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Rethink, Restart, Recover, Resilient

MIT Expert's choice award - Pandemics Co-Lab Response competition 2021 Pandemic and Cities: A data-driven communication platform for spatially just planning in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. This study set out with the aim of finding alternatives to growth models built on foundations of spatial justice theories, that fit to crises and pandemic scenarios. It further tests out a possible tool that can be deployed for the desired outcome during this time. The focus was set on the AMA, and a tailored outlook was handled for this region. However, the larger and global finding is the process described in this study; crisis management is an iterative approach as development and changes are ongoing and evolving amid catastrophes.

MIT Expert's choice award - Pandemics Co-Lab Response competition 2021
Pandemic and Cities: A data-driven communication platform for spatially just planning in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.

This study set out with the aim of finding alternatives to growth models built on foundations of spatial justice theories, that fit to crises and pandemic scenarios. It further tests out a possible tool that can be deployed for the desired outcome during this time. The focus was set on the AMA, and a tailored outlook was handled for this region. However, the larger and global finding is the process described in this study; crisis management is an iterative approach as development and changes are ongoing and evolving amid catastrophes.

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RETHINK.

RESTART.

RECOVER.

RESILIENT.

Pandemics and cities:

A data-driven communication platform for spatially just planning in the

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.



Transforming City Regions

Chair and Institute of Urban Design and European Urbanism

Integrated Project III: Networked urban systems in Europe

RWTH Aachen | WiSem 20/21

Professors/ Supervisors:

Dipl.-Ing. Prof. Christa Reicher

Prof. Dr. Jakob Beetz

Dr. ir. Ceren Sezer

Authors:

B.Sc. Amal Al Balushi

B.Sc. Eva Hoppmanns

M.Sc. RWTH Vanessa Kucharski

B.Sc. Lea Schwab


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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

ACCESS

welcome

Crisis

Social

Urban

POST-PANDAMIC: RETHINKING THE AMSTERDAM METRO.REGION

SPATIAL JUSTICE

Political

Environmental

Economical

Figure 1. Studied themes within the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region -Author´s graphics.

ABSTRACT

This project presents an interactive, data-driven, online platform

as a response to spatial injustices illuminated by the COVID-19

pandemic – with a focus on the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.

The report analyses the region (pre-pandemic and currently) before

proposing the platform as a tool to aid future developments.

The lockdowns were used as indicators of spatial injustices - in

terms of the unequal accessibility to open spaces and essential

needs. As lockdown regulations were top-down enactments influenced

by virus rates, AMA created blanket policies for entire

districts regardless of locational conditions. Examples of participation

or local involvement in decision-making were not included

during the pandemic, and clear communication possibilities

between communities and authorities are lacking as the crisis

continues. Our platform, named Access, can help residents understand

the policies that affect their actions, offers them alternative

activities and spaces, and provides means to discuss the

adequacy of their public sphere. The data could reveal locational

key-issues residents‘ experience and influence the municipality‘s

actions. Spatial changes are ultimately reinstated to the platform,

providing a transparent view of how AMA residents and authorities

interact, use, and change their space during a crisis.

KEY WORDS

Crisis Management, COVID-19, Spatial Justice,

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, Participation tool, Online-Platforms.

TAKEAWAY FOR PRACTICE

We discuss recovery phase initiation sequences in the case of

the COVID-19 Pandemic, and advertise a new approach not yet

attempted by municipalities, based on data and participation. Therefore,

it can aid planners, city changemakers and authorities in

policing of the pandemic and finding alternative processes. The

focus is on the AMA region; however, it can benefit other regions

in the world - specifically former touristic hubs - when applied

with the right indicators.

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CONTENT


1. INTRODUCTION

- REPORT OUTLINE

- SPATIAL JUSTICE

- METHODOLOGY

BOOK 1 | MULTI-LAYER CROSS-DOMAIN DATA ANALYSIS AND

VISUALIZATION FOR THE AMA.

2. ANALYSIS

- AMA GENERAL ANALYSIS

- MODELS AND STRATEGIES, A REVIEW

- URBAN COMPOSITION, MIGRATION, AND DENSITY

- SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

- HOUSING

- TOURISM

- TOURISM ZOOM-INS: AMA CASE STUDIES

- COVID-19

- SWOT & ANALYSIS CONCLUSION

- A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

3. VISION

BOOK 2 | THE ACCESS PLATFORM

4. DESIGN

- INTRODUCTION

- USER GROUPS

- BPMN

- BPMN: CASE STUDY INGA

- LONG-TERM TRANSFORMATIONS

5. CONCLUSION

6. APPENDIX



PANDEMICS AND

CITIES:

A DATA-DRIVEN COMMUNICATION PLATFORM FOR

SPATIALLY JUST PLANNING IN THE AMSTERDAM

METROPOLITAN AREA.


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1.INTRODUCTION

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THE JUST RESTART

OF AMSTERDAM

STRATEGY

PANDEMIC

DATA &

THEORETICAL

ANALYSIS

SOCIO-

ECONOMIC

STATUS

TOURISM

HOUSING

AMSTERDAM METRO. REGION

Diversity Equity Democracy

SOCIAL & SPATIAL

JUSTICE

Figure 2. Topics Concept – Author’s graphics.

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Like the rest of the world, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

(AMA) is experiencing unprecedented disruptions to general life

in our time. As the Coronavirus pandemic of 2019 hit, entire lifestyles

and spaces have changed. Cities have seen their regions

react to lockdowns, as activity hubs have had to stop. Amsterdam,

the capital of the Netherlands, and once a swarming touristic

centre, has gone through three lockdowns within a year. This

study investigates Amsterdam as the previous “poster child” of

spatial justice and assesses the corresponding issues highlighted

by the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions. Approaches to

spatial justice on a global level call for ‘inclusive, safe and accessible’

cities (UN General Assembly, 2016) as well as encouraging

interaction across social, cultural, and economic boundaries (Sezer

and Niksic, 2017). Choices of movements and activities are

the basis of restrictions in the COVID-19- climate, and one that

has been protested by the inhabitants within the area.

In a time when the near future is uncertain, traditional economic

success and growth within cities is not as easily achievable, and

local voices are not included in decision making, we question the

approaches necessary to continue development and planning in

a just way within the AMA region. Further, we question the possibility

of a just restart of a city, and what tools can be used to

aid this.

Although many studies on crisis management have been conducted

over the years, the COVID-19 pandemic has new challenges

due to it’s spread, scale and speed (Moon, 2020). Countries are

already coming up with plans to restart and recover, idealizing

what the “post-pandemic” scenario would be, and what steps to

take to achieve this. Furthermore, there is a need to become

resilient against future crises. This pandemic, one that is unique

to our time, is not expected to be the last. Studies suggest that

we are looking forward to more pandemics as warranted by climate

change and other factors (Dodds, 2019; Chin et al., 2020).

It is also not expected to be the last economic crisis that the

world and Amsterdam would experience. Lockdowns, the main

approach of handling the COVID-19 pandemic spread, have also

shown the injustice in accessibility, as people must travel great

distances to search for open spaces or essential provisions. The

policies enacted on the people have also led to legal confusions,

such as questioning the legality of setting a curfew (Daventry,

2021), and public confusion, with online public forums flooding

with “What am I allowed to do?” or “When do I have to quarantine?”.

Accessibility to services, spaces and informed choices is

therefore taken as indicators to assess the AMA in this project.

We propose learning and acting on the situation that is upon us

now through testing tools that may help us evaluate the current

spaces that are failing, and discussing changes needed amidst

a crisis. We emphasise the need for participation and inclusivity

to still be an influencing factor in the spatial change in balance

with the strong leadership of dire times; as it is the day-to-day

persons that are going to have to pick up the pieces, help rebuild

and open cities. The report works on the hypothesis that our spatial

scenario can be heavily influenced by actions taken during

the pandemic and leading up to the future “back to normal” situation.

Certain actions and preparations to “start-up” normal life

again need to begin now for a quick recovery. We focus on the

question of how to overcome a pandemic in a spatially just way

and recover as soon as possible.

1.1. REPORT OUTLINE

This report begins with a theoretical background of our stance on

spatial justice, its relation to the AMA. The report is then organized

into two sections:

• Section 1, Multi-Layer cross-domain data analysis

and visualization for the AMA.

The AMA is here introduced, along with its visions for the

future. The first section analyses extensive data to provide

an image of the AMA pre-COVID-19, and currently.

• Section 2, The ACCESS Platform.

An online tool is designed and promoted to achieve changes

that are necessary according to section 1’s findings.

The report concludes on the realism of the project, its limitations

and possible impact. We finally propose open questions that

could lead to other designs or research.

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1.2. SPATIAL JUSTICE

In the last decades, a movement towards social justice, dealing

with topics of economical, racial, and environmental justice occurred

and set the base for a theory of spatial justice. Deindustrialization

and globalization lead policy making and planning towards

economic growth, increasing competitiveness along with

a rise of property values, tourism, and business developments.

Along with this, the support of development projects prevail the

provision of a fair distribution of urban quality (Fainstein, 2010).

Studies and literature suggest existing inequalities continue to

increase (Sezer and Niksic, 2017).

Due to the financial crisis in the ’70s, along with global trade

practices and an economic transition, a shift towards neoliberal

Darwinism occurred and led to an increase of justice movements

(Bromberg, A; Morrow, G & Pfeiffer, 2007). In 1971, John Rawls

already composed a paradigm of universal justice. He defines

that everyone should have equal rights of basic liberties within a

total system ensured by liberty for everyone and that social and

economic inequalities should primarily support the least advantaged

people in a society (Bromberg, A; Morrow, G & Pfeiffer,

2007).

Other crises along the years helped underline the debate for

spatial justice, from the 2008 crisis to the current pandemic.

Advocates of justice theory started to tackle the missing spatial

components of Rawl’s theory. The focus shifted to new insights

about the importance of space by understanding how injustice

is produced by the socially, experienced and contested on shifting

social, political, economic, and geographical shaped space.

Furthermore, the task of how to tackle social and spatial differences

and how to establish justice in society evolved (Bromberg,

A; Morrow, G & Pfeiffer, 2007). Academics have also described

justice not as an abstract term, but as a shared responsibility

of actors in the socio-spatial system and connect spatial justice

directly to the public realm:

“HOW WE DEFINE PUBLIC SPACE

IS INTIMATELY CONNECTED WITH

IDEAS ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO

BE HUMAN, THE NATURE OF SOCI-

ETY, AND THE KIND OF POLITICAL

COMMUNITY WE WANT.” - (Deutsche, 1996)

Another expert in the field of spatial justice is Susan Fainstein,

who established a theory of spatial justice (2010). Fainstein defines

justice as encompassing diversity, democracy and equity

and uses these three factors to evaluate to which degree a city

can be just.

1. Diversity is the harmonious existence and mix of people,

services, and places.

2. Democracy is the ability of participating and being represented

in space and planning.

3. Equity is the fair share or allocation of resources to citizens.

Fainstein (2010) argues that urban decision-makers need “to

make justice a principal part in urban policies” and criticises capitalist

investment strategies towards profitable financing instead

of quality planning. Therefore, a structural transformation, as part

of a broader national and international movement would add to

restructuring capitalism into a more human system (Fainstein,

2010). Nevertheless, Fainstein draws attention to the fact that an

ideal solution cannot be found. Spatial justice is therefore evolving

and needs to be considered a process too.

Adding on Fainstein’s theory of justice in current days, Sophie

Watson (2019) points to the temporary time constraints on solutions

tackling inequality or differences in urban space. These

issues are constituted in an imbalance of power relations and

need to be addressed by the production of new patterns and

distributions in time (Watson, 2019).

In the present context, spatial justice is not a theory anymore.

After evolving to a movement like ‘the right to the city’ in the

last decades, actions have been taken to a political level on a

global scale. The 2016 UN-Habitat Conference integrates equity

as an issue of social justice to its agenda, linking it to access to

the public sphere and connecting it to physical space and urban

planning (UN General Assembly, 2016). Further, the UN-Habitat’s

New Urban Agenda acknowledges the provision of adequate

public space as a booster of sustainable cities.

In this regard, Niksic and Sezer (2017) imply that public space

accessibility, quality and provisions can be used to measure the

urban justice of a city. They identify public space as a vibrant

core, and the site of sociability and spontaneity - spaces that

connect diverse neighbourhoods and people, provide equal access

to its populations, and can turn into places of communication,

interaction, and participation in urban life. Indicators of the

public space included demographics, aesthetics, and design, as

well as cultural/communal norms (like who is “invited” to the area

and who not). However, public spaces are shrinking, limited, and

becoming increasingly privately owned. In pandemics especially,

their accessibility is tested and policed.

1.2.1 SPATIAL JUSTICE AND

AMSTERDAM

Amsterdam has been written about a lot concerning its spatial

justice and it was often considered as a good example in Europe

and the world (Fainstein, 2009; Gilderbloom, Hanka and

Lasley, 2009; Marcuse et al., 2009). This is proved on multiple

indicators, such as its provision of freedom, lack of segregation,

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

Spatial justice theory

“The Just City”, 2010 by Susan Fainstein

“Spatial Justice in the City”, 2020 by

Sophie Watson

SOCIAL, POLITICAL,

ECONOMIC

FACTORS

DIVERSITY

DEMOCRACY

EQUITY

GEOGRAPHICAL SHAPED

SPACES

SOCIAL COMPONENTS

THEORY

SPATIAL COMPONENTS

everyone has a right to

the city:

Accessibility of urban

spaces

focus shift on spatial

component:

social and spatial differences

SPATIAL

JUSTICE

Post Covid-19 Manifesto

> Degrowth model?

Neoliberal Darwinism

universal justice theory

by John Rawls

planning should foster

the redistribution of

resources

evolving movements:

„the right to the city“

Deindustrialization +

Globalization:

- economic growth

- increasing competitveness

- unequal power relations

+ capitalist mode of production

financial crisis in the 1970s

Following

Crisis

Figure 3. Spatial justice concept, content analysis, and interconnections – Author’s graphics.

progressiveness, and neoliberal assessments. It has regularly

been called the ideal city with justice and equality, as Fainstein

stated in 1999:

“AMSTERDAM OFFERS THE BEST

AVAILABLE MODEL OF A RELATI-

VELY EGALITARIAN, DIVERSE, DE-

MOCRATIC CITY, WITH A STRONG

COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMEN-

TAL PRESERVATION” - (Fainstein, 1999).

Nevertheless, in 2010 Susan Fainstein already defined gentrification

and the weakening of the welfare system as Amsterdam’s

evolving threats. Her conclusion at this time based on the slow

decline of social housing units and a continuing in-migration of

rich owner groups. According to Fainstein, market-orientated

planning with the aim to create growth often pushes city marketing,

property developers and firms with the help of subsidies

and regulatory relief. Regarding this, “tourist bubbles” and office-led

developments are popular strategies. In Amsterdam, the

worldwide pandemic has caused a tourism stop, as well as entire

districts enclosing empty office buildings. Thus, former strategies

should be questioned. This then also leads to a reconsideration

of former political models.

Additionally, injustices are more visible in crisis and highlight the

already existing inequalities and spatial imbalances. Uneven effects

across factors like class, gender, race, age or geography

make it harder to cope with a crisis (Scott, 2020, p.344).

The present COVID-19 crisis also shows incentives for

people’s discontent on how the COVID-19 situation is faced

by decision-makers, embodied through public protests

and people speaking out (Deutsche Welle (dw), 2021). See

Figure 4Figure 4 for protest topics since 2016.

Yet like Susan Fainstein and Sophie Watson illustrate – the

bar of what is considered just will always rise and evolve.

The Amsterdam Metropolitan Region leaves open room for

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PROTEST

ALMERE

AMSTERDAM

• parks (access &

distribution)

• Neighbouhood

plans

• Refugee Support

• HVV policy

• Squatting

• Flat sharing

• Transport Strike -

Pensions

• Healthcare strike

• Squatting

• Teacher’s March -

Education

• Farmer’s Protests

• Sound pollution -

Airport protest

• Overtourism

• Airbnb Protests

• Take back the city

• Prisoner’s riots • Climate change -

Fridays for future

• Pro/Anti

Lockdowns

• Pro/Anti Masks

• 1.5 metre

challenging march

• Anti Corona

demonstration

• Climate change

regulations

• Fridays for Future

• Builder’s March

• Farmer’s Protest

• George Floyd

Racism protests

• Mosque Athan

Protest

• Polish Abortion

Laws

• Zwarte Piet

• Burka Ban

HAARLEM

• Anti Lockdowns • Extinction Rebellion

Organization

• Fridays for future

• George Floyd

Racism protests

Figure 4. Protests in 3 cities of the AMA. Taken from google search results of 2016 to 2020. Categorised into 6 themes of Urban space, Economic, Tourism, CO-

VID-19, Pollution/Climate, and Society. [data collected 11.2020] – Author’s graphic.

conversation and progression. In this regard, this project

will link the second section to viewed theories and highlight

the geographic, economic, political, and social fields in

connection to justice in the AMA.

1.4 METHODOLOGY

To assess the degree of injustice in the AMA, a literature review

on spatial justice and its relation to the AMA was conducted.

These findings helped conclude how a post-CO-

VID-19 restart could look like. In this context, existing

strategic, political, and spatial models are initially reflected

upon when introducing the AMA. This review of models gives

an idea of what the region was planning towards, and

how these plans have coped with the current pandemic.

Open-source data and public authority information in tabular

and written form is gathered next. To organize the

data, a thematic and chronological framework is set up to

analyse the former development and the current state of

Amsterdam. The analysis is especially looking at the present

developments in connection to the COVID-19 crisis

and the former Great financial crisis (GFC) in 2008. By reviewing

the former circumstances evolving from the GFC,

a learning process is captured, and new conclusions are

presumed. In the frame of the reviewed justice theory, the

analysis is structured into four topics:

• Socio-economic status

• Housing

• Tourism

• COVID-19

These four topics and existent data related to them is heavily

analysed, rearranged and projected in the first section

of this book. The scope of this analysis and the methods

used to reach conclusions on spatial statistics could be a

project on its own. It is however interlinked to the second

section, as all its findings are funnelled into coming up with

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

Research Question: Pandemics &

Cities

What would the post-corona

restart of a region look like?

How can it contribute to an increase

of spatial justice?

THEORY

Spatial Justice

theory and its

relation to the

AMA

MODELS & POLICES

Current future development

models: What do they ask

for?

Which scale do they work in?

How do they react to crisis?

Which current issues do they

tackle?

EVALUATION

Which models &

policies are

useful / should be

reconsidered?

SWOT ANALYSIS DATA

Data Collection

socio-economic status

housing

tourism

Covid-19

What areas have experienced

spatial injustice?

How is spatial justice already

working out in the AMA?

Local Perspective to

European Perspective,

comparable scenarios &

issues

VISION

How and in which

way should the

AMA develop in

the future?

DESIGN

Answering missing questions of

existing models

What model would prepare for

future “stops”/Pandemics?

How to use the situation of

a pandemic in a profitable

manner?

ZOOM-IN

Local Insights

in exemplary

neighbourhoods

Figure 5. Methodology Scheme – Author’s graphics.

a solution for the area.

The data analysis is visualized by the geographic information

system QGIS. Findings are overlaid with the spatial

structure of the AMA to be represented in a spatial context.

Additional information is presented through diagrams, graphs,

and pictograms. Next to the statistics, also information

and facts about the political circumstances and policy

structure in the AMA are considered and connected to the

elaborated maps.

A SWOT analysis is transferred to summarize the spatial

findings and a general vision for the Amsterdam Region

is enhanced. The review of four exemplary districts in the

AMA is captured to get a more detailed insight into the spatial

situation on a local scale. These findings are then used

to approach the design of this project, which officially begins

the second section of this book.

The design includes an application Add-On which serves as

a communication platform between existing municipal and

touristic websites and applications. It is based on a Business

Process Model and Notation (BPMN) to organize and

combine data collection and communication processes. To

explain the structure of such a model and its implementation,

exemplary scenarios are used. The examples, along

with the explanation of the tool will be visualized through

illustrations and a video. Additionally, a short brochure will

be provided to inform readers of the developed communication

and data collection platform as a pitch.

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BOOK 1

MULTI-LAYER CROSS-DOMAIN DATA ANALYSIS AND

VISUALIZATION FOR THE AMA

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2.ANALYSIS

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Figure 6. The AMA subregions. Data: (www.openstreetmaps.org) – Author’s graphics.

Around 2.5 million people (14% of the Dutch population) live in

the AMA. It is an economically strong region with an abundance

of businesses and jobs. As an internationally well-known region,

it became an important touristic centre with 26 million overnight

stays per year (metropool regio Amsterdam, 2019). The

AMA comprises 32 municipalities and 7 subregions that is interconnected

and comprised of many urban qualities (as shown in

Figure 6, Figure 7, and Figure 8)

Today, the AMA is ethnically and socially more diverse than ever

(Savini et al., 2016). The following analysis will prove the existence

of economic and cultural asymmetries within the region. These

were especially noticeable during crises like the Great Financial

Crisis (GFC) in 2008 and the current COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 is a new crisis, whose effects are noticeable on the

economic and social systems. To understand the general situation

in the AMA, independent from the current pandemic, a deeper

look into the general situation and relevant regional policies is

necessary. The following analysis focuses on the socio-economic

status and housing developments, which are, besides other

factors, influenced by the tourism sector. The current COVID-19

pandemic, related infection data and restrictions, affects all social

and economic scopes of the AMA.

Pre-COVID-19 pandemic, tourism was the biggest economic

sector. Tourism in the AMA was a governmental strategy to overcome

the GFC in 2008 (The guardian, 2017). It was considered a

successful industry when looked at from an economic standpoint.

Like many other European cities, Amsterdam was not resilient to

the GFC. Earlier urban policies (before 2008) were often built

on growing urban economies and raising real-estate markets

(Rydin, 2013). The GFC hit the Dutch and Amsterdam economy

and showed the boundaries of this assumption. Other than the

tourism tactic, to recover quickly from the crisis, strategies like

liberalization of the housing market were used (Hochstenbach

and Ronald, 2020)

It can be argued that such indicators of economic strengthening

are a neoliberal approach - which increases inequalities as well

as decreases the characteristics of a welfare state (Purcell,

2008). Tourism, what was once a crisis strategy, has generated

its own crisis. Overtourism, a newly coined term (Dodds and

Butler, 2019), has caused many threats to the city and their citizens.

People have been driven out of their city, as tourism took

over the centre and kept growing. Adding to the issue, increasing

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Figure 7. Urban structures. Data: (www.openstreetmaps.org) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 8. Mobility and Connectivity. Data: (www.openstreetmaps.org) – Author’s graphics.

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rents, state-led gentrification and supporting homeownership

have changed the balance between social, middle and high-end

housing segments, impacting “the city’s social geography” (Savini

et al., 2016). The discourse on overtourism is quite complex,

though not just a contemporary phenomenon (Capocchi et al.,

2020). It has been globally and locally prominent in the last few

years, as its outcomes have exploited humans and nature. Access

to many open areas and leisure activities have been taken

over, disproportionately used by tourists and discriminating on

locals. Since 2015 overtourism protests began and the AMA government

set up policies to handle upcoming social disparities.

Current policies are claiming more liberal discourses of entrepreneurialism

and urban change (Savini et al., 2016).

Overpowering the threat of overtourism, COVID-19 created a

“point-zero” scenario, in which all normalcy has “stopped”. Entire

quarters of the AMA are devoid of any activities, and spots in

which access to open spaces and greenery is non-existent (see

chapter COVID-19). COVID-19 can be a silver lining in the sense

that it brought the city to a point where it can evaluate its assets

and put in strategies to open, distribute, and handle tourism better

in the future.

2.1.1 MODELS AND

STRATEGIES, A REVIEW

As this report looks at the AMA and what tactics could be put in

place to improve/alter the future landscape, it is important to set

it apart from alternatives already affecting or discussed in the

region. In this segment, we focused on eleven different visions,

strategies and models connected to the AMA (referred to as visionary

elements in this report). We were interested in analysing

their approach (or lack thereof) to handling crises. Those studied

ranged from local to global scales and handled broad to specific

topics. The AMA is a region of multitudes of visionary elements,

varying in focus themes and ideals. It is unsurprising given the

size of the area, and the history of planning altering the urban

space.

Visionary elements help us get a glimpse of the direction urban

lifestyles wish to move towards. They are defined as the desirable

states of the future that are in place to reduce risks through

foresight and increase capacities of responding to events (Costanza,

2000; Fuerth, 2009). They are essentially and an outcome

of anticipatory governance (Hagen, 2019). They also

help us understand what is currently seen as an asset, and what

needs to change.

Erik Olin Wright (2010, 2013) conceptualised real utopias in his

writings; ideals grounded in real potentials that have accessible

waystations. Cities and their visions for the future work in this

way. They can become grounds of idealistic approaches and aim

to realise the utopias they envision.

Due to the utopic approach explained, some may argue that visionary

elements are not always grounded in current realities,

and their abstract natures are hard to follow. However, ultimately,

they are guides that help us understand collective thinking and

directions of growth. There is even further discourse on the effectivity

of visionary elements to help crises, as many changes

and outlooks were put in place past the 2008 crisis, yet it did

not stop another one from happening nor being drastically less

detrimental (Hagen, 2019).

The events of this last year have challenged the limitations and

need of visionary elements or anticipatory governances. The

pandemic situation aids criticisms that foresight and anticipatory

governance overstates our capacity of understanding and changing

“destinies”. However, the alternative to this would be practicing

governance while being blind to the long-term implications

of decisions taken (Fuerth, 2009).

The visionary elements of AMA studied were chosen based on

the ease of accessibility to information using academic papers,

organisation websites, and governmental reports. The visionary

elements included were 1) the Amsterdam doughnut model, 2)

Amsterdam circular model, 3) The planning for post corona manifesto,

4) the poldermodel, 5) the city in balance, 6) Amsterdam

Smart city, and 7) the structural vision of Amsterdam, 8) Holland

City Strategy, 9) Housing Act Distribution Strategy, 10) Perspective

Destination strategy, and the 11) VINEX model.

In this segment, we elaborate on 4 models that are the most

contemporary.

Figure 9. Amsterdam Doughnut Model by Kate Raworth. (Amsterdam.nl, 2020)

A | AMSTERDAM DOUGHNUT MODEL (2020)

The original Doughnut economic model , developed by Kate Raworth

in 2012, is a framework for sustainable development that

looks into planetary and communal boundaries (Raworth, 2013,

25


Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

2017). These boundaries are described as the Environmental

ceiling and Social foundations of the doughnut shaped model

graphic. Cities and countries can be assessed on the model based

on their level of good or bad actions against planetary topics,

such as air, water, and land, as well as social topics, such as

political voice, social equity, and housing.

As of 2020, Raworth and her team have been working with the

government to create a strategic approach to the doughnut model

for the case of Amsterdam. The model questions the capability

of a city to be a home for thriving people, while respecting

the wellbeing of everyone and the planet (Doughnut economics

action lab, 2020; Raworth, 2020).

The idea is to meet the basic needs of citizens in a sustainable

resource use way. This process is done in citizen-initiated transformations,

and results are put through the doughnut review. In

this way, all actions are reflected upon and evolving when necessary.

Interconnected views on the city and workshops are necessary

for the strategy to come to life. However, due to the pandemic,

this step has not been able to sufficiently occur. In turn, current

processes are on hold. The model expects stakeholders to reflect

on the city, together, find values and assess necessary changes.

Raworth names this the “city selfie”. The stakeholders are

part of an association, known as the Amsterdam Donut Coalition.

They are made up of authoritative participants, as well as locals

and academics.

Figure 10. Circular Economy Concept of Amsterdam (Amsterdam.nl, 2020)

The initiators of this model explain that circular economy concepts

fit Amsterdam, as studies show that inhabitants buy second

hand products yearly, recycle and are aware/interested in

their actions on a planetary level, especially in regards to waste.

Placing this ideology as the backbone of future development, as

well as the evaluation of existing developments, would therefore

lead to self-reliance - which the model defines as resilience. This

model was furthermore rolled out during the start of the pandemic.

It is advertised as fit for the current situation and expected to

aid the pandemic recovery - as locally producing and consuming

is supposed to create more jobs and lead to an easier recovery

and resilience (self-reliance) over time (Daniel Boffey, 2020; van

Doorninck, 2020b).

To achieve self-reliance, online and offline broad citizen participation

is encouraged. Surveying and understanding what locals

wish to act upon in spatial terms.

According to an interview with Marieke van Doorninck, the Councillor

for Spatial Planning and Sustainability for the city since

2018, there are already around 200 programs in the implementation

phase. These range from “smaller” projects, like collecting

leftover latex paint, to “larger” regulatory projects, like introducing

policies and systems to record construction compositions of

buildings for easier future reusing (van Doorninck, 2020a). The

projects are run by both organisations and local initiatives; with

the example of a resident providing others with thick and well

insulated curtains to help energy efficiency within homes. The

model focuses on three main pillars to tackle: Food, Construction

and Consumer goods. And although concrete examples of how

to do this are underway and ever evolving, limitations still exist

when attempting circular economies in an economically globalised

region.

“Amsterdam can’t do it on its own.

We need the Dutch government and

the European Union to truly move

forward.” - (van Doorninck, 2020a)

B | AMSTERDAM 2020-2025 CIRCULAR ECONOMY MODEL

& SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

Closely connected to the concept of the Doughnut City, Amsterdam’s

circular model is sometimes used interchangeably with

that previously described. This is a 5-year approach by the spatial

planning and sustainability council of the city, aimed at pushing

for more circular processes, of reusing, refurbishing, recycling...etc.

The model works in connection with other strategies

to help monitor growth and action, conceive an implementation

programme, strategize steps, and fulfil criteria of the doughnut

model (Amsterdam.nl, 2020).

C | PLANNING FOR POST CORONA: A MANIFESTO FOR

THE NETHERLANDS (2020)

A group of academics in the Netherlands came together to develop

and write a manifesto on post-corona recovery schemes

based on degrowth principles. The initiative gained popularity,

hitting Dutch mainstream news, and a petition to support the manifesto

was started. With an expiry date set for July 2020, the

petition has gained over 4000 signatures in under nine months,

and with the help of MPs, is an-route to be discussed with the

Dutch parliament (Buscher, Koster and Spierenburg, 2020; Degrowth.info,

2020).

26


spatio crowd control methods, income models

Clean energy intro., Transport refurbishment

cultural chang e

Debt Cancellation.

Dispers. of visitors, regulate Events

Income and work

Move from Develop. to educ.

wEconomic frame

Short Distance Travels

Balance environment and ppl

Free State AMR

Liveable destinations

Social equity, housing

New Perspective Locations

Consumption and travel. reduc.

Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

MODELS TOPICS (DRAFT 1)

16.11

TO BE REDISTRIBUTED

Economic / Developments

Visitor

distrobution. and spatial develop.

benefit tax and

Social

Policy

Individ, Energy uses

Smart Cities Initiative

City in Balance

Doughnut

Energy / Climate

2040 Structural Vision Amsterdam

Holland City Strategy

Perspective Destination

Degrowth Principles

Figure 11. Visionary elements topics analysis according to 4 common themes of Development, Climate, Social and Policy; that are present (to

some degree) in all models. – Author’s graphics.

MODELS TOPICS ACCORDING TO SCHEMATIC THEMES (DRAFT 1)

16.11

TO BE REDISTRIBUTED

Poverty

ork redistr.

Political voice

Distributed tourism

Covid/Economical

Crisis

Tourism

Continued developm.

Smart Cities Initiative

City in Balance

Doughnut

Housing

2040 Structural Vision Amsterdam

Holland City Strategy

Perspective Destination

Degrowth Principles

Figure 12. Visionary Elements tasks distributed according to the thematic topics of this report (Socioeconomic statuses, Tourism, COVID-19,

and Housing) – Author’s graphics.

27


Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

Their goals of sustainability, equality and diverse society are expected

to be achievable through means of policy shifts in this

model. The manifesto - described by the writers as an effective

way of raising the profile of neglected ideas - provides five proposals.

They further state these proposals aim for a radically more

sustainable and equal situation to be developed. The manifesto

airs a distaste for the economic development model that has

been dominant in the Netherlands and globally, and the growing

inequalities. The writers see a weakness in the demand for ever

growing circulation of goods and people, and the ecological issues

and inequality increases that are an outcome of this.

The proposals included are:

i | Moving away from development focused GDP

growth.

Finding critical public sectors that need investment to grow, and

the sectors that need to degrow due to their unsustainability or

aiding of excessive consumption.

ii | An economic framework focused on redistribution.

Establishing basic income in social policy systems and progressive

taxation. Further, recognizing essential public services as

intrinsic values of societies.

iii | Agricultural transformation towards regenerative

agriculture.

Biodiversity conservation, sustainable, local food production

iv | Reduction of consumption and travel.

Basic, necessary, sustainable, and satisfying consumption and

travel.

v | Debt cancellation

especially for workers and small business owners.

The writers state that the proposed changes can be implemented

currently, and its effects would be felt as soon as the COVID-19

crisis subsides. The new prospects, in this case, is a one-time

mass implementation, and no evolving concepts are included for

the future. This measure, though, is advertised as a proactive

means to ensure a less severe future crisis.

D | CITY IN BALANCE MODEL AND PERSPECTIVE DESTI-

NATION STRATEGY (2015)

Advertised to achieve equilibrium between quality of life and

hospitality, the city in balance model works with six main goals:

less nuisance, attractive mixed-use developments, more space

on the streets and canals, better financial balance in visitor

economy, sustainable recreation and facilities, and dispersing

visitors (See Appendix 1). In practice, the goals set by this model

have brought about a stream of regulations - from imposing

curfews on water related activities, regulations on alcohol and

where to drink it, or restricting areas of tourism accommodations.

Like previous models, this one also incorporates cross communication

and cooperation between locals and authorities. These

six goals are largely reactive to the overtourism and crowding

Amsterdam as a city experienced. In fact, the Amsterdam municipality

identified tourism sector issues as the motivator for

28

change.

“TOURISM IS A FUNDAMENTAL

PART OF AMSTERDAM’S INTERNA-

TIONAL CHARACTER AND WE MUST

CONTINUE TO CHERISH THAT. BUT

AT THE SAME TIME, THE POSITI-

VE ASPECTS OF TOURISM, SUCH

AS EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME

FOR THE CITY, ARE INCREASINGLY

BEING OVERSHADOWED BY THEIR

NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES.” - (Coalitieakkoord

groenlinks, 2018).

The publications by the City in Balance group emphasise that

the model is not meant to stop visitors, nor that they expect the

overall growth of the tourism sector and the city to stop or reduce;

however, they intend to put the residents quality of life first

(Gemeente Amsterdam, 2019)

Rather than operating as its own entity, the model instead is

implemented in varying policy portfolios, working with multiple

partners and council members on municipal levels to create

minor regulatory changes that bring about an alternative touristic

reality. This approach can be seen in the “Perspective destination”

strategy. Influenced by the City in balance model, this strategy

searches for alternative areas to push crowds towards, and

places regulations in place that in the long run would enhance

touristic industries to start up (like hotels, tours and restaurants).

The City in balance project was initially conceived in 2015, and

it’s latest version and strategies are planned for 2022 (Daamen

et al., 2016; Gemeente Amsterdam, 2019; Amsterdam city,

2020). However, a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and the

complete stop to the tourism sector, and where does the city in

balance ideologies lay, have yet to be presented.

A content analysis was conducted on all eleven visionary elements,

identifying four dominating areas of approach: Development,

policy, social and environmental based. The content findings

were then placed according to these axes in Figure 11,

providing areas of overlapping strategies, and areas of focused

change.

As will be explained in the next segments, the project also has

four focus points of tourism, housing, socio-economic statuses

and pandemic and their relation to spatial justice. Thus, specific

tasks relating to these focus points were further mapped out

with the new axes and projected in Figure 12. This helps identify

theories and processes already in place, and areas for impro-


Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

vements.

In reviewing the visionary elements, we find that none were

prepared for such a magnitude of a pandemic. In fact, systems

in place to continue open communication and information were

lacking. It was not easily accessible, finding information on current

statuses. It must be stated that such a freak situation is not

usually expected by planners - however, the learning curve from

the current pandemic is to be wary of such extreme case scenarios,

and adapt to such possibilities, achieving resilience.

Hence, new models are needed in the AMA, and globally, to deal

with current challenges and to continue improving previous challenges.

Fuerth S. Leon’s (the former national security adviser to

Al Gore) work on anticipatory governance identifies the dynamics

of sights for the future (Fuerth, 2009). Namely Top-sight,

insight, hindsight, foresight, and vision. This process states that

approaches on future should have multiple awareness; on the

supra system of how all parts work and fit together; knowledge

on own purposes, wants and biases; of part forces that carry into

the present and possible future; on the several existing streams

of knowledge and how to integrate them, and finally on the image

of the future that is wanted.

Fuerth identifies the key need for Foresight when one is creating

a model for future, and the difference between this and

end goal of a Vision. Vision is described as a fixed image of the

future, intolerant to alternative conceptions, and is a prediction

of what could be. Foresight, on the other hand, are conditional

assumptions that are reflective and based on informed choices,

that estimates multiple possible future outcomes. In this case,

alternative conceptions are the resource that help guide it, and

make it resilient to alternatives.

29


Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

Figure 13. Population Density (2020). Data: (www.citypopulation.de/en/netherlands/admin/NL32__noord_holland) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 14. Population growth since (2001)- Data: (www.citypopulation.de/en/netherlands/admin/NL32__noord_holland) – Author’s graphics.

30


Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

Figure 15. Migration out of Amsterdam. Data: ( https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/

news/2017/45/amsterdam-is-expanding-mainly-due-to-immigration)

Figure 16. Ethnic population distribution. Data: (https://regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com/)

– Author’s graphics.

Figure 17. Foreign Migration. Data: ( https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2017/45/

amsterdam-is-expanding-mainly-due-to-immigration)

Figure 18. Net domestic migration. Data: ( https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/

news/2017/45/amsterdam-is-expanding-mainly-due-to-immigration)

2.1.2 DENSITY AND

(DOMESTIC) MIGRATION

Figure 13 and Figure 14 show the population density in 2020 and

the population growth of the last 20 years. Haarlem, the city centre

and Bijlmermeer have the highest density, while city centre is

growing the most since 2001. Also growing are the newly constructed

quarters on the raised-up islands like Almere and Ijburg.

Related to the issue of overtourism, (domestic) migration can be

analysed. A large outflow of people from the city centre to the

AMA is visible. These are mostly families and older people as

visualised in Figure 15. On the other hand, an inflow of people

from other Dutch cities, especially through young and international

people, leads to a growing population in the city centre

(CBS, 2017). Figure 15 to Figure 16 display the intricacies within

migration.

Analysing the ethnic distribution in the AMA points out that the

ratio of Dutch, Western and non-Western people is similarly distributed.

Figure 16 shows that in 2019, there is a higher amount

of Dutch people in the outskirts compared to a higher percentage

of migrants in the city centre, Bijlmermeer and a belt around the

city centre. The changes in ethnic populations are examined in

Appendix 3 to Appendix 6, based on western and non-western

categorisations.

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

Figure 19. Welfare recipients and housing associations in 2017. Data: (maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) & Regiomonitor 2020 – Author’s graphics.

2.2 SOCIO-ECONOMIC

STATUS

Assessing the socio-economic status of the AMA is important as

it reveals the disadvantaged groups and districts within an urban

society. As socioeconomic statuses can include many factors,

this analysis focuses on two main spheres: shelter and income.

Top-down actions that have affected these spheres are also assessed.

This includes data on the welfare system, housing associations,

unemployment, distribution and types of households,

income data and its related policies.

The social structure of the Netherlands is influenced by its general

political model, known as the Polder Model, which is rooted

in the 1980s. It includes consensus-based policy as cooperation

between employers’ organisations, labour unions, and the government.

Together with neoliberal economic policies, it is related

to the Dutch economic miracle in the late 1990s. In the 21st

century, the success of the Polder Model has worn off and its

advantage is questioned (Rossingh, 2003). During the emergence

of the Polder’s tripartite cooperation, the central Dutch

government enacted subsidies aimed to attract new businesses

and employment through all urban redevelopment projects in the

deindustrialized cities. The ‘key projects’ (Sleutelprojecten) show

that real estate values on neighbourhoods rose as a result of the

political subsidies (Buitelaar, Raspe and Weterings, 2016, P.36)

WELFARE RECIPIENTS AND HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS

The following analysis concentrates on the welfare recipients

and their connection to the general distribution of housing associations

in the AMA in 2017. A closer look into the housing

associations follows in chapter 2.3 (Housing).

As demonstrated in Figure 19, welfare recipients are situated in

the entire area of the AMA with a ratio of 10 to 20%. An urban belt

around the south-western city centre reveals a higher amount of

welfare recipients up to 80% in certain neighbourhoods.

Almost all areas containing welfare recipients are covered by

housing associations, while the oldest ones can be found in the

city centre and the newest housing associations in the peripheral

area of the AMA. Only the neighbourhood Wormerveer reveals

a small number of housing associations covering the number of

welfare recipients.

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

Figure 20. Single household statistics of 2010. Data: Regiomonitor 2020 – Author’s graphics.

Figure 21. Single household statistics of 2018. Data: Regiomonitor 2020 – Author’s graphics.

34


Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

There is an interlinkage between the districts with a high amount

of welfare recipients and Dutch politics from 2007. The government

issued a national policy to strengthen deprived neighbourhoods

(Krachtwijken) across the Netherlands. Nevertheless,

an evaluation of the policy has shown that the inhabitant’s socio-economic

improvement was not achieved, as e.g., the people’s

income did not change. The policy’s place-based approaches

have been criticized as the investments do too little to improve

the people‘s general position (Buitelaar, Raspe and Weterings,

2016, p.25-26).

neighbourhood activities, discounts in health insurances and a

“City Pass” with free entrances to cultural institutions (Gemeente

Amsterdam, 2015). While the support for people with low income

pointed out great ambitions, little information was found regarding

stabilizing the middle class.

HOUSEHOLDS AND INCOME

In the next step, the distribution and differentiation of households

in the AMA are analysed. Their spatial placement is analysed

after the GFC in the year 2010 and 2018. As seen in Figure 20

and Figure 21, the number of single-person households strongly

increased from 2010 to 2018. A strong shift also happens regarding

the residence of families as they moved to the south-western

peripheral neighbourhoods over the years. The outskirts

in the northern part in Purmerend show a decreasing ratio of

families with kids while single and two-person households rise

strongly. Interesting is also the shift of households defined as

others. As in 2008, the number of shared households or large

living groups is generally based in the Amsterdam city centre and

its pleasant neighbourhoods on the southern side, this category

disappeared until the year 2010. One reason for the changing

household distribution in the AMA could be the effect of the previously

named rising real estate values.

Figure 23. Income distribution by housing situation in 2018. Data: CBS Nederlands

(www.cbs.nl/en-gb/visualisations/income-distribution) 2019.

UNEMPLOYMENT

The following analysis gives an insight into the development of

unemployment in the AMA after 2008. Even though the Netherlands

are an economically strong European country, it suffered

due to the GFC. Spatially the unemployment rates are located

around the inner-city belt of the Amsterdam centre – this distinct

change was stark in 2008 after the GFC (see, Appendix 2). This

is further proofed in Figure 24. The growing rate of unemployment

post GFC prompted the Dutch government to enact a

fiscal stimulus package. The six billion Euro plan included a program

to search for work for the unemployed. The fiscal policies

also lead to a decrease in real wages and an increase in private

investments which should be further considered (Ünal, 2015).

Figure 22. Income distribution by household composition in 2018. Data: CBS

Nederlands (www.cbs.nl/en-gb/visualisations/income-distribution) 2019.

Relating to the household dispersion of the AMA, data about income

is reviewed for the year 2018. Therefore, Figure 22 shows

the high number of single persons earning less money than couples

with children. The division of income per housing situation

(Figure 23) points out a good economic position of private homeowners.

In contrast, the middle class with tenants without rent

benefit lie just slightly over tenants with rent benefits in terms of

income. Adding to this, the city of Amsterdam provides more support

for people with low income. With the 2015 “Plan to Attack on

Poverty”, the municipality delivers participation vouchers through

Figure 24. Unemployment development of 1991 to 2012 (Statistics Netherlands,

edited by Buitelaar et al. 2016).

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

36


Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

since 1990

increasing

neoliberal

tendencies

since 1990

increasing

neoliberal

tendencies

2000 - 2008

1 st phase of

liberalization and

marketization

since 2008

2 nd phase of

liberalization and marketization

market-liberal cabinet: supporting EU

regulations on open competition

2017

Housing and

Target Groups

Regulations

2021

New Housing

Act

2.3 HOUSING

The following analysis focuses on housing and related policies.

It is an important indicator of spatial justice, as it shows the

accessibility to affordable accommodations for different income

groups. Although Amsterdam had been famous for its high

percentage of social housing in the past, our findings as well

as published current studies show that housing in the centre of

Amsterdam and other districts of the AMA is not affordable anymore

for many inhabitants (Schilder and Scherpenisse, 2018).

Being an attractive city for companies, people from all over the

world and tourists ultimately raises the pressure on a limited

stock of houses. Further, demographic, and economic developments

strengthen the higher demand for private renting (as discussed

in the chapter on the socio-economic status) an increasing

number of young adults living alone, partnering later and a

higher number of migrants increase the needs for flexible living

arrangements. Gentrification processes have caused an outflow

of many households to the suburbs, increasing travel times for

those wishing to experience city commodities (Vlist and Rietveld,

2007). Current Amsterdam housing policies try to strengthen a

fair distribution of social and medium-priced housing as well as a

mixture of target groups.

Amsterdam is an extreme example of national state influence in

the housing market, as the municipality owns 80% of the city’s

land. A leasehold system allows the local government to pose

requirements for renting like on the size and quality of dwellings,

their locations and rent levels for a specific time, e.g. 50 years

(Hochstenbach and Ronald, 2020). The state supports private

rental growth through housing liberalization policies, especially

since the Great Financial Crisis, and at the same time sets strict

requirements for new constructions. A new Housing Act came

into effect in January 2021. This policy, amongst others, tries to

decrease the pressure on the housing market (City of Amsterdam,

2021).

LIBERAL MARKETIZATION

Amsterdam and the Netherlands were famous for their large

social housing and small private rental sector in the 20th century,

as private renting had been displaced by social housing

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

Figure 26. Ownership types and distribution 2010. Data: (www.amsterdam.nl/en/housing/rental-prices/) – Author’s graphics.

by the state. Through the dominance of the social sector, rents

in the private sector also remained low (Kemeny, 1995). This

long-standing trend has been reversed since the 90ies (not

only in the Netherlands but also in many other countries) and

especially after the GFC in 2008 within two phases of regulated

marketization. Since 1990, increasing neoliberal tendencies

have perused. This does not mean deregulation of the housing

market, but state regulation has moved from restricting towards

supporting the market (Hochstenbach and Ronald, 2020). A first

phase (beginning of the 21st century) of housing system liberalization

promoted private homeownership and brought rents of

social housing closer to market levels (van Kempen and Priemus,

2002). The second phase of housing market liberalization

in the mid-2000s developed through a market-liberal cabinet

(from 2010 onwards) supporting the EU regulations on open

competition. To overcome the GFC, rent-regulated housing was

made accessible for low-income groups only. New policies were

implemented, which attempt to strengthen the market with more

leeway (Elsinga, Haffner and Heijden, 2008).

The current developments show disparities on a local versus the

national policy level: The conservative Dutch government further

pushes marketizations while the left-oriented local government

of Amsterdam is calling for a re-regulation. Those different goals

can be explained with a temporal shift between regional and

national politics. Regional politics can react much faster to shortterm

developments while national policies are always “for the

next era” (Ollongren, 2019)

DUTCH RENTING SYSTEMS

To understand the policies of the second phase of regulated marketization,

a deeper look into the Dutch renting system is necessary.

There are two private renting options: The rent-regulation

system regulates rents of social housing and private landlords.

Heights of rents are identified with a point scoring system, giving

points for size, quality, local market demand and other characteristics

of dwellings. The rent-regulated system only applies to a

specific threshold of points (is equivalent to 710.68€); over this

threshold, the rents have no restrictions and belong to the rent-liberalised

system (I Amsterdam, 2021). In Amsterdam, the local

market demand is very high. As it is a category of the rent-regulated

point scoring system, many houses have enough points

to be shifted to the free-market sector and therefore escape re-

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

Figure 27. Ownership types and distribution 2017. Data: (www.amsterdam.nl/en/housing/rental-prices/) – Author’s graphics.

gulations. To show an example of the regulated marketization

after the GFC, the rent-liberalized percentage of housing has tripled

from 4,8% to 15,4% between 2007 and 2019 in Amsterdam

(Gemeente Amsterdam 2020). Figure 25 shows the increase

of rent-liberalized housing per year of total new constructions.

Apart from a short decline between 2008 and 2011, the rent-regulated

housing market is strongly growing in the last 20 years.

Figure 25. Rent liberalized housing constructions statistics from 2000 to 2017

(Van der Malen 2018)

DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY TYPES

Looking at the development of property types (homeownership,

corporations, and private rental) in the AMA from 2010 to 2017

(Figure 26 and Figure 27), a shift in the distribution is perceivable.

Corporations mostly provide social housing; private rentals

include rent-liberalized and rent-regulated dwelling. In 2010, with

an already ongoing marketization on housing, the city centre of

Amsterdam is dominated by corporations and private rentals.

Outer districts like Hoofdorp, situated in the south-east, primarily

provided homeownership. However, Amsterdam Zuidoost (including

Bijlmermeer) has over 60 %, one of the highest percentages

of corporations. The map of property types in 2017 indicates a

development towards more homeownership and fewer corporations

(Figure 27). Owner-occupied dwellings increased from

12% in 1998 to 32% in 2017 (Hochstenbach and Ronald, 2020).

In 2017, the city centre is dominated by renting (especially liberalized

renting) while the number of corporations also declined

(Figure 28). This development can be explained with the already

mentioned strategy of market liberalization. Traditionally, buying

a home has been combined with occupancy. Homes have become

a special class of commodity as stores of wealth and vehicles

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

homeownership

cooperations

rent liberalized

rent

regulated

homeownership

cooperations

rent liberalized

rent

regulated

short-term

consequence of GFC

long-term

consequence of GFC

Figure 28. Rent regulation types – Author’s graphics.

for further wealth accumulation. After the GFC, housing prices

dropped and facilitated individual multi-property ownership

(Kadi, Hochstenbach and Lennartz, 2020). Therefore, regular

households and new actors were able to buy extra properties to

rent as steady income (called buy-to-let) Since the crisis, more

dwellings are transferred from owner-occupancy into rental tendencies.

Regulations like property and related incomes do not

need to be taxed, strengthened the increasing renting sector.

The buy-to-let share in Amsterdam is higher than in other Dutch

cities (Leyshon and French, 2009).

HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS

As mentioned before, Amsterdam has a long history traced back

to the 20th century of social housing (Schilder and Scherpenisse,

2018). Figure 29 shows the percentage of housing associations,

compared to the total number of houses. Haarlem and

Bijlmermeer have a high percentage of housing associations. On

the other hand, the city centre and newer constructions like Almere

have lower percentages of housing associations. Strikingly,

a belt around the city centre has high numbers of up to 80%.

Correlating to that, the construction dates of housing associations

have been analysed. The belt around the city centre mainly

consists of old constructions from before WWII. Also, Almere has

many buildings from the 30s (Figure 31). The outskirts show evidence

of constructions from the 80s and 90s, the phase where

most housing associations were built. The newest buildings belonging

to housing associations are located especially in the newly

raised islands in the east of the city centre (see Figure 32 to

Figure 37). In general, the construction of housing associations

decreased in the last 20 years (Figure 38). Hochstenbach (2020)

points out that there is a decrease of 30.000 social housing units

between 2002 and 2017. The decreasing number of constructions

of housing associations is not correlated to the demand for

low-priced housing. As the following analysis of housing prices

outlines, Amsterdam needs more affordable housing.

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

Figure 29. Housing association percentage of all houses. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 30. Construction dates of housing associations. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

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Figure 31. Construction dates of housing association and amount in Amsterdam,

Almere, and Haarlem. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata)

– Author’s graphics.

HOUSING PRICES

To analyse the development of housing prices, the WOZ is

compared. The WOZ value (Wet Waardering Onroerende

Zaken) is a Dutch property valuation system, calculating

the height of taxes people owe. Every year, the value of

all real estate in Amsterdam is assessed according to the

Valuation of Immovable Property Act (City of Amsterdam,

2019b) (Amsterdam: Property valuation).

Figure 39 to Figure 41 defines the development of WOZ

between 2010 to 2017 (For a more detailed view on these

years, see Appendix 8 to Appendix 13). In 2010, properties

with low WOZ values were in the outskirts. Middle and high

valued buildings were in the centre and south-western districts.

The WOZ values of 2017 point out a development

towards increasing prices in general. More detailed, the

percentage of dwellings with a high value increased mostly

in the city centre. Meanwhile, the percentage of middle-priced

buildings declined in the outskirts. Looking at the

development maps, a strong decline of up to -30% in low

priced buildings is visible in the city centre and Haarlem

(Figure 39). At the same time, the number of high-priced

buildings is increasing up to +75% in central locations,

between 2010 and 2017. The imbalance between price

developments and demand are shown in Figure 42 and

Figure 43, when surveying the international communities

and defining how much people can afford to pay and how

much they pay. Many people must pay unaffordable or unfavourable

rents (Stichting ICAP and In Amsterdam, 2017).

Being already an attractive city for companies, international

people and tourists, the pressure of the housing stock has

42

also been intensified by Brexit. British companies and startups

change their location to the Netherlands and especially

Amsterdam. The increasing disparities between the needs

and supply of affordable housing have been tackled in a

Dutch Housing Agenda. On a national level, the agenda

promotes the construction of new houses as well as better

usage of the existing stock to tackle those issues in the

long term (Ollongren, 2019). In terms of specific policies

and plans, where new houses can be built, the Housing

Agenda shifts the responsibility towards the municipalities

and provinces. In Amsterdam, the 2017 municipal Housing

Agenda stipulates that 40% of new constructions must be

regulated rent and only 20% can belong to the upper-class

segment (Gemeente Amsterdam 2017). Still, there is a lack

of control over existing constructions. Local governments

have not enough instruments to prevent landlords from raising

rents when new tenants move in (Hochstenbach and

Ronald, 2020). The new housing act of 2021 by the left

local government of Amsterdam, is calling for more justice

and re-regulation by hindering a market with touristic flat

rentals like Airbnb. Within a participatory process, regulations

like fixed mid-priced rentals for 20 years and strict

holiday rental rules like a ban of vacation rentals in three

areas of the city centre have been decided (City of Amsterdam,

2021). It is going to be uncertain whether these new

policies effectively lead to increasing spatial justice in the

housing sector.

8000

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0

1900-10

1910-20

1920-30

1930-40

1940-50

1950-60

1960-70

1970-80

Figure 38. Housing associations built per decade since 1900 to 2020. Data:

(www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

1980-90

90-2000

2000-10

2010-20


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Figure 32. Construction dates of buildings in Bijlmermeer (1). Data: (www.

maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 33. Construction dates of buildings in Bijlmermeer (2). Data: (www.maps.

amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 34. Construction dates of buildings in Amsterdam city centre. Data:

(www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 35. Construction dates of buildings in Haarlem. Data: (www.maps.

amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 36. Construction dates of buildings in Ijburg. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata)

– Author’s graphics.

Figure 37. Construction dates of buildings in Slotermeer. Data: (www.maps.

amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

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Figure 39. Low WOZ development 2010 – 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

FigFigure 40. Middle WOZ development 2010 to 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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Figure 41. High WOZ development 2019 to 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 42. Rent affordability survey – internationals. (Stitching ICAP

and In Amsterdam, 2017)

Figure 43. Willingness to pay survey – internationals. (Stitching ICAP

and In Amsterdam, 2017)

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2.4 TOURISM

Tourism is part of Amsterdam’s history, society, and culture. The

balance and recreation from everyday life, getting to know new

environments, peoples and cultures while visiting other places

and making use of commercial supply and services is a strong

part of many people´s life in the AMA. Over the past decades, the

trend of travelling increased due to technical and infrastructural

expansion and innovations, but also the type of tourism changed.

What was previously rarely experienced travelling in short

distances, is nowadays replaced by short-term national, international

and global travels for low prices (Rodney Bolt, 2016).

In the Netherlands, the number of tourists has increased constantly

in the past decades. As there were already 9,92 million

visitors in 2009 with revenues of 8,65 billion Euros, the number

increased in 2018 up to 18,78 million visitors and 21,89 billion

income through tourism (laenderdaten.info, 2019; World Tourism

Organization (UNWTO), 2019). As the popularity and growth of

the tourism industry were increasing, local and national governments

developed and integrated tourism goals and promotions

as the main pillar for the economic strategy. In this way Amsterdam

became the Netherlands tourist hotspot and European´s

eight most popular tourist destination for international tourists in

2016 (Stratila, 2016).

THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS (GFC)

As previously explained, the strong increase of tourism was moreover

reinforced by the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008.

What has started as a local mortgage crisis in Anglo-American

financialised heartland turned into a global recession, which effects

could be measured much longer (Engelen and Musterd,

2010). Nevertheless, different places have been affected differently,

depending on the economic structure, openness and linkage

to the global economy, the global impact was extreme. The

high increase of unemployment, a crash of the housing market,

stress on the welfare state system, reduction of infrastructural

developments ended up in segregation and injustices (Berkmen

et al., 2012) (Berkmen, Gelos, Rennhack. An urgent need for

action arose to create a new social and economic perspective

for the future. To keep the economic losses low, to offer new

possibilities, and at the same time to develop and implement

new strategies that work independently of the global financial

market, tourism has been further developed. A huge industry has

emerged that affects several social layers and offers many opportunities,

as well as dependencies and threats. Besides new

perspectives, job opportunities and the exchange of knowledge,

tourism can also cause a drastic change in social, economic, and

urban structures. Threats like loss of identity, drive out the residence,

inequalities, as well as increased environmental stress,

can occur. Nonetheless, the dependence and importance of the

tourism industry have become an essential pillar of the global

economy. In 2018 already 10,4% of the global GDP (gross domestic

product) was accounted for by tourism. Worldwide, already

1,5 billion international tourist arrivals could be counted in

2019, still, it is expected to increase in the following years. This

and the fact that one out of ten jobs worldwide, is directly related

to the industry, illustrates the importance and dependency for

social, as well as economic structures in the AMA (BMZ, 2019).

OVERTOURISM

Even though tourism offers many opportunities, it can enrich or

harm both sides. This is a matter of transfer and scale. Nevertheless,

we can identify overtourism as a threat to urban life, it is

accompanied by several impacts. Many metropolitan cities, like

Budapest, Prague, Paris, Amsterdam and Warsaw are suffering

from overtourism for years (Benakis, 2018). What was considered

as a new perspective, has become an urban and social

threat. Consequences as the inequality of spaces, stress on the

housing market, tourism focus infrastructure and supply, as well

as a loss of identity and dissatisfaction increased rapidly. Caused

by many factors, the issues and threats assumed into a magnitude

dimension. Now, experts are warning for overtourism and

its long-term effects on the urban space, economy, environment,

and society (cf. Tourism Advisory Department at KPMG). Therefore,

new strategies and concepts have been developed by

governments and associations on how to deal with overtourism

in the future or how to prevent it. Cities adopt new laws and regulations,

as well as implement new programs to manage the

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situation. Awards such as `European capital of smart tourism´

create additional incentives to strengthen the accessibility, sustainability,

digitalisation and the cultural heritage and creativity

of cities, and at the same time promote them in a positive way

(European Capital of Smart Tourism, 2020). In 2015 the United

Nations published the `2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development´.

This global framework sets 17 goals “to end extreme poverty,

fight inequality and injustice, and to fix climate change till

2030.” One direct or indirect potential to achieve this goal is to

create sustainable tourism. Therefore, the goal of “decent work

and economic growth”, “responsible consumption and production”,

and “life below water” have been addressed (UNWTO,

2015b). This framework generates a unified strategy and base

for further developments or concepts. As the urban, economic,

environmental, and social consequences are extensive, overtourism

needs to be tackled to prevent further increase or long-term

damages. As the current pandemic and its regulations on preventing

further spreading of infections last since March 2020,

the tourism industry crashed globally. Travelling local, national,

or international is no longer desired or allowed. Overtourism and

its positive and negative effects are on pause. Nevertheless, this

drastic situation also illustrates that tourism is a central point of

our society and economy and must remain. Still, this pandemic

creates the rare opportunity to rethink its potential and issues,

create new strategies, and restart sustainable tourism.

TOURISM IN THE AMA

In the case of Amsterdam, the constant increase in tourism in the

past years has come to its limits and shows an extreme example

of overtourism. Compared to the whole Netherlands, Amsterdam

has the highest number of visitors. In 2018 already 19 million tourist

arrivals had been accounted for in the city with only 850.000

inhabitants. Further, projections expect a constant increase of up

to 29 million visitors in 2025 (Felix Schlagwein, 2019)

Tourism sector

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

establishments

employees

Figure 44. Tourism distribution sector. Data: (https://data.overheid.nl/dataset/yqu-eenokrruog)

ECONOMY

lodging / overnight stays

other catering industry

passenger transport

travel organization and mediation

culture and recreation

marinas, sailing schools

recreational retail trade

The drastic increase started after the GFC in 2008. Because of

the strong and multidimensional dependency on the global economy,

the Netherlands, and its unique institutional configuration,

had been hit hard by the crisis. As the country owned over 2/3

of the GDP outside the borders, it was hit twice. First, the crisis

developed from the credit crunch in 2008, and second as the

global slowdown occurred in 2009. The economic growth was

decreasing, and the expected shrinkage of 4.75% by 2009 was

also leading to an increasing unemployment rate. The financial

recovery was uncertain by time and scope. As Amsterdam was

and still is, the national financial centre, the city was highly affected.

The city council created a new program to promote tourism after

the GFC, to generate new economic and independent upturn

and to revitalise the city, as well as to get rid of the `dirty´ neighbourhoods.

As 70% of the total employment was in the service

sector, the city also used the chance to save jobs and create new

opportunities. Tourism became an important economic pillar for

the region and its inhabitants. Figure 44 illustrates the proportion

of the different facilities and functions, which are operating in

the tourism industry and their development from 2016 to 2020.

Further, in the Netherlands, one out of 13 jobs is directly or indirectly

related to the tourism industry (CBS, 2017). The increase

of tourism first had positive effects like new job opportunities,

high income and taxes, which created a wealthy situation (Engelen

and Musterd, 2010). But as the increase steadily rose, the

urban and social structures, as well as the quality of living changed.

The development became unlimited and uncontrollable.

The tourism industry is an essential part of Amsterdam’s economic

system, although the high dependency can lead to the

greatest danger, failure of the economic apparatus.

SOCIAL

The positive, as well as negative effects, created inequalities

in the AMA region. The extensive consequences like noise and

waste pollution, imbalances of spaces, effects on the housing

market and change of urban and infrastructural elements, as well

as the monofunctional concentration of the tourism-based industry,

created a dissatisfied overall picture. Still, many residents

are employed directly or indirectly by the industry and depend on

tourism. The strong focus on tourism and its needs transformed

the former `city of freedom and possibilities´ into the suppression

of `real´ neighbourhoods and residents (Bunger, 2019). Also,

the high frequency and concentration of visitors on the weekend

created a challenging situation, so residents escape from the

city over the weekend. The social life in the neighbourhoods and

communities had been restricted by tourism. Overtourism with all

its effects has emerged. Moreover, this is an essential indicator

of spatial and social in-justice. To draw attention and to fight for

their rights, many civic initiatives, like “We live here” had been

founded. (ILiveHere community centre, 2018)

ENVIRONMENT

Furthermore, the extent of tourism not only has an impact on

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Figure 45. Distribution of people working in HORECA. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

the economic, urban, and social context of the city but also on

the environmental conditions. The high amount and frequency

of visitors are causing several issues. Even though the heavy

traffic volume can be mitigated by the adequate public transport

system, the traffic volume of people coming and leaving, either

visitors or residents are extensive. Further, the mass of people

causes a high increase in waste and noise pollution, which is not

only a logistic challenge but also an environmental threat. Moreover,

due to the issue of overtourism, the residence is moving

and resettling somewhere else in the region, which is causing

further land consumption and reduction of unused landscape

areas.

URBAN

The urban context is highly influenced and affected by tourism.

Several accompanying issues are visible in the AMA region.

The needed infrastructure and supply for the visitors took over

the urban structures. The increase of private rented accommodation

and supply for tourists created an artificial surrounding.

Residents of Amsterdam started to migrate to the surrounding

cities like Haarlem or Almere, as the city is not liveable or affordable

anymore. This is causing the loss of the identity and

character of the region. Caused by former promotion and the

constant increase of new hotels and attractions, agglomeration

areas were generated. Thereby, the highest density is generated

in the centre of Amsterdam. Figure 46 illustrates the occurrence

and location of several factors like attractions, accommodation,

and supply to show incidence, the distribution, and the agglomeration

of these factors within the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam.

Besides the high concentration of all factors in the centre

of Amsterdam, also the suburban area is highly dense. Smaller

agglomeration spots in different scales are spread all over the

region, which might be dependent on the urban setting. Further,

single incidences without interconnection can be spotted within

the area. The hotel accommodation density (Figure 47) and the

increase of overnight stays in the AMA (Figure 48) show that

even Amsterdam is the tourist centre of the region, the neighbouring

districts are also strongly increasing and getting popular for

visitors. That might have several causes. Still, this can also lead

to imitated issues. The tourism industry is structured by those agglomeration

areas in the region, the analysis of employment by

tourism is shown in (Figure 45) illustrates that the distribution of

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Figure 46. attraction, accommodation & supply distribution. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

employees is not related their places of work. The graphic shows

high occurrences in the suburban areas, which might cause long

travels and the emergence of parallel worlds of work and life,

without or less interacting.

PROGRESS

The metropolitan region is already discussing the impact and

effects of overtourism for years, as it is forcing out the residents

and heavily affecting urban, as well as social life. Although it has

a positive force on the economy, it is nowadays causing more

issues for the city and its inhabitants. The debate on how to change

and reinvent tourism in and around Amsterdam is very controversial,

as the government is not only discussing tourism itself

but also on what kind and frequency are manageable. The AMA

already registered the strong concentration of increasing tourism

in the centre of Amsterdam and reacted with a reduction and

redistribution plan of tourists within the AMA. Still, this plan is not

formulated yet. As tourism is necessary for the region and economy,

the main questions are, “how much can be taken?” and

“how to redistribute among the whole regions?”. To reduce the

negative effects, the government implemented new regulations

and laws, like an overnight tax, Airbnb ban, prohibiting guided

tours in specific areas and stop of new tourist-orientated shops.

To generate an overall strategy, which everyone benefits from

and to create sustainable concepts, the Netherlands Board of

Tourism & conventions (NBTC) had formulated the “perspective

2030” vision. The central achievements can be named by five

priorities. Increasing sustainability, pushing forward accessibility,

creating a hospitable sector, promoting `unknown´ destinations

and balancing the benefits and burdens of the region (NBTC

and Fronteer Agency, 2019). This program also illustrates that

the strong tourism apparatus can not be changed by small implementations

but need a focused program to create an overall

strategy.

Due to the current pandemic, the tourism industry drastically

stopped in Amsterdam. Nevertheless, this has also negative

effects as increasing unemployment and decreasing income,

it also provides a unique situation to create new concepts and

ideas for justifiable and sustainable tourism.

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Figure 47. Hotel Accommodation density. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 48. Increase of Overnight stays in the AMA. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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2.4.1 TOURISM ZOOM-INS:

AMA CASE STUDIES

Further, we analysed and evaluated the local perspective to create

an insight of the region. As the city of Amsterdam has been

focused on the previous analysis, we further concentrated on the

area of Bijlmermeer, Haarlem and Almere. Therefore, we took

attention to general information, accessibility and quality of open

spaces, flows, tourism, the current crisis and health care and

the citizens viewpoints. For this, we selected four areas in which

an adequate amount of data could be collected for – and ones

which as well had interesting points in other themes (see chapter

SWOT)

Figure 49. Deconstruction until 2012 (Verlaan and Loerakker,

2014)

BIJLMERMEER

The current pandemic hits hard on the whole AMA region. As

Bijlmermeer is part of Amsterdam, the infection rate status is included

by the city‘s information. The neighbourhood has good

health infrastructure through hospitals, medical practice and

hosts one of the seven corona test centres in the city. The area

of Bijlmermeer is split into the centre and eastern part. In 2020,

54.727 residents have been counted, which is predicted to increase

up to 68.218 by 2050. Further, the neighbourhood has

an extensive history (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2017). It was developed

as a planned city structure in the 1970´s, as part of the

masterplan by Siegfried Nassuth. They created 9-15 story high

building structures surrounded by green and with infrastructural

access. Still, the high design quality resulted in high rents and no

interest. Therefore, there had been several redesign processes

with deconstruction and implementation of new living forms within

the year, shown in Figure 49 to Figure 51.

Bijlmermeer´s building structures are surrounded by extensive

green spaces like the Bijlmerweide or the Nelson Mandela park,

or nearby greater green structures like the Gaaspperpark. Moreover,

the area is structured by waterways like the weespertrekvaart

kanal, which also creates the borders of the neighbourhood

(Himelfarb, 2018). Still, it is well accessible by public transport,

the area is not touristy. There are only a few accommodations

placed along the main train line. The only tourist attraction can

be architectural sights, the theatre and the stadium. The neighbourhood

is mainly local based by people who work in the service

sector, shown in Figure 52.

Figure 50. New constructions of 1992 until 2012 (Verlaan and

Loerakker, 2014)

Figure 51. New developments (Verlaan and Loerakker, 2014)

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the housing market. As the government is aware of the issues,

the municipality wishes to strengthen development zones with

affordable housing and small carbon-neutral apartments within

the city. Further, they plan on local agreements concerning

housing prices and will step up as an international community

(Dutch News, 2021).

ALMERE

Figure 52. Job dristibutions (Gemeente Amstedam, 2017)

Current developments like the reuse of the former prison building

complex will transform the area into a 135.000qm liveable neighbourhood,

with living, working and leisure activities (Barcode

Architects, 2017). Still, the neighbourhood had some issues like

bad reputation and is declared as a criminal hotspot (Crook,

2017). There are three groups of problems, the unfinished character

of the area, liveability-problems and the housing market.

Since the 80´s there have been several protests about injustices

like high rents, unemployment, demolition, prejudices and the

current “Black Lives Matter” movement (NL times, 2020b).

HAARLEM

The city of Haarlem is known as the Dutch flower-growing district.

The city with 161.404 inhabitants (2019) has a density of

5030 inhabitants/km² and is famous for its historical centre from

1245. First, characterized by the textile industry, ship building

and breweries, it was later defined by letter pressing. Moreover,

Haarlem is represented as a good practice integration, as

in 2015 Syrian refugees‘ arrival was well engaged (Visit Haarlem

| Tourist Information). The wealth of open and green spaces,

as well as water bodies and the proximity to the coast, create

a liveable area. The well-developed infrastructure, cultural and

historical sights, the proximity to Amsterdam and the historic city

of Leiden, the cheese markets of Alkmaar, Rotterdam and Den

Hague make Haarlem a tourist insider tip. Moreover, it offers a

high number of accommodations and was multiple times awarded

to Netherlands‘ best shopping address (Haarlem | I amsterdam).

The current development plans show the proposed infrastructural

linkage by the extension of the subway line (NL times,

2020a). Besides the current crisis, in which Haarlem is severely

affected as the AMA , the city is also influenced by the stress on

The city of Almere is the fastest growing city in the Netherlands.

It is located 25 km to Amsterdam and 40 km to Utrecht. The

province of Flevoland counts 208.000 inhabitants and was constructed

in 1975 by diking the Ijsselmeer to provide housing for

the rapidly growing population of Amsterdam. Mostly single people

and couples living in the area with a very high percentage of

homeownership. The latest developments had been Oosterwold

and Ijland in the South-East. (NL Nierlande, 2011)

1976 1980 1984

1991 2000 2009

Figure 53. Almere growth. Data: (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek 2006).

The area is surrounded by a 42 km coast, the Oostvaardersplassen

nature park and provides many water bodies and canals.

Nevertheless, the area offers few hotels, many qualities and a

modern mobility concept, high potential by the modern architecture,

nature park, water activities and shopping facilities, it is

not named as a touristic area (‘Almere Travel and City Guide’,

2014). Further, Almere gained some international intention for

its planning policies: “most planned unplanned place around”

(Municipality of Almere, 2002). The “Anti-city” approach created

a sustainable urban environment, which grows in an ecological,

socially and economically fashion. The poly-nuclear city proposed

60.000 new dwellings and 100.000 new job possibilities till

2030 by seven principles based on strong community participation

and large-scale citizen involvement. (MVRDV - Almere 2030)

Still, the Almere has the Flevo hospital and some smaller clinics,

the current crisis also hits hard. In January 2021, the infection

rate had a similar intensity as Amsterdam, though this has a higher

density.

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2.5 COVID-19

The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is an airborne contagious

disease that was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December

2019. The spread of the disease worldwide has lead to an ongoing

pandemic, prompting the World Health Organisation to

declare a global health emergency by January 2020 (Velavan

and Meyer, 2020). Preventative measures by multiple disease

control organisations have included physical or social distancing,

quarantining, using face mask coverings, hand washing

and good ventilation.

The responses to the emergency have varied from country to

country. Drastic lockdowns were first seen in China and Italy. On

the other hand, targeted measures and approaches were used

in South Korea and Israel. Within each case, legality and the

ethics of handling the pandemic was questioned. Some countries

began operating as algorithmic nations – using data mining,

facial recognition… etc (Calzada, 2020a). The way in which to

approach regulating a country, enforcing regulations, and controlling

the outcomes of the pandemic – especially through the

use of individual data – is a sensitive topic on it’s own (Watson

and Nations, 2019; Calzada, 2020b).

Cross-country drawbacks have also been highlighted in this

emergency state, as country borders are making a comeback.

The future of “global citizens” and the outcome of border controls

are unclear. Particularly in the European union, many have enjoyed

the ease of movement, travel and work across countries in

the pre-COVID-19 era. Instead, we are now “pandemic citizens”,

surrounded by old borders (Calzada, 2020c). Many EU countries

enacted the Schengen Border codes, that allows for the

closing of borders and the restriction of freedom of movement

in exceptional circumstances. It is intended to last for a period of

two months, but, as experienced, many countries went over this

(Jerónimo, 2020).

The need to open countries to open up has been discussed primarily

from an economic standpoint. It is estimated that the numbers

of jobs lost by April 2020 had already surpassed the total of

the GFC (Coibion, Gorodnichenko and Weber, 2020). There has

been a decline in working hours at a historically unprecedented

rate. The job losses have also hit women workers more than

men, and the younger generation more than older ones. (ILO

Monitor, 2021)

This sort of inequality is experienced in many other demographic

and economic factors. While most economic classes have

been affected by the pandemic in some way, low income and low

skilled workers are estimated to be disproportionately affected.

These groups and their communities have also been associated

with higher COVID-19 rates , with studies on New York’s poor

and rich districts finding a positive rate change from 65% to 38%

(Schmitt-Grohé, Teoh and Uribe, 2020). Anecdotal evidence on

the effects of the pandemic has emerged, raising the concern

that inequality in many countries should be expected to rise (Furceri

et al., 2020).

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Figure 54. COVID-19 Vaccines rollout in 7 north western EU countries. (Our

wold in data, 2020)

Figure 55. COVID-19 Vaccines rollout in 7 North Wester EU countries - Weekly

average. (Our wold in data, 2020)

As of 2021, multiple vaccines ranging in effectiveness and types

have been created and used, with an end to the pandemic seeming

more hopeful. When comparing eastern EU countries, the

Dutch citizens were sureyed and found to be highly willing to get

vaccinated (Neumann-Böhme et al., 2020). On the other hand,

Figure 54 shows that the Netherlands currenty holds the lower

hand in number of persons vaccinated, while Figure 55 shows

the rate in which they are currently vaccinated on a weekly basis

to be low as well.

Overall, the Netherlands has been highly affected by the CO-

VID-19 outcomes, with around 10% of the population at one

point infected (Roser et al., 2020). We find that although they experienced

a high and detrimental first wave, not enough actions

were put in place to calm down the second one (see Figure 56).

A third wave is approaching, and due to its delayed and subpar

rolling out of vaccinations, it is unclear when the reach for herd

immunity will be achieved. Vaccine production and increases has

been also linked to economic growth – as stock markets soared

(Chan et al., 2021; Kizys, Tzouvanas and Donadelli, 2021).

While the world attempts to recover and change the outcomes

of this current pandemic, there are also calls to learn, change

and prepare for the next pandemics to come. Suggestions range

from focusing on rehauling he public health sector, strategizing

regulation structures, effectively addressing misinformation and

anti-vaccine rhetoric, and acknowledging environmental acts

that risk future pandemics (Burton and Topol, 2021; Castrucci,

Juliano and Inglesby, 2021; Hotez, 2021; Édes, 2021). The

Netherlands is also raising these questions. Over the last 20 years,

the country has experienced multiple outbreaks of diseases,

from the 2007 Q fever, to 2012’s Mers.

The pandemic has also helped highlight issues in many parts

of the world. In this report we focus on the AMA and the tourism

aspect – but multiple other sectors have been disrupted. For

example, in many counties of USA, lockdowns and home-office

have drastically reduced vehicular traffic and noise which was

previously an issue. How to sustain this, and take it into opening

up policies has therefore been a dominating theme (Fishbane:

coronavirus has shown us a world without traffic).

AMA COVID POLICIES

Figure 56. COVID-19 cases comparisons of France, Netherlands, Belgium,

and Germany. (Our wold in data (2020))

However, when, and how pandemic that is upon us will come

to an end is disputed amongst experts and academics (with the

earlier models expecting the end to be the beginning of 2021

and currently changing (Huang, Qiao and Tung, 2020; Luo,

2020, 2021)). In the case of the AMA, existing measures of how

to “open up” after a lockdown exist. The AMA, like the rest of

the country, dictates phases based on infections per 100,000

persons; labelled by Vigilant, Worrisome, Serious, Very Serious

+ Lock-down. This is calculated weekly and levels are applied

accordingly to the regions. Figure 57 shows the steps to be taken

after every phase.

In the first months of the pandemic, the Netherlands was ill pre-

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Figure 57. North Holland steps of opening. (International Welcome Centre North (IWCN), 2020)

pared, with not enough masks and PPE – nor sufficient hospital

amenities. The AMA initially used soft measures, but as cases

increased, multiple lockdowns were imposed within it’s various

districts. These have experienced backlashes with protests that

are anti-mask or anti-lockdown.

Unequal spatial distributions have also been part of the demonstrations.

As social distancing measures have been used during

the pandemic, sufficient spaces for public use that doesn’t infringe

on the personal space needed is scrutinised (Nobajas et al.,

2020).

INACCESSIBILITY AND INJUSTICE

With such demands being protested, we aimed at mapping out

functions residents can access during the pandemic restrictions.

Figure 58 shows the overall access to public spaces and elements.

While the city centre enjoys a cluster of public spaces,

smaller towns on the outskirts do not. It should be noted that the

smaller towns tend to be surrounded by green farmland. However

public spaces for inhabitants use are lacking.

According to the different steps of opening up the AMA, Figure

59 to Figure 63 show active amenities during this time. Each red

dot is has a radius of 500 metres (a 5-minute walk). The black

dashed lines circle areas we label as “unhealthy”, and have a

radius of 2,5 kilometres (a 12-minute Cycle trip).

As expected, the unhealthy areas reduce as the region continues

to open up. However, a more significant finding is that some

regions stay unhealthy until the last stages of opening up. These

regions are therefore susceptible to larger travel times in comparison.

Furthermore, as businesses have shit down, such unhealthy

spot are likely to increase over time.

PARTICIPATION IN CRISIS

Writings on Participation during the pandemic so far focus on

tactics to herd communal mentality in social distancing and

safe practices, or citizen volunteering in health-related centres

(Chen et al., 2020; Moon, 2020). Proposals for participation in

policy-making and spatial enactment is scarce.

While there is need for clear and quick decision making tactics to

govern pandemic times (Castrucci, Juliano and Inglesby, 2021;

Dawoud, 2021), Academics have acknowledged that insights

and inputs from communities are valuable especially in crises.

Marston et. al (2020) argues that only together are we able to

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Figure 58. Access to open public spaces (parks, playgrounds, benches, and gardens). Data: (www. maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

innovate tailored solutions that can meet the needs of our diverse

populations. They identify co-production & co-design, responsiveness

and transparency as key ingredients for community

participation amidst crises.

However, there is also a need for clear and quick decision making

tactics to combat governing cities in times of pandemics.

“IT IS CRUCIAL TO UNDERSTAND,

FOR INSTANCE, THE ADDITIONAL

NEEDS OF PARTICULAR GROUPS,

AND THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF

DIFFICULTIES CAUSED BY GOVER-

NMENT RESTRICTIONS” - (Marston, Renedo

and Miles, 2020)

The lack of participation has bled into the spatial sphere – as

previous models discussed have had to stop community workshops…etc.

Considering that our urban spaces and what we can

do within them have drastically changed as an outcome of this

pandemic, it is important to find alternatives to cope with this.

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Figure 59. Stage 1 - activity nodes. Data: (www. maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.

geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

Figure 60. Stage 2 - activity nodes. Data: (www. maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.

geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

Figure 61. Stage 3 - activity nodes. Data: (www. maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.

geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

Figure 62. Stage 4 - activity nodes. Data: (www. maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.

geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

Figure 63. Stage 5 - activity nodes. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.

geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

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2.6 SWOT

To summarise and evaluate our analysis we created a SWOT

plan, shown in Figure 64. This enables us to find the strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the AMA region.

Furthermore, it helped us understand what interconnected qualities

we should be aware of or try to tackle.

STRENGTHS

We identified strengths like the wide range of natural qualities

and conditions, that enables the implementation of several functions

and usages. Further, the well-interconnected transport

system creates an overall network and interlink of the neighbouring

cities. The well-preserved cultural background and the welcoming

culture create a vital and diverse region. Moreover, the

AMA has a long history of housing associations and still shows

evidence of a high percentage in comparison to other countries.

WEAKNESS

Nevertheless, several different functions and usages are scattered

in the region without thematic and strategic interaction. Each

district is developing its strategy and program, parallel societies

are increasing (See Figure 65). The high concentration of facilities

and issues in Amsterdam is creating und unliveable surroundings

for the residents. Moreover, there are imbalances between

the need and provision of affordable housing and strongly increasing

rents, mainly in Amsterdam, but also in the whole region.

This leads to the suppression of low-income groups to the outskirts.

The governing systems and the implementation of planning

processes and developments are mainly top-down processes

without interdisciplinary and participatory interaction.

OPPORTUNITIES

However, the interaction of communities and districts could create

an overall strategy to profit from the individual achievements

and plans of the municipalities and to strengthen the region as a

whole. The promotion of interconnection and redistribution by implementing

highlights can balance the inequalities and strengthen

the cooperation between municipalities. Further, the profit

could be redistributed and used for social and neighbourhood

care or projects, to revitalize the urban spaces and to increase

the quality of living. The AMA is aware of the issues and threats

caused by overtourism and its concentrated areas. They implemented

new laws and regulations to avoid further increases and

agglomeration areas. Therefore, they react with a reduction and

redistribution plan within the AMA. Still, extra attention should be

drawn to the place-based policy developments, while there are

missing improvements and inequalities. Also, new policies, like

the new housing act in 2021, focus on fair rents, redistribution

of housing, and stricter rules for holiday rental, to make the city

attractive for its residents. The long history of social housing provision

creates also a good starting point to follow up. The pandemic

can be seen as both, positive as well as a negative impact.

Still, the current crisis shows spatial injustices on individuals‘

opportunities based on their localities and highlights the correlations

between the urban space and likelihood. Which creates an

overall analysis of grievances, that need to be tackled.

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Figure 64. A Spatial SWOT plan based on analysis findings – Author’s graphics

Figure 65. Spatial situations of the AMA. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl), Regiomonitor & (www.geofabrik.de) – Author’s graphics

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THREATS

Nevertheless, the current pandemic is also the greatest threat in

terms of imbalances and injustices. The inaccessibility and unfair

distribution of open spaces create an extensive and challenging

situation for residents, which have a limited possibility of recreation.

Further, the disparities between the needs and supply of affordable

housing are a main threat in the AMA. The strong agglomerations

and increasing tourism are forcing out the residents

and are heavily affecting urban life. The doughnut of imbalances

was generated, which is surrounding the city of Amsterdam. Thereby,

the agglomeration areas also became the centre of issues,

high unemployment, scattered structures, and low infrastructure

created parallel societies within the region. The monofunctional

and tourism-based urban development increased these issues

and caused several more.

2.7 A EUROPEAN

PERSPECTIVE

OTHER CITIES, SIMILAR ISSUES

Amsterdam is one of several European cities facing issues with

overtourism, as previously stated. As we have placed the tourism

issue in the forefront of our SWOT, and one that will be

focused on in this study, we provide a view. Therefore, many

of the findings (and solutions later proposed) may span across

multiple broder. Decreasing prices for flights make short stays in

long distances, as well as weekend party-tourism affordable to

many people. Many cities have similar urban and social developments

and threats, which are directly related to the exploding

number of tourists in the last years. In 2019, Amsterdam was

on place 10 of the European cities with most visitors, after other

capitals like London, Paris, Rome, Berlin and Istanbul (Statista,

2020). Prague, which is also more visited than Amsterdam, had

6 billion foreign tourists in 2016 with a number of inhabitants of

only 1,26 billion. The citizens are suffering strongly under the

rising rents through increasing holiday rentals, increasing party

tourism, disrespect of rest hours and noise pollution (Aschhoff,

2019). Cities like Prague are urgently searching for creative solutions

against overtourism and for slower and sustainable kinds

of tourism. Prague has come up with a touristic platform “Prague

Cool Pass“ as digital expansion for their already existing “Prague

Card” (Aschhoff, 2019). Being a gratis application, it promotes attractions

in the surrounding areas of Prague to foster distribution

of visitors from the city centre to the outskirts.

As overtourism is a relevant European and Global threat, governmental

strategies are needed. International organizations

like the European Commission, the OECD and World Tourism

Organization (UNWTO) have reacted with plans. In its project

“NextGenerationEU”, the European Commission publishes a

750€ billion temporary recovery instruments to help repair the

immediate economic and social damage brought about by the

COVID-19 pandemic. It estimates the post-COVID-19 Europe

will be greener, more digital, more resilient and better for the current

and forthcoming challenges (European Commission, 2020)

“GOVERNMENTS NEED TO ALREA-

DY CONSIDER THE LONGER-TERM

IMPLICATIONS OF THE CRISIS [...]

AND PROMOTE THE STRUCTURAL

TRANSFORMATION NEEDED TO

BUILD A STRONGER, MORE SUS-

TAINABLE AND RESILIENT TOU-

RISM ECONOMY. THE CRISIS IS AN

OPPORTUNITY TO RETHINK TOU-

RISM FOR THE FUTURE.”-(OECD, 2020)

The OECD expects domestic tourism as a chance to recover quicker

than international tourism. Domestic tourism offers the main

chance for driving recovery in cities where the sector supports

many jobs and businesses (OECD, 2020). Using COVID-19 as a

restart point for a more sustainable development after the crisis,

seems to be not well established in other European cities, apart

from reopening strategies in phases. The UNWTO has published

“Global Guidelines to Restart Tourism” in 2020, proposing

several hygienic precautions as well as a promotion of digital

communication. They recommend incentivizing domestic and

eco-tourism in combination with a focus on nature, rural areas

and culture (UN World Tourism Organisation, 2020). Just and

sustainable tourism is also fostered in the several SDGs like 1.

No poverty, 3. Good health and wellbeing, 8. Decent work and

economic growth, 11. Sustainable cities and communities 12.

Responsible consumption and production and 13. Climate action

(UNWTO, 2015a).

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3. VISION

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

socio-economic

status

tourism &

economics

Figure 66. Concept – Author’s graphics

As explained in this Analysis, the COVID-19 global pandemic

crisis is affecting the main pillars of the world’s society and economy.

The ongoing health crisis has reached a dimension that

will have extensive and long-term impacts and consequences

increasing the already existing issues of cities. Furthermore, the

current situation also occurs and strengthens the important theoretical

concept of the “Just City”. In Figure 66 we point out the

effects felt in within our schematic themes during the different

Crisis, and the future path aimed for the AMA to take.

“YOU NEVER WANT A SERIOUS CRI-

SIS TO GO TO WASTE” - Emanuel Rahm (Wall

Street Journal, 2008).

Using this rare situation as a foundation to create and implement

new strategies for urban justice is the main aspect of this project.

A comprehensive strategy will be developed to strengthen potentials

and relieve the pressure on spatial, economic, environmental

and social issues. By this strategic linkage, the region can be

supported and promoted as a whole.

DECENTRALISED MODEL

We see the need for adequate support to be placed on Housing,

Socio-economic issues, and Tourism, in a connection with one

another. This is also meant to be done in a decentralised manner,

as there has already been an imbalance of attention placed

on the centre of Amsterdam while disregarding other areas. Figure

67. Identifies the two “rings” to work with. The outer ring

of bottom up actions and inhabitant related approaches, and an

inner ring of policies and regulatory bodies. All actions however,

should be looked at from the sustainability point of view of a next

pandemic/crisis, and assess what should be put in place to help

deal with this – or what percentage of affordable loss is accepted.

This can be done through theories and findings advanced within

this study: such as advocating for self-reliance, data driven

understanding of discrepancies and studying/discarding regulations

that do not fit the future visions for the AMA.

Finally, restarting was identified as a factor that should begin in

the midst of the crisis with the knowledge we can gain from it so

far. The maps presented in the analysis dictate the spaces that

are largely unhealthy. In order to hone a more distributed tourism

sector, these places will need to be activated to attract the basic

tourist. Furthermore, waiting for the “post-COVID-19” is seen as

unwise. First, it is still unknown when the pandemic would end,

and second, some initiations need time to start up, and can benefit

from early trial periods before normalcy returns.

REDISTRIBUTION OF AMA

Our studies on the tourism industry, as well as the models for

the future, repeatedly brought up the need for redistributions of

tourism and services offered. With the tourism sector dwindling

down to nothing, it’s no longer the tourists that need to be redistributed,

but local tourism that also needs to be activated and

catered for. Thus, we look to concepts such as slow tourism, and

to the possible spaces that could accommodate the local that

wishes to visit.

Figure 68 introduces the product of ACCESS (to be elaborated

in Section 2 of this book), a tool that in the long run is envisioned

to help the seamless and health-conscious distribution of people

out of the centre of Amsterdam and to other cities.

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

INCLUSIONS OF ALL DISTRICTS BOTTOM UP TACTICS SOCIAL GROUPS

UNLIMITED ACCESSABILITY

TENANTS SUPPORT

RESTARTING TIMELINES

PROACTIVE CRISIS PLANS

Decentralised

REstart

STAYS RESTRICTIONS

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

RESILIENT ECONOMIES

NEW MARKETS DIVERSE URBAN STRUCTURES

TOURIST REDISTRIBUTION

PERSON-BASED

APPROACH

HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS POWER

DEREGULATION OF MARKET

MULTI FUNCTIONALITY

PARTICIPATION SUBSIDIES

PLACE-BASED

APPROACH

Figure 67. Decentralised Model – Author’s graphic

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DEC

Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

ACCESS

welcome

HAARLEM

AMSTERDAM

Figure 68. Vision – Author’s graphics

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

BIJLMERMEER

ALMERE

PANDEMIC

ENTRALISED

RESTART

TOURISM

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

HOUSING

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

BOOK 2

THE ACCESS PLATFORM

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

4. DESIGN

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

ACCESS

Book one provided a thesis for the decentralised restart model

to be used in times of crisis. The model aims to generate a more

sustainable and redistributed restart after the pandemic, as well

as improve the current situation during the pandemic. It works

with theories of Degrowth, Spatial Justice through accessibility,

and data-driven choice making. It also heavily puts an emphasis

on city stakeholder interactions and participation.

Models and visions of the future tend to influence multiple strategies

and products. In this book, we look at the possible solutions

as students with a background in urban planning, that are wishing

to create a start-up in cooperation with existing authorities.

We attempt to provide one possible tool that is influenced by the

model and can be fit to the AMA case.

4.1 A TOOL TO “START”

We propose an online communication platform that can also act

as an add-on for existing online websites. There is an urgency

for a participatory engine that can study people’s choices and

activities during different stages of a lockdown as well as provide

a space for communication and evaluation on the needs and

challenges faced. This problem is identified through the previous

spatial analysis, and the performance of existing Visionary Elements

(that workshops and participations have come to a halt).

The goals are activating the local individual to increase their confidence

of choices by providing them with alternatives. Simultaneously,

it provides municipalities and authorities with data on

spaces that are used by locals throughout the time of a crisis. We

argue that in tackling the spatial needs during a pandemic, we

create a basis for alternative spaces to activate in the long-term

towards sustainability, spatial justice and, in the case of AMA,

redistribution of tourism.

We see a great opportunity for this multi-scale and integrative

process happening on an online platform. This user-driven

approach was chosen as online dependencies have been increasing

in the Covid-19 times, and the shift to being more internet

efficient has affected most people’s lives. Furthermore, in

person workshops and meetings were not allowed for a majority

of time throughout this crisis.

Amsterdam already has many existing platforms, like I Amsterdam,

that we assess as inadequate for current conditions nor

influencing the built and open spaces directly. They are also

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RETHINK

EXSISTING PLATFORMS

RESTART

PLATFORM

I AM

AMSTERDAM

IN YOUR

POCKET

...

IMPLEMTATION

ACCESS

RECOVER

RESILIENT

Figure 69. The platform process – Author’s graphics

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

not integrative amongst different groups of users. Indications of

this are the fact that they are advertised more for international

tourists, and they do not have a detailed view of how Covid-19

affects people’s movements and accessibility. Data is held within

individual platforms and not shared between planners, municipalities

and public organizations.

WHAT WILL WE PRODUCE?

• AN INTERACTIVE BASEMAP

The basemap is the AMA region provided as a compact and

understandable map. It includes the built structure and natural

terrain, as well as functions provided. Further, it is the

platform in which other layers and actions are applied to.

The upcoming products are georeferenced and connected

to the basemap.

The analysis presented in BOOK 1 is furthermore connected

to the base map, as well as upcoming updates and new

analysis handled. In short, it is meant to provide the current

spatial State of Art that AMA edures. The interactivity comes

through the use of products that place points and polygons

to highlight what is necessary by its users (actively and passively).

• REAL-TIME FREQUENCIES

With the ongoing pandemic, many people don’t feel comfortable

being in close proximity to others or in crowded spaces.

This is also considered a health hazard in the current

climate. Therefore, our real time frequency service is made

to give people an impression of how crowded an area is.

This is expected to be possible through

• locational datas: as users are asked if they’re willing to

share their location with the platform. Such practices

are already done by other companies (like google) who

are able to constantly track. A softer approach is when

each time someone uses our services to open or look

at a map, it takes their location as a point.

• Gate counts: Supermarkets, for example, could opt to

install gate counters and sensors that automatically tell

our system how many customers are within their premises.

This sort of marking is then shown to inhabitants to

make an informed decision on where to go, and avoid

unnecessary waiting times as well.

• QR-code sign in: with the onset of COVID-19, it has

become common for businesses to ask their clients to

“sign-in” and provide contact details. This is done so

that public services can contact persons that were in

close proximity to COVID-19 patients. Many have made

the move from paper and pen to online systems. We

aim to provide a further step of QR code sign ins, where

our platform exchanges your contact details when you

scan the code of your location. In return, our platform

receives the data of a new person in a place.

This can also be done for public areas such as parks

and squares. Limitations on how long the QR code sign-in

should be active, how to work with this within privacy

limits, and how likely we are to receive this data/

rely on it needs to be tested out in the market.

Frequency gathering is something we see as a token element

of our services, and the possibility of being useful in

the long run/out of the COVID-19 pandemic-related decision

making. For the idea of redistributing tourists, it can easily

be incorporated into touristic hubs analysis. Providing this

as an “add-on” that can be applied as a layer over other

mapping softwares can help it’s promotion on touristic websites.

It would grow into predicting future scenarios (Like

how busy a museum is at a given moment) and providing

averages ahead of time may also be beneficial in the long

run.

• ALTERNATIVE LAYERS

Users can choose to layer certain conditions on their maps

to give them other data that may alter or support their movements

in the region. Other than the obvious COVID-19

cases layers, an example of a layer is the Protest spots.

This would help locals see where ongoing protests are being

held, what kind of protests are they (marches, demonstration...etc),

as well as their topics. This may help locals find

the protests they wish to aid, and as well be aware of what

is being demonstrated in their locality. This, coupled with the

frequency counts, would also help activists be better prepared

as well as inform us of protests that have become

mainstream or a pressing issue.

• COVID REGULATIONS UPDATES

In the current climate, regulations may be confused or hard

to follow. Pedestrians find it hard to identify areas within

their city in which masks are mandatory, regulations on how

many people/households are able to gather in one spot, or

what is permitted to stay open, and what is open. This layer

acts as a guide to all these questions. Furthermore, from our

locational analysis, and data gathered from the platform rollout,

these correlations can be used to discuss with municipalities

of regulatory changes that are needed. If one area is

shown as inactive for a long period of time, there are areas

in which activation and change should be considered.

This is seen as a connection to the “Alternative Layers” product,

as it is something that in time will become redundant.

In its place, other regulations can be put up - such as no

airbnb zones - and attached to the Alternative Layers product.

The reason for providing it as a service on it’s own

currently, is that the attention to be given to it is high, and

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KNOWLEDGE BASE

PLATFORM

USER

ACCESS

welcome

Figure 70. Access – components – Author’s graphics

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

constant updates and clear data should be used.

• PERSONALISED HOTSPOTS

Related to frequency data gathering, our platform can also

create activity plans based on user groups and demographics.

We can push for sustainable but catered visitation

trips to users. This is also seen as a way for visitors to be

aware of all possible attractions and options to them in a

region, especially ones they are interested in; ultimately

boosting the possibility of overnight stays and slow tourism.

• COMMUNICATION FORUMS

As Online communication is a viable route in our current

times, it should be a seamless provision. This communication

is expected to happen on 4 grounds:

• Rating: Visitors or inhabitants are able to rate different

locations - from just liking or disliking, surveying, attaching

photos of their issues/appreciations, and commenting

on discussion boards.

• The public forum: a space in which all users can make

geo-marked and non-geo-marked discussion rooms,

find connections amongst their community and NGOs,

and file petitions for changes they need.

• Workshops: Online workshops for participation on spatial

topics that are advertised to users, covering wide

ranges of topics. This is meant to provide an alternative

for traditional in-person workshops

• DATA CENTRE

The platform can act as a “data-dump”. Amsterdam has

many open-sourced and public data that is shared regularly,

as proven through our analysis earlier. Our data would be

shareable and public in order to allow academics, NGOs

and government bodies to easily access and assess findings.

This is in hopes that more evaluations are generated,

and that the platform can be used to support other new

Tools that may emerge.

• NEWSLETTERS, PUBLICATIONS AND EVALUATIONS

This data and its evaluations should not be left on a technical

field. Monthly newsletters and publications are seen as

a quick way to inform residents and governmental bodies of

the conditions and findings of the platform. The newsletters

would include:

• Where are people going

• What is being used

• What ongoing projects exist - and which databases do

they relate to

• How have residents rated different areas

• What discussions are popular, which online workshops

are ongoing and what projects are underway, and which

are coming soon or in discussion.

While these are snapshots of a moment, yearly or half-yearly

publications will also be required to show overall evaluations

over time. The evaluatory publications can also provide

statistics of topics that have been covered, and actions

that have been taken in the built space. Furthermore, they

should include evaluations on the platform itself, and changed

that would be done as of these findings.

The proposed platform integrates 5 main user groups: authorities,

planner consultants, organisations, locals (e.g. local businesses),

and (local, national and international) tourists. The idea

is that locals are now using the traditionally “tourist” locations

and are incentivised to distribute and “load-balance” among the

available slots of the attractions. When data is gathered on their

new movements, this information can help local governments

with an insight on the type of spaces people are interested in,

ideas of where future hubs can occur, and spaces that need additional

input to be activated. Organizations and new initiatives

can make use of the Access platform to promote their current

programs.

The design, usability and user experience are designed as a

low-threshold, inclusive experience for target groups that are

less comfortable with mobile technology. The short-term goal of

the products on the one hand is a quick recovery from the pandemic

and on the other hand to provide improvements to people’s

lives during the pandemic. With this product, we believe quick

recovery can not happen without current inputs and changes.

Due to local lockdown regulations, openings and lockdown-liberalizations

are possible in other districts and understanding for

specific regulations is raised. In a long-term perspective, with

the use of the application, nature-based, and sustainable tourism

is fostered by the promotion of local attractions. It strengthens

the communication between municipalities and offers a tool to

publish and communicate about spatial master plans and policies.

By fostering redistribution of spaces and tourism, spillover

effects on increasing spatial justice to sectors like housing and

socio-economic status are encompassed (Figure 71). Therefore

the Add-on is a practical approach in the fight against overtourism.

The user groups of our platform are presented next. Then, for a

more technical understanding of our interactive process, a Business

Process Model and Notation (BPMN model) is produced. A

hypothetical user named Inga is provided as a storyline to follow.

Finally, As exemplary districts, we use our focus areas of Almere,

Bijlmermeer, Haarlem and the city centre. These locations are

taken as they were case studies of Book 1.

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I AMSTERDAM

ACCESS

EXSISTING PLATFORMS

LOCAL

REGULATION

LOCALS

MUNICIPALITY

frequency

measuring

real-time data

providing data

on COVID19

infections

local COVID19

restrictions

accessability

showing

alternatives to

go

of open/ green

spaces

information of

current status/

regulation

Presenting step

program/ district

FEATURES

promoting lockdown

tourism

SHORT-TERM

Figure 71. How Access performs over time – Author’s graphics

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ACCESS

welcome

NEW

MASTERPLAN

INTER-MUNICIPAL

COMMUNICATION

SUSTAINABLE +

LOCAL TOURISM

masterplans

based on fre-

Information

of protest

promotion of

events + festi-

quency data

improvement of

open spaces

vals

frequency measuring

receiving

information

communication

with other muni-

redestribution of

tourism

local tourism

cipalities

no more

overtourism

LONG-TERM

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USER

PLANNING

CONSULTANT

(LOCAL) TOURIST

ACCESS

welcome

ORGANISATION

LOCAL (BUSINESS)

AUTHORITIES

Figure 72. Users of the platform – Author’s graphics

4.2 USER GROUPS

In developing a platform that serves as an interactive communication

network, it is essential to first identify the actors and the

user groups, as well as to define target groups to adjust and

refine the program. In this, we can determine which actor is producer

and consumer, or both. There are both active or passive

users of the process and with varying tasks to take.

The offer, share, collection, usage and evaluation of information

or data is an important person-based process that must be subjected

by the data protection legislation.

A total of five different stakeholder groups can be defined. Each

group can be subdivided into several sub-categories of users;

ones that are part of the process, ones that are users of the

product, or ones affected by it.

The main stakeholders are the authorities, planning consultants,

organisations, locals and tourists (Figure 72). In the following,

each actor group, their role and task in the process will be described.

Another user is the host of the Add-On, which we see as an

independent user. However, this position can be executed by

planning consultants or authorities. For the initial stages, we see

ourselves as the host - organising the data to be shown and creating

the base analysis that runs the entire system.

Hosting Access means providing base maps and organizing

the general structure of the platform. During the usage of the

platform, the host needs to provide technical support for the interaction

between all users and provide a server to save data.

The host has an insight of all information and decides which data

can be seen and used by whom.

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AUTHORITIES

This group can be all kinds of public authorities that have an

interest in information and data or have an effect and impact on

the process itself. Over time, this would include European, national,

regional, city, or district-level policymakers. For the case

study task we would introduce, we focus first on the district-level

policy makers.

Authorities are seen as both the consumer and producer. As they

are a part of the legislative and social structures, it is important

to integrate them into the process, as well as to benefit from

their profession and possibilities. Nevertheless, this actor predominantly

produces and offers highly detailed data for the analysis

and evaluation process, they also have access to all kinds of information.

Furthermore, they have the right to adjust regulations

or to create new ones. They communicate and interact through

regulations, laws, resolutions and announcements, which can be

either in text, maps or illustrated format.

LOCALS

Locals can be all kinds of residents, citizens, business owners

or service providers, who live and work in the AMA and have an

interest in the data, want to influence or be involved in the process

or want to benefit from the platform. This user group is one

of the most important groups, as they can evaluate, proof and

comment best on the provided information, as they are directly or

indirectly affected by it. Their insights, opinions and involvements

in the process can generate further successful developments.

Locals can use the platform to get informed, to interact through a

forum, exchange or communicate with the other users and check

the frequency of locations. Moreover, they can use the platform

to promote themselves, their concerns, and their ideas. They are

offering their data, their location if wanted and giving feedback on

the provided information. Locals interact on the platform mainly

in text format, and the points they place on the base maps (manually,

or automatically).

PLANNING CONSULTANTS

This stakeholder group can be all kinds of planners, that are involved

in the planning development of the region and it’s related

studies. So far, we have identified regional, municipal, city, urban,

and academic planners or researchers that may have an

interest. This user group can in the long run be integrated as

hosts and providers of the platform through partnerships.

Planners can consume data from the platform in order to produce

evaluations and studies of their own, or make data-driven

decisions in designing spaces of the city. The planner mainly interacts,

guides and interconnects through the platform in form of

illustrations, maps and text. They can evaluate opinions, identify

strengths and weaknesses, implement new strategies, or rethink

existing ones. Further, they can be called on as experts during

workshop organisations and implementations.

ORGANISATIONS

Organisations can be different initiatives, (research) associations,

NGOs, real estate companies or universities, that have an

interest in the provided data or want to be involved in the process.

This can also be private or public based. The organisation

can be either consumer or a producer, depending on its role.

Moreover, they can also provide their data on the platform, adjust

their program, can help to evaluate the information, or can serve

as an independent consultant. Nevertheless, this user group

has only limited access to the data, to avoid misunderstandings

and misuse. The organisation can support or function as the independent

party representing either its own or general interest.

They mainly communicate through the platform in text format.

TOURISTS

This user group can be all kinds of visitors, either local, national

or international. Tourists are mainly a consumer of the platform

but act as producers in form of giving feedback. As tourists are

important users of the platform, we also need them to gather

and evaluate their data and to get personal reflections. This

user group shares their information and needs, as well as gives

feedback and communicates with other users. In this way, the

process can be improved constantly by identifying and evaluating

the strengths and weaknesses and real-time data can be

provided. Nevertheless, they have limited access to data, they

can use the platform to get person-based and local information

and advice, as well as to interact and exchange with other users.

As tourism is a major topic and issue in the AMA region; it is

important to involve this target group in the process, to generate

knowledge and to improve the conditions. Moreover, tourists

are commissioned to evaluate the result and to interact in the

forum. They mainly interact on the platform in the form of text

and symbols.

4.3 BPMN

A BPMN is a form to provide a graphical notation for business

processes. It represents complex processes in a comprehensible

notation that is understandable for business and technical

users (commonly used by entrepreneurs, business analysts and

technology developers). In that way, the BPMN is intended to

be used directly by the stakeholders and at the same time precise

enough to be translated into software process components

(OMG, 2021).

The model uses a flowchart path, showing sequence or flows of

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Local (Businesses) (Locoal) Tourists

use Access

use Access

revise (new)

places &

frequency

get informed

about latest

regulations

send location

call for

attention

send location

evaluates

Chain of events

Authorities System

Planning Consultants Organisations

base map is

online

define or

change

regulations &

policies

research on

current issues

define

intervention

background

process input

use

informations

consuming

data

(further

research)

adjust

planning

new layers

foreground

process input

Figure 73. The overall BPMN of 1 case study – Author’s graphics

events. It also works with formalized symbols and paths, acting

as a specific language of its own that is universally understood.

These symbols are categorised into activities, events, gateways

and sequences/flows that can be grouped as one action or process.

The BPMN illustrations created from this project follow the interconnections

used to make the basemap of the platform, through

to the data and evaluations from users, and finally to the implementation

of new policies. we look into how users use the platform,

communicate and interact with each other, as well as exchange

and share knowledge and data. Within our user groups, we

further specified the type of used (eg. Local tourist instead of just

tourist, and a Business for organisation).

4.3.1 GENERAL BPMN

In the BPMN for Amsterdam, which is shown in Figure 73, the

previously stated user groups and several subgroups can participate.

The provided base map, database and exchange is hosted

by planners. Authorities add information about Covid-19 caused

policies and regulations and spread novelties on all scales. Due

to local rules, openings and lockdown-liberalizations are possible

and allow more freedom in the districts. Public instances also

use the communication platform to get an insight into the status

quo of the city which helps them to react and change regulations

and planning. In this way, they are interacting with the planning

entity which defines interventions with the help of gathered information.

These information are provided by (research) organisations,

local businesses and tourists, which include data in the

form of their locations, creative business approaches, research

findings and openings. From this data spatial frequencies are

identified which lead to new usage possibilities with low frequencies.

An exchange and evaluation of experiences between the

user groups is provided due to the evaluation option and comment

function in an interactive forum. With the communication

platform, local opportunities are exchanged and supported, as

well as adhering to regulations. The communication between

municipalities and their inhabitants is strengthened and a tool to

publish and transmit information about spatial actions like master

plans or policies is offered.

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Figure 74. BPMN Authorities – Author’s graphics

4.3.2

AUTHORITIES

BPMN

base map

district 1

rules

rules

rules

rules

rules

rules

Figure 74 shows the interaction between the

Covid-19 communication system, authorities

and the Add-on hosts. It guides through the

process from publishing a base map by the

hosting team to the adding of a new layer

on current incidence values, Covid-19 regulations

and openings. General opening

regulations are published by the authorities

and added to the system. By appending

current Covid-19 incidence values, the Add-

On automatically evaluates on which district

can open and which district has a too high

number of infections to open. If further regulations

are necessary for opened districts,

the authorities have the possibility to decide

on and publish them. All information about

opening possibilities, incidence values and

regulations are added to a new layer and update

all other user groups.

regulation

per m²

opening calculation

infections /

district

district 2

Figure 75. BPMN Authorities, Abstract – Author’s graphics

rules

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Figure 76. BPMN Planning consultants – Author’s graphics

4.3.3 PLANNING

CONSULTANTS

BPMN

In Figure 76, the process between authorities

and planning consultants is visualized.

Authorities add data to the platform in the

form of new decisions that are made. Planning

consultants use this information to adjust

their planning processes. New planning

needs to be reviewed by the authorities

again. If they are approved, the new planning

status is added and published to the communication

platform. Otherwise this process

is repeated until the reviewed plans get confirmed

by the authorities. After an approved

planning process, planning consultants can

draft new interventions and publish them on

a new layer to the platform.

rules

regulation

rules

regulation

?

adjust planning

review planning

Figure 77. BPMN Planning consultants, Abstract – Author’s graphics

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Figure 78. BPMN Organisations – Author’s graphics

4.3.4

new!

ORGANISATIONS

BPMN

rules

rules

rules

rules

rules

rules

The next BPMN outlines the interaction between

research organisations and authorities

(Figure 78). Organisations in general can be

small research companies as well as (international)

universities, but also non-profit-organisations.

By publishing scientific findings

on the platform, authorities can view data

from a new layer and adjust their regulations

based on new research. If new findings correspond

to the current rules and regulations,

no changes are needed. In the case of adoption

to new knowledge, regulations are

adjusted by authorities and newly updated to

a layer in Access.

comment

comment comment

rules

regulation

changes needed?

regulation

?

Figure 79. BPMN Organisations, Abstract – Author’s graphics

rules

regulation

rules

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Figure 80. BPMN Local Business – Author’s graphics

4.3.5 LOCAL

BUSINESS BPMN

The user groups of local businesses are illustrated

in Figure 80. A business owner needs

to adhere to regulations concerning e.g. the

people per sq in their space. By using the

Covid-19 Add On Access, the business

owner can involve her or his available space

and usage in the system. In return, businesses

get informed once the lockdown ends or

their space fulfills the official requirements

to open again. Are the requirements fulfilled,

the owner can open. If not, maybe an adaption

to the exceptional situation is needed and

creative adjustments could lead to a possibility

to open the business again. In this case,

an addition of the layer for open businesses

is done and other people can see the facts

in Access.

rules

x m²

regulation

?

allowed

to open?

yes

no

Figure 81. BPMN Local Business, Abstract – Author’s graphics

adapt

x m²

open

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Figure 82. BPMN Tourist – Author’s graphics

89

4.3.6 LOCAL

TOURIST BPMN

The final BPMN demonstrates the possible

processes a local tourist from the AMA can

undergo (Figure 82). It is useful to e.g. plan

a weekend trip or holidays in uncertain times

like the current Covid-19 crisis. The tourist

can use the Add-On Access to inform about

feasible possibilities to experience new places.

Therefore, the user gets displayed by

current regulations and opening plans to

revise where to go. By gathering frequency

data, low-frequented places are shown and

advertised so that a distribution of people

is guaranteed. While visiting new places or

businesses, the scan of QR codes adds frequency

data into Access and updates the

present circumstances in the public realm.

The tourist can furthermore evaluate the experiences

and leave messages which again

enter the Add-On. This information can then

be useful for the planning entities to adapt

their planning and review the decisions that

were taken. We look into how this process

would work in the storyline case study of

Inga next.

rules

rules

number /

polygon

rules

yes

?

crowded?

no

Figure 83. BPMN Tourist, Abstract – Author’s graphics

x

x

comment

comment

comment

comment

comment

review planning


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INGA

79 YEARS

LIVES IN ALMERE

Figure 84. Inga’s Description – Author’s graphics

4.3.7 CASE STUDY INGA

Inga wants to go on a sunday trip with her two grandchildren

This case study shows a hypothetical use of the platform from

the perspective of the local tourist Inga. Inga is a 79 year old

grandmother from Almere who wants to go on a sunday trip with

her two grandchildren. Due to the Covid-19 situation, she is not

allowed to visit any place she wants, and she’s wary of being in

overcrowded spaces. By using Access Inga tries to find a solution

to still be able to go on a day trip.

After logging into the platform on her mobile, She first checks

on local regulations provided by the public authorities (see: Authorities

BPMN). They use information about incidence values

against populations and available space to evaluate opening options

of local districts. The defined interventions and regulations

are updated regularly and adjusted by the public administrations.

The opening updates are then spreaded through the platform to

reach people like Inga as fast as possible. In this way Inga revises

where she can go and which services are open and offered

by local businesses. Additionally, frequency data gives her an

insight into the abundance of people in different places.

Local businesses like a chocolate fabric, use the Access App as

well. The owner sends a location and checks on her or his own

opportunities regarding business openings in the spatial district.

The transmitted information also provides data on the square

metres of the specific business area, to automatically generate

limits for visitors. In the case a business can not open due to

not fulfilled regulations, the owner has the possibility to instantaneously

receive this information, and is pointed to governmental

representatives and departments to contact on the exceptional

situation.

After reviewing her options in Access, Inga decides to take her

grandchildren to Bijlmermeer to visit the chocolate factory. At the

entrance, she shares her location data through scanning a QR-

Code. This information can directly be seen in the App again.

She and the two kids spend the day in the factory and enjoy

Bijlmermeer. Back home they reflect on their trip and leave an

evaluation in the App.

They liked their tour and the chocolate factory very much and

click ‘thumbs up’ in Access. Unfortunately, they felt uncomfortable

on the streets, as the sidewalks were very narrow. Also

there were very few seating possibilities on the streets and Inga

missed the option to sit down. She comments on this issue on

the App and sees that 578 other people felt the same as her.

After Inga and her grandchildren finished their trip, planning

consultants reviewed the information, regulations and peoples’

evaluation of their experiences (see: planning consultant

BPMN). Analysing the gathered data in Access, they read the

comments of Inga and 578 other people agreeing to her opinion

that the sidewalks in Bijlmermeer are too narrow in Covid-19

times and that there are not enough seating possibilities to rest

in the public realm. The consultants then adjust their planning,

tackling the emerging issues. A creative approach for the Covid-19

times is the extensive use of parking lots as sidewalks

and the set up of new benches. The consultants bring their solution

to the municipalities’ attention and after being reviewed the

new ideas are implemented. The interactive approach through

Access starts again, information can be retrieved, evaluated and

changed again. The next time Inga visits Bijlmermeer, the seating

opportunities have increased. There is enough space for

everyone to walk with distance and Inga is satisfied.

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yes

rules

:(

no

adapt

?

?

?

x m²

allowed

to open?

x m²

rules

:/

regulation

COMMUNICATION

PLATFORM

welcome

WHERE AM I

ALLOWED TO

GO?

CHECKS

FREQUENCY

s

rules

rules

rules

rules

rules

rules

Figure 85. Inga’s sequence of events – Author’s graphics

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open

CHOCOLATE FACTORY

OPPORTUNITY

GOES TO

BIJLMERMER

LOCAL

BUSINESS

WHERE TO

GO?

?

no

SHARE

DATA

crowded?

comment

rules

CHOCOLATE FACTORY

rules

rules

BIJLMERMEER

comment

owded?

no

yes

?

crowded?

no

x

x

comment

comment

comment

comment

x

x

comment

comment

comment

comment

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rules

VISIT

CHOCOLATE

FACTORY

review planning

comment

EVALUATION

comment

BIJLMERMER

PLA

CONS

comment

578 PEOPLE

LIKE IT

comment

):

:)

x

x

comment

comment

comment

comment

SIDEWALKS

TOO NARROW

o

x

x

BIJLMERMEER

comment

comment

comment

comment

EVALUATION

x

x

comment

comment

comment

comment

x

x

comment

comment

comment

comment

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?

adjust planning

rules

regulation

review planning

?

adjust planning

NNING

ULTANT

les

BIJLMERMER

regulation

NEW

DEVELOPMENT

?

VISIT

BIJLMERMER

AGAIN

st planning

NEW DEVELOPMENT

NO SEATING

POSSIBILITIES

review planning

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4.4 LONG TERM

TRANSFORMATIONS

THE PLATFORM PERFORMANCE: LONG-TERM

The design thus far has illustrated a storyline according to one

task carried out. Multiples of such actions would ensure in data

collection over time, providing an overall view of decisions made,

and governmental reactions. While the concept of the platform is

connected to the current crisis, we see the possibility of this to

evolve over time and incorporate other restrictions to daily activity.

This tool is not expected to float on it’s own. Previously, some

hints on possible partners were put forth. In terms of the frequency

counting, this is a useful addition to many businesses and

organisations. In particular, Iamsterdam.com - a city and governmental

based website - is one of the first partners we see ourselves

approaching. The two sided benefit of these partnerships is

the advertising and testing our product on established structures,

while aiding Iamsterdam in the types of suggestions offered to

people at different times of the day based on crowdedness.

External interactions are necessary, as it would take multiple actors

to really push a AMA-wide change. Thus, the governmental

strategies and approaches need to be integrated into the decisions

taken. As it is governmental employees that are part of our

user groups, we provide them with informed and current ideas

to spaces.

The evaluations provided (through newsletters, publications and

visualisations on the platform) is a way to keep users informed

of what is happening in the AMA. Furthermore, cross-municipal

awareness is fostered, as they are able to see what projects are

taken on in different areas, what datasets helped activate them,

and how it relates to their own municipal space. This is done with

transparencies in hopes that joint projects would emerge easily.

On the other hand, bottom-up activation is also a long term outcome

of the platform. As not every issue would be handleable

by municipalities, it is up to inhabitants to be aware of the needs

and wants of the communities and provide for the smaller aspects.

For example, a restaurant owner that receives information

that there are no outdoor seating or terraces in the area, may

think of ways you provide such a service outside their business.

Furthermore, locals can come in contact with other organisations

or neighbourhood groups that are providing specific services or

changes through the public forum. Structured participation in the

form of the workshops also attempts to include locals. While, in

the short term, we expect these discussions to be directly related

to the pandemic, in the long run they may open up to all aspects

of change. Additionally, any learning outcome from local’s experiences

during the pandemic can help with planning and handling

future ones.

THE AMA PERFORMANCE: LONG-TERM

In the long-run, through the use of the Access tool as a knowledge

based decision maker, as well as other mechanisms and

policies that need to be enacted, the AMA would slowly open

with a redistributed tourism sector. The concept is that by the

time international tourists are visiting the netherlands, the hot

spots are developed in other areas, and the ease of choice and

movement is seamless within the region. As overcrowdedness

is controlled and dispersed, different scenes would be given the

opportunity to thrive.

This would further empower local tourism, as manageable situations

catered to their needs emerge. It also provides them

with options close to their place of residence. Further, it scatters

the income generated by the tourism sector, which was largely

accumulated in the city of Amsterdam’s centre.

The exploitation of nature would further change in the long run.

The image of Amsterdam has regularly been marketed on its access

to water within the city centre. With the waves of visitors

that travelled to see the canals, such acts have infringed on the

local’s access to these spaces in the pre-covid times. For the

first time in the last decade, the pandemic has allowed locals to

reclaim these spaces (Snijders, 2020). This would be fostered in

the long term to embody sustainable tourism goals as already

set by the OECD and European commission (European Capital

of Smart Tourism, 2020; European Commission, 2020; OECD,

2020).

Finally, the basics of democracy (an element of spatial justice according

to Fainstein (2010)) is used in discussing changes needed.

Inhabitants’ experiences with the regulations set upon them

is voiced. They have accessibility to review regulations and discuss

them as a community. Unintended conflicts due to missing

knowledge can be avoided in this instance, and planning processes

that cause unhealthy scenarios can cease from recurring.

The low threshold approach of such a process, where everyone

can comment and share their daily movements, means that it

is easily accessible to groups of people. The way in which data

is collected would be aimed to make it as easy as possible for

vulnerable groups specifically.

Finally, the outcome of the many products and different layers

coming together would lead to a joint effect of changing the AMA

one bit at a time (Figure 86)

CASE STUDY ZOOM INS:

From our previous attention to 4 case studies in Book 1, we revisited

them with possible foresights on how they might change

in the long-term after the provision of such a platform. These

figures and the images put forth is a utopian outcome to the

Decentralised model.

AMSTERDAM CITY CENTRE: Figure 87 shows a situation in

which the waterfront and centre of the city is not just touristic

(Who are dictated in blue), but also inviting for locals (red). With

local users feeling like they have a place within the areas, it is

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Figure 86. Layers of actions and implementations – Author’s graphics

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buurthuis

hotel

free to rent

Figure 87. Amsterdam Centre Vision – Author’s graphics

Figure 88. Bijlmermeer Vision – Author’s graphics

hotel

graffiti tours

factory

locals arts

Figure 89. Haarlem Vision – Author’s graphics

Figure 90. Almere Vision – Author’s graphics

hoped that many of those that left the city would be incentivised

to move back. Thus, the pressure on housing stock to cater to a

large sum of tourists would be reduced, and so would rent. Distributing

touristic rentals to other districts can lead to an equilibrium

Amsterdam has been searching for.

BIJLMERMEER: Figure 88 Bijlmermeer inhabitants, tourists

and planners are discussing specific locations that could be developed

further according to common comment in the communication

forum. Planners and citizens can use easily accessible

statistics on satisfaction levels according to different groups, and

find ways to enact change based on these data sets.

Haarlem: Haarlem, a well connected sea-side city, is able to cater

for the many local tourists who are looking for nearby areas

of rest and fun. They revamp their touristic approach by showing

local-based arts and history (Figure 89). The use frequency rates

and the personalised hotspot findings to figure out which kind of

trips locals look for in Haarlem, and how far they are willing to drive

to receive them. Easy and sustainable transportation routes

are implemented.

ALMERE: Almere’s new developments are commented on and

scrutinised by locals and visitors. Newer developments to come

are changed according to these findings, and accesses to public

realms that were once unclear and refurbished to fit the needs.

The tourists find themselves looking at a modern approach to

organising public space, and architects take day trips there to

see what “new AMA planning” looks like (Figure 90).

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5. CONCLUSION

This study set out with the aim of finding alternative models built

on foundations of spatial justice theories, that fit crisis and pandemic

scenarios. It further tests out a possible tool that can be

deployed for the desired outcome as time progresses, and act as

a communication platform. The focus was set on the AMA, and

a tailored outlook was handled for this region. The larger and

global finding is the process described in this study; where crisis

management is an iterative approach. Development and changes

are ongoing and evolving amid catastrophes and therefore

need a flexible guiding model.

The model creation segment of Book 1, was heavily influenced

by the “Sights” put forth in Fuerth’s writings on anticipatory governance

(Fuerth, 2009). Looking at the organisational structures,

policy-making bodies and visions instated by them [Top

sight]; assessing our purposes and theories of spatial justice [Insight],

becoming aware of past forces that may affect the future

[Hindsight]; integrating these streams of knowledge to estimate

possible outcomes [Foresight] and finally envisioning a best-case

scenario image of the future and how to get there from what

is known [Vision].

The process incorporated academic writings, geo placed and

open-sourced data, own calculations, governmental reports, and

news sources. The steps taken within this project’s process are

also explained in the title of this book:

• Rethink the existing handling of the COVID-19 crisis and

the imbalance and injustices it has highlighted (such as increasing

unemployment, unaffordable rents, and previous

overtoursim). Finding what aspects to keep, like reduction in

crowdedness, and which ones to change.

• Restart the cities, with informed and reflective decisions

that are done with multiple actors‘ participation. Using the

current point-zero to enact new developments that benefit

those living in the region and cater to their needs first, in

stead of outsider tourists who are no longer in the area.

• Recover as soon as possible in small steps that may grow

into big ones, or collectively create a shift in the area over

time. using interrelated planning and constantly introducing

new data to refresh and evaluate steps being taken. Allow

room for bottom-up creations to emerge through reestablishing

communications that have so far been lost. We propose

the Access app as the collector and distributor of data

and networking.

• Resilient to future crises by achieving a more just and sustainable

base, through tackling issues identified in earlier

steps. Being able to change and evolve as necessary according

to crises by emphasizing the “public good” instead

of economics and monetary gain. Learning from the ill-preparedness

of today for tomorrow. This is done by strengthening

the communication and response time between

municipalities and their constituents, as well as inter-municipality

networks, and always looking out for what is just.

The AMA is intricate, complex and large. A dominating conversation

for this area, as regularly reminded by this report, is the role

the tourism sector plays, and the direction it should be led to.

When applying the process proposed to another area, the regional

dominating issue in that location would be taken in its place.

The study further compiles and assesses a range of issues experienced,

and the effect it plays on the built environment and

city lifestyles. With no international tourism sector left due to the

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pandemic, it is a unique basis for rethinking the former situation.

AMA should not revert to its old status - but to a more just and

sustainable future. In that sense, our approach can be traced

back to the three principles of spatial justice (Fainstein, 2010)

Diversity, as the harmonious existence and mix of people, services

and places, is strengthened by the redistribution of tourists

within the AMA. By providing attractive alternatives to well-known

touristic places in the city centre, tourists stay longer and visit different

places than before. By measuring frequencies, locals can

use the public realm in low frequency-times. This measurement

system can also be useful for the reaction on possible future

pandemics. By using statistics of the utilised capacity of spaces,

planners can react faster on empowering areas that need special

attention.

Access integrates users‘ experiences and opinions into the

planning process. Being accessible to everyone strengthens the

basis of democracy. Multi-actor input into new regulations and

growth are identified within this project as an important factor for

a fair and quick recovery. However, with the spatial distancing

that is recommended, and with an ongoing digitalization, traditional

in-person tools are redundant. Therefore online forms of

democracy are reached towards.

Democracy is achieved by representing people‘s voices in space

and planning. Local businesses are represented e.g. through

an ‘open businesses’ layer in the system and in this way not

only gain attention but also create a broader interaction between

themselves and the inhabitants, tourists, public organisations

and authorities. The factor democracy is furthermore strengthened

by a now possible closer division of regulations on the local

level. Local regulations strengthen acceptance and precision of

them, especially in the Covid-19 crisis. By scaling down, the ability

of inhabitants to be represented is more correct and fairly raised.

Additionally, also vice versa the bigger scale is approached

as Amsterdam is our focal point in the European context and

an exemplary city with overtourism threats. In its larger position

in Europe, Amsterdam and the developments initiated through

Access can also serve as a good practice example in Europe.

Equity, as the fair share of allocation of resources to citizens,

is strengthened by redistributing public spaces through showing

alternatives. Providing an interactive open database makes unknown

spaces accessible to more people. Frequency gathering in

connection to a spatial component in form of a map base not only

helps a necessary redistribution of people in Covid-19 times,

but it also allows the visualization of unjust allocation of public

resources and their evaluation (e.g. green spaces, educational

institutions, etc).

In the sense of strengthening the mentioned factors, Access is

a tool, which serves a wider transformative goal of spatial justice.

It allows a reduction of pressure on the housing market by

fostering redistribution of touristic sights and apartments. This

is a small step in achieving the long-term goal of increasing socio-economic

status.

We find that this topic of reflecting on how to police a pandemic,

and how to start to get out of it, is a worldwide issue that will be

tackled in the upcoming years. There are ongoing discussions

on the pandemic and its effect on inhabitant’s lives. Our approach

with tourism at the forefront can also be applied to many

other cities on the European scale.

Finally, this study and the second book in particular use an online

platform as a solution. However, such an app is not an overall solution,

but part of a general vision towards a new urban paradigm

(with sustainability and justice as the main goal) enabled through

exceptional circumstances of the Covid-19 crisis. Thus, there is

room for developing more tools and tactics of change.

5.1 OPEN QUESTIONS

The model we created acts as a guide for future projects within

the area to take into account. The creation of the platform was

a way to evaluate the model teachings. As the model is the first

version of it’s kind, there is a need for expanding the findings and

having more concrete statements, so that it is more universally

understood.

While the process may be adapted to multiple scenarios, there

is a need for governance systems to be in place. Clear paths of

responsibilities and decision making are key in the fast-paced

response time needed during crises.

Furthermore, the scale in which one can “zoom-out” with this model

has not been experimented on in this region. In the case of

AMA, it happens that tourism has been regularly highlighted and

studied. However, when looking at a national level, other pressing

issues may exist in one region, and not in another. Thus,

more studies on how to adapt the model, process and platform

to different scales could be assessed further.

Currently, the AMA is pulling many large businesses and corporations

once more as Brexit looms. Economic and monetary

measurements of growth are therefore likely to be back, raising

the question of what effect will this have on tourism, housing and

socioeconomic status.

The platform proposed is dependent on interaction to work. Basic

data to start up and make initial analysis was done through

open-access sources. In using the internet to generate findings,

and attracting people online, there are many limitations and

questions to this. How do we evaluate our data and be sure of

its accuracy? How to incorporate non-tech-savvy users? What

restrictions should be set in place for users, and what information

is sensitive and needs to be protected.

There is room for unequal and skewed data to rise when one

district becomes more adaptive to the platform, and another not.

Such imbalances are existent in geographic cyberspaces; with

examples of the metropolitan region of Tokyo having three times

the amount of placemaking data than the entirety of the continent

of Africa (Graham and Zook, 2011).

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Further, data privacy has been at the forefront of the Covid-19

situations, with countries using facial recognition and infringing

on citizen’s privacies in the name of the pandemic. Certain populations,

like surveyed South Korea, are more accepting of

mass surveillance (Moon, 2020), while others are not. We need

to “read the room” as to what is acceptable by Netherland standards

legally and socially.

5.2 SELF REFLECTIONS

ON GROUP WORK

Due to the current pandemic, this semester was very challenging

for everyone. Especially, as the project was only based on virtual

meetings. This might be stressful for group work, as personal

interaction is not possible. The limited interaction and exchange

of information makes the success depend on the communication

and flexibility of the team members. Still it was probably the best

coworking team, during our studies, as the group composition

flowed seamlessly. Nevertheless, all team members had issues

in these pandemic times, different timetables and courses, internet

and technology problems… etc. However, everyone was

reachable, open and accessible for discussion, meetings, brainstorming

or help. By using everyone’s strengths, we were also

able to participate in an independent competition and create a

comprehensive result on short notice (see our proposal with the

same title for an MIT Lab competition on www.pandemicresponsecolab.org).

significant findings.

Ultimately, we went through a learning period of trial and error

and regular support from the course supervisors to reach presentable

maps and diagrams.

STRUGGLES

Due to the ongoing pandemic, visits to the locations we studied

were not possible. We were unable to get a personal impression

or use others on the ground impressions. Instead, all information

gathered in this study is second hand and only analysed

according to different variables. While the impersonality of it all

might help stay objective, in some areas we feel we would have

been able to get a more in-depth view in person. In the end, this

project can also show the kind of digital footprint the AMA region

has presented itself in.

The scope of the project was quite ambitious given the time. The

workload itself was more than we were used to in other semesters,

and time management was of the essence. Quite quickly

we had to organise schedules and self-made deadlines to achieve

our goals and examine our research question. However, with

all other courses of the semester and the pandemic situation, it

was at times quite stressful.

ON SUPERVISION/COURSE IN GENERAL

This extensive project with new topics and scales of the planning

perspective and integration of technical knowledge was very

challenging. The interaction, flexibility, communication and guidance

of the supervisors had been very helpful and productive.

We had a balance of technical to theoretical backing, which we

think is visible in the two books. The fact that we could create two

extensive projects - one on AMA and making a model for it, and

one on creating a tool that tests the limits of our model - speaks

for itself.

DATA GATHERING ISSUES

As we never worked in previous projects with such detailed and

sensitive data (or in processing data in general), it was a challenge

to get used to it and learn to use the software necessary

to evaluate them. However, we think that this helped us in understanding

what “low-threshold” should act like/incorporate when

expecting evaluations to be easily made for the public.

Partial information could be gathered as well, as some critical

ones were private and therefore needed to be paid for, or did

not have an extensive timeline/sufficient input that could produce

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6. APPENDIX

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS:

AMA - Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

BPMN - Business Process Model and Notation

GFC - Great/global financial crisis of 2008

HORECA - Hotel/Restaurant/Café (Food services & Hotel Industries)

NL - Netherlands

WOZ - Wet Waardering Onroerende Zaken (Property Valuation Act)

LIST OF APPENDIX:

Appendix 1. The City in Balance, Goals and Measures (City of Amsterdam, 2019a)

Appendix 2. Unemployment rate % of 2008. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Appendix 3. Non-western populations 2019. Data: Regiomonitor. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Appendix 4. Non-western populations 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Appendix 5. Western populations 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Appendix 6. Western populations 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Appendix 7. Housing stock composition from 2013 to 2019 (Hochstenbach et al. 2020).

Appendix 8. High WOZ in 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Appendix 9. High WOZ in 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Appendix 10. Middle WOZ in 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Appendix 11. Middle WOZ in 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Appendix 12. Low WOZ in 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Appendix 13. Low WOZ in 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

LIST OF FIGURES:

Figure 1. Studied themes within the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region

Figure 2. Topics Concept – Author’s graphics.

Figure 3. Spatial justice concept, content analysis, and interconnections – Author’s graphics.

Figure 4. Protests in 3 cities of the AMA. Taken from google search results of 2016 to 2020. Categorised into 6 themes of Urban

space, Economic, Tourism, COVID-19, Pollution/Climate, and Society. [data collected 11.2020] – Author’s graphic.

Figure 5. Methodology Scheme – Author’s graphics.

Figure 6. The AMA subregions. Data: (www.openstreetmaps.org) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 7. Urban structures. Data: (www.openstreetmaps.org) – Author’s graphics.

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Figure 8. Mobility and Connectivity. Data: (www.openstreetmaps.org) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 9. Amsterdam Doughnut Model by Kate Raworth. (Amsterdam.nl, 2020)

Figure 10. Circular Economy Concept of Amsterdam (Amsterdam.nl, 2020)

Figure 11. Visionary elements topics analysis according to 4 common themes of Development, Climate, Social and Policy; that are

present (to some degree) in all models. – Author’s graphics.

Figure 12. Visionary Elements tasks distributed according to the thematic topics of this report (Socioeconomic statuses, Tourism,

COVID-19, and Housing) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 13. Population Density (2020). Data: (www.citypopulation.de/en/netherlands/admin/NL32__noord_holland) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 14. Population growth since (2001)- Data: (www.citypopulation.de/en/netherlands/admin/NL32__noord_holland) – Author’s

graphics.

Figure 15. Migration out of Amsterdam. Data: ( https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2017/45/amsterdam-is-expanding-mainly-due-to-immigration)

Figure 16. Ethnic population distribution. Data: (https://regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com/) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 17. Foreign Migration. Data: ( https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2017/45/amsterdam-is-expanding-mainly-due-to-immigration)

Figure 18. Net domestic migration. Data: ( https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2017/45/amsterdam-is-expanding-mainly-due-to-immigration)

Figure 19. Welfare recipients and housing associations in 2017. Data: (maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) & Regiomonitor 2020 –

Author’s graphics.

Figure 20. Single household statistics of 2010. Data: Regiomonitor 2020 – Author’s graphics.

Figure 21. Single household statistics of 2018. Data: Regiomonitor 2020 – Author’s graphics.

Figure 22. Income distribution by household composition in 2018. Data: CBS Nederlands (www.cbs.nl/en-gb/visualisations/income-distribution)

2019.

Figure 23. Income distribution by housing situation in 2018. Data: CBS Nederlands (www.cbs.nl/en-gb/visualisations/income-distribution)

2019.

Figure 24. Unemployment development of 1991 to 2012 (Statistics Netherlands, edited by Buitelaar et al. 2016).

Figure 25. Rent liberalized housing constructions statistics from 2000 to 2017 (Van der Malen 2018)

Figure 26. Ownership types and distribution 2010. Data: (www.amsterdam.nl/en/housing/rental-prices/) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 27. Ownership types and distribution 2017. Data: (www.amsterdam.nl/en/housing/rental-prices/) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 28. Rent regulation types – Author’s graphics.

Figure 29. Housing association percentage of all houses. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 30. Construction dates of housing associations. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 31. Construction dates of housing association and amount in Amsterdam, Almere, and Haarlem. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata)

– Author’s graphics.

Figure 32. Construction dates of buildings in Bijlmermeer (1). Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 33. Construction dates of buildings in Bijlmermeer (2). Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 34. Construction dates of buildings in Amsterdam city centre. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s

graphics.

Figure 35. Construction dates of buildings in Haarlem. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 36. Construction dates of buildings in Ijburg. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 37. Construction dates of buildings in Slotermeer. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 38. Housing associations built per decade since 1900 to 2020. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl/open_geodata) – Author’s

graphics.

Figure 39. Low WOZ development 2010 – 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 40. Middle WOZ development 2010 to 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 41. High WOZ development 2019 to 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 42. Rent affordability survey – internationals. (Stitching ICAP and In Amsterdam, 2017)

Figure 43. Willingness to pay survey – internationals. (Stitching ICAP and In Amsterdam, 2017)

Figure 44. Tourism distribution sector. Data: (https://data.overheid.nl/dataset/yqu-eenokrruog)

Figure 45. Distribution of people working in HORECA. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 46. attraction, accommodation & supply distribution. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 47. Hotel Accommodation density. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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Figure 48. Increase of Overnight stays in the AMA. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

Figure 49. Deconstruction until 2012 (Verlaan and Loerakker, 2014)

Figure 50. New constructions of 1992 until 2012 (Verlaan and Loerakker, 2014)

Figure 51. New developments (Verlaan and Loerakker, 2014)

Figure 52. Job dristibutions (Gemeente Amstedam, 2017)

Figure 53. Almere growth. Data: (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek 2006).

Figure 54. COVID-19 Vaccines rollout in 7 north western EU countries. (Our wold in data, 2020)

Figure 55. COVID-19 Vaccines rollout in 7 North Wester EU countries - Weekly average. (Our wold in data, 2020)

Figure 56. COVID-19 cases comparisons of France, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. (Our wold in data (2020))

Figure 57. North Holland steps of opening. (International Welcome Centre North (IWCN), 2020)

Figure 58. Access to open public spaces (parks, playgrounds, benches, and gardens). Data: (www. maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.

geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

Figure 59. Stage 1 - activity nodes. Data: (www. maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

Figure 60. Stage 2 - activity nodes. Data: (www. maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

Figure 61. Stage 3 - activity nodes. Data: (www. maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

Figure 62. Stage 4 - activity nodes. Data: (www. maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

Figure 63. Stage 5 - activity nodes. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl) & (www.geofabrik.de)) – Author’s graphics

Figure 64. A Spatial SWOT plan based on analysis findings – Author’s graphics

Figure 65. Spatial situations of the AMA. Data: (www.maps.amsterdam.nl), Regiomonitor & (www.geofabrik.de) – Author’s graphics

Figure 66. Concept – Author’s graphics

Figure 67. Decentralised Model – Author’s graphic

Figure 68. Vision – Author’s graphics

Figure 69. The platform process – Author’s graphics

Figure 70. Access – components – Author’s graphics

Figure 71. How Access performs over time – Author’s graphics

Figure 72. Users of the platform – Author’s graphics

Figure 73. The overall BPMN of 1 case study – Author’s graphics

Figure 74. BPMN Authorities – Author’s graphics

Figure 75. BPMN Authorities, Abstract – Author’s graphics

Figure 76. BPMN Planning consultants – Author’s graphics

Figure 77. BPMN Planning consultants, Abstract – Author’s graphics

Figure 78. BPMN Organisations – Author’s graphics

Figure 79. BPMN Organisations, Abstract – Author’s graphics

Figure 80. BPMN Local Business – Author’s graphics

Figure 81. BPMN Local Business, Abstract – Author’s graphics

Figure 82. BPMN Tourist – Author’s graphics

Figure 83. BPMN Tourist, Abstract – Author’s graphics

Figure 84. Inga’s Description – Author’s graphics

Figure 85. Inga’s sequence of events – Author’s graphics

Figure 86. Layers of actions and implementations – Author’s graphics

Figure 87. Amsterdam Centre Vision – Author’s graphics

Figure 88. Bijlmermeer Vision – Author’s graphics

Figure 89. Haarlem Vision – Author’s graphics

Figure 90. Almere Vision – Author’s graphics

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CITY IN BALANCE

Less nuisance

Set boundaries and enforce them

Improve follow up on reports of nuisance

Better financial balance

in visitor economy

Fairer charge for using the city as a place

to visit and for recreation

Cleaner streets

Reduce nuisance on and around the water

Communication campaigns

Attractive mixed-use

development

Create a more diverse range of facilities

Restrict growth of range of overnight

accommodation options

Upgrade range of overnight accommodation

More space on the street

and on the canals

Reduce crowds in public spaces

Towards a new

equilibrium

between quality

of life and

hospitality

Sustainable recreation

and facilities

Make transport more sustainable

Make leisure facilities sustainable

Dispersing visitors

Move crowd-pullers to peripheral locations

Entice visitors to less busy areas

Regulate festivals

Extend green spaces

Amsterdam as a low-traffic zone

Reduce numbers of coaches and lorries

Reduce nuisance caused by taxis

Combat overcrowding

Reduce the amount of entertainment transport

City in Balance

Goals and measures

Appendix 1. The City in Balance, Goals and Measures (City of Amsterdam, 2019a)

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UNEMPLOYMENT RATE % IN 2008

Appendix 2. Unemployment rate % of 2008. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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NON-WESTERN POPULATIONS IN 2019

Appendix 3. Non-western populations 2019. Data: Regiomonitor. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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NON-WESTERN POPULATIONS IN 2010

Appendix 4. Non-western populations 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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WESTERN POPULATIONS IN 2017

Appendix 5. Western populations 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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WESTERN POPULATIONS IN 2010

Appendix 6. Western populations 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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HOUSING STOCK COMPOSITION FROM 2013 TO 2019

Appendix 7. Housing stock composition from 2013 to 2019 (Hochstenbach et al. 2020).

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HIGH WOZ IN 2010

Appendix 8. High WOZ in 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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HIGH WOZ IN 2017

Appendix 9. High WOZ in 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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MIDDLE WOZ IN 2010

Appendix 10. Middle WOZ in 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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MIDDLE WOZ IN 2017

Appendix 11. Middle WOZ in 2017. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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LOW WOZ IN 2010

Appendix 12. Low WOZ in 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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LOW WOZ IN 2017

Appendix 12. Low WOZ in 2010. Data: (www.regiomonitor-uva.i-mapping.com) – Author’s graphics.

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131


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AUTHOR´S

BIOGRAPHY

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Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

B.Sc. Amal Al Balushi

Amal al Balushi is a Candidate for the European Masters: Transforming

City Regions at RWTH-Aachen University in Germany.

Previous to this, she had completed her bachelors in The German

University of Technology (a sister university of RWTH-Aachen)

in her native country of Oman, where she studied Urban

Planning and Architectural Design.

She has authored papers while working as a researcher for GUtech;

in which she has compiled research on improving walkability

in Arabian cities, with a focus on female pedestrians and the

cultural perspective on this (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-

1643-3383). Her later work included community activation schemes

and collaborative designs, including the creation of a city

game that was deployed in 11 neighbourhoods of Muscat. Her

work has come alive in the real world, with the first of the gaming

results and design changes to be implemented by the Muscat

Municipality in the neighbourhood of Al Hail by 2022 (pre-corona

estimates). She is currently involved in research projects with

the Muscat Municipality, aiming at changing policies and the built

environment, and includes participation in the planning process.

Amal has a keen interest in professionally developing proficiency

in the field of social urbanism and architecture

B.Sc. Eva Hoppmanns

Eva Hoppmanns studies the European Master of Transforming

City Regions at the RWTH Aachen University since 2019. Having

studied architecture at the RWTH Aachen and the Escuela

Técnica Superior de Arquitectura in Granada, Spain, she worked

as an intern at Jan Wiese Architekten in Berlin. Eva gained

further experiences in urban planning and architecture with internships

at Heinz Jahnen Pflüger and Glashaus Architekten in

Aachen. During her studies, she worked as a student assistant

at the Chair of Building Construction of the faculty of architecture

and is currently working as a research assistant at the Chair and

Institute of Urban Design and European Urbanism.

133


Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

M.Sc. RWTH Vanessa

Kucharski

After graduating from the A-levels in art and design, Vanessa

Kucharski studied Architecture at the Georg-Simon-Ohm Technische

Hochschule Nuremberg, with a focus on building construction.

While her bachelor‘s, she attended an interdisciplinary

summer school in Luzern, dealing with urban transformation in

Switzerland. Due to the Erasmus program, Vanessa Kucharski

studied for one semester at the Yeni Yüzil Universitesi, Istanbul

focussing on community planning. In 2019 she graduated with

her Master‘s in Architecture at the RWTH Aachen University. After

a three-month stay in Latin America, she started her Master‘s

in Transforming City Regions at the RWTH Aachen up till now.

During her studies, she constantly worked in architecture companies.

In Nuremberg, she was working for PB Consult and focused

on the infrastructural network by animating and investigating

traffic behaviour. Furthermore, she was working for Fritsch Knodt

Klug +Partner mbB Architekten, with a focus on historic building

preservation and monumental protection. After her bachelor‘s,

she worked for Architekt Domscheit in Ansbach, where she focused

on inclusion living in urban areas. Starting the masters,

Vanessa Kucharski first did an internship and later on, up till now

working for kadawittfeld Architektur Aachen, where she is supporting

the team in several projects in the competition department

with the focus on urban design.

B.Sc. Lea Schwab

Lea Schwab finished her bachelor degree in architecture at the

RWTH Aachen university in 2018. In her thesis she worked on

the „Incompiuto Siciliano“, never finished concrete buildings in

Italy, which especially shape the existing landscape in Sicily.

Subsequently she worked as an intern for the architecture and

urbanism office Zuloark in Spain from 2019 until 2020, embracing

different tasks including research or design tasks, such as

participation in spatial competitions. She also gained further

experience working in building constructions for the company

Cad Cabin. Finally, Lea is taking part in the Master programme

„Transforming City Regions“ at the Chair and Institute of Urban

Design and European Urbanism at the faculty of architecture at

RWTH Aachen university. As part of her studies, this research

work about the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area was developed by

her and the other authors in her third semester of the master

studies. In the near future Lea will work for a program that advocates

the spatial protection of coastlines in Spain and Chile,

before writing her Master thesis in September 2021.

134


Transforming City Regions

Chair and Institute of Urban Design and European Urbanism

Integrated Project III: Networked urban systems in Europe

RWTH Aachen | WiSem 20/21

Professors/ Supervisors:

Dipl.-Ing. Prof. Christa Reicher

Prof. Dr. Jakob Beetz

Dr. ir. Ceren Sezer

Authors:

B.Sc. Amal Al Balushi

B.Sc. Eva Hoppmanns

M.Sc. RWTH Vanessa Kucharski

B.Sc. Lea Schwab


OPEN

Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

ACCESS

RETHINK

OPEN

EXSISTING PLATFORMS

I AM

RESTART

PLATFORM

AMSTERDAM

IMPLEMTATION

KNOWLEDGE BASE

PLATFORM

ACCESS

welcome

Illustration by Amal Al Balushi, Eva Hoppmanns, Vanessa Kucharski, Lea Schwab

USER

RECOVER

RESILIENT

IN YOUR

POCKET

...

A TOOL TO “START”

We propose an online communication platform

that can also act as an add-on for existing

online websites. There is an urgency for

a participatory engine that can study people’s

choices and activities during different stages

of a lockdown as well as provide a space for

communication and evaluation on the needs

and challenges faced. This problem is identified

through the previous spatial analysis,

and the performance of existing Visionary

Elements (that workshops and participations

have come to a halt).

The goals are activating the local individual to

increase their confidence of choices by providing

them with alternatives. Simultaneously,

it provides municipalities and authorities

with data on spaces that are used by locals

throughout the time of a crisis. We argue that

in tackling the spatial needs during a pandemic,

we create a basis for alternative spaces

to activate in the long-term towards sustainability,

spatial justice and, in the case of AMA,

redistribution of tourism.

We see a great opportunity for this multi-scale

and integrative process happening on an

online platform. This user-driven approach

was chosen as online dependencies have

been increasing in the Covid-19 times, and

the shift to being more internet efficient has

affected most people’s lives. Furthermore,

in person workshops and meetings were not

allowed for a majority of time throughout this

crisis.

Amsterdam already has many existing platforms,

like I Amsterdam, that we assess as

inadequate for current conditions nor influencing

the built and open spaces directly. They

are also not integrative amongst different

groups of users. Indications of this are the

fact that they are advertised more for international

tourists, and they do not have a detailed

view of how Covid-19 affects people’s

movements and accessibility. Data is held

within individual platforms and not shared

between planners, municipalities and public

organizations.

136



Rethink. Restart. Recover. Resilient.

WHAT DOES IT OFFER?

• AN INTERACTIVE BASEMAP

• REAL-TIME FREQUENCIES

possible through:

• locational datas

• Gate counts

• QR-code sign in

I AMSTERDAM

ACCESS

EXSISTING PLATFORMS

ACCESS

welcome

• ALTERNATIVE LAYERS

• COVID REGULATIONS UPDATEST

• PERSONALISED HOTSPOTS

• COMMUNICATION FORUMS

LOCAL

REGULATION

NEW

MASTERPLAN

4 grounds:

• Rating

• The public forum

• Workshops

• DATA CENTRE

• NEWSLETTERS, PUBLICATIONS AND

EVALUATIONS

include:

• Where are people going

• What is being used

• What ongoing projects exist - and

which databases do they relate to

• How have residents rated different

areas

• What discussions are popular,

which online workshops are ongoing

and what projects are underway,

and which are coming soon or in discussion.

FEATURES

frequency

measuring

showing

alternatives

to go

LOCALS

real-time data

accessability

of open/ green

spaces

promoting lockdown

tourism

providing data

on COVID19

infections

information of

current status/

regulation

SHORT-TERM

MUNICIPALITY

local COVID19

restrictions

Presenting

step program/

district

receiving

information

INTER-MUNICIPAL

COMMUNICATION

masterplans

based on

frequency data

improvement of

open spaces

communication

with other

municipalities

LONG-TERM

Information

of protest

redestribution of

tourism

SUSTAINABLE +

LOCAL TOURISM

no more

overtourism

promotion

of events +

festivals

local tourism

frequency

measuring

137

Illustration by Amal Al Balushi, Eva Hoppmanns, Vanessa Kucharski, Lea Schwab



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