Executive summary In 2014, a large study mapping smart cities in Europe, and environment). 1 conducted on behalf of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (Manville et al., 2014), This smart city is the only one of our selected six whose identified Amsterdam as a leading smart city, along with program covers the whole range of smart city characteristics Barcelona (see Chapter 3), Copenhagen (see Chapter 4), that we identified. ASC is frequently seen as a model for Helsinki, Manchester, and Vienna (see Chapter 7). facilitating bottom-up projects within diverse fields (Manville et al., 2014; Noori et al., 2020). Similar initiatives are now being At that time, Amsterdam had been achieving top position in developed in other cities, and so what now makes Amsterdam various rankings of smart city programs. With the launch of unique are its governance model and inclusive policy. its virtual digital city initiative, De Digitale Stad (DDS), back in 1994, Amsterdam was one of the first cities in Europe to In terms of governance, ASC can be considered a two-tier adopt a smart city strategy. initiative. The first tier (known as the “program level”) came about through the interaction of a limited number of founding Amsterdam’s official smart city program was launched partners. They are responsible for the overall development in 2009. It addressed issues relating to the economy, the of the initiative, as well as for its funding and management. environment, government, mobility, healthcare, waste The second tier is the “project level,” within which additional management, education, and energy. Its flagship project actors interact in order to implement projects. is the Amsterdam Smart City web platform. This project facilitates citizen participation as well as partnerships The first round of the ASC program ran from 2009 until 2011. between public and private sectors. Actors involved in it During this period, sixteen pilot projects were developed. include universities and other types of research institution. The main goal of this first phase was to test both technical solutions and forms of collaboration. Amsterdam exhibits Amsterdam is located in the province of Noord-Holland. different types of resident participation. The governance This large city is the economic capital of the Netherlands. model deployed—whether at program or project level— There are about 875,000 inhabitants within the city itself; is a hybrid that involves a mix of public, private, and civic 1.6 million people live in the urban area, and more than organizations. The relationship between this governance 2.5 million live in the metropolitan area. Amsterdam has and the different typologies of citizen participation at project a population density of 4,500 people per square kilometer, level is interesting because of the level of decentralization: which is considered to be quite high. Immigration has been projects are developed either autonomously by other partners an important historical feature of Amsterdam. In 2005, 48.3 or in collaboration with one of the founding partners. percent of the city’s inhabitants were immigrants. In 2020, 41.1percent of Amsterdam’s population comprised first- The ASC has categorized the projects that have been or second-generation immigrants of non-European origin developed by its partners according to five themes: (excluding Turkey); for residents aged under twenty-one • Living: increasing energy efficiency in residential buildings specifically, that figure stood at 48.5 percent. in order to contribute to a reduction in overall CO2 emissions; Amsterdam Smart City (ASC) has been designed to be • Working: fostering innovative practices within the work walkable, cohesive, and pleasant to live in. Moreover, environment, either through sustainable buildings or Amsterdam is seen as healthy, sustainable, and attractive, through new modes of working; and it has a reputation as an innovative environment. The • Mobility: finding innovative ways to reduce CO emissions2 city has a solid foundation for the digital future, and it is from transport; pursuing its growth potential in order to compete globally. • Public Facilities:improving the sustainability of public Smart city-related initiatives in Amsterdam address a broad services through the implementation of new technologies spectrum of themes that are relevant to all six characteristics or new organizational models; of a smart city (economy, mobility, governance, people, living, • Open Data:making raw data from the City Council and its (1) https://amsterdamsmartcity.com/ (accessed on 19 November 2020). 58 Quélin and Smadja | HEC PARIS | SMART CITIES | The sustainable program of six leading cities | 2021