On May 28th the ULI Netherlands Young Leaders organized their first live online event of the year, an interactive webinar that explored the future of living and working in a smart city development – the Brainport Smart District. Three speakers from different disciplines spoke about this new urban development in Helmond, touching upon the topics of its urban vision, one of the residential projects within the development, as well as an overview of IOT methods and technologies involved with making smart cities come to life.

The first of the three lectures discussed the urban plan of the Brainport Smart District (BSD), its integration within the overall surrounding of Brandevoort as well as the notion of being a community of innovators where technology is set to make a positive impact. As a place built on sustainability, the BSD is to be a self-supported and future-proof community with a flexible urban strategy. Topics included the future of mobility within the district and the meta-layer of data that supports life and exchange in the community. The current development and implementation process of the project was also described, including quality control processes and the application stages for stakeholders and businesses who wish to get involved with the project. As an agile development that learns and adapts by doing, the BSD holds a bright and exciting future ahead as a pioneering development of its kind in the Netherlands.

The following lecture focused the 100 Homes Living Lab – the first self-learning living environment in the Netherlands. With informed consent and data ownership at the very heart of the project, the 100 Houses are to accommodate a cross-section of Dutch society within various types of housing models. These aim at a higher life quality and mitigating the amount of income dedicated to basic facilities by means of data use. A Data Platform interface would organize the peer-to-peer network for digital exchange, giving residents control over the data they create in order to monetize on it. Whilst still in its development phase, the 100 Homes project is set to break ground within its BSD site toward the end of 2020, bringing together both the built environment for new residents, as well as a an innovative digital environment that pioneers data usage toward individual and community benefits.

The webinar’s final lecture spoke about various steps within the world of IOT (Internet of Things) that allow objects embedded with sensors, electronics and software to be sensed and controlled remotely. The visible and invisible parts of the IOT within a smart city would encompass a 7-layered ingredient set, ranging from physical devices and controllers, through connectivity and data accumulation, to application of that data toward collaboration and living processes within a community. With the example of energy sharing in a smart district, different steps were described that make possible collection, storage, sharing and planning of energy distribution. The lecture emphasized not only these underlying processes for data support, but also a user-friendly interface that allows new living habits to form for future residents and stakeholders.

This was a highly interactive webinar and forms part of the growing digital programme across ULI and the Netherlands. A recording of this webinar is available on Knowledge Finder.

Watch the full webinar recording on Knowledge Finder

Further information about ULI and this webinar can be found here:

ULI Europe Digital Programme

ULI Netherlands Young Leaders

Brainport Smart District .

We would like to thank the speakers: Dana Behrman of UNStudio, Emmelien Kneppers of UNSense and Joost Kuckartz of ARCADIS.

A special thank you to Milena Stopic, UN Studio and Jasper Reijenga, Arcadis who developed this webinar and are also members of the ULI Young Leader  Steering Committee.