The Dutch Metropolitan Area
Field Study
“A City with Room for Everyone”
Envisioning Los Angeles Through a New Lens
City Forward
Los Angeles is committed to a future of substantial investments in its transportation infrastructure. We invite you to envision a city that prioritizes people, a city where roads, walking, cycling and public transportation seamlessly integrate into everyday life. Inspired by the pioneering urban designs of the Netherlands, we embark on a project that aims to redefine what it means to live in a modern metropolis.
The Netherlands boasts an advanced transportation network that seamlessly integrates transit, walking, biking and driving, making travel within the region efficient, fast and enjoyable. This cohesive system serves as an exemplary model for the future of transportation in Los Angeles. Welcome to a journey of transformation, where the streets of Los Angeles are reimagined from car dominant corridors into vibrant, inclusive and sustainable urban spaces.
Diplomatica
At Diplomatica, we specialize in creating experiences that transcend borders and inspire global solutions. This field study offers a rare opportunity to delve into the pioneering urban and transportation systems of cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. Through carefully curated visits and insightful discussions, participants will gain firsthand knowledge of the innovative strategies that have positioned these cities as global leaders in mobility efficiency, safety and inclusivity.
As the organizer of this transformative experience, Diplomatica is committed to providing an immersive and enlightening journey. Participants will engage with experts, tour innovative infrastructure and connect with key figures shaping the future of urban development.
Our goal is to empower you with the insights and tools needed to bring innovative urban solutions to your own communities.
Comparative Urban Landscapes:
The Dutch Metro Area & Greater Los Angeles
The Dutch Metro Area & Greater LA exist at a similar scale, but how do they use their space?
From a distance, Greater Los Angeles is denser than the Dutch Metro Area. However, this comes at the cost of having vast swaths of single-family homes. The Dutch Metro Area features smaller, compact cities linked by multimodal transit and precisely designed first and last mile infrastructure.
Population Pockets
Not only does the Dutch Metropolitan Area have more rail (combined train & metro), the system is more frequent and complex. This allows passengers to tailor transit options to their unique destinations, and gives freedom to travel further, faster and more often.
Complex Rail Network
The Dutch integrate smaller patches of connected greenery, used as the connecting fabric for pedestrian and cycling pathways. Green spaces are prioritized not only as open space, but also as a platform for organic movement. LA could benefit from an integrated network of smaller green spaces with multi-modal connectivity.
Functional Green Network
The battle we are fighting today is not unique to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles leaders can benefit from
5 decades of Dutch expertise
Is Equity on top of your mind?
For more than five decades, the Dutch have collaborated on protecting the community against water, resulting in high quality collective decision making. Learn how long-range Metropolitain Strategies address and secure justice in transportation and how to combine growing urban density with accessibility for all.
Bring Real Traffic Safety to your Residents
The Netherlands transformed from a country with one of the highest traffic fatality rates in 1970 to one of the lowest in the world today. This success is largely due to the Dutch Vision Zero and the founding of the SWOV (Institute for Road Safety Research). Integrating safety into every aspect of urban design.
Holistic Approach to Mobility
Existing streets have had many make-overs, new types of streets appeared. By considering housing, mobility and commerce holistically and by refining a multimodal mobility system, the Dutch have access to all services while keeping a relatively small carbon and physical footprint. This break away from car-centric streets is a major factor in efficient and impactful results. Learn the secret urban recipe!
No Need to Reinvent the (Bike) Wheel
By following Dutch principles and guidelines, LA can step up its urban and transportation planning efforts, fostering a more livable and efficient city for all its residents. Explore these concepts firsthand and gain deeper insights into Dutch urban planning practices. Join us for an informative and inspiring trip to the Dutch Metropolitan Region.
Transportation Planning
and Design for Health
The Netherlands & Greater Los Angeles
The built environment, the way a city moves, breathes and feels significantly impacts the physical and mental health of its residents.
Transportation planning and infrastructure are critical to promoting health, equity and access to a city for everyone. Transformative planning that includes bold and innovative designs is a key component of healthy cities.
Historically, many low-income communities in Los Angeles have been disproportionally exposed to the negative impacts of transportation planning and design.
1 - Fighting Obesity
The Dutch multi-modal transportation system with safe pedestrian and cycling infrastructure has demonstrated lower obesity rates and longer life spans compared to automobile-dependent countries or cities. According to studies from the Netherlands, employees who cycle to work are less likely to call in sick, and people generally remain physically fit well into their 80’s with strong immune systems.
2 - Connected Green Spaces
Dutch infrastructure provides a greener environment with less cars. Many new towns and suburbs have created a network of green urban spaces that integrate multi-modal transportation. Expanding connectivity through green spaces promotes healthy, active communities and reduces urban heat and the heat island effect.
3 - Stress Reduction
Freedom to choose from various modes of transportation has been shown to reduce stress.
Multimodality offers greater mobility options to virtually everyone regardless of origin, age, income, gender or physical ability, promoting social inclusion. In the Netherlands, destinations in old city centers, new towns and the periphery are reachable by a robust and efficient multimodal transportation system that includes bicycles, trains and buses.
4 - Design for Lifelong Mobility
Dutch cities are planned with health strategies in mind that include urban design as a pivotal strategy for preventing urban health hazards. The built environment plays an important role in normalizing physical activity through transportation, while also providing traffic safety infrastructure in the form of well-connected pedestrian and bicycle networks and creating low-speed and low emission zones.
A Contrast
The Netherlands as an inspiration for Greater Los Angeles
Why Change?
Many of the changes in urban planning in the Netherlands came after the tragic pedestrian deaths of children and students, which began a decades-long push for safe streets and comprehensive transportation planning. In Greater Los Angeles, pedestrian fatalities are still the norm.
The price of poor infrastructure is the loss of life. Data-driven decisions can have tangible effects and drive system change.
A direct consequence of the prioritization of cars in LA is the amount of car fatalities, which is double the fatalities of the Netherlands as a whole (Fig. 1). This can be attributed in part to lower rates of driving in the Netherlands (Fig.2) - and more importantly to the modal split (type of transportation used, Fig. 3).
Varied transportation keeps communities healthy.
New, innovative and expanded public transportation options that include creative urban spaces can improve the health outcomes of city dwellers, resulting in better air quality and increased physical activity. Moreover, they help decrease motor vehicle crashes, improve mental health and decrease noise pollution.
Join us and learn how it’s done in the Netherlands!
What you will experience?
Program at a Glance
Join us on a 6-day journey through the Netherlands to explore cutting-edge multimodal transportation systems, urban planning and sustainable development. From the vibrant streets of Amsterdam to the innovative cityscapes of Rotterdam, each day will be full of insightful experiences, presentations, engaging discussions with local experts and site visits.
Experience unique highlights such as biking through car-free neighborhoods, visiting iconic landmarks and participating in workshops focused on safety, mixed-use spaces and strategic design. You’ll witness firsthand how Dutch cities prioritize people and sustainability, offering valuable lessons for future projects.
This field study will provide a comprehensive view of the Netherlands’ urban planning successes, inspiring new approaches to city development. Whether you’re meeting with elected officials, exploring new towns or reflecting on strategic methodologies, each day is designed to maximize learning and inspiration. Join us and be part of the conversation shaping the future of urban living.
Your Travel Team and Guides
With over 25 years of international experience in urban planning and landscape architecture, Patricia Bijvoet is a visionary leader in the field of sustainable urban development. Her career has spanned Europe and the United States, including chief urban design in Amsterdam’s Department of Urban Planning and Sustainability. Now based in Los Angeles, Patricia continues to focus on creating livable, inclusive cities through her work at UPLA Studio.
Tjeerd Haccou studied architecture at Delft University of Technology and at SCI-Arc in LosAngeles, and cofounded Space & Matter in 2009. He has an experimental ethos, using online and offline tools to bring together and empower communities so that they can assume leadership over the design of their own living environments. In this context, he pursues new financial and business models, as well as ventures that prioritize social good and inclusivity in the built environment. Tjeerd is interested in applying this participatory process at all scales of the urban domain, from individual household design to the plans for entire neighborhoods.
As Mayor of Culver City in 2018, Thomas Aujero Small broke ground on the new headquarters of Amazon Studios, Apple TV+ and Warner Brothers/HBO. These massive economic and cultural forces propelled Culver City (and Mayor Small) onto a global stage. As CEO of Culver City Forward, he hosted official delegations from the Netherlands on Mobility, the Circular Economy and the Environment. Focused on Mobility, Small has worked extensively with the RAND Corporation and LA Metro, presented at the Delft University of Technology and toured the Netherlands with the Holland Circular Hotspot.
Fabiola Vilchez Ascher is Managing Partner at Diplomatica, a firm with a social mission committed to the study and advancement of global best practices and innovative models that can inspire transformative and meaningful strategies to solve complex issues and support systemic change. Fabiola is dedicated to promoting equitable, resilient and sustainable communities. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in World Arts and Cultures and a Master’s in Urban Planning from UCLA.
Gerhard Walter Mayer
AIA LEED-AP
Gerhard is an architect committed to advocating for sustainable communities. He has global experience in architecture, including working with notable figures such Geoffrey Bawa and Frank Gehry. Gerhard is passionate about creating authentic, beautiful and locally-rooted spaces that promote quality and suatainable urban design to successfully address urban challenges. He is also a prolific writer and speaker on urban policy initiatives and innovation and is one of the founders of the Livable Communities Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to reimagining cities.
PROGRAM DATES
MAY 11 - MAY 17, 2025
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