Urban Symbiosis of Building Materials in Amsterdam

The large growth of cities over the years has led to a greater resource demand in urban areas. Subsequently, after usage, those resources end up in large waste flows to be transferred to the outskirts of the city and its hinterlands. Moreover, those resources put high pressure on existing urban systems which have to deal with more complexity. An integration of systems is needed to move towards more sustainable cities. The construction sector can be seen as one of the largest contributors to the problem. Although cities are aware of the urgency, their building plans often seem to be in tension with the environmental aims set. The city of Amsterdam has for example planned a significant number of new building projects in the coming years; however, it also has to comply with the national vision set which states the ambition to decrease the amount of raw materials that are used. In order to meet both aims, interventions have to be found for Amsterdam’s building projects in which raw materials can be substituted by reused materials.