The Future is Now: Studying the interaction between present and future Amsterdam

Abstract

Sustainability visions are increasingly used by urban governments as a means to guide them through the sustainability transition. Much research has been done on the influence of these sustainability visions on present decision-making, however less is known about the influence of the present on the future. This study examined this relationship by assessing the overlap between urban sustainability initiatives in the present and the future goals and plans as described in the sustainability vision. The question that was asked is how and why the future imagined in a city vision overlaps with activities in the city in the present. This question was answered using Amsterdam as a case study. A comparative analysis was done between the sustainability vision and current processes going on in the city. After, stakeholders involved in both the future vision and current sustainability initiatives were interviewed to get an insight in why there is (no) overlap between the future and present. The results show that there is a mismatch between current processes in the city and the sustainability vision. Most sustainability initiatives deal with urban food and waste management, whereas the future deals with energy supply, industry, transport and the built environment. This mismatch can be explained by the project still being in earlier stages, the differences in role perceptions and differences in sources for visions.