Indo-Dutch working group Urban Development

A delegation of the Ministry of Urban Development visited the IABR-exhibition of Urban Metabolism in Rotterdam. Because waste is one of critical flows in urban planning I was invited to present Dutch Waste Management and project proposals.

The IABR has published a list of 96 projects that together will make up the main exhibition, URBAN BY NATURE–.
The list includes projects by renowned designers and design offices such as Piet Oudolf, OMA, BIG, MVRDV, West 8, ZUS, JCFO, .FABRIC, LOLA, Floris Alkemade, H+N+S, Wim Quist and Benthem Crouwel; by organizations such as the World Wild Fund for Nature Netherlands and the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency; companies such as Shell and the Port of Rotterdam Authority; and universities such as Delft University of Technology, MIT, Harvard, and ETH Zurich. On show in the Kunsthal and in the Natural History Museum Rotterdam, curated by Dirk Sijmons, URBAN BY NATURE– runs till 24th of August.

In the Urban Metabolism the urban landscape is considered as a complex, vast and interactive system that continuously works to meet the needs of its inhabitants.

There are recognized nine critical flows: air, water, biota, food, energy, humans, cargo, sand, sediment and construction materials and waste.
Waste can be defined in different strategies:
- Prevention / Cradle to Cradle
- Circular Economy
- Biobased Economy
- Waste to Energy

After an interactive presentation of Dutch Waste Management some topics were pointed by the Indian delegation, such as costs, guide lines construction and demolition waste and gas-emissions, ways to upgrade the caloric value and the advantages of composting and anaerobic digestion. Further discussion will take place at the Indian ministry and in the joint working group.