The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA) suffers from a growing spatial imbalance between living and working, resulting in increasing transportation inequality, labor shortages and an overburdened mobility system. Although the MRA Urbanization Concept adopted in 2021 seeks to improve blending, current development plans appear to actually increase this separation.

The study in collaboration with Sweco shows a strong concentration of work programs in and around Amsterdam and Schiphol Airport. In the rest of the region, the residential program dominates and thus, in terms of employment, depends on the highly concentrated "work clusters. The study provides an overview of various generic live-work environments, describing their main characteristics, qualities and success factors. Based on the current situation, these generic environments are linked to development locations in the MRA. This creates a spatial perspective that strives for a better balance between living and working. The resulting method can contribute to strengthening local area development and regional planning, thereby achieving the established goals from the Urbanization Concept.

The purpose of the exploration is to inspire and guide parties within the MRA toward a broader spatial strategy that connects housing, economy and mobility.