Beyond the definition problem posed by the name «smart city», this concept seems to be running out of steam. As we look around the world for new ways to build and invent the city of tomorrow, this catch-all terminology is more of a marketing concept than a reality that can improve the citizen’s everyday life. In a study conducted in 2014, the European Parliament estimated that 90% of European cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants could claim the qualifier of smart city. Among them, Amsterdam was in a good position, alongside Lyon in tenth place, thanks to the Confluence neighborhood and its positive energy buildings, cars and other smart meters. Long termed a pioneer in this field, the municipality of Amsterdam is today making a significant change in perspective on how to grasp the issues of territory and urbanity.

It is by empowering citizens, in a bottom-up logic, that the city reinvents itself. In the north of the city, Buiksloterham is a model urban laboratory. Self-managed, resilient, collaborative and decentralized, this neighborhood governed by hacker-dwellers offers another face of the smart city, focused more on those who live there. While Amsterdam is at the forefront of these regeneration issues in certain neighborhoods, other similar initiatives are taking place in other European cities such as Athens and its resilience approach and with the SynAthina platform.

With Martijn De Waal (The Hackable City), Anthi Christou (Resilient Athens), Charlot Schans (Pakhuis de Zinger)et Michel Lussault (École Urbaine de Lyon)