CityLab: the new innovation hub for entrepreneurial Netherlands

The recently opened CityLab Almere offers a stage for the latest data-driven applications and digital solutions for urban development. It is an initiative of the Green Innovation Hub and partners VodafoneZiggo, the Municipality of Almere, the Ministry of I&W, the Future City Foundation, and the Province of Flevoland.

René Visser, initiator of CityLab Almere and senior external affairs manager at VodafoneZiggo: "CityLab Almere is the place where we present the most advanced innovations in sustainability and livability. It's a beautiful space where you find inspiration and where all these developments become tangible."

From inspiration to action

But it goes further than inspiration. CityLab Almere is also a place where all parties come together and can turn concepts around mobility, inclusion, energy, food, and construction into reality. After the inspiration phase, we work together with an enthusiastic team to shape the social issues of municipalities into workable concepts in a sort of 'pressure cooker.'

The Tiny Green House

In the middle of the CityLab Almere space is a glass house in which plants grow abundantly. It is one of the innovative showpieces and an example of the house of the future. A vast amount of data is collected via sensors that monitor heat, abundant rainwater, air quality, growth, and biodiversity.

Visser: "By collecting data and intelligently assessing information, municipalities can make better decisions. We are unique in the Netherlands and even in Europe with this approach."