Editorial: the city
More and more people are living in the city; a global trend that also applies to the Netherlands. Last year the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute calculated that in 2015, 53% of Dutch people already lived in an urban municipality. According to the latest forecasts from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, this trend will continue, presenting the government with many challenges.
It is of course an interesting question: how to keep areas with fal- ling populations liveable for people who are not attracted by magnets like The Hague and Utrecht. This issue of Delft Outlook focuses on the other side of the coin: how can cities cope with growth in times of climate change and energy transition, and how can TU Delft help? Take Amsterdam, for example, where Prof. Andy van den Dobbelsteen’s Climate design & sustainability the roadmap for the development of an energy-neutral capital by 2040. The struggles with the City, energy companies, residents and Historic Building Preservation, make Van den Dobbelsteen the personification of this year’s Dies Natalis theme: Climate Action.
Closer to home, in Overschie, researchers are investiga- ting the metropolitan climate, here by measuring and preventing air pollution from the adjacent A13 motorway. TU Delft alumnus Wouter Plaetinck is now working with a German start-up to prevent particulate pollution by developing alternative transport.
If after reading about these and other metropolitan issues you still haven’t had your fill of 'the city', the free online courses shown on page 18 are a must!
Saskia Bonger,
editor-in-chief
