ATAS Enes

BMC3

Summary: Amsterdam, the participative smart city

Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, has long been known for its canals, coffeeshops and
cycling scene. In recent years, it is also become well known across the world for being an example of a
smart city. It was one of the first European capitals to embrace the smart city concept.

Adopting a global strategy in 2009, Amsterdam launched a project named Amsterdam Smart
City (ASC) with the intention to make the bet on technological advancement while pursuing the goals
of a sustainable city. It’s an open innovation platform that aims to create new projects and partnerships
between the different actors of urban governance, allowing the city to become a "smart city".
Overall, the ASC main goal is to reduce CO2 emissions. The Dutch capital is aiming to reduce CO2
emissions in Amsterdam by 55% in 2030, and 95% in 2050.

The successful implementation of smart cities depends in part on open data. It can help in
recognizing and resolving social issues and create new business opportunities. Research projects, new
app development, and targeted neighbourhood promotions can all benefit from data regarding education,
healthcare, transportation, and tourism. Since 2012, in order to facilitate the access to the data,
Amsterdam has made its city data open source. The data is open to everyone's use, including information
on the neighbourhood development, electricity use, and road construction. Anybody is welcome to
contribute new data sets to the collection.

I selected a few project that make Amsterdam a smart city:

KlimaatStraat
The Climate Street is a program that aims to determinate which technologies and approaches are the
most successful to make the city's shopping streets more sustainable on a large
scale. In this program, the Utrechtsestraat street was equipped with smart energy-saving technologies:
smart meters with public energy consumption display, smart streetlighting system whose intensity is
regulated according to real-time weather condition with the help of motion sensors.

Toogethr
Toogethr is an app that optimizes carpooling by matching passengers with potential drivers based on
their workplace location and working hours. It’s another initiative aiming to reduce traffic in smart cities.
The project's objective is to eliminate 25,000 cars from the road, which will result in long-term decreases
in pollution and fuel consumption as well as significant savings on travel expenses. Additionally, it
would reduce the need for parking to take up valuable city space.

Amsterdam Rainproof
The Amsterdam Rainproof initiative is a platform for engaging and motivating various stakeholders to
enhance water management. The major objective of this project is to collect rainwater and use it more
effectively to build a sustainable rainproof platform.
Smart lighting
Smart lighting can be adjusted for a range of circumstances via remote sensors. It will improve security
and save energy. For instance, lighting can be changed based on the weather, and coloured lights can
regulate the movement of pedestrians and vehicles. Additionally, movement sensors can be used to
determine whether brighter lighting is required. The extra energy can then be used for other purposes,
such running the Wi-Fi network or determining the quality of the air.