Urban environments must be prepared to address the impacts of climate change and mitigate its repercussions. The rapidly surging rate of urbanization is expected to instigate significant land use and land cover changes, through expansion and densification of the built environment, on top of urban population growth. The Netherlands, a highly urbanized delta and densely populated country, is a prime example experiencing significant urban growth and climate-related events causing distress. This country has increasingly witnessed extreme weather events resulting in record-breaking heatwaves, drought, and precipitation leading to the disruption of public and transport infrastructures. The Netherland’s authorities have established new strategic spatial plans aimed at ensuring climate-proof infrastructure and climate resilience for the coming years. However, the extensive goals and targets at national and international levels complicate the situation. Key changes are being initiated at the local level, with results yet to be fully realized.
This research conducts a single case study on a renovated road intersection in Amsterdam Oost in collaboration with the Ideal(s) City project from the Amsterdam Institute for advanced metropolitan solutions. The primary aim is to investigate Amsterdam’s impacts on climate resilience and adaptation strategies. To assess the progress towards the program’s fifth ideal state of “sustainability”, a conceptual indicator list is derived from a literature review. This indicator list serves as a tool to evaluate the program’s inventory and study the sustainability outcomes of the case study. The examined indicator parameters include: (1) temperature & urban morphology, (2) surface materials, and (3) vegetation in the microclimate.
Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative secondary data, the case study is compared to the literary indicator list. This process results in a refined indicators set to support the development of The Ideal(s) City’s framework. The findings reveal a notable absence of all indicators in the inventory of the Ideal(s) City and the municipality of Amsterdam. To address this gap, recommendations are laid out to: First, the scientific community to further explore the application of indicators on traffic intersections in the city. Second, the Ideal(s) City programme to review and evaluate the existing indicators to fill the gaps and minimize the mismatch between the indicators. Third, the municipality of Amsterdam to increase the planting of trees and their variety on the median at Hugo de Vrieslaan to increase climate resilience and enhance the microclimatic conditions of traffic intersection.

Keywords: Case study • Climate resilience • Adaptation strategy • Urban road infrastructure • Urban microclimate • Urban morphology • Urban greening • Sustainability • Environmental assessment