Healthy Urban Living
Cities around the world are confronted with a rapid growth that challenges traditional models of urbanization and urban governance and poses huge challenges in terms of quality of life and health. Dutch cities rank high among their peers in terms of quality of life, life expectancy, happiness and wellbeing, but the infrastructures that they use have mostly been built single purpose, and according to a central public governance oriented model. Digital innovation renders these infrastructures obsolete. Whether we are speaking off health care, urban mobility, energy or air quality – seams and borders in terms of (digital) infrastructure and data are becoming obsolete. Multiple use, interoperability and scalability are key principles in rethinking and redesigning urban systems.
Not governments, but citizens, social ánd private entrepreneurs shape the city and urban life, with the choices they make every day. Dutch cities are redesigning their excellent infrastructure in order to facilitate inhabitants to create a healthy urban climate by promoting individual choices that further collective goals. They leverage the existing infrastructure and data in order to:
- enhance air quality and the quality of life;
- further the urban health economy;
- promote inclusiveness: a healthy urban climate that that is of added value for all inhabitants;
- create a circular city that by 2030 only uses renewable energies, thereby drastically lowering emission of carbon gasses;
- promote a smart healthy mobility system that hinges on cycling and favors healthy urban life styles hinged on self-management.
Key components are urban platforms that are co-managed in the quadruple helix; a commons based approach, with open innovation partnerships; data self-management by inhabitants; joint trust frameworks; an open and reliable digital infrastructure; and the creation of ecosystems around core social challenges that transcend territorial borders. Our vision is that of a federation of urban platforms; citizen-centric, operated and driven by inhabitants; providing a rich, safe and reliable data-economy that provides an excellent working environment for (social) entrepreneurs seeking to build healthy urban living services.