Floating City IJmeer: Accelerator for Delta Technology

Climate change, sea level rise, population growth and ongoing urbanization result in higher vulnerability of the Rhine delta because it will result in increased flooding frequency, increasing investments and increased use of water, energy and other resources. The Rhine Delta also faces strong competition from thriving economies such as China and India. After agriculture and industry, services are moving away to low cost countries as well. Conventional urbanization increases flood risk. This study presents a more self-supporting, non risk increasing concept of urbanization in the Almere-Amsterdam region, that will contribute to further economic and technological development of the Rhine Delta. This transition experiment aims to learn and build experience with non risk increasing modes of urbanization in order to contribute to the societal change to a sustainable Rhine delta. It uses local water and energy resources instead of external resources only. Moreover, its addition to housing capacity does not result in an equal addition to economic damage in case of flooding. The floating city is an accelerator for delta technology; it offers a testing ground for pilots of new water, energy and floating technology. It will enhance knowledge based activities in the Amsterdam-Almere region, a unique area with high economic potential. The testing ground in this region will attract knowledge intensive hi-tech companies as well as highly educated knowledge workers. The development of the floating city is combined with large scale wetland development in the IJmeer to create an ecological improvement. Moreover, Floating City IJmeer contributes to reducing regional mobility and housing problems and anticipates on an expected increased demand for water recreation. The transition management governance model is used to place the floating city in a broader perspective and offers guidance on turning this concept into reality.