How do you develop a sustainable city?

Cities are dynamic entities that face great challenges in making and keeping the urban environments of more and more inhabitants sustainable and liveable. What will the city of the future look like?

TNO’s vision on the city of the future primarily involves regarding it as a system that serves its stakeholders, including, in the first place, the people who live in it. The city is a hub of physical, social and ICT networks – a complex system in which interlinked actors form the foundations and where connections are changing all the time. It is important that we gain a better understanding of the complexity of the urban system, with all its dependencies and connections, in order to make it sustainable and future-proof. In other words, learning by doing and safeguarding the lessons we learn.

A sustainable city is seeking to find the right balance
A sustainable, healthy and future-proof city is one that is in balance between competitiveness, climate and the environment. To be truly sustainable and liveable, a city requires a well-functioning network of all urban flows – such as material flows, energy and traffic. Such a network is based on the knowledge and understanding of data and information about the quality and quantity of these flows. After all, each of the city’s flows and processes are interconnected, meaning they all influence one another. That also requires close cooperation and co-creation with all urban actors. A sustainable city is constantly on the move, seeking to find the right balance. In doing so, it taps into its dynamics.

Tools that helps cities to enhance the decision making
TNO offers the city a set of tools and methodologies that helps cities to enhance the decision making and implementation of complex and long term measures in the field of urban planning and mobility and logistics. One tool is a powerful platform to combat the traditional method, called Urban Strategy. This platform offers a complete package to balance the urban sustainable trinity that consists of Urban Planning, Environmental Quality and Transportation. Another tool is a data based CO₂ and Air Quality reduction road mapping methodology, enabling cities to decide, fact-based, what measures to take and when. When to go for Electrical Buses, but also when and how to use Zero emission zones and what to expect from MaaS. A third tool we want to present is our Relevance Filter. This tool enables cities to detect what the effects are of measures at the beginning of implementing these measures compared to all events that take place within the city.

More information
Read more about how you can develop a sustainable city in the TNO paper.