As cities’ populations around the world grow, so do various urban issues, including waste management, smart urban mobility, urban energy, climate resilience, metropolitan food systems, responsible urban digitisation, and circularity in urban regions. Each sector presents its own unique challenges stemming from our linear ‘take-make-waste’ modality, that, if not addressed, will continue to contribute to climate breakdown and a wider array of environmental issues in cities. 

The Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Studies was formed, bringing together engineers, urban planners, designers and natural and social scientists to develop solutions for metropolitan issues and challenges. This is done through three main spheres: education, research and valorisation, and data development and dissemination. Findings are implemented throughout a number of sectors, namely energy, waste, water, food and data and mobility. The city of Amsterdam is used as a ‘living lab’ to develop and test solutions, which can then be scaled and applied to other metropolitan areas around the globe. 

The institute has developed several projects since its founding, including ‘Project Roboat’ on smart urban mobility and ‘3D Printing in the Circular City’. The former is a major research programme on autonomous boats, which would transport goods and people through Amsterdam’s canals using environmental sensing. Full-scale prototypes are in the works, which (if launched) would ‘improve the control system for autonomous navigation in urban environments’—and what’s more, the boats could theoretically be used to clear waste from the canals. The latter project explores the possibility of reducing municipal solid waste volumes from households through large-scale 3D printing, thereby extending the usage of recycled plastics. This is part of a greater programme to develop and scale the ‘circular cities’ concept.