Ams­ter­dam likes to pro­file itself as a city of the future. In order to achieve this, progress has to be made in the field of sus­tain­able archi­tec­ture and city life.

Col­lec­tive­ly devel­oped zero ener­gy neigh­bour­hoods and new urban con­cepts, such as the Cir­cu­lar City, con­tribute to the search for new approach­es to sus­tain­abil­i­ty. An area where this can already be seen is Buik­sloter­ham in the north of Ams­ter­dam. Over the IJ from the city cen­tre, Ams­ter­dam-Noord is a thriv­ing dis­trict for inno­v­a­tive projects. The city is aim­ing to turn the for­mer indus­tri­al area Buik­sloter­ham into a cir­cu­lar and sus­tain­able dis­trict with closed cir­cuits for waste and ener­gy. Many exam­ples of ener­gy-neu­tral build­ings are being realised, on pri­vate ini­tia­tive or in devel­op­ment groups.