in- and outdoor swimmingpool and sauna
Religious building Dwellings
Schools
Car park
Private
Church
Semi-private
Schools: day care elementary and vocatio-
Semi-public
Shopping mall
Public
Playground
Shops
Community space: chess clubs, home craft Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, swimming pool Health care: general practicioner, dental care, and physiotherapy Cluster of facilities
Playground/ park Sports
Alt-Erlaa is another example where not only the buildings, but the whole neighbourhood is multifunctional and multigenerational in its use. This neighbourhood was built in the 1970s according to the ‘green, air, and light’ ideals of the architect Harry Glück.
Werken, leren en ontmoeten in Het Gebouw
Community centre
DE DAKEN WORDEN GEBRUIKT VOOR SPEELPLEINEN EN GEMEENSCHAPPELIJKE TUINEN VOOR DE WONINGEN
wijkcentrum wijkbibliotheek peuterspeelzalen basisscholen en bso (totaal 45 groepsruimten) centrum voor jeugd en gezin sportzaal
terras voor de woningen daktuin woningen dak schoolplein
Access routes
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Alt-Erlaa in urban context.i9
Urban context The neighbourhood Alt-Erlaa counts three building blocks - A, B, and C. These enormous blocks house 10,000 inhabitants in total. The building blocks are designed within a park that is open to the public. However, the park is only accessible via two bridges that cross the Anton Baumgarner Strasse in the south, via the neighbourhood in the west or via the shopping centre next to the metrostation of Alt-Erlaa. The infrastructure surrounding the Alt-Erlaa park, the metro line and highway, do not make the park very accessible on neighbourhood scale. Alt-Erlaa therefore offers all the facilities a neighbourhood needs, since it is not easy to go grocery shopping somewhere else. The infrastructure surrounding the neighbourhood, however, does make the neighbourhood very accessible in the larger infrastructure network. By metro, one can commute to the city centre of Vienna in 10 minutes. By car this takes 20 minutes. By car, the park is best accesible via the Anton Baumgartner Strasse in the south. All cars can be Private parked in huge Semi-private parking garages under the building Semi-public blocks. From there, elevators take people to their Public Private floors. 70m
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Garage
Entrance and ommunity space: chess clubs, home craft clubs
Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, in- and outdoor swimmingpool and sauna
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Garage Entrance and ommunity space: chess clubs, home craft clubs Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, in- and outdoor swimmingpool and sauna
Dwellings
Garage
Car park
Entrance and ommunity space: chess clubs, home craft clubs
Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, in- and outdoor swimmingpool and sauna
Church
Garage Entrance and ommunity space: chess clubs, home craft clubs
Shopping mall
Private
Alt-Erlaa near the metro station.i7
Semi-private
Schools: day care elementary and vocatio-
Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, in- and outdoor swimmingpool and sauna
Semi-public Public
Playground
Community space: chess clubs, home craft
Dwellings
Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, swimming pool
Health care: general practicioner, dental care, and physiotherapy
Car park
Cluster of facilities
Church
und/ park
Schools: day care elementary and vocational school
Dwellings
Shopping mall
Car park
Playground
Church
Community space: chess clubs, home craft clubs
Schools: Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, swimming poolday care elementary and vocational school Werken, leren en ontmoeten in Het Gebouw Private Shopping Health care: general practicioner, dental care, and mall physiotherapy
nity centre
Playground
Cluster of facilities
Semi-private
wijkcentrum wijkbibliotheek peuterspeelzalen basisscholen en bso (totaal 45 groepsruimten) centrum voor jeugd en gezin sportzaal
Community space: chess clubs, home craft clubs
Transition between the private and the Semi-public public.i10 Sport facilitity: turn hall, tennis hall, swimming pool Public Health care: general practicioner, dental care, and physiotherapy
routes
Cluster of facilities
Werken, leren en ontmoeten in Het Gebouw DE DAKEN WORDEN GEBRUIKT VOOR SPEELPLEINEN EN GEMEENSCHAPPELIJKE TUINEN VOOR DE WONINGEN
wijkcentrum wijkbibliotheek peuterspeelzalen basisscholen en bso (totaal 45 groepsruimten) centrum voor jeugd en gezin sportzaal
terras voor de woningen daktuin woningen dak schoolplein
Werken, leren en ontmoeten in Het Gebouw terras voor de woningen daktuin woningen dak schoolplein
Private Semi-private
Private
Semi-public
Semi-private
Public
Semi-public
Clustered facilities Public Illustration 10 shows that Alt-Erlaa houses many facilities for various age groups; from playground, to knitting associations. This is needed, since the building attracts various household types due to the 35 different dwelling possibilities. Most of the public and semi- public facilities (schools, health centres, restaurants) are clustered around the shopping centre, which is the main entrance into the Alt-Erlaa park. The private and semi-private sport and leisure facilities can be used throughout the year, since there are many outdoor and indoor facilities. Within the building, ‘the dark triangle’, a triangular space where no daylight enters the building, houses many indoor attractions, such as: clubs and associations, sauna’s and swimming pools. Since these facilities attract all age groups, social interaction between multiple generation groups occurs easily and social conrol is very high. DE DAKEN WORDEN GEBRUIKT VOOR SPEELPLEINEN EN GEMEENSCHAPPELIJKE TUINEN VOOR DE WONINGEN terras voor de woningen daktuin woningen dak schoolplein
DE DAKEN WORDEN GEBRUIKT VOOR SPEELPLEINEN EN GEMEENSCHAPPELIJKE TUINEN VOOR DE WONINGEN
wijkcentrum wijkbibliotheek peuterspeelzalen basisscholen en bso (totaal 45 groepsruimten) centrum voor jeugd en gezin sportzaal
50 huurwoningen 34 zorgwoningen 9 schoolwoningen 9 starterswoningen parkeergarage 120 P
Semi-private
VOETBALKOOI DAKTUIN
Semi-public
50 huurwoningen 34 zorgwoningen 9 schoolwoningen 9 starterswoningen parkeergarage 120 P
Public
Clustered facilities in Alt-Erlaa.i11
Roof top facilities and metro connection.i8
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CASE STUDY Alt-Erlaa, Vienna, Austria
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Transition between the public and private The Alt-Erlaa shopping centre can be seen as the public heart of the neighbourhood. This place is lively from early in the morning till the closing of the restaurants and bars. It is not only a place where people go for shopping, it is a place where people meet. Within the shopping centre semi-public facilties such as an elementary school, general practice and a youth centre are situated. In this way people of various age groups are attracted to this place and interact with eahother on the provided public open air square in the centre of the mall. Through the public park, one walks to the entrances of the building blocks. The hallway of the building blocks are situated on the first floor, which contributes to the private atmosphere of these building blocks. The dwellings and the facilties in the core and on the roof of the building blocks are closed off for the public. Only the inhabitants have entrance via a special electronic key with transmitter. The opening hours of the semi-private facilities are very strict. In the winter, the ‘grey triangles’ of the building blocks turn into the main places of interaction.
SOCIAL CONTROL
COMMUNITY PARK
24/7 MAINTENANCE
MEETING
RELAXING
Clustered facilities in Het Gebouw.i14
COMMUNITY PARK PLAYGROUND
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SWIMMING POOL
CHURCH
Green as connector
SOCIAL CONTROL
TENNIS
Green stimulating physical activity.i17
Alt-Erlaa is a very green neighbourhood. The park that surrounds the building blocks is in a very good condition due to the many gardeners that maintain the park. The park offers facilities for everyone; seven playgrounds, many meeting points with benches, walking paths towards the shopping mall, and outdoor sport courts. The park is a place where the people stroll around and have the small talk they need. The green continues on the facades of the building blocks, where 1 meter deep planters hang. People make use of these planters by growing their own crops. Behind the planters, large balconies are situated. In summer, people make use of their balconies often and the facades turn into very lively places.
GREEN BALCONIES
Clustered facilities in Het Gebouw.i15 SOCIAL CONTROL
Leisure as a connector
SHOPS
Alt-Erlaa is a neighbourhood were people meet mostly during leisure time, after work, or on the weekends. The inhabitants do not have to commute in order to relax, since every facility is in six minute reach from each dwelling. The neighbourhood has a commonal website where people can sign up for certain sport classes in- and outdoors.
SCHOOL
HUMAN SCALE SHOPPING MALL
PUBLIC SQUARE
THE GREEN EFFECT
with a more local catchment area, seems more suitable. 7
Research at the University of Wageningen7,8 has identified five mechanisms in which nature has a positive effect on the living environment and the local well-being of people. For all mechanisms, the local green facilities play a causal role.
Faster recovery Within the healing environment, research of Agnes van den Berg and Marijke van Winsum-Westra shows that a green environment has a positive effect on the duration of a patient’s recovery and in this way the total care duration. In addition, green has a positive effect on the concentration and performance of caregivers and reduces the amount of medical faults. 8
Stimuling physical activity Physical activity can be divided in utilitary movement (walking or biking) and recreational activity. The effect of local green and nature on physical activity has not yet been proven. However, if the green environments are easy accessible and safe, people find them attractive and mostly use the green space for recreational activities. 7
Improvement of air quality In contrast to places without green, air quality is better in areas with a high density of green. However, these green areas, like parks, are mostly areas with a lower initial concentration of air pollutants, because of for example less vehicle activity. It is thus hard to identify what are the underlying drivers of better air quality in greener areas. 8
Facilitating positive social contacts The link between local green in the neighbourhood and the degree in which inhabitants maintain their social contacts is not empirically demonstrated. Improving the walkability of a neighbourhood, however seems to stimulate more superficial contact. Green could be part of this, since it could stimulate the actractiveness of routes. For less superficial contact a small neighbourhood park,
Clustered facilities in Het Gebouw.i16
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BALCONIES
THE SOCIAL HUB The literature research and the case studies on Het Gebouw and Alt-Erlaa have shown that a building can provide multigenerational facilities and stimulate social interaction within a builiding. The building should however take into account the following architectural and urban ellements in order to function as a social facility hub: Accessibility
Green facilitating positive social contact.i18
The building needs to be very accessible by foot, bike and public transportation. Furthermore the building needs to take a strong position in the urban context by enclosing safe and transparent public squares or parks that are in use throughout the whole day. Elderly should be able to move around freely with their rollators and mobility scooters. Transition between the private and the public
Green that stimulates recovery.i19
Green that releases stress.i20
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The main entrance of the building should be positioned on the public square or park. After entering, the building should provide another public square from where users have access to the multiple facilities. The indoor square should allow people to sit down, drink a coffee, play or read a book. In this way the square does not only function as a commuting area, but also as a place of social interaction. The public and semi-public facilities need to be very visible in the plinth of the building in order to create social control and safety in the enlosed public squares. The private apartments and care homes can contribute to the social control on the public squares via look outs. Clustering of multigenerational facilities The public and semi-public facilities should be clustered around a central indoor public square. Elderly need community spaces where they can participate in organised activities, drink a coffee or share a meal. Next to that, elderly need a place to do their dailly shoppings. Furthermore, they are at an age that they regularly have to visit a general practicioner or physiotherapist. For practical matters, elderly should be able to go to a service centre. The youth need facilities to learn, play, sport or practice a hobby. The middle aged people would also be benefited by a place where they could go shopping, sport or practice a hobby. A smart programmatical organisation of clustered multignerational facilities around public squares can allow social interaction between various age groups and simultaneously provide people in their daily needs within a building. 215
Footnotes: 1 CBS, “Demografie van de vergrijzing,” CBS (2011): accessed April 3, 2017, url: https://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/ D7D8F678-F22B-445F-8A6F-A635D376A344/0/2011demografievandevergrijzingart.pdf Otto Trienekens, “Langer thuis: impact op de wijk en op de zorghuisvesting,” Veldacademie (2017): accessed April 15, 2017, url: http://www.veldacademie.nl/thema/langer-thuis
2
faq/wlz.
3
Zorgwijzer, “Wet langdurige zorg (Wlz),”Zorgwijzer (2017): accessed May 15, 2017, url: http: https://www.zorgwijzer.nl/
Zorgwijzer, “Wat is de Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning?,”Zorgwijzer (2017): accessed May 15, 2017, url: https:// www.zorgwijzer.nl/faq/wmo
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Lara Schot et al., “Monitor Servicegebieden,” Veldacademie (2014): accessed March 20, 2017, url: http://www. veldacademie.nl/pdf.html?load=/img/Document/12/1b/121bdead-33df-4621-b3f0-43a28701473d/12004%20Monitor%20 2e%20druk%2020140213.pdf.pdf.
5
VROM-raad, “Oude Bomen? Oude bomen moet je niet verplanten,” VROM-raad (2005).
De Vries et al., “Effecten van nabije natuur op gezondheid en welzijn,” Wageningen University (2009)
6
7
Agnes van den Berg and Marijke van Winsum-Westra, “Ontwerpen met groen voor gezondheid,” Wageningen University (2006).
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Images: Diagrams are made by the Author Venhoeven, Ton. “Het Gebouw.” VenhoevenCS, 2013. Accessed March 28, 2017, url: http://venhoevencs.nl/ wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Het-Gebouw-spread-LR_VenhoevenCS.pdf. i12 “Wohnpark Alt-Erlaa, Vienna.” Accessed March 28, 2017, https://www.reddit.com/r/UrbanHell/ comments/325np2/wohnpark_alterlaa_vienna/. i13 “Wohpark Alterlaa.” Accessed March 28, 2017, https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/79727855877010547/. i17 “Wandelen in park, ouderen.” Accessed May 20, 2017, https://goo.gl/images/jVgYqN/. i18 “Ouderen in bos bij water.”Accessed May 20, 2017, https://goo.gl/images/93da21/. i19 “Green patient room.”Accessed May 20, 2017, https://goo.gl/images/pYegRJ/. i20 Rosenfield, Karissa. “AIA Selects Four Projects for National Healthcare Design Awards.” Archdaily, 2012. Accessed May 20, 2017, http://www.archdaily.com/274743/aia-selects-four-projects-for-national-healthcare- design-awards. i1-3-6-7-8-9-10-11-14-15-16
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Bibliography: CBS. “Demografie van de vergrijzing,” CBS, 2011. Accessed April 3, 2017, url: https://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/ D7D8F678-F22B-445F-8A6F-A635D376A344/0/2011demografievandevergrijzingart.pdf Schot, Lara, K. Snoep, J. Rooijakkers, and A. Pinkeiro. “Monitor Woonservicegebieden.” Veldacademie, 2014. Trienekens, Otto. “Langer thuis: impact op de wijk en op de zorghuisvesting,” Veldacademie, 2017. Accessed April 15, 2017, url: http://www.veldacademie.nl/thema/langer-thuis. Venhoeven, Ton. “Het Gebouw.” VenhoevenCS, 2013. Accessed March 28, 2017, url: http://venhoevencs.nl/wordpress/wp-content/ uploads/2012/01/Het-Gebouw-spread-LR_VenhoevenCS.pdf. VROM-raad. “Oude bomen? Oude bomen moet je niet verplanten.” VROM-raad, 2005. Zorgwijzer, “Wat is de Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning?.”Zorgwijzer, 2017. Accessed May 15, 2017, url: https://www.zorgwijzer. nl/faq/wmo Zorgwijzer. “Wet langdurige zorg (Wlz).”Zorgwijzer, 2017. Accessed May 15, 2017, url: http: https://www.zorgwijzer.nl/faq/wlz. De Vries, S., J. Maas, H. Kramer. “Effecten van nabije natuur op gezondheid en welzijn.” Wageningen University, 2009. Van den Berg, Agnes, M. van Winsum-Westra, “Ontwerpen met groen voor gezondheid.” Wageningen University ,2006.
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WORKSPACE AS A MEDIUM FOR COLLABORATION
YANA DAYNOVICH Workspace typologies
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The world in 2050 will change. More people will live in Amsterdam and most of the productive working force will work in non-manual labour of knowledge economy, characterized by sedentary lifestyle and mental tiredness. With changing working modes people will work more from remote locations, as technologies will allow doing so. This will contribute to better work-life balance management and consequently to health benefits. However, there is a chance that with development of virtual reality people will mostly communicate through technologies and not in person. The real personal communication will be in deficit and naturally people will strive for it, as socializing is inevitable part of our health. This is why, as the architect Ole Scheeren said, “in an age where digital work can be performed anywhere, architecture takes on the critical role of bringing people together”1. Thus the typology of working space will not disappear but will adapt to new needs of changing lifestyles and trends and have a critical role in public social and mental wellbeing on the basis of collaboration promotion.
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the co-working community for business newbies. Based on the idea of on-demand workspace the flexible and affordable membership options are introduced, allowing for more efficient use of space and resources in a changing tech-driven world. Typically they provide membership, such as ‘resident’, ‘hot desk’, ‘flexible’ and ‘studio’, with difference in access to the fixed/unfixed workspace, rental period and facilities. The options are truly unlimited, allowing even for drop-ins and visitors to enjoy the benefits of sharing experience. The sharing of space and facilities and equipment are the main factors contributing to the affordability of such spaces. Co-workings provide common space where the businesses can share desks, meeting rooms, dining and resting areas, printers, lockers and so on. In comparison to the office system, where there is a fixed workplace that is most of the time vacant5, the co-working membership ensures a more fluid use of space that changes with the life of co-working ecosystem. The open floor plan configuration allows for sharing spaces more efficiently, accommodating multiple users, lowering the cost and raising affordability of a space for small companies to start or keep their businesses running. All these in broader sense help to encourage local community business to take action. Apart from the advantages of the organizational principles of the on-demand-driven working spaces collaboration-wise in comparison to the traditional supply-led serviced offices; it also beneficially affects the interrelationships between a city and a workplace. The relationships between the working environment and the urban fabric are inevitably interrelated, and affect the way local economy functions, how it meets the demands of the local population and brings attractiveness in the urban fabric it is inserted. Historically, the traditional office emerged from the Taylorist ideas, advocating for the division and control for the sake of efficiency and productivity6. According to Richard Sennett7, the Modern Movement the cradle of todays CBD, inspired by Taylorist ideas, had three main disadvantages: pursue of large scale, monofunctionality unable to accommodate changes and tendency to focus on centers, abandoning peripheral spaces and public realm. Such logic has been persisted until now in the way office environment implemented in the city fabric. There are two examples that clearly show the distinction between different kinds of relationships between the workspaces and the city, the Canary Wharf CBD and the Soho neighborhood in London, UK. The CBD is characterized by
The traditional working environment is based the supply-oriented logic of the real estate, the so-called Anglo-American supply chain2. The success in supply-oriented system is defined by how quickly the investment is realized by exchange or sale. Its independency, tunnel vision, and inflexible forward thinking, closed to any sort of feedback and unstoppable due to the high cost of delays, characterize the office development business as a sector in supply-driven system today. In spatial relation such attitude is embodied in the form of monofunctional office enclaves, the so-called Central Business Districts (CBD), that although providing the eco-system of businesses do not usually provide variety in business scale. Such attitude clearly show the blindness of real estate towards the new emerging changes fostered by information technology and freelance popularity, which is already affecting the office market. This seems to contribute significantly to the office oversupply and vacancy of 30% only in The Netherlands. However, there seems to be an alternative to such situation. Opposed to the supply-driven office development the demand-led system seems to overtake the provision of most up-to-date working environment, which meets the demands of contemporary work styles influenced by technologies. The so-called ‘collaborative working space’ emerged not longer than a decade ago as reaction to broader economic change from corporate culture to more flexible environment based on ideas of sharing economy, collaboration and networking, fostered by information technologies. The concept of ‘co-working’ originated in 1999 by DeKoven ‘as a way to identify a method that would facilitate collaborative work and business meetings coordinated by computers’3. “His method aimed to support collaborative work through a non-competitive approach while giving people the opportunity to work on their own projects”4. Opposed to the traditional office with its high costs and lack of collaboration promotion between the users, the idea of co-working aimed at creating a community based on the collaboration and network principles of co-operation and support. The multiple businesses of various scales of profitability and performance, ranging from small-scale businesses and start-ups to a more established ones are joined in one space and interconnected with other co-working spaces, in so-called eco-systems (e.g. hubs). Usually co-working environment has its sectorial focus that makes ecosystem cohesion stronger. The co-working eco-system is based on the principle of sharing material and immaterial resources that provides flexibility and affordability of 219
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Ways a workplace can contribute to social cohesion.
Soho neighbourhood, London i2
segregation, exclusion and separation of functions. It is a brittle mono-functional, unable to adopt changes CBD that is cut-off from the surrounding environment by such exclusion techniques as guards, cameras and fences. The Soho district on the opposite is characterized by fruitful collaboration between workspaces and public realm of the city, with overlapping functions, highly mixed use environment that brings together activities and people from different backgrounds, creating a vibrant neighborhood. As opposed to the Canary Wharf it combines different programmatic elements of public realm necessary for the lively relationships with the city, such as retail, entertainment and living with various levels of accessibility and interstitial spaces that make possible accidental encounters oriented to collaboration between the city and the working environment. In this relation the emerging type of collaborative workspace resembles the Soho district’s relationships with the city. On a smaller scale it has very important implication for development and upgrading of local economy of the neighborhood scale. It helps to bring ‘investment, development/refurbishment and activity to areas, making an incremental contribution, together with the wider local economy, to the physical and economic regeneration and improvement of areas. Where the businesses
have supported stay and grow in the area this contributes to a wider process of benefit’8. This offers support to small-scale local businesses and gives them opportunity to develop ideas and become active participators in economy. Not only do the co-workings encourage growth in local economy but also help to bring about social benefits. By means of the community engagement programs many co-workings positively affect local community. They provide training and educational programs for local entrepreneurs, which aim is to teach them new skills and prepare or re-orient for the new requirements of economy. In such a way such workspaces help to partially solve a problem of unemployment and up-skill the local population. Based on the principle of sharing knowledge and experience among its inhabitants, the co-working space provides professional support and helps to nurture and maintain the small-scale businesses and start-ups, benefiting more established businesses by keeping them creative. Most of the co-working spaces provide informal support through such formats as events, mentoring, business courses and workshops. However, some of them offer higher level of professional support that has structured and focused program that is provided by professional team. Among those are business administration, financial, marketing and
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Bootstrap Campus, London i3
legal advices, education and training, mentoring, assistance and networking. Usually the support is defined by a sector focus and needs of certain co-working environment where alike minded will contribute to each other’s growth. In such a way co-working organizations recognize the importance of networking and peer-to-peer learning as the catalysts for creating positive collaboration that ensures healthy working environment of co-working ecosystem. Although majority of them are privately funded for profitability reasons, some have partial or full funding by public sector and charity organizations. In recent years governments more and more recognize the importance of the collaborative workspace. They are starting to invest in such spaces and use it as an efficient tool to regenerate problematic neighborhoods and encourage small-scale local initiatives of the neighborhood, which are unable to establish themselves due to ‘unavailability of financing, unavailability of premises (that are affordable), their own credit worthiness and the lack of access to business advisors’9. The presence of co-working business ecosystem also benefit local environment. By introducing such program in the city fabric, the neighborhood becomes more vibrant. That happens because the interest in area appears and it entails increase in
visitors and growth in activities (e.g. retail and entertainment). By means of including such facilities and programs as cafes, event spaces, hosted community events, creative and cultural programs open to public a co-working environment can become a kind of private community center, providing social cohesion and enhancing sense of community in the local neighborhood. Such programmatic elements attract people to the area and create local vibe that in its turn makes neighborhood an attractive area. Such programmatic intrusion in the city fabric has brought about transformations of local economy and delivered community and social value to Dalston, UK. Bootstrap co-working space was conceived as a new community space that provides flexible working places to different scale businesses, including charities, social enterprises and community groups. The space offers a various community-oriented initiatives, and workplace for more than 70 local community groups and businesses. Being established in the a re-used print house it aimed at helping lower income people to get out of poverty and re-qualify for the new economic demands. The educational programs focused on creative learning aimed at the young local unemployed people between 16 and 24 years old. By offering vocational training the Boostrap Campus
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Canary Wharf CBD, London i1
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Event in the Dalston Roof Park i4
Print House Gallery Space i5
Bootstrap. Fitzroy House co-working space i6
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Collaboration and space However, the ways discussed above are not the only ones to promote the collaboration in the workspace. On a building scale collaboration can also be encouraged through the spatial organization. It includes circulation and space configuration, programmatic infill and the interior design of a workspace that encourages the encounters within a building. It is the most crucial for architectural design, as it influences and enhance social health of the company, its productivity and cohesion. Historically the office layout was going in the direction from ‘me to we’, or from individualistic to collaborative workspace. The first office design was based on the idea of Taylor11, who was inspired by assembly line at manufacture. With the purpose of efficiency and productivity he introduced an open plan and applied it as a tool not only to fit in more people but also to establish control over employees. The space was arranged hierarchically with tables organized in a repetitive manner. Little attention was paid to privacy and collaboration encouragement in common areas. Such idea of efficiency is still sometimes used for the workspace environment. Even the Taylorist logic’s successor, the cubicle principle, is still used as an appropriate mean of workspace that only provides the privacy and segregation but not the collaboration12. With time in contrast to such individualistic attitude another line of thinking about workspace and the role of collaboration appeared. It happened in 1963 when the concept of Bürolandschaft Office was introduced. Its spatial organization represented democratization of space and the rise of non-hiererchical collaboration at workspace instead of top-down management system, which was typical for Taylorist floorplan. Traditional hierarchical chain of command was changed to collaborative principle of work process organisation. Such changes instantly affected the spatial arrangement, introducing non-hierarchical environment, based upon a large, open and undivided space bringing together employees with different degrees of responsibility. In order to encourage collaboration such spaces provided the break areas, specifically dedicated for rest and socialization, called pausenraum. After the Bürolandschaft Office, the space organization that was encouraging collaboration, advanced further with the introduction of EU stakeholder office. With the advancement of democratic values, individuals well-being was regarded the key in space planning. Thus in this typology the entire courtyard was given to the common area that served as a place to gather and enhance friendship and interconnectedness between employees. 13
Taylorist Office i7
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program helps them to obtain new skills and working experience with co-working tenants, enhancing collaboration between locals and businesses, contributing to expansion of their professional connections with prospective employers. Moreover, the tenant support that the campus provides also contributes to the constant promotion and upgrade of the skills. This includes such support as networking events, informal network of business contacts and specialist advisors. Apart form that the Bootstrap Company encourages its residents to exchange their services on the peer-to-peer basis, in such a way contributing to social cohesion of the eco-system. The space includes a mix of such diverse companies, communities and enterprises as Merci Marie Café and event space that provides food from fresh ingredients sourced from local market, provided by East London Food Access Ltd A Social Enterprise co-operative; Hieroglyph Inks Screen printers and printing school; music recording and post production Abbot Street Studios; Haberdashery London Lighting designers who are sponsored by such big businesses as Selfridges, BFI and BBC. As a result of such fruitful program the Bootstrap helped to increase work placement employing 23 people during 2014 year and helping with employability classes to 300 young locals. The numbers might not be impressive for a global economy, but they are important for the local environment, because small deeds lead to big results10. In addition to the socio-economic benefits of the Bootstrap it also creates a space for cultural exchange for the local community offered in its ecosystem of spaces. It enhances community cohesion by hosting cultural events open to public. Being located on the busy Dalston’s Ashwin Street, it benefited from local authorities initiatives aimed at improving the area, by converting it to a more human-scale environment, banning through-traffic, and introducing the re-discovery of public realm with diversity of culture, cafes and retail regularly opening. The Bootstrap contributed to such plan by providing to the area such public functions as Community Allotments managed by volunteers; roof park with outdoor spaces, hosting diverse cultural events with 10.000 registered local members; the print house gallery, offering exhibitions of artists and designer-makers; the event spaces and the underground ww2 bunker, available for events, film screenings, conferences, performances, talks and drama classes; the re-used car park space and offering gigs, theatre events and other performances and so on. Such programmatic change brought about quality transformation of the city fabric and made the neighborhood more vibrant by bringing local people together under the roof of this mixed-use workspace.
Bürolandschaft Office i8
EU Stakeholder Office i9
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Google NYC, City within a City.i10
Facebook Management Structure.i11
Facebook Management Structure. Spatial dimension.i12
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In addition, not only did it have the spatial arrangement encouraging communication, but also the programmatic diversity that made it even stronger. Such functions as café and retail were introduced on the Ground floor creating an occasion to meet. Same programmatic enhancement strategy is nowadays used by big tech companies concerned with their employees well-being. In contract to EU predecessor, such companies as Facebook or Google go further than just a café and retail and introduce all the amenities that can be found in the neighbourhood, such as gym, yoga ,hairdresser, rock climbing wall, dry cleaning, massage, and even a bike lines, and many more. In such a way the program itself encourages interaction by creating an opportunity to meet during the break time. Not without reason are the big tech companies concerned with the collaboration enhancement at workplace. They recognize the importance of it in relation to productivity and efficiency of employees and create the strategies of how to promote it both on managerial and spatial levels. For example, the tech giant Facebook’s management structure is based on the principle of cooperation that is visible in its HQ designed by Gehry Partners. In contrast to traditional Taylorist office floor plans that separated the employers, managers and executives on different levels, the FB office organization allowed for mixing people with different levels of responsibility in one space with the aim to combine different attitudes to problem-solving, encouraging idea sharing and peer-to peer interaction. Such spatial organization contributed to collaboration, creativity, idea exchange and in the end the productivity and the company profit. The small clusters of small groups of mixed professionals are neighbors to the other small groups from the same or different department. In an open plan it means that many groups of people from different departments are joined in one shared space and have countless opportunities to accidentally bump into each other and engage in creative collaboration. Apart from mixing people with different levels of responsibility in one space, FB also created a strategy of how to promote collaboration by means of architecture, based on the idea of planned and unplanned encounters. The Ghery architects imagined a space where people’s interaction is programmed in such a latent way so that it becomes unstructured, hard to predict environment, organically creating opportunities to interact. The space seems to be organized on the principle of the city and its complexity. The necessary elements of the city morphology are the private, semi-private and public spaces, representing its social-economic structure. The organizational principle is provided by the city grid, with combination of the circulation
Facebook’s floor plan: designed to incite ‘serendipity’ .i13
Moroccan city.i14
veins and places to gather and interact, such as passages, plazas and shopping streets, bazaars and so on. The latter are usually located at the junctions of the streets and the morphological elements of the city. Usually at the junctions where the flows of people collide the commercial activities and public realm (café, squares etc) are located. This fact highlights the importance of such nodes in urban spaces as the catalysts of the public urban life. They allow people to meet, interact and exchange ideas, contributing to the public life. Exactly this simplified principle of the city grid is applied in new headquarters of Facebook. Applying the urbanism language to the office layout it is possible to assume that the city grid is the office floor plan, where a corridor is a street, a private workspaces are the apartment blocks, the quiet spaces are the inner courtyards, the meeting areas for are the city halls, the civic amenity, and the common shared spaces are the squares, which are located on the intersection of the circulation roots. For example, the irregularity of the ‘master plan’ of FB HQ might have been easily inspired by the medina quarter in Marrakesh, with its characteristic winding, maze-like, narrow streets that create unpredictability of city grid. Just as in that Moroccan city, the meeting spots and public buildings and squares are located at
the intersections of the streets. So do the common areas of the office. There are many spaces in the office that have different mode of privacy/publicity and that encourage different types of collaboration. For the sake of simplicity it is possible to categorize them in the following three types: ‘public squares’, ‘streets’ and ‘courtyards’. The ‘public squares’ of office landscape represent the most open and public spaces and located at the intersections of the corridors-streets of a building. Due to is open character they are usually represented by cafes, bars, living rooms and meeting spots and take the position in between the private working areas and in close proximity to them. Such open spaces not only used as meeting spots on purpose, but as the places that themselves attract accidental encounters of the employers who came there to socialize during a break.
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Just as in the city the points of attraction are located not further than a certain distance from a working space of an employer. In the language of Google the rule is called ‘150-feet from food’ and means that any employer should be able to reach a café, bar or restaurant within this distance. Such approach enhances the probability of accidental encounters and positively affects the collaboration.
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Hotel and office PARKROYAL on Pickering in Singapore by WOHAi15
Health Promotion and the Green Environment
sky gardens and terraces. There are 15,000 square metres of sky gardens, water features, planted terraces and green walls. This is 215 per cent of the site area or equivalent to the footprint of Hong Lim Park. The extensive landscaping and greenery works on many levels – from a business point of view it is the unique selling point of the development, a lush retreat right in the heart of the city that you cannot get from any other high-rise business hotel. Environmentally the extensive greenery reduces the “urban heat island” effect by cutting out and shading hard surfaces that reflect and trap heat, also absorbing carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen when the plants photosynthesize. Not only does it provide environmental and aesthetics benefits to the building but also contributes to the mental and social health of a hotel and office residents. Regualrly hosting business meetings the space provides rest and encourage accidental encounters due to its attractive relaxing green environment.
Singapore city is tcontributing to the research into vertical greening and sustainable urban high-rise developments. As cities become more developed and built up, government does not want them to become all hard edges, glass and concrete. The integrate softness using gardens and greening, which is not only environmentally positive but also adds delight and relief for building users, passers-by and other city dwellers. The Singapore based office WOHA designed a Hotel and Office PARKROYAL (2013) that hosts different functions, including conference and working areas. PARKROYAL on Pickering is Singapore’s first office and hotel-in-a-garden with a groundbreaking iconic structure inspired by its surroundings, both physical and cultural that reference and reinforce Singapore’s renowned image as a garden city. According to the WOHA’s idea the greenery of the park visually sweeps up the building in the various
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Hotel and office PARKROYAL on Pickering in Singapore by WOHAi16
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Google common area.i17
Conclusioin In the future small and large businesses will operate as networks in workspaces that will have lively relationships with the city’s public realm. These connected business networks will help to develop local economy by providing beneficial collaboration between them and the smaller businesses opertaing localy, contributing in such a way to the advancement to small scale economy. The value of places will shift to promotion of networking, socializing and collaboration, and will be spaces where serendipity, unplanned encounters, unanticipated opportunities and coincidences can occur, encouraging socially oriented activities, communication and creativity. Thus it is possible to expect that in the future the workspace will change its character to the one close to the public realm, and will mostly accommodate the functions of intellectual and social discourse, collective work and communication, with increased permeability and accessibility for different types of businesses and people, improving relationships between the office and the city’s public realm and consequently to the social health.
Stairs promoting collaborationi18
Footnotes: Quirk, Vanessa. “BIG, OMA, Büro-OS To Compete for New Media Campus in Berlin”, Archdaily, 2013. Accessed May 24, 2017 < http://www.archdaily.com/459281/big-oma-buro-os-to-compete-for-new-media-campus-in-berlin> 2 Duffy, Frank. Work and the City. Black Dog Publishing, London, 2008, p.26 3 Foertsch, C., Cagnol, R. “The History of Co-working in a Timeline According to Foertsch and Cagnol”, Foertsch and Cagnol, 2013. Accessed May 13, 2017 <http://www. deskmag.com/en/the-history-of-coworking-spaces-in-a-timeline> 4 Brooke, Rory, Openshaw, Greg and Farrow, Lucy. “Supporting Places Of Work: Incubators, Accelerators And Co-Working Spaces”. URS , 2012, <https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/supporting_places_of_work_-_iacs.pdf> p.13. 5 Duffy, Frank. “Work and the City”. Black Dog Publishing, London, 2008, p.13 6 Taylor, Frederic. “The Principles of scientific management”. New York and London, Harper & brothers, 1911. 7 Sennett, Richard. “The Culture Of The New Capitalism”. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006 8 Brooke, Rory, Openshaw, Greg and Farrow, Lucy. “Supporting Places Of Work: Incubators, Accelerators And Co-Working Spaces”. URS , 2012, p.84. 9 Ibid. p.29. 10 Ibid. p. 41 11 Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20, 1856 – March 21, 1915) was an American mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency. 12 Liu, Haotian. Distributed Workplace for Facebook. Inc: a new office typology for the 21st century workstyle. Syracuse University, Surface, 2012, p.13 13 OMA/AMO. History And The Future Of The Office. OMA, 2015, p.24 1
Bibliography: Avery, Greg. “Intelligent Office Turning Heads.” Daily Camera (August, 2009): September 12, 2012. Berger, Warren. “Lost in Space.” Wired no. 7.02 (1999). <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.02/chiat_pr.html> Brooke, Rory, Openshaw, Greg and Farrow, Lucy. “Supporting Places Of Work: Incubators, Accelerators And Co-Working Spaces”. URS , 2012, <https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/supporting_places_of_work_-_iacs.pdf> Duffy, Frank. The changing Workplace. London: Phaidon, 1992. Duffy, Frank. The New Office. London: Phaidon, 1992. Duffy, Francis. The Responsible Workplace. Oxford: Butterworth Architecture, 1993. Duffy, Frank. Work and the City. Black Dog Publishing, London, 2008 Foertsch, C., Cagnol, R. “The History of Co-working in a Timeline According to Foertsch and Cagnol” Galloway, L. Office Management: Its Principles And Practice. Oxford: The Ronald Press, 1918. Liu, Haotian. “Distributed Workplace for Facebook. Inc: a new office typology for the 21st century workstyle”. Syracuse University, Surface, 2012 OMA/AMO. History And The Future Of The Office. OMA/AMO, 2015 “Office Landscape.” Progressive Architecture 45, (September, 1964): 201-203. Remoy, Hilde. Out of office: A Study On The Cause Of Office Vacancy And Transformation As A Means To Cope And Prevent. Amsterdam, Netherlands: IOS Press, 2010. Sennett, Richard. The Culture Of The New Capitalism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006 Taylor, Frederic. The Principles of scientific management. New York and London, Harper & brothers, 1911. Quirk, Vanessa. “BIG, OMA, Büro-OS To Compete for New Media Campus in Berlin Images: i1 Canar Wharf from above. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2658447/London-air-Stunning-photos-capture-citys-iconiclandmarks-St-Pauls-Cathedral-streets-beyond.html. Accessed May 10, 2017 i2 Soho district, London. http://www.primelondonresidential.com/Property/59-61-rupert-street-soho-london-21766, Accessed May 10, 2017, i3-6 Bootstrap Campus, London. Brooke, Rory, Openshaw, Greg and Farrow, Lucy. “Supporting Places Of Work: Incubators, Accelerators And Co-Working Spaces”. URS , 2012, <https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/supporting_places_of_work_-_ iacs.pdf> p.42, 50, 51 accordingly i7-8-9 Diagrams made by the author. Photo picture Liu, Haotian. “Distributed Workplace for Facebook. Inc: a new office typology for the 21st century workstyle”. Syracuse University, Surface, 2012 i10-12 Liu, Haotian. “Distributed Workplace for Facebook. Inc: a new office typology for the 21st century workstyle”. Syracuse University, Surface, 2012 i13 Facebook’s floor plan: designed to incite ‘serendipity’ Copyright Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners LLP via Menlo Park City Council, <http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/inma-martinez/facebook-office_b_7221274.html> Accessed May 13, 2017 i14 Moroccan City, <https://ru.pinterest.com/pin/386113368030970379/> Accessed May 13, 2017 i15-16 Hotel and office PARKROYAL on Pickering in Singapore by WOHA. <http://news.imm-cologne.com/2014/01/a-continuousexperience-in-conversation-with-woha/> Accessed May 26, 2017 i17 - 19 Liu, Haotian. “Distributed Workplace for Facebook. Inc: a new office typology for the 21st century workstyle”. Syracuse University, Surface, 2012
Design as collaboration promotion.i19
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The next level of collaboration promotion is in the least expected area. The diversity that is promoted at Google or Facebook also include relaxation facilities for the employers. Such types of spaces are located in a private areas and usually have a closed, calm character of space. Using the urban language they are similar to the typology of the private courtyards, where people go on purpose to chat with the like-minded or rest in quiet atmosphere. Although it is not an obvious way of colliding people to interact but the availability of calm areas enhance collaboration not less than the on-purpose designed areas. It happens due to the fact that the relaxed atmosphere of such areas provides a break form hyper-connected reality and opens creativity of employers. In such a way the collaboration may occur. What is interesting is that not only the urban planning of the city is becoming popular in the layout of the office landscape but also the immaterial qualities of the city. The designers use the informality and cultural diversity of the city to encourage interaction between structurally separate teams. For example, in the NY office of Google the architects applied some clichés, well known in New York. On of the corridor-streets is done in the same way as the subway station. It has all its elements: the city landscape on the wall, fire hydrant and even the floor has the subway grids. Such principle based on shared memories and values provokes interaction between co-workers.
OPEN HEALTH
LOU KRABSHUIS
In former times, the physician was seen as the ultimate counselor to inform people about how to live a healthy life. Nowadays, almost everyone has access to other information sources, such as patients portals at the world wide web. In addition, more and more mobile applications are being developed to measure continuous parameters, such as heart rate and blood sugar levels. In this manner, individuals are directly informed about how their body functions and they can influence their own health. In future, we can expect digital health to be made intelligent by combining these personal biometrics with the environmental data gathered by the smart city infrastructure. The possibilities of these developments are promising and can help to address the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. This article describes the impact of digitalisation at the levels of physical, mental, social and smart health, to understand the implications for the citizens and their environments.
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Schematic interpretation of the digitization of healthcare.i1
At the turn of the millennium hardly no-one had a mobile phone, almost twenty years later, due to the rise of the smart phone, connectivity is dominating almost every aspect of our lives. At the moment we are at the point whereas digital technologies are moving onto the body, frequently measuring health-related physiology. The promise is that these wearable health devices give us a better and deeper understanding of what is happening inside the body. According to the industry this biometric information can then be utilised ‘to live a healthier and happier life’1. There are wearables with different purposes, according to Olshansky, three primary applications can be distinguished.2 The first, is to monitor physiological factors, such as bloodsugar levels for people with diabetes. Another application of wearables is the enhancement of physical performance, supporting users in achieving personal records with direct feedback. At present, smart watches and bracelets, such as the Fitbit, are increasingly used for this purpose.3 The third application is the use of wearables and mobile phones as a personal lifestyle assistant. Although the first two applications are just passive forms of information collection, the third uses both active and passive streams of information, for instance actively tracking a food journal to receive feedback about nutritional intake.
While there are still doubts about the accuracy of the collected data, research begins to shows that these consumer technologies are increasingly able to provide valuable medical information to its users. In a research by the Snyder Lab4 several wearables were used to measure an array of internal bodily functions: acceleration, activity, calories, heart rate, GPS, skin temperature, sleep, oxigen, steps, radiation and weight. With the use of algorithms the research group discovered significant changes in blood oxygen levels during airline flights, insulin sensitivity and signs of inflammation in their subjects5. Michael Snyder, who also participated in the experiment, became suspicious about his own health while analysing his personal data. After blood tests by a physician, they found out that the discovered inflammation was related to an early onset of Lyme disease.6 The intertwinement of personal and professional healthcare is promising and data scientist like Snyder are now developing algorithms for personalised disease detection using sensors and also genomics. This is expected to play a major role in managing health, in which we are, according to computer scientists Varshney and Chang, “able to better understand disease aetiology and pathogenesis, reduce medicine costs, customise care, and shift the focus from disease treatment to prevention.”7
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About the contribution of smart technologies to inclusiveness and well-being in societies
Being challenged by smart applications to do physical activity can also contribute positively to the mental well-being of users. However, there are also applications that focus on goals such as stress reduction and mental restoration. For example, mobile application Headspace motivates users to regularly do 10-minute meditation sessions. They advertise their application as the personal trainer for the mind that can be used anywhere and every time. Their ‘in-house science team’ uses the collected user data to optimise the mindfulness experience.8 In future, we can expect more applications for improving personal mental well-being, such as consumer ready brain wave analysers. These are promising because they can provide users direct feedback during their meditation sessions. While these health technologies focus primarily on individual impact, social interaction and structures are even more important for human health and well-being.
Cities have always been facilitating the gathering of humans with shared interests and aims. This exchange of ideas has increased significantly over the last century due to the rise of cybernetic innovations such as the phone and the world wide web. Currently, more and more objects are able to communicate with people and other ‘things’. With this ‘internet of things’ societies are able to measure environmental data with sensors inside their city scape. These networks are expected to grow rapidly in the coming years and contribute to further development of smart cities. Also there are major opportunities for public health when mobile physiological and behavioural data are combined with data from environmental sensors. This can be seen as the merger of digital health in smart cities and has great potential for the quality of life and management of cities. For instance, during heat waves, there is often an increase in deaths, usually affecting the elderly.11 By real-time measuring of temperatures at streets and homes, combined with personal data on body temperature, caregivers will know where they have to take direct action. On longer term, policy makers and urban planners can utilise this information to redesign the urban environment by, for instance, transforming parking-spaces into pocket-parks or stimulating the construction of green roofs.12
Online Neighbourhoods
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Schematic representation of the interactions between top-down and bottom-up processes taking place in the physical and virtual world.i2
Over the last decade social interactions have been digitised by social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. These virtual worlds have become a substitute for the neighbourhoods as a place where we form and manage our relationships, shape self-identity and express ourselves. Even so, these widely used platforms are intrinsically linked to depressive complaints among youth, because the emphasis on others’ success is too much of reality9. By contrast, platforms that connect users based on the neighbourhood they live are more promising to increase mental and social health, because the opportunity for real interaction and community building are digitally supported. According to Anthony Townsend, writer of the book Smart Cities, digitalisation can help people to navigate “the vast sea of opportunities for social interaction that are available in the modern megacity.”10 In future, these location-based online platforms can be utilised to connect neighbours with difficulties in life and specific diseases in peer-to-peer groups. They could then meet in, for instance, the local community center, or take a walk together through the park, and share their experiences in order to feel understood. In this way, digitalisation can activates public space while it contributes to the reduction of signs of loneliness and social isolation.
In short, smart health can be understood as the provisioning of healthcare services by using context-aware sensing and network infrastructure of smart cities. As shown in illustration XXX, derived from Solanas et al., smart health is different from mobile health, as the data infrastructure is fixed and, in many cases, not mobile. In an example to clarify the concept the scholars envision “lowpollution routes in order to lessen the respiratoryrelated problems, and proactively activates water sprays in fountains to reduce the effect of pollution or pollen.”13 Another example is given in which a cyclist wears a fall-detecting bracelet: “The body sensor network detects the fall and sends an alert to the city infrastructure. When the alert is received by the system, the conditions of the traffic are analysed, and an ambulance is dispatched through the best possible route. In addition, the traffic lights of the city are dynamically adjusted in order to reduce the time needed.”14 The potentials of the utilisation of these data sources, derived from mobile and environmental sensors, are extensive and promising for the integration of health in the urban domain. Overall, opportunities can be found in the field of epidemical research, disease prevention, development of treatment methods, effective policy making, technological innovation and finally, but most importantly, health promotion in everyday life.
According to Solanas (2014) smart health, in contrary to mobile health, is “the provision of health services by using the context-aware network and sensing infrastructure of smart cities.”i3
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Smart solutions
Open Source
The negative aspects and risks of continuous body and environmental measurements are mainly related to privacy of individuals and the security of data.15 The chance that medical data is stolen and published publicly must be taken into account. Also, the combination of medical data with other information, such as online browsing and shopping behaviour, can result in the assembly of extensive personal profiles. For example, in the future, this may be misused by face recognition that indicates people with mental illness.16 Therefore there is professional secrecy and there are ethical committees for health workers. Unfortunately, commercial companies that develop healthcare applications often do not comply with these ethical rules. Companies like Apple and Fitbit, are constantly trying to exceed each other by digitally analysing locomotion, sleep quality or heart-rate with ever-increasing precision. For this they use secret software and billions of data points from their wearables users. Technological companies see this data as their most important asset and, in the worst case they sell it to third parties, such as insurance companies, to make additional profits. For this reason, users should always be able to opt out and, more importantly, be the owner of their data. In this way, their most private information can only be available to others with permission. Security methods such as anonymisation, end-toend-data encryption and eventually block-chain, should be redeveloped and used in a transparant manner to increase public confidence. Otherwise, the utopian idea of a technology-activated healthy society, without the occurrence of physical and mental disorders, will come back as a true dystopia.
It will take a lot of effort to make commercial technology companies more transparent, since this opaque way of working is their protection against intellectual theft. Patents are there to protect these new and most innovative ideas, such as Google’s preliminary design of a bracelet that detects cancer.17 But these patents make it impossible for others to innovate in this particular design area. Fortunately, there is also the opensource community, consisting of developers and designers, who are willing to share their source codes and designs for further development. Most communication and exchange occurs online, via platforms like Github. Sometimes the open source community organises hackathons, these are summits where multidisciplinary teams work problem statements related to a specific theme. There are also medical technology hackathons, that bring together data engineers, designers, entrepreneurs and physicians to develop solutions to actual health problems.18 For example, the Delft start-up Totem Open Health created the Bobbi, which is a motion sensor and ECG monitor combined. Since it is open-source, it can be adapted accordingly and anyone is welcomed to build their own algorithms to obtain specific information from the devices raw data.19 Another example is the Neuroon sleep mask. This is an open-source brain wave monitor, which can, for instance, be tweaked in order to turn on bedroom lights when the user wakes up or adjust room temperature when the users hits the deep sleep phase.20
If policy encourage the development of products and services that give access to better information, are responsive by nature and open for adaptations to fit local expectations, digital health technologies are able to increase health and strengthen relations in the community. However, how to make sure there are opportunities for both grassroots initiative and health industry to innovate? For that reason, societies need to establish ‘civic laboratories’, a term used by Townsend for “innovative communities where people are eagerly adapting smart technology to unique local needs”21. The Waag Society and Mediamatic in Amsterdam are such places where people from different backgrounds can experience various production techniques, such as 3D printers, lasers cutters, as well as hydroponics and biochemical tools. Ultimately, communities with these laboratory skills can contribute to innovation for the greater good.
Google’s patent for a cancer detecting wristband.i5
Future Perspectives Health-care costs are currently 15 percent of the Dutch national income, and expected to double in the next twenty years22. One can say the health system is very efficient in curing diseases, but not in a very cost-effective way. Therefore, we have to make a switch to a system that functions more holistically and is able to prevent diseases by promoting health. It is assumed that active participation of citizen and communities in their health can contribute to this. This article has shown that participation can be facilitated digitally by smart self-care tools, such as wearable devices, or virtual platforms that are used for neighbourhood support and decision-making processes. The question remains whether these developments will change the current health landscape into a system that functions on a decentral and smaller scale. Early diagnostics, effective treatment and health promotion will certainly change the dynamics, but the importance of centralised facilities in the future, such as academic hospitals, is still to be discussed.
The Bobbi, an open source project by Totem Open Health.i6
On the whole, it can be concluded that the rise of digitisation makes human contact ever more important. That is why cities need to facilitate public meetings, open the doors of their buildings and convert them, for example, to ‘civic laboratories’. This article also highlighted that societies and companies should not merely focus on smart solutions. In order to allow everyone to participate, a transparant health system should be stimulated. Only by doing so can we overcome the risks of technological alienation and create a system capable of addressing health problems in society while it is inclusive to everyone. “MIT Hacking Medicine connects MIT and the health ecosystem to launch the next generation of healthcare solutions to solve the biggest challenges.”18/I4
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Neuron Brain Wave Analyzer in a product development environment.i7
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Digitisation and Privacy
Notes/Bibliography: TEDxTalks. “Wearables: The future of everything. | Joanna Berzowska | TEDxYouth@Montreal.” YouTube. February 15, 2016. Accessed June 12, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiBMgpUAHt4. 2 Olshansky, S. Jay, Bruce A. Carnes, Yang Claire Yang, Norvell Miller, Janet Anderson, Hiram Beltran-Sanchez, and Karl Ricanek. “The Future of Smart Health.” Computer 49, no. 11 (2016): 14-21. 3 Koytcheva, Marina. “Wearables Market to Be Worth $25 Billion by 2019.” CCS Insight. Accessed June 12, 2017. http://www. ccsinsight.com/press/company-news/2332-wearables-market-to-be-worth-25-billion-by-2019-reveals-ccs-insight. 4 http://snyderlab.stanford.edu/ 5 Li, Xiao, Jessilyn Dunn, Denis Salins, Gao Zhou, Wenyu Zhou, Sophia Miryam Schüssler-Fiorenza Rose, Dalia Perelman et al. “Digital Health: Tracking Physiomes and Activity Using Wearable Biosensors Reveals Useful Health-Related Information.” PLoS Biology 15, no. 1 (2017): e2001402. 6 Patel, Rinku. “Wearables Could Soon Know You’re Sick Before You Do.” Wired. January 12, 2017. Accessed June 12, 2017. https:// www.wired.com/2017/01/wearables-know-youre-sick/. 7 Varshney and Chang “Smart Health and Well-Being.“ Computer 49, no. 11 (2016): 11-13. 8 Widdicombe, Lizzie. “Enlightenment on Your iPhone.” The New Yorker. July 06, 2015. Accessed June 12, 2017. http://www. newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/06/the-higher-life. 9 Shirley Cramer. “Social media and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.” Royal Society for Public Health. Accessed June 12, 2017. https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/policy/social-media-and-young-people-s-mental-health-and-wellbeing.html. 10 Townsend, Anthony M. Smart cities: Big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new utopia. WW Norton & Company, 2013. p.160. 11 Kovats, R. Sari, and L. Ebi Kristie. “Heatwaves and public health in Europe.” The European Journal of Public Health 16, no. 6 (2006): 592-599. 12 Pötz, Hiltrud, Pierre Bleuzé, A. Sjauw En Wa, and T. van Baar. Groenblauwe netwerken voor duurzame en dynamische steden: Urban green-blue grids for sustainable and dynamic cities. coop for life, 2012. 13 Ding, Ding, Mauro Conti, and Agusti Solanas. “A smart health application and its related privacy issues.” In Smart City Security and Privacy Workshop (SCSP-W), 2016, pp. 1-5. IEEE, 2016. 14 Solanas, Agusti, Constantinos Patsakis, Mauro Conti, Ioannis S. Vlachos, Victoria Ramos, Francisco Falcone, Octavian Postolache et al. “Smart health: a context-aware health paradigm within smart cities.” IEEE Communications Magazine 52, no. 8 (2014): 74-81. 15 Ding, Ding, Mauro Conti, and Agusti Solanas. “A smart health application and its related privacy issues.” In Smart City Security and Privacy Workshop (SCSP-W), 2016, pp. 1-5. IEEE, 2016. 16 Verbeek, Peter-Paul. Op de vleugels van Icarus: hoe techniek en moraal met elkaar meebewegen. Lemniscaat, 2014. 17 Metz, Cade. “Why Google’s Cancer-Detecting Pill Is More Than Just Hype.” Wired. June 03, 2017. Accessed June 12, 2017. https:// www.wired.com/2014/11/googles-cancer-detecting-pill-just-hype/. 18 “MIT Hacking Medicine.” MIT Hacking Medicine. Accessed June 12, 2017. http://hackingmedicine.mit.edu/. 19 “De Bobbi: Open Source ECG and Motion Sensor.” SIDN fonds. Accessed June 12, 2017. https://www.sidnfonds.nl/nieuws/debobbi-open-source-ecg-and-motion-sensor. 20 Clark, Liat. “NeuroOn mask that helps you powernap hits Kickstarter target in one day.” WIRED UK. May 23, 2016. Accessed June 12, 2017. http://www.wired.co.uk/article/neuroon-1. 21 Townsend, Anthony M. Smart cities: Big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new utopia. WW Norton & Company, 2013. p.231. 22 Badir, Martijn. “Grootschalige hervormingen zorgstelsel in 2015.” (2014) 23 Bakker, Stephanie. “No nuts no glory: tech-hub hoofdstad Medellin.” De Volkskrant (Amsterdam), April 19, 2017. 24 Rogers, Adam. “8 Cities That Show You What the Future Will Look Like.” Wired. May 01, 2017. Accessed June 12, 2017. https:// www.wired.com/2015/09/design-issue-future-of-cities/#chapter-3. 25 “Medellín.” Future Cities. Accessed June 12, 2017. http://www.futurecities.nl/cities/medellin/. Images: Diagrams are made by the author Diagram is based on Solanas (2014) and recreated by the author i4 http://hackingmedicine.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/grandHack.jpg i5 https://www.google.com/patents/US20150065821 i6 http://d13r1wbr6hdzh2.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/totem_body_logo_full-720x340.jpeg i7 https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/001/341/438/9a30f758a3d955f6d3856e9cab1f2fa0_original. jpg?w=680&fit=max&v=1384737120&auto=format&q=92&s=65e47b815b9be3b0eef26396b76b2e15 i8 http://www.futurecities.nl/cities/medellin/ i9 http://www.wired.com/2015/09/design-issue-future-of-cities/#chapter-3 i1/i2 i3
Carlos: “My friends joined a gang, I learned programming.”25/i8
Medellín’s Biblioteca Espana, by architect Giancarlo Mazzanti.i9
Smart Medellin Medellín was once the home of Pablo Escobar, making it the most dangerous place in the world. Now the Colombian city is on its way to becoming the smartest city in Latin America. Especially because in short-term computer science became the second most popular study in Colombia. This enthusiasm for technology is encouraged at a young age with lessons in robotics, bio and nanotechnology. This education program focuses on public schools in the poor neighbourhoods, where children have the least opportunities. Participation is free and lessons start after school time, which holds them of the street and makes them ready for a scientific or technical study. For further studies ambitious students can apply for university scholarships. Some students are even accepted at the MIT.
The municipality first addressed the districts that were forgotten, because they were unreachable and dangerous. These district got the most upto-date projects, the best schools and public libraries. Architecture is seen as an important political message, that can give community dignity and pride. With the investments in education, mobility and living, the vicious circle of poverty and violence must be broken.24 For instance, in Comuna 13 they built an escalator of almost four hundred meter to bring the residents into the city in just 5 minutes. And in the Santo Domingo, a district built by Escobar, there is a huge avantgarde library where residents can follow courses and have access to computers. Nevertheless, there are still challenges to tackle extreme inequalities, because where the poor became a little poor, the rich became richer too. As the traditional economy shrinks, the city is more and more focusing on the knowledge economy to create jobs. The ambition continues to ensure that everyone can participate digitally. Through computers at neighbourhood centers and a network of 48 public libraries, residents have access to the digital world, to search for work, to do homework. These next steps in Medellín’s master plan will contribute to the opportunity to become the next Silicon Valley.
This successful education program is part of a series of interventions by the city council with the aim of giving the city a new future. In the last fifteen years the number of murders dropped by 80 percent, the number of poor 25 percent and the value of the local industry quadrupled.23 Now, dozens of international companies have settled in the city, and Medellin is considered to be one of the best cities in Latin America to do business.
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EVA HELDEWEG
HEADSPACE Architecture for inner city stress relief
Where do the inhabitants of Amsterdam in 2050 go to seek relief from chronical stress, caused by the immense pressure of modern everyday life in terms of work, private life, information overload and the city itself? In the future the city of Amsterdam will be more dense in terms of buildings, people and infrastructures, endangering places to relax and recover that are already scarce in the inner city. Where contemporary scientists and experts are divided in what the best way is to prevent getting burned-out, it is sensible to look at successful examples in history of the places our ancestors visited to recover from stressful urban life. Pleasure gardens, places of religion and traditional spas provided earlier urban dwellers a space for healing the mind, body and soul. Will these typologies still prove their effectiveness of mental health for urban dwellers of the future?
metropole, how and where can the stressburdened inhabitants of Amsterdam find stressrelief in the city in 2050? The answer is most likely not coming from the latest hype in future city developments: the ‘Smart City’ concept. According to Arjan van Timmeren, Professor of Environmental Technology & Design, the ‘Smart City’ concept arised during the economic crisis in 2008 as the only way cities will be able to cope with urban problems. To become smarter, more sustainable and economically efficient with the use of technology (ICTs) would be the solution for cities to prepare themselves for the future. Professor Van Timmeren claims that the disadvantage of the ‘Smart City’ concept is that it ‘tends to overlook that the most pressing urban problems are not technological but social in nature (Timmeren, 2015)’.
Already one in seven people working in the Netherlands suffers from burn-out complaints like stress, overtiredness and emotional exhaustion (Rueb & Tuenter, 2016). On top of that, a growing amount of teenagers suffer from mental problems caused by work pressure. Scientists claim that our brain is not able to cope with the exposure to the amount of stress of our modern time: we try to tackle our modern stressors with the brain instruments of a fish. Our body reacts with the same stress response of fight, flight or freeze when it is attacked by a wild animal in prehistoric times, as it reacts to an angry tweet or endless traffic jams.
According to the World Health Organisation, the definition of health is ‘a complete state of physical, social and mental well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (Sternberg, 2009, p. 294)’. ‘Smart health’ in a smart city evolves around data collection and providing real time information of physical elements (water and air quality) and mobility-as-a-service ‘including doctor’s recommendation for daily walks’ to avoid risks and to become as efficient as possible (Steep, 2016).
In 2014 1,1 million people in the Netherlands used antidepressants; this amount is growing with a constant 3% annually for years. In the same year pharmacists sold 167 million prescribed tranquillizers and sleeping pills. Our stress system is not going to adapt to modern society anytime soon due to the slow process of biological evolution (Rek, 2017). When this future forecast is combined with living in a hyper-dense bustling
Physical well-being in a smart city is being taken care of, but the social and mental component that make the health trinity a working whole are left out in this scenario for the city of the future. Thus, the answer where the people of Amsterdam can find stress-relief in terms of program and architecture needs to be found elsewhere.
1 in 7 working people in the Netherlands suffer from burnout complaints incapacitated workers due to psychological issues excees physical issues
work-stress related sick employees cost in total 1.800.000.000 euros
2050: 90% of the people of Amsterdam ‘live like an artist’ with three jobs working their selves to pieces no one will have a normal eight hour working day
stress caused by information overload and ‘fomo’ (fear of missing out) ‘smart health’ is deals with physical health, not mental or social health We tackle our moden stressor with the stress system of a fish i1
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Introduction In 2050, will Amsterdam be a ‘sparkling metropole with 2 million inhabitants’? Where ten percent of the inhabitants will earn tons of money and the other ninety percent will ‘live like an artist’: working three different jobs, living in micro-housing, working themselves to pieces and to compensate this oppressive lifestyle going on a holiday as often as possible to countries where this still is affordable? If Amsterdam wants to keep competing on global scale with other metropoles, this is what the future looks like, according to endowed professor of Metropolitan Issues Zef Hemel (Loorbach, 2017, pp. 10-17).
Solutions for stress-reduction and preventing burn-outs The doom scenario described in the digression is luckily an exception, not the rule. Burn-outs can lead to depression and suicidal thought (Karsten, 2015), but the amount of people dying from cardiovascular disease or suicide caused by stress has not yet been determined in exact figures.
calmness would this provide. Nowadays, we only have this extremely short period of time on earth which causes existential stress (Hilbrand, 2017).’ In the future we will most likely work less as a result of robotization and artificial intelligence: ‘being free will be the new working (Wagendorp, 2017)’. This growing amount of leisure time and the endless opportunities this provides will most likely not reduces psychological stress: researchers at the University of Cincinnati claim that too much leisure time also causes stress (DailyMail, 2011), which is in line with Denys’ statement. There are also experts on psychological stress that claim that the amount of stress has not increased since the last hundred years. According to psychiatrist Christiaan Vinkers ‘our stress system is well compatible with modern time’. We do live in stressful times, but this is not caused by IPhones, Facebook or traffic jams. In the beginning of the 20th century, there were already ads selling tranquillizers, because the world would be way too stressful with its operas and busy traffic (Calmthout, 2017).
According to Erno Hermans, cognitive neuroscientist at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, the constant stream of information makes the user of smart technology devices feel like they are constantly distracted, which is one of the characteristics associated with stress. This results in a mental state of ‘information overload’ and ‘FOMO’ (Fear Of Missing Out). The solution sounds easy: just throw your smartphone out of the window for instant stress-relief. But it is not that simple. Our inner craving for information is something of all times: already in the year 62 AD the Roman writer Seneca claimed that the ‘abundance of books’ would create too much distraction for our human mind. There were just too many books written that the Romans did not know where to start (Metz, 2017).
Death caused by stress is a long way down the road from the first signs of chronical stress. That does not mean it should not be taken seriously and fortunately, it isn’t: professionals, scientists and experts all bend their head on how to reduce chronic stress successfully. An entire new market arised, responding to this market group: mindfulness, coaching, therapies, yoga, ‘digital detox retreats’ (an ‘offline holiday’ were you can recover from information overload by meditation, doing yoga, drinking healthy juices and making analogue art) (Metz, 2017). According to De Kloet, chronic stress can be reduced and burn-out prevented by living a regular lifestyle and [daily] exercise like running, swimming and walking. Through exercise, your will burn off the extra energy reserves caused by stress that tends to relax and improved sleeping quality (Rueb & Tuenter, 2016).
The consequence of long-term psychological stress Where experts and scientists are divided in their explanation about the cause of stress, they do agree with one another on the serious psychological and physical effect that chronical stress has on humans. Chronical stress results in a high level of cortisol, the ‘stress hormone’. If this level stays high at a constant pace, this will
A lot of research about the origin of burn-outs concludes that the primary cause comes from work-related stress. But stress is the office is not a result of working too hard. That is what Ron de Kloet, retired professor in neuro-endocrinology at the University Medical Centre in Leiden concludes after years of research on the influence of stress on human bodies: the relationship with workpressure could not be found. But what is then the cause of work-related stress? According to Toon Taris, professor in work psychology at the University in Utrecht, it is caused by insecure work environment and career, the feeling that you are not in control and a lack of social support (Rueb & Tuenter, 2016).
Arnold Bakker, professor in work and organisation psychology at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, stays that it is essential to do something after work that is explicitly non-work-related; something that relaxes the mind like cooking, visiting friends and going to the movies (Tiggelaar, 2017). When Hilbrand in her documentary asked Denys what could be done to prevent from getting burnedout, his answer was: ‘It is about the small things in life: incorporating a little rest and quietness in your daily routine by taking a small stroll around town or walking into a church. Nowadays when you enter a church, you still can still experience silence and slowness, even though fast city life continues just outside its walls (Hilbrand, 2017).’
In her documentary ‘Sophie in de Mentale Kreukels’ (‘Sophie in the Mental Wrinkles’), Dutch television presenter Sophie Hilbrand explores the cause of her burn-out and tries to find solutions to prevent this from happening again. In her search for answers, she interviews sociologist and work expert Jan Denys who states that getting burned out is not caused by work: it is a combination of stress-related working and private life. The main cause of a burn-out is, according to Denys: ‘God is dead and eternal life is gone. In the past, [religious] people had the feeling that they would live eternally: what an immense amount of mental
Sunny Bergman, a Dutch documentary maker, also made a documentary in consequence of her personal experience of getting burned-out. In ‘The Sunny side of Spirit’ she travels the world to find places where stress, depression and burnouts are very uncommon and tries to find out why the people living there are more relaxed than in modern western society.
Still from the documentary ‘Sophie in de Mentale Kreukels’, interview with sociologist and work expert Jan Denys i2
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In Ghana they do not even have a world for ‘depression’ or ‘stress’ in the local dialect of
Collage of the multitude of solutions provided for dealing with stress i3-7
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Digression - The origin of psychological stress To understand how urban and architectural design can improve stress-relief, the cause of chronical psychological stress that leads to getting burnedout and even depression needs to be determined. Looking at the multitude of scientific research that has been conducted on the matter over the last two decades, this question is not easily answered. Moreover: a lot of research is in complete contrary to one another.
properly designed in the city of Amsterdam.
[mental] healing, was first proven by Roger Ulrich in 1984: his study showed that ‘when hospital rooms have windows looking out on the natural world, patients heal more rapidly (Sternberg, 2009, p. 2)’.
Healing spaces for inner city stress-relief: typological research ‘The notion that nature was important to healing had been around for thousands of years – going back to the classical times, when the temples to Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, were built far from town, high up on hilltops overlooking the sea (Sternberg, 2009, p. 3).’ But as urbanization expands over the centuries, so does the implementation of nature in an urban context to provide this healing experience closer to urban dwellers.
Directed attention is the kind of attention you have for distractions: it causes mental effort because ‘the material attended to is not attractive or interesting’ and therefor contributes to the feeling of stress. Restoration from directed attention fatigue finds place in environments that evoke effortless attention: fascination. According to Stephen Kaplan, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and specialist in environmental psychology: ‘Natural environments turn out to be particularly rich in the characteristics necessary for restorative experiences (Kaplan, 1995).’ Still from the documentary ´The sunny side of spirit´ of inhabitants of Taipei practicing Tai Qi in the parki8
of Leiden proved that a stroll in nature is better for psychological recovery than shopping in the city centre. This fits well with other research claiming that city green helps with relaxation (Veldhuizen, 2016). To conclude this paragraph it can be stated that the question of how to successfully reduce stress does not have a unanimous answer: it is a multitude of possible solutions and their effectiveness is highly dependent on individual response. For one person meditation provides sufficient stress release, for another this come from exercise. Some desire social contact and others solitude in order to relax. What all these solutions do have in common is that they are incorporated into daily life, as part of a ritual or routine, not as a ‘quick fix’ in the form of a holiday. The question then is: how can this been translated into programmatic and architectural form, in order to provide a place for these different forms of stress release in the inner city of Amsterdam?
on the community: a collective lifestyle of living in groups. Mental issues are cured by a traditional healer who performs rituals to release people from psychological burden, combined with dancing, singing and making music as a form of meditation. In the capital of Taiwan, Taipei, inhabitants seem to be more tranquil in comparison to other metropoles of similar size and high density. Here, western and ancient Chinese medicine are both equally represented in Taipei’s healthcare system. The balancing of ‘Qi’ is a standard part of the healthcare, provided by the Chinese doctor who is your ‘lifetime friend’. A lot of Taiwanese believe that Chinese medicine and healthcare is better for mental health than western healthcare, in combination with [growing your own] food and herbs and knowing your body well. This is supported by scientific research concluding that gardening can significantly reduce stress and depression (Little, 2014). In the city you can find mediation centres, in the public parks people practice Tai Qi and when possible people visit natural environments near the city, all for balancing the Qi and improving mental health. Scientific research has extensively proven the positive effect of nature on mental health and stress reduction. A recent study at the University
The influence of urban and architectural design on stress-relief The influence on the environment on humans has been thoroughly studied by (environmental) psychologists, neuroscientists and architects. The notion that physical space also contributes to
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Since the beginning of recorded history, garden are considered peaceful places, ‘little bits of recreated nature inside cities (…): the Garden of Eden, the hanging gardens of Babylon, the gardens along the ancient Silk Road of Persia, India, China and Japan (Sternberg, 2009, p. 283)’. In the 17th century the inhabitants of Amsterdam had the unique luxury of enjoying nature inside the city walls in the Plantage, a pleasure garden for the people that could not afford a house on the countryside outside the city. The garden was laid out in rigid grid of fifteen squares, which were then subsequently divided into 59 individual privately owned gardens. Although it was not allowed to conduct any business or reside in the Plantage, that did not stop creative minds from building wooden structures to sell tea, beer and wine (Aarsen, 2003, p. 93).
But not only natural environments contribute to brain restoration; ‘restorative environments require a setting characterized by four features (Herzog et al., 1997)’: (1) Being away: the setting needs to feel differently in physical or conceptual form from one’s everyday environment; (2) Extent: the environment needs to be ‘rich and coherent enough so that it constitutes a whole other world (Kaplan, 1995)’ and promotes exploration; (3) Fascination (effortless attention): which can come from content (animals, people, water, fire) or process (storytelling, gambling, problem solving); (4) Compatibility: the setting needs to fit and support one’s purpose; ‘what one is trying to do and what one likes to do (Kaplan, 1995)’
Nowadays, these protected places of nature can be still be found in Amsterdam in the city parks, but also in the many old courtyards in the city centre. A beautiful example of a well-kept courtyard can be found on the Rozengracht, named ‘Zon’s Hofje’ (‘Courtyard of the Sun’): ‘a place that is specifically suitable for resting and silence because it is enclosed, peaceful and safe (Breukel, 2005).’ A place where nature is completely integrated in its urban structure, is the city-state of Singapore. The urban development policy of the government since 1963 has been ‘Singapore’s Garden City’ and this strategy still continues in the new urban development concept of ‘A City in a Garden’ with the 100% green replacement rule. In Singapore, green is not only restrained to the ground, but is lifted upwards in the form of sky gardens and vertical green. I had the privilege of experiencing this myself when visiting the city, especially the enriching experience of greenery on multiple levels of buildings.
An environments in considered successfully restorative when it comprises all four features mentioned above in a sufficient degree. According to ART natural environments tend to contain all these features (Herzog et al., 1997). But also urban and architectural environment have the power of creating restorative environments when properly designed. Studying these examples of successful natural, urban and architectural restorative environments will bring us closer to the answer of how this stress-reductive space can be 243
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As mentioned before, distraction is one of the main characteristics of stress. Attention Restoration Theory (ART), conceptualized by philosopher and psychologist William James in 1892, proposes that ‘effortful directed attention can become fatigued in modern urban environments (Herzog, Black, Fountaine, & Knotts, 1997; Kaplan, 1995)’.
successful restorative environment in Singapore, is the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in old china town. The Buddhist temple, opened in 2007 and built in a traditional Tang dynasty architectural style, is situated as a free-standing object within the midst of busy roads, skyscraper office buildings and old narrow streets of china town, with Singaporean and tourists all mixed together in the public space available. The remarkable feature of the temple was not the heavily decorated shrines in the main sacred space, but the lushes rooftop garden on the seventh floor. Within this busy part of town, a place of peace and silence was created supported with nature at a height where you would not expect it.
Religious buildings in the inner city are particular suitable for seeking silence an slowness, important elements for stress reduction in everyday life according to Denys. Above that, they often provide architectural design that evokes extent and fascination. This fascination does not only come from content, also from process: a church is a place for storytelling, music and singing, and nowadays even concerts, events and exhibitions. In western cities, churches are often landmarks with their high towers helping residents with wayfinding and orientation, which contributes to stress reduction when navigating through cities (Sternberg, 2009).
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According to Esther M. Sternberg, MD and author of the book ‘Healing Spaces: the science of place and well-being’: ‘in quiet places (…) we are in touch with nature, in tune with our thoughts, and aware of the forces greater than ourselves (Sternberg, 2009, p. 35)’. Cities are often exposed to loud noise due to traffic jams and high densities, which have been proven to have a negative effect on stress levels (Birch, 2015).
Drawing of the plan of The Plantage in Amsterdam, 1730 i9
It is no consequence that religious buildings tend to be a pleasant place for stress reduction. In ancient Mediterranean world, there were no hospitals as we know them today. ‘The Greeks considered the soul as the first element of attention (Waisblat, 2014).’ The temple of Asclepius was in that sense the first hospital: ‘a place where patients were treated with healthy diet, pure water, music, sleep and dreams, social interaction, and above all: prayer (Sternberg, 2009, p. 220).’ To enhance the process of healing, ‘religious architectures were in that sense the extension of the architecture of our souls (Waisblat, 2014).’ Unfortunately, to truly experience the restorative effect of these religious environments, one has to be in itself a religious person. The amount of Photograph of the roof garden on top of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Singapore i10
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Interior photograph of the Grundtvig church i n Copenhagen, designed by architect Peder Jensen-Klint in a neo-gothic style i11
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people considering themselves as religious is rapidly declining and prospects are that in 2100 Christianity has vanished completely. According to sociologist Joep de Hart, religion in general will not disappear and especially the Islam will still be around for a long time (Giesen, 2011).
Successful architecture is still built of static structures that prove their robustness over the years, decades and even centuries. In that sense, the architecture of a stress-reductive environment needs to contain the same calmness and at the same time fascination as can be found in a church. It needs to be incorporated into people’s daily routine without it becoming a routine itself. It needs to be inextricably connected with nature and provide the same sensory experience as in a Middle Eastern bathhouse. But in the end, we as architects can only do so much. Individuals suffering from stress need to take responsibility for their own mental well-being. That is why I would like to conclude this article with the following statement by Ms. Sternberg: ‘We can create for ourselves a place of healing – a tiny island – where we find ourselves in this world, at any moment in the interstices of our busy lives. It is really in ourselves, in our emotions and in our memories, that we can each find our healing space. For the most powerful of healing places is in the brain and in the mind (Sternberg, 2009, p. 296).’
The architecture of these ancient spas and bathhouses were often a sequence of multiple rooms in a circular shape with high stone vaults and intimate alcoves. The circularity improved the collective atmosphere: every sightline was drawn to one focal point, enhancing overview of the space and social interaction (Waisblat, 2014).
Section of a traditional Middle Eastern Bathhouse i12
Bibliography:
Aarsen, A. (2003). Landelijk Amsterdam: monumenten van het buitenleven. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bas Lubberhuizen. Birch, H. (2015). Where is the world’s most stressful city? The Guardian. Bergman, S. (2015). The Sunny side of Spirit: VPRO, BOS. Breukel, T. (2005). Stil A’dam: Survivalgids voor de stedeling. Bussum: Uitgeverij THOTH. Calmthout, M. v. (2017). Psychiater Vinkers: ‘Ik denk dat stress niet erger is dan honderd jaar geleden’ - Interview. De Volkskrant. DailyMail. (2011). Forget holidays, too much time off is stressful, claim scientists. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ article-2051645/Forget-holidays-Too-time-stressful-claim-scientists.html Giesen, P. (2011). De kerk loopt leeg, maar religie zal blijven bestaan. De Volkskrant. Herzog, T. R., Black, A. M., Fountaine, K. A., & Knotts, D. J. (1997). Reflection and Attentional Recovery as Distinctive Benefits of Restorative Environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 17, 165-170. Hilbrand, S. (2017). Sophie in de Mentale Kreukels: BNN. Kaplan, S. (1995). The Restorative Benefits of Nature: Towards an Integrative Framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 169-182. Karsten, C. (2015). Burn-out en depressie: het risico op suïcidale gedachten. Retrieved from http://www.intermediair.nl/carriere/werken-leven/gezondheid-stress-burnout/Burn-out-en-depressie-het-risico-op-suicidale-gedachten?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww. google.nl%2F Little, S. (2014). How Architects Minimize Urban Stress. Retrieved from http://freshome.com/2014/10/23/how-architects-minimizeurban-stress/ Loorbach, L. (2017). Amsterdam in 2050. Uitkrant. Metz, M. (2017). Kan er nog iets bij? Quest. Rek, W. d. (2017). Omgaan met stress, is het aan de mens wel besteed? De Volkskrant. Rueb, T., & Tuenter, G. (2016). Opgebrand. NRC Handelsblad. Steep, M. (2016). Smart Cities Improve The Health Of Their Citizens. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ mikesteep/2016/06/27/can-smart-cities-improve-the-health-of-its-citizens/#7de5bd9d3957 Sternberg, E. M. (2009). Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-being. Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Tiggelaar, B. (2017). Burn-out: beroepsziekte nummer één. NRC Handelsblad. Timmeren, A. v. (2015). From Smart Cities to Intelligent Cities: Moving Forward. Retrieved from https://collegerama.tudelft.nl/Mediasite/ Play/15a5bf214ff24996829cdbf6acb99faa1d Veldhuizen, R. (2016). Helpt een natuurwandeling bij psychisch herstel? De Volkskrant. Wagendorp, B. (2017, 02-05-2017). Meer vrije dagen! De Volkskrant. Waisblat, A. W. (2014). The Architecture of Dreams. Technical Univerity of Delft, Delft.
The ancient Mediterranean world did not have the hospitals of hygienic sterility we inherit today. Before the advance of germ and genetic theories, the Greeks
home through itinerant doctors or taken away in temples dedicated to Asclepius,
The bathhouse that used to be found in every city and preformed an important role in ancient urban society has completely vanished from our everyday lives, and with that an important healing environment which provides all different kinds of stress-relief for urban dwellers.
where patients could enjoy music, natural diet, prayer, sleep and dreams. And in most part of the world before the radical divorce of church and state following from the second industrial revolution, the whole concept of healing could not be thinkable without compassion and spiritual means. With their vast hallways and smaller alcoves devoted to prayer, hospitals used to represent this ideal, this medical intuition that both our inner feelings and their spatial contexts might matter much in a recovery process. Religious architectures were in this sense extensions
Conclusion To answer the question as to where and how the inhabitants of Amsterdam can find stress-relief in the inner city in 2050, looking back at successful examples of restorative environments in the past seems to be providing more solutions as forecasting uncertain futuristic scenarios. Even without scientific evidence, the Ancient Greeks and Medieval architects understood the healing and calming effect of nature, architecture and the functions they provide and contain for relaxation.
idea as the existence of saints and divinities becomes almost conceivable, witness of a time when the greatest architects did not pretend to be Gods but rather testify taught in business schools but contained in a collective will, when ego was not a mean to personal success but shared under the presence of a holy spirit, at the Images: Still from accompanying video, which Rek, W. d. (2017). Omgaan metexistence. stress, is het aan de mens wel besteed? De Volkskrant. infortune of those denied its Still from documentary, Hilbrand, S. (2017). Sophie in de Mentale Kreukels: BNN.
But, nostalgia is not going to return these healing environments, even if we would exactly re-built their once successful compositions. In the future, the focus of healthcare will be on wellness instead of care and cure-facilities. With technology developing exponentially, we cannot even image what wellness will entail in the future. But what we can envision is the environment which contains these stress-reductive practices, as architecture develops at a much slower pace.
i1 i2
Image retrieved from ‘De Bewustzijn School’, De Lidmaatschappen. Retrieved from http://www.debewustzijnschool.nl/investment-page/ Still from documentary, Hilbrand, S. (2017). Sophie in de Mentale Kreukels: BNN. Photograph of the facade of ‘The School of Life’, Juulz. (2016). School of Life. i6 Photograph of yoga pose, 8 Yoga Mudras To Overcome Any Ailments!! (2016). Retrieved from http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/8-yoga-mudras-toovercome-any-ailments/ i7 Photograph of ´The Digital Detox´. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeracorrespondent/2014/11/my-digital-addiction-20141161138715945.html i8 Still from documentary, Bergman, S. (2015). The Sunny side of Spirit: VPRO, BOS. i9 Drawing of the Plantage, Aarsen, A. (2003). Landelijk Amsterdam: monumenten van het buitenleven. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bas Lubberhuizen. i10 Personal photograph i11 Photograph of the interior of the Grundtvig’s Church. Retrieved from https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/569283209123465001/ i12 Drawing, Waisblat, A. W. (2014). The Architecture of Dreams. Technical Univerity of Delft, Delft. i3 i4 i5
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Philosopher Alain de Botton argues that our museums have become our new churches, taking responsibility for the cultural teaching theology could no longer provide. But we can argue for the opposite: our churches have now become our al heritage threatened by private property development, Cartesian atheists that 247
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This provides a nice leap to a place where even atheists experience a spiritual and great restorative benefits: the traditional spas of the middle east. ‘The naked back on the meditation stone under the pierced vaults of the Cemberlitas hammam of Istanbul, heat and steam altering precise perceptions of reality, the reality landing from heaven on earth to the busy street outside is not just a small shock. Beyond divine devotion, baths were spaces of social encounters, mysteries and gossip. Collective nudity imposed its humane moral: transparency with the self, honesty to others (Waisblat, 2014).’
A MENTAL ESCAPE Designing a mental escape for people suffering from stress and burnouts through an architectural experience
ANNA VAN OERS
Think of Amsterdam, in the far future of 2050. The economy will be an even more economically and knowledge driven society that will increase the number of people with a burnout or other stressrelated mental problems to even more extreme numbers than the first world is facing now. But, over the same amount of time, theorists claim that our economy has already shifted from a consumerismbased economy to an experience economy. This was first used in 1998, when Pine and Gilmore wrote their article; Welcome to the experience economy1’, based on their notion of an economical shift. As goods and services become (even more) commoditised, the experiences that companies create will matter most. Translate this to architecture, and you’ll maybe have a perfect co-operating marriage between healing and experienceing. Therefore I would like to argue that architects, spatial planners, landscape architects, and all other professions that have the chance and responsibility to design the world we live in, should prioritise the experience of the designed space, and ideally explore possibilities of combining the user’s experience of his/her environment with the capability of preventing stress. This article will focus on environmental psychology and the beneficial characteristics of spaces on mental health.
THE ARCHITECT’S CHALLENGE
in, day out, we endure a steady surge of stress hormones - an onslaught that our bodies struggle to continually fight”. My future as a currently graduating student, waiting to dive into the professional world where competition and productivity are likely becoming even greater stressors, doesn’t seem so bright if we can’t prevent ourselves from suffering this pressure. Considering this, problems of stress-related mental illnesses will, next to leading to heaps of miserable people, also lead to more and more costs for society. Yet another reason to dive into finding solutions. For an architect having to design for Amsterdam in 2050, this is a very interesting problem to tackle.
Why is it so important to put great thought in thinking about the people’s social and mental health for the future of Amsterdam? A research by Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, TNO and the ministry of social affairs and employment of the Netherlands2 revealed that 14 percent of the Dutch population suffers from symptoms related to burn-out. Wilthagen3, a professor specialised in labour market and flexibility at Tilburg university, has stated in that this problem won’t dissolve any time soon; “This generation will carry our economy, but already now the youth’s extensive need for use of longterm healthcare and the lessening of productivity will lead to the entire Dutch economy suffering from it”.
The future problems of social and mental health will continue taking their toll in a more and more accomplishment driven society. When our economy will also likely shift from consumer-driven to experience-driven, environmental psychology and the effect of the nature, city, built environment and architecture on the mental state of our population gets even more interesting. But how can we build to maximise these effects? For a liveable, healthy and socially sustainable Amsterdam, architectural typologies need to be explored to be adequate for people suffering from stress related mental health issues, living in a society that craves for experiences rather than services and goods. This article will later elaborate on which typologies and which ele-
But if only this were the only problem; According to David Robson in his BBC article “The reason why exhaustion and burnout are so common” one argument for the increase is that our brains are simply not evolved to deal with the modern working environment: “The increasing emphasis on productivity - and the emotional need to prove one’s worth through one’s job - leaves workers in a permanent state of ‘fight or flight’. This state originally evolved to deal with acute danger. But if we face that kind of pressure day 248
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“All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.” - Philip Johnson
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Projected world urban and rural population 1950- 2050 i1
14% OF PEOPLE IN THE NETHERLANDS SUFFER FROM STRESSRELATED PROBLEMS3
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Created by Aenne Brielmann from the Noun Project
AS MUCH AS 52% OF ALL ABSENTEISM AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE IS DIRECTLY CAUSED BY TOO MUCH WORK STRESS3 Created by Luis Prado from the Noun Project
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A BURN-OUT WILL LEAD TO AN AVERAGE OF 180 DAYS OF SITTING AT HOME3
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A SICK EMPLOYEE COSTS AN AVERAGE OF 250 EUROS A DAY3
Created by John Burraco from the Noun Project
Some of these elements are maybe not even as difficult to imagine. As Knopf5 has written, escaping workpressure, urban noise and many other stress related reasons have driven people to seek relief in outdoor recreation for centuries. Often, people tend to visit natural and quiet areas, or other areas that have no similarity at all to the world they’ve experienced the stressors in, looking to restore from their mental fatigue. Already since 1984, a phenomenological study of Roger Ulrich6 has revealed a connection between nature and health. Ulrich proved what great thinkers and romantic artists have already thought for centuries: nature heals. Ulrich gathered records of hospital patients viewing either a brick wall or a tree and found that the tree-watchers required fewer doses of pain drugs, next to having to stay in the hospital for a shorter span of time.
Salk Institute La Jolla by Louis Kahn, used in Bermudez’ research i6
According to Kaplan’s7 attention restoration theory (ART), restoration from mental fatigue occurs according to three components that are integral to our analysis of what makes an environment restorative. 1. Restoration occurs when reaching a psychological distance from routine mental contents (being away). This frees a person from mental activity that requires directed attention support to keep going. In fact, people often use ‘getting away’ as words to describe going to a restorative place. But when going to a different place without being able to get rid of the old thoughts, not a lot will happen. The being away needs to constitute something more conceptual than physical. It needs to be a change in the direction of one’s gaze, something that distracts from
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Chapel Ronchamp, used in Bermudez’ research i7
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According to the United Nations, over 50% of the worlds population currently lives in cities, and by 2050 another 2,5 billion people will likely be added to urban environments4. Getting more acquainted with the restorative effects of the environment on mental health would be a great starting point for architects dealing with extreme urbanisation. But what are these environmental elements that influence the human brain so much?
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the routine thoughts. 2. The ‘getting away’ should happen in conjunction with effortless, interest-driven attention (fascination, or later addressed to as ‘involuntary attention’). The environment must have extent. It should be rich and coherent and thus constitute a whole new environment. It must engage the mind and provide enough to see, experience and think about so that it takes up a substantial portion a person’s mind.
BIOPHILIA
A typological research on a contemplative typology: the museum Voorlinden i11
Bird’s-eye view of an ancient garden i8
biophilia
bʌɪə(ʊ)ˈfɪlɪə/ noun (according to a theory of the biologist E. O. Wilson) an innate and genetically determined affinity of human beings with the natural world.
A daylight analysis of museum Voorlinden i9
Kaplan’s statement that the three components are usually at high levels in natural environments is one that has been researched a lot more often. There might be a worldwide sense and intuitive awareness of the possibility that nature and the proximity to or notion of nature could be beneficial to people’s health. Multiple researchers, like Shepard and Hongxun, have stated that already for centuries, people from urban environments would go to considerable lenghts to maintain contact with nature. Examples of natural environments in urban area’s are the gardens in ancient Egypt, the walled gardens of Persian settlements in Mesopotamia and the gardens of merchants in medieval China 8 . During the last centuries, the belief that nature would promote both psychological and physical health has lead to the provision of parks and other nature for public use in urban environments 9,10 (Parsons, 1991; Ulrich et al., 1991). For example the famous landscape architect Olmsted11 used this approach. As well in his park designs as in his writing he not only understood the
observations that architects and city planners can deliberately design for.”13 The stimulus Dr Bermudez used for this research were buildings and sites that we’re purposely designed as spaces that elicit contemplation. These buildings might be from a religious nature as churches and temples, but as well be of more contemporary typologies like museums and libraries. An example of a building that was used is the Salk Institute by Louis Kahn in La Jolla. The participants, consisting of twelve, male and right-handed architects were both shown ordinary housing blocks, as pensive architecture. The hypothesis was that the observing of contemplative architecture could even over time lead to the same mental health benefits as traditionally induced (self-directed) meditation. But, with the clear and convenient difference that, for the same results, a lot less effort by the individual needs to be taken because of the passive nature of this effect. The interviews held with the participants revealed that the main effects of observing the photos were “peacefulness and relaxation, lessening of mind wandering, the increasing of attention and the deepening of experience”13. Looking at Kaplan’s ART theory elements, these are all very beneficial for the process of brain restoration after mental fatigue. While the research hasn’t proven the effects
possibility that the capacity to focus might be fatigued, but he also recognised the need for urban dwellers to recover this capacity in the context of nature 8. This notion could be understood as the term biophilia; ‘an innate and genetically determined affinity of human beings with the natural world’ as stated by biologist E.O. Wilson in 1984 12. CONTEMPLATIVE ARCHITECTURE AND EXTRA ORDINARY ARCHITECTURAL EXPERIENCES Kaplan’s component of ‘getting away’ and the search for an ‘involuntary attention’ could be linked to research of the effect of some architectural typologies on the human brain. A research done by Dr. Julio Bermudez 13 and his team of architects and neuroscientists has suggested that visiting, or even just looking at architecture on a photograph could affect mental states. According to the team, cited in an online article of the Atlantic, published November 14, 2014, architects continue to design static and unresponsive objects that are not sensitive towards the dynamic nature of it’s users. The research team has as goal to “use the scientific methods to transform something opaque - the ‘qualitative’ phenomenologies of our built environment - into neuro scientific
A daylight analysis of museum Voorlinden i10
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3. There should be compatibility between the environment and a person’s purposes and inclinations. In other words, the setting must provide in what one’s trying to do and what one would like to do. Kaplan argues that these factors are usually at high levels in natural environments. In my research these three factors will be the base of exploring natural, urban and architectural elements that could possibly contribute to brain restoration. There is already some spatial implications to be found in these three components and they will be tested through more typological research, interviews and literature studies.
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In 2015, Bermudez published another research on human’s aesthetic experience and environmental preference14. The focus lied on “Extraordinary Architectural Experiences. It’s interesting that this research explains holy places as non-objective constructs, existing on their own, but in fact are quite the contrary. It’s the constructions’ ability to shape experiences that makes them so powerful. It’s their distinctive eventfulness in our consciousness that makes them zo unforgettable. An Extraordinary Architectural Experience (EAE) was defined as following: “An encounter with a building or a place that fundamentally alters one’s normal state of being. A “fundamental alteration” is a powerful and lasting shift in one’s physical, perceptual, emotional, intellectual, and/or spiritual appreciation of architecture. Contrarily, an ordinary experience of architecture, however interesting or engaging, does not cause a significant impact on one’s life.”14 Throughout an entire year between april 2007 and april 2008, online surveys were conducted in which the respondents filled in their experience watching EAE’s. Interesting is that over 87% reported being in an introspective state, there was no talking (around 60%), strong body reactions (around 50% on average) and a higher level of awareness than normal (over 80%). These results again prove the power of architecture on mental state. The buildings used in the first and second researc have both used similar architecture. The objects from the second study were cathedrals and museums, large historical buildings like the Vatican in Rome, large archeological sites like Machu Picchu in Peru and the Taj Mahal in India. There is a fairly clear leading thread to be found between these building typologies. Typological research and thorough analysis of multiple of these buildings should extract architectural elements such as light, scale and colour, forming a base for designing calming or restorative architecture.
In my thesis projects I would like to let architecture and the provided natural elements in the Amsterdam Zuid-Oost area join forces to create a space, building or area that entails an experience that can be used for it’s beneficial effects on stress. By setting up a basic set of rules based on literature, neuro-scientific and typological research on scale, material, colours and light, architects and urbanist could create implement brain restorative environments in the people’s daily life and try to prevent serious stress-related problems.
CONCLUSION
Footnotes: 1 Joseph Pine and James Gilmore “Welcome to the experience economy.” 97-105. 2 “CBS en TNO: Een op de zeven werknemers heeft burn-outklachten” Accessed April, 2017, https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/ nieuws/2015/47/cbs-en-tno-een-op-de-zeven-werknemers-heeft-burn-outklachten 3 “Burn-out groeiend probleem onder jonge werknemers”, NOS, Accessed April, 2017, http://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2032376-burnout-groeiend-probleem-onder-jonge-werknemers.html 4 “World’s population increasingly urban with more than half living in urban areas, Challenges and the Way Forward,” Accessed April, 2017, http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/world-urbanization-prospects-2014.html 5 Richard Knopf, “Recreational needs and behavior in natural settings.” 205-240. 6 Roger Ulrich, “View through a window may influence recovery.” 224-225 7 Stephen Kaplan “The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework.” 169-182. 8 Hongxun. The classical gardens of China 9 Ulrich, Simons, Losito, Fiorito, Miles and Zelson. “Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments.” 201-230. 10 Parsons, Russ. “The potential influences of environmental perception on human health.” 1-23 11 Olmsted, F.L. “The value and care of parks.” 12 Edward O. Wilson “Biophilia.” 13 The Atlantic, “The Brain on Architecture”, accessed April 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/11/the-brain-onarchitecture/382090/ 14 Julio Bermudez and Brandon Richard Ro. “Understanding Extraordinary Architectural Experiences through Content Analysis of Written Narratives.”
Bibliography: Hartig, Evans, Jamner, Davis, and Gärling. “Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings.” Journal of environmental psychology 23, no. 2 (2003): 109-123. Herzog, Black, Fountaine, and Knotts. “Reflection and attentional recovery as distinctive benefits of restorative environments.” Journal of environmental psychology 17, no. 2 (1997): 165-170. Herzog, Chen, and Primeau. “Perception of the restorative potential of natural and other settings.” Journal of environmental psychology 22, no. 3 (2002): 295-306. Hongxun. The classical gardens of china. Van nostrand reinhold co., 1982. Kaplan, Stephen. “The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework.” Journal of environmental psychology 15, no. 3 (1995): 169-182. Kaplan, R. “The nature of the view from home: Psychological benefits.” Environment and behavior 33, no. 4 (2001): 507-542. Harvard Knopf, Richard C. “Recreational needs and behavior in natural settings.” In Behavior and the natural environment, pp. 205-240. Springer US, 1983. Harvard Olmsted, F.L. “The value and care of parks.” In Report to the Congress of the State of California (Reprinted in Landscape Architecture, 17: 20-23). 1865. Parsons, Russ. “The potential influences of environmental perception on human health.” Journal of environmental psychology 11, no. 1 (1991): 1-23. Harvard Pine, Joseph B. and Gilmore, James H.. “Welcome to the experience economy.” Harvard business review 76 (1998): 97-105. Harvard Purcell, Peron and Berto. “Why do preferences differ between scene types?.” Environment and behavior 33, no. 1 (2001): 93-106. Harvard Ro and Bermudez. “Understanding Extraordinary Architectural Experiences through Content Analysis of Written Narratives.” Enquiry: A Journal for Architectural Research 12, no. 1 (2015). Shepard, Paul. Man in the landscape: A historic view of the esthetics of nature. University of Georgia Press, 2002. Tennessen and Cimprich. “Views to nature: Effects on attention.” Journal of environmental psychology 15, no. 1 (1995): 77-85. Harvard Ulrich, Simons, Losito, Fiorito, Miles and Zelson. “Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments.” Journal of environmental psychology 11, no. 3 (1991): 201-230. Ulrich, Roger. “View through a window may influence recovery.” Science 224, no. 4647 (1984): 224-225. Harvard Wilson, Edward O. “Biophilia.” Harvard University Press, 1984 Images: i1-9-10-11 Diagrams are made by the Author i2-3-4-5 Icons under creative commons license, respectively Brielmann, Keuning, Prado, Burracco i6 La Jolla, California by Louis Kahn, 1959. Photograph by Balthazar Korab i7 Chapel Ronchamp, photograph by Corbis on The Wall Street Journal i12 Photo made by Author i13 Photo by WOHA i14 Visualisation by CPG Corporation
Kaplan’s three components could be seen as three starting points for using an architectural or urban design as a tool for brain restoration. As implied above, the environment can have a direct effect on brain fatigue. When thinking of an architecture that could stimulate brain restoration these factors might be taken into account. The architecture should enable the visitors feeling of beging away from their usual routine that functions as stres-
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sor. It should fascinate or interest the person and thus stimulate the brain in areas that are not being commonly used during the daily routine. It could be said that the architecture should offer an entirely new experience for the brain to restore more quickly from stress or fatigue. But architects would make a wise choice if they would involve nature’s beneficial influence on people’s mental health as well. The fact that nature can work healing has been proven a lot throughout the last centuries and researches have proved the calming effects of contemplative architecture on mental health. But, maybe more surprising, observing images of contemplative architecture of an aesthetic value like cathedrals and museums has proved to almost have the same effects on the brain as self-directed meditation. Some results of this research might, quite frankly, be directly linked to one of Kaplan’s three elements adding up to brain restoration too. Firstly, humans have always escaped their urban environment by visiting natural environments. This is easily linked with the first characteristic of “being away”. Secondly, the increasing of attention that contemplative architecture elicits and Kaplans second characteristic; an environment should have an effortless, interest driven attention or fascination, also referred to as ‘involuntary attention’. EAE’s are defined as buildings that “fundamentally alters one’s normal state of being. A “fundamental alteration” is a powerful and lasting shift in one’s physical, perceptual, emotional, intellectual, and/ or spiritual appreciation of architecture.
of observing the contemplative architecture to be as thorough as for example praying, it has proven that it will calm you down, making this very useful information for building to calm down society.
BIOPHILIC PROJECTS Singapore is currently taking the lead in the field of Biophilic architecture. During a visit to Singaporean architectural firm WOHA, multiple projects involving a marriage between architecture and green were elaborated. Enabling village, a community building integrating education, work, training retail and lifestye, connects disabled people with society. This rejuvenation of an old vocational institute now contributes back to the neighbourhood by having a social function, but also by being a destination by itself and it’s location along the route to the neighbourhood’s biggest transportation hub and metrostation. “The Enabling Village champions sustainability and sociability by promoting the learning, bonding and healing of people with varying abilities within a biophilic environment. This creates an inclusive space that enables and values everyone.” - WOHA
Kampung Admiralty by WOHA, an example of biophilic architecture i13
A third project brought to our attention through a research lead by Thomas Schroepfer, from the ETH Future Cities Lab in Singapore. Mr Schroepfer and his team are doing an extensive research into a systematic understanding of the environmental, social, urban, architectural and economic benefits of dense and green building typologies in high-density urban context. And by them as well as at our visit at CPG, a corporatised entity of the former Singapore Public Works Department, the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital was mentioned as a great example of biophilic architecture being used to increase health. The slogan of this design is ‘hospital in a garden, garden in a hospital’. The hospital opens up to a lake and has a large sunken courtyard that allows light and greenery to the lower levels. Researcher Michelle Yiang emphasised that one of the successful results of this projects was that people from throughout the neighbourhood visit this hospital just as a destination, to enjoy the green and quietness.
Another building by WOHA promoting health and nature is the Kampung Admiralty, which is now being built. This multi-purpose building houses seniors, healthcare, a hawkers center (foodcourt) a community center and many more. Important is the elevated skypark. The roof double-functions as a park with sloping paths forming a scenic walk that promotes meeting and active ageing.
Khoo Teck Puat Hospital by CPG Corporation, an example of biophilic architecture i13
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Enabling Village by WOHA, an example of biophilic architecture i12
CHENXI DAI
TOWRARDS A STRESS FREE CITY How natural environment helps future citizens reduce mental pressure
Living in the cities could be challenging for one’s mental health. The statistics do tell us that people who live in cities have a 40% increased risk of depression, a 20% increased risk of anxiety and double the risk of schizophrenia.1 The mental problems in the cities could become even more serious and common in the future. In 2050, according to UN’s prediction, the proportion of urban population will increase to two-thirds. It is important to understand how the new changes of in the future city will influence the mental health of citizens. This article will investigate how the design of natural environment in architecture and urban planning could contribute to the mental restoration in the future context of Amsterdam Amstel Area. Vienna, which is the most liveable city in the world, will be used as a case study. The research results were collected mainly from academic papers and online database.
area, which connects it with the other part of the city. As shown in Figure 1, compared with other districts in Amsterdam, the population density of the Amstel area is at relatively low level, which makes it a potential area for the settlement of new residents in the future. With the ambition to transform into a creative business centre, the area will become more attractive for people with various backgrounds to work there. The local residents need to adapt themselves to the much more crowded living spaces. The new comers need to find way to fit in the unfamiliar community. Employees need to find ways to release pressure. All of these require more attention on the mental health issues.
That nature could heal the mind of people is never a secret. Various culture all over the world share the belief that nature is beneficial to human’s mental health. Some of the believes even became religions. Taoism encourage people to gain energy from the five natural elements: water, fire, wood, metal and earth. Ayurveda, the ancient healing tradition from India, recommends people to spend their time in nature daily. The modern studies on psychology also proves the effects of nature on mental healing. A lot of evidences shows that the living in green has much great influences on mental health. The results of a national study involving more than ten thousand people as experimental subjects in the Netherlands indicates significant relationships between green environments and improvement of physical and mental health. In a greener environment, the subjects have better perceived general health, including better mental health.2 The level of greenness also matters a lot: “10% more green space in the living environment leads to a decrease in the number of symptoms that is comparable with a decrease in age by 5 years.”3
Due to the great environment and convenient location, Amstel area was used as a place for recreation and leisure at weekends and holidays by rich Amsterdamers. In Frankendael, villas built by the rich are still standing. Many of the natural landscapes are remained until today. Amstel River and its tributary channels create a water network among the great amount of green spaces in this area. The vast green lands by Amstel River has always been a popular site for people to have a day escaping the stressful city lives. However, some problems exist in the current environmental conditions, which results in a great reduction to the beneficial effects of nature to minds. First, the distribution of vast green spaces is improper. Figure 2 reveals the unbalanced situation of green spaces in Amstel area. Most of the green spaces are gathered around Frankendael and along the waterways, with few of them left in the industrial and business areas. In addition, the use of the natural environment is unoptimistic. Many of the green lands are out of management and in the state of wilderness. Some of them are spread over with garbage (Figure 3). Some of the waterways are also in a mess and the water quality is not satisfactory. As a result, an atmosphere of unsafety and unease is built, which harms the benefits of the natural environment. The river views are blocked by the boat housings along the river, which greatly damages the walking experience by the river banks (Figure 4). The green spaces at the street sides are equipped with few seats and public facilities, which are not good for stay and communication.
How to use nature to improve the people’s mental health has always been an important question for architects and urban planners. Since ancient time, the natural environment in the living areas has been greatly valued. For the rich nobles, a beautiful garden was always a necessary component for a luxurious house. During the development of urban movements last century, the pursuit for healthy mind in cities is one of the main subjects. Because of the development of industrial production, people living in the cities suffered great pressure. Many architects and urban planners used nature interventions as a solution. American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who was the designer of Central Park in New York, argued in 1865, that “…the enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it, tranquilizes it and yet enlivens it; and thus, through the influence of the mind over the body, gives the effect of refreshing rest and reinvigoration to the whole system”.4 Nowadays, the concepts like ‘green architecture’ and ‘green cities’ are becoming more and more important. The relation between nature and mental healing has been a crucial matter that city designer should consider carefully.
Case Study: Green Strategies of Vienna In 2017, the Mercer Study voted Vienna the world’s most liveable city, which is 8th time the city tops the list.5 Among all the reasons made Vienna so liveable, the great performance of natural environment is absolutely quite a significant one. The green spaces are widely spread over the whole city. No matter at which corner of the city you are,
Challenges for Amstel Area Amstel area is located at the southeast of central district of Amsterdam. It is a part of the Axis Amsterdam Centre – Utrecht. The A10 highway, which is the boundary of the Ring Zone, goes through the 258
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Garbages in Green Space.i3
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Population Density in Amsterdam.i1
Unmanaged Water.i4
Green Space in Amstel Area.i2
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Boat Housing along the River.i5
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Park in Vienna.i7
covers the roofs and walls, which creates a living space full of natural charm.8 The restaurant Palmenhaus is situated in a tall greenhouse filled with palms and other exotic plants, making it a relaxing and pleasant place to have dinner.9 The Microsoft Headquarter in Vienna has a indoor green plant wall, which is also a popular design among the modern offices in Vienna.10
can always easily find a trace to nature. More than half of the city composited by green spaces. 51% of the land space is regarded as green space. Each of residents living in the city have an average of 120 m2 of green space. A total of 2,000 parks could be found in the city.6 In addition to greenery, water is also an important part of Viennaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural circle. The Old Danube River goes through the city centre. To safeguard the water quality and ensure the sustainable development of the river, a project called The LIFE+ Alte Donau is in operation. The project is under the European Unionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s LIFE+ Programme.7 By applying measures like installation of lakebed biological filters, the water quality will be greatly improved. Walking along the river is a pleasant experience. The water views are open and never blocked. The lawns by the bank are clean and nice for taking a seat.
In Vienna, nature is also used as tie between the citizens. Nature offers social spaces that could help people enjoy their lives and reduce loneliness. One example is the community gardens, which is seen frequently in the street of Vienna. Everyone living in the one street blocks share the gardens and they participate their neighbours to grow flowers and vegetables together. The waterways inside the cities are usually used as open swimming pools by Vienna people. In warm days, people like to have sunbath by the riverbank or swim together in the river. A lot of public spaces are set along the rivers. The rivers are not only natural scenes, but also great places for recreation and social activities.
In Vienna, architecture is also a component of the entire green spaces. Countless green walls, green roofs and green indoor spaces are applied in the building design. The Hundertwasserhaus, which was designed by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, is a representative of green buildings in Vienna. Trees, shrubbery and flowers
Palmenhaus Interior.i8
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Comparison of Green Space per Person.i6
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Community Garden.i9
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the rivers should be well managed. Most of boat housings, which are now great obstacles for the river view, should be removed.
A Healing Environment in Amstel Compared with Vienna, the performance of natural benefits on mental health in Amstel area seems not quite satisfactory. To prepare Amstel area for the future challenges, several approaches inspired by Vienna could be applied.
Sunbath by the Bank of Old Danube.i10
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Impression of ‘Verblijfsplekken’.i11
Architecture in the future will be more and more integrated with nature. With the increasing time of people staying indoor, it become more necessary to introduce nature environments into the indoor space. The boundaries between the indoor space and outdoor space will become vague. Strategies like green walls and indoor gardens could be applied inside the buildings to create a natural indoor environment that could help release pressure and prevent mental issues.
The most significant and easiest approach to help mental heath by nature is to live in nature. This means people are exposed in the environment that contains various natural elements as long as possible. In the design of the future cities, the original scenario of nature should gain enough respect. Without influencing the overall layouts, the original environment should be remained as much as possible. This could provide opportunities of easy access to nature for residents living in more and more crowded cities. ‘accessibility to nature’ is going to become an important right for future citizens. For Amstel area, the natural resources should be remained properly, with the green vacancies filled. Many of the infrastructures today could be transformed with better functions and integrated with greenery. For example, with the tendency of less importance of cars, the A10 highway could be transformed into a green walkway which are only for pedestrians and cyclers. The water quality of
Natural environment could be more involved with the daily activities and becomes a media that help build social connections and improve communication. This is beneficial to boosting the healing effects of natural environment. Social activities could be helpful to the reduction of the mental problems, especially the loneliness. Public space could attract people to stay and join the social activities. If the spaces are integrated with nature, more people could gain benefit from them. The composition of natural environment and social activities could maximise the healing effects. More public space with green features should be built in 265
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Conclusion
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Natural environment could have a lot of positive effects on people’s mental health. With the tendency of rapid growth of mental pressure in urban lives, it is quite important to know how to take full advantage of the mind-healing effects of nature. Amstel area in Amsterdam is probably going to become much more crowded in the future, which
Footnotes: Mary O’Hara. “Building Better Mental Health in Cities from the Ground Up.” Accessed May 19, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/ sustainable-business/2016/aug/17/urban-planners-improve-mental-health-cities. 2 Timothy Beatley, Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning (Washington DC: Island Press, 2011), 6. 3 Sjerp de Vries et al., “Natural Environments - Healthy Environments?: An Exploratory Analysis of the Relationship Between Green Space and Health,” Environment and Planning A. 35 (2003): 10, accessed May 19, 2017, doi:10.1068/a35111. 4 Frederick Law Olmsted. “Introduction to Yosemite and the Mariposa Grove: A Preliminary Report.” Accessed May 19, 2017. http:// www.yosemite.ca.us/library/olmsted/report.html. 5 Wien Government. “Quality of Living - Vienna is Still the Number One.” Accessed May 19, 2017. https://www.wien.gv.at/english/politics/international/competition/mercer-study.html. 6 Baharash Bagherian. “Liveable Cities: How Much Green Space does Your City Have?” Accessed May 16, 2017. http://www. baharash.com/liveable-cities-how-much-green-space-does-your-city-have/. 7 Wien Government. “Project Description - LIFE+ Alte Donau.” Accessed May 19, 2017. https://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment/waterbodies/old-danube/life-project/project-description/. 8-9 Wien Government. “Green Walls – Nature Meets Architecture.” Accessed May 19, 2017. https://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/green-vienna/green-walls-in-vienna. 10 Office Snapshots. “Microsoft’s Vienna Headquarters.” Accessed May 19, 2017. https://officesnapshots.com/2012/07/09/microsofts-vienna-headquarters/. 11 URHAHN. “Stedenbouwkundige Toolbox voor Postzegelparkjes” Accessed May 19, 2017. http://www.urhahn.com/verblijfsplekkenamstel-business-park/. 1
Koshino House Interior.i12
mes a carrier of time and life. Through the filter of the house, the natural light outside becomes abstract nature imagery, making nature a part of the building. This method of nature abstraction also corresponds to the traditional Japanese culture, making this modern building more localized, so as to achieve a higher level of integration with the environment.
The Koshino House is one of the earliest designs of Tadao Ando. The house started to be built in 1980 and all the building construction was completed in 1983. The building is located in the suburban residential area of Ashiya, Japan. Surrounded by a trees and hills, the site is in a quite natural state. Ando’s design idea is to integrate the house with the natural environment harmoniously. Two organic concrete boxes are arranged in parallel to avoid the trees and they are partly buried in the ground. An underground corridor connects the two boxes. The building has two levels, with living space on the ground floor and bedrooms on the upper floor. The study space is in a crescent shape building, which is adjacent to the living room and shows contrast to the main building schemes. The Koshino House is deemed to be one of the great works of Minimalism.
Bibliography: Terrapin Bright Green et al., “14 Patterns of Biophilic Design” Accessed May 19, 2017.https://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/ reports/14-patterns/. Urhahn & Decisio. “Werkstad Overamstel.” Accessed May 18, 2017. https://www.ouder-amstel.nl/data/bekendmaking-website/_ XA890619015B19BF776621D3229AE674/Ruimtelijk-economische%20visie%20ABP%20Zuid%20concept%20voor%20inspraak. pdf?_dc=1490786532758.
In the design of the Koshino House, daylight, as an important element, is used repeatedly. For example, in the design of the outdoor corridor, many vertical bar windows are set on the wall. As the sun moves, the light into the dark narrow corridor changes continuously, giving a strong visual experience to people. The change of light could be associated with the passage of time and the transformation of life; light in this building beco-
Images: Diagrams are made by the Author Baharash Bagherian. “Liveable Cities: How Much Green Space does Your City Have?” Accessed May 16, 2017. http://www. baharash.com/liveable-cities-how-much-green-space-does-your-city-have/. i11 URHAHN. “Stedenbouwkundige Toolbox voor Postzegelparkjes” Accessed May 16, 2017. http://www.urhahn.com/verblijfsplekkenamstel-business-park/. i12 Kazunori Fujimoto. “AD Classics: Koshino House / Tadao Ando Architect &amp; Associates” Accessed May 16, 2017. http://www. archdaily.com/161522/ad-classics-koshino-house-tadao-ando. i1-2-3-4-5-7-8-9-10 i6
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might lead to stress problem. By comparing with the most liveable city in the world– Vienna, several approaches could be summarised for the better use of the natural environment. It is important to increase the green areas in the city. The distribution of the greenery should also be more balannced so that people could always be surrounded by the nature wherever they are. The architecture should be more integrated with the natural elements. The border between the indoor environment and outdoor natural space would be much vaguer. The build of the indoor natural system will be a future tendency. The social activities will be more connected to the public space which have a good quality of environment. By adding more natural elements to the public space could also attract more use of the space and help benefit more people. By applying these approaches, the goal of improving natural environment for mental healing could be achieved.
Amstel area so that people could have space to stay. A relevant proposal called ‘Verblijfsplekken’ has been raised, which is meant to increase more place to stay in Amstel Business Park.11 Trees, grass and public benches are basic infrastructures for each small square. Some of them are going to be integrated with more functions like a food stall to activate more social communication. This kind of space is probably a nice transformation for the future of the whole Amstel area.
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