It sounds like a worst-case scenario: a storm has left the power out for more than 48 hours. The water in your street starts to rise, but the pumping stations are digitally controlled and run on electricity. The supermarkets can no longer order stock and their customers can no longer pay by card. The phones aren’t working and neither is the refrigerator...
This scenario is not fictional. In 2012, nearly 4 million people in New York were left without power for over 48 hours because of Hurricane Sandy. All major airports were flooded, and the damage to other critical infrastructure is still being restored. This has prompted cities worldwide to consider the damage that violent storms or other shocks can cause in a city. Among these cities are Rotterdam and The Hague, the only two Dutch urban centers connected to the 100 Resilient Cities network, a global network helping cities around the world become more resilient to social, economic, and physical challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century.
Cooperation with technical universities
Rotterdam and The Hague are joining forces with the four Dutch technical universities (4TU) to improve the resilience of the cities. "This joining of forces helps to make the concept 'resilience of the city' more concrete: the universities bring practical, state-of-the-art, scientific insights and recent research to the table and to cities. Application of technical infrastructure is thus brought to a new level and at the same time works toward implementing the resilience strategy of both Rotterdam and The Hague," says Marjolein Dohmen-Janssen, Managing Director of the 4TU Resilience Engineering Centre.
On Thursday, during the annual Resilient Rotterdam conference, representatives from 4TU, the Municipality of Rotterdam, and The Hague signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which they committed to cooperate on knowledge development and applied Resilience Engineering.
Resilient Cities
"The question is: in what ways can we anticipate certain shocks, so that the negative effects on the city and its inhabitants are minimal? Making these so-called ‘cascade-effects’ transparent involves gathering different data, and a technical model is needed. The 4TUs can help us with their technical expertise," says Arnoud Molenaar, Chief Resilience Officer of Rotterdam.
Anne-Marie Hitipeuw, Chief Resilience Officer of The Hague adds: "What long-term effect has the use of robots had on our urban infrastructure, the internet, and ultimately on the residents? The technical support of the 4TUs supports cities by, for example, developing models in which policy options are weighed. By formulating these questions together and coming up with solutions, we increase the resilience of the city."
4TU Resilience Engineering Centre
Rotterdam, The Hague, and the 4TUs aim to future-proof cities and to prevent disruption in the city as a result of adverse events. The federation of the four Dutch technical established the 4TU Resilience Engineering Center in January 2018. The federation has made available €5 million for research into the development, application and dissemination of knowledge, methods, theories, and tools to develop complex social-technological environmental systems to increase the resilience of systems.
Contact 4TU: Marjolein Dohmen-Janssen c.m.dohmen-janssen@utwente.nl, +31683225059
Contact City of Rotterdam: Sjan Clabbers s.clabbers@rotterdam.nl, +31614429684
Photo: Pixabay