city night

City-Zen project shows European cities the way

19 mei 2017

4 minuten

Casus Steden volledig laten draaien op schone energie mag dan technisch haalbaar zijn, vanuit een organisatorisch en economisch oogpunt is het erg moeilijk. Het EU-project City-Zen probeert mensen warm te maken voor deze uitdaging. De faculteit Bouwkunde van de TU Delft draagt hieraan bij in de vorm van proefprojecten, serious gaming en Roadshows door Europese steden.

Calculation plays an important role in City-Zen: where does the demand for energy in cities come from and what potential sources of energy are available to meet that demand? If you combine them in a smart way, most questions about sustainability and reducing CO2 emissions can be solved. But everyone needs to play their part. “Realising energy-neutral cities is not a technological problem, but a social and institutional one”, says TU Delft Project leader Andy van den Dobbelsteen (Professor of Climate Design & Sustainability). “The best thing you can do about that is to give examples that show what is possible.” 

In his view, inspiring examples include the heating network in the cycling city of Copenhagen, Vancouver's master plan for improving sustainability and the closed-loop ecological recycling in Stockholm. With twenty practical projects, City-Zen intends to add Amsterdam and Grenoble to that list. For both key cities in the project, a roadmap is being drawn up for the gradual implementation of the energy transition. 

Roadshow

In the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, Martin even received a local award for a Roadshow held in a deprived neighbourhood close to the harbour. Activities included investigating how the neighbourhood can become more closely involved with the vibrant cruise marina. Both could benefit from recycling opportunities and waste-water treatment in the neighbourhood. The Roadshow also looked at the opportunities for energy conservation, 'greening' and the introduction of sustainable personal transport, possibly powered by hydrogen.
Serious games bring the programme to life for citizens, politicians and businesses. A special digital game shows how innovative ideas work in practice. Van den Dobbelsteen: “This gives all stakeholders an idea of the complex considerations at play in the process of increasing sustainability, thereby simplifying decision-making. Energy transition is not simply one-way traffic imposed by government.” City-Zen has also developed a special app for this. 
City-Zen was initially a four-year programme, but it is almost certain that the project, together with the Roadshows, will be extended by at least nine months until the end of 2019. The EU is highly impressed by the project. This month, the Roadshow is spending a month in Menorca, following previous visits to Belfast (Northern Ireland), Izmir (Turkey) and Dubrovnik (Croatia). Upcoming Roadshows already programmed include Seville (Spain), Roeselare (Belgium) and Klaipeda (Lithuania).

City-Zen is a major international project in which the EU has invested € 22 million as part of the Seventh Framework Programme. The ambitions are high: City-Zen innovations are intended to result in a reduction in CO2 emissions of 59,000 tonnes per year and future-proof infrastructure.

In the section of the programme on knowledge dissemination, the Faculty of Architecture and the Built environment is making major progress. Delft is developing energy plans, with an accompanying toolbox, and organising Roadshows in 10 European cities. For this a team from TU Delft and other academic partners spend five days in a city looking to collaborate with local authorities, citizens and market players. Preparations for the Roadshow are done by a SWAT Studio – an MSc3-studio from the Building Technology programme. In the intensive workshops, plans are drawn up for the energy transition of neighbourhoods in each city. “The main challenge is to find a disadvantaged neighbourhood and open doors there”, explains Craig Martin, Leader of the City-Zen Roadshows. “In cities, everything is about people. They need to start doing things differently.”

This can be quite a challenge in a difficult city district like West Belfast, designed to enable a single military vehicle to seal off roads rapidly and primarily intended for taxi transport. The Roadshow there was based in a community centre and developed ideas for a zero-energy city with enthusiastic residents, entrepreneurs and local politicians. 

You need to look for bespoke measures for each city. For Amsterdam and Grenoble, these are being linked to a roadmap with an action agenda for the far future. In Grenoble, progress has already been made on a smart heating network and smart grids. The Amsterdam roadmap will follow next year. 


Dit item verscheen eerder op tudelft.nl


Cover: ‘city night’



Meest recent

Weekoverzicht donderdag 2 oktober door Gebiedsontwikkeling.nu (bron: Gebiedsontwikkeling.nu)

Dit was de week van de huisjes

Deze week ging het op Gebiedsontwikkeling.nu veel over huisjes. Oude in bestaande wijken, nieuwe in Stockholm (van hout bovendien) en heilige die een rol spelen bij de verkiezingen (en misschien wel omver moeten).

Weekoverzicht

2 oktober 2025

Kanaleneiland Utrecht door Teun van den Ende (bron: Teun van den Ende)

Erfgoed en leefbaarheid: lessen voor de wijkaanpak?

Onderzoeker Teun van den Ende ging in opdracht van de Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed heel Nederland door om het antwoord te vinden op de vraag: welke rol speelt cultureel erfgoed voor de leefbaarheid van een wijk?

Uitgelicht
Onderzoek

2 oktober 2025

Luchtfoto van Sneek, Friesland door Thomas Roell (bron: Shutterstock)

Politieke partijen eensgezind over noodzaak van echte keuzes in het ruimtelijk domein

Tijdens het Nationaal Ruimtelijk Verkiezingsdebat gingen zes aspirant-kamerleden in debat over de grote en urgente opgaven waar Nederland voor staat. Hoe wordt de stilstand op tal van dossiers doorbroken?

Verslag

1 oktober 2025

Uw gastbijdrage op GO.nu: Over gastbijdragen

Uw gastbijdrage op GO.nu

Wij staan open voor bijdragen uit wetenschap en praktijk. Wij moedigen auteurs aan hun kennis en ervaring te delen.

Over gastbijdragen
Uw project toevoegen: Ga naar de GO-Projectenkaart

Uw project toevoegen

Wilt u graag een gebiedsontwikkeling toevoegen aan de GO-projectenkaart? Vul dan via onderstaande link het formulier in.

Ga naar de GO-Projectenkaart
Uw organisatie bij de SKG: Ga naar de SKG-website

Uw organisatie bij de SKG

Uw organisatie aansluiten op het netwerk van de Stichting Kennis Gebiedsontwikkeling? Neem dan contact op.

Ga naar de SKG-website
Uw bijeenkomst in de agenda: Neem contact op

Uw bijeenkomst in de agenda

U kunt uw gebiedsontwikkeling-gerelateerde evenement aankondigen via onze agenda door contact op te nemen met de redactie.

Neem contact op