Cases
Control over growth in Deventer
Cases
Control over growth in Deventer
Deventer is growing rapidly, but wants to maintain its quality of life and be able to substantiate the right choices. Read how a digital city model using Tygron helps the municipality make future developments visible and manageable.
Customer
Municipality of Deventer
Themes
Urban Development
Services
Consultancy
Challenge
Strong growth ambitions
Deventer has strong growth ambitions. Not only in terms of population size, but also in its ambitions for broad prosperity. Margriet Achtereekte, Lead of the Spatial Planning Vision for the municipality of Deventer, outlined the dilemma during the Tygron CoP in October 2025: "The total of the land demand is much more than the area that Deventer has available." There are therefore significant challenges ahead. Deventer wants to build 11,000 homes by 2035, and there is also a need for a new business park, substantial investments in the energy infrastructure are required, and there is also the greening challenge.
Challenge
Strong growth ambitions
Deventer has strong growth ambitions. Not only in terms of population size, but also in its ambitions for broad prosperity. Margriet Achtereekte, Lead of the Spatial Planning Vision for the municipality of Deventer, outlined the dilemma during the Tygron CoP in October 2025: "The total of the land demand is much more than the area that Deventer has available." There are therefore significant challenges ahead. Deventer wants to build 11,000 homes by 2035, and there is also a need for a new business park, substantial investments in the energy infrastructure are required, and there is also the greening challenge.
Approach
Digital twin of the municipality brings a solution
u201cWe started testing with digital tools to get a grip on our growth,u201d says colleague Gijs Schulkes, Coordinator of the Geo-information department at the municipality of Deventer. The challenge is to make smart choices that unite mobility, livability, and climate adaptation within the constraints of limited space. A digital twin of the municipality provided the answer. Not so much as the solution to all problems, but as a strategic tool to make future developments understandable and therefore manageable. It was a bit of a gamble, Achtereekte admits. u201cWe said to each other, we have three months.u201d Three months to prove with a digital twin that you can add housing in Deventer within the existing urban area while strengthening green spaces and facilities. u201cLetu2019s draw a contour around the city and not build outside of it.u201d
But also, without the city becoming congested or the green spaces disappearing. Densification, in other words. But densifying where, how high, and with what impact? This is precisely where the digital twin is used, as a kind of data-driven second opinion, which gives policymakers an estimation of the consequences of their decisions. According to Schulkes, the internal motto was: u201cWe are just going to start and see where we end up.u201d By using existing insights and datasets from previous Tygron projects in places like Nieuwegein and Utrecht, steps could be taken quickly. As the project progressed, it became clear that the digital twin could only be effective if various disciplines were actively involved.
Colleagues from urban planning, landscape, mobility, and climate adaptation joined the sessions, bringing knowledge and perspectives together. Achtereekte: u201cEach session became a bit busier, because colleagues told each other about it and curious colleagues would join the next time. In between sessions, questions and ideas were discussed by phone or email, according to Schulkes: u201cWe were constantly approached. Can we spar with that colleague about this for a moment? Can we talk about this a bit further?u201d
This created an iterative process in which policy content, data analysis, and design thinking were constantly aligned. And, not insignificantly, in which everyone involved increasingly began to speak the same language. Two example areas around Colmschate station and the center were calculated. u201cWe developed indicators to compare strategies,u201d says Achtereekte. This allowed variants to be tested on themes such as densification, greening, livability, and mobility. The team explicitly built scenarios based on design rules and municipal preconditions.
Schulkes: u201cWith those preconditions, we look at how the design can develop afterward.u201d The result was ultimately clear. Densification and greening go together hand in hand. u201cThis was also actually to show, hey, it is possible.u201d
Approach
Digital twin of the municipality brings a solution
u201cWe started testing with digital tools to get a grip on our growth,u201d says colleague Gijs Schulkes, Coordinator of the Geo-information department at the municipality of Deventer. The challenge is to make smart choices that unite mobility, livability, and climate adaptation within the constraints of limited space. A digital twin of the municipality provided the answer. Not so much as the solution to all problems, but as a strategic tool to make future developments understandable and therefore manageable. It was a bit of a gamble, Achtereekte admits. u201cWe said to each other, we have three months.u201d Three months to prove with a digital twin that you can add housing in Deventer within the existing urban area while strengthening green spaces and facilities. u201cLetu2019s draw a contour around the city and not build outside of it.u201d
But also, without the city becoming congested or the green spaces disappearing. Densification, in other words. But densifying where, how high, and with what impact? This is precisely where the digital twin is used, as a kind of data-driven second opinion, which gives policymakers an estimation of the consequences of their decisions. According to Schulkes, the internal motto was: u201cWe are just going to start and see where we end up.u201d By using existing insights and datasets from previous Tygron projects in places like Nieuwegein and Utrecht, steps could be taken quickly. As the project progressed, it became clear that the digital twin could only be effective if various disciplines were actively involved.
Colleagues from urban planning, landscape, mobility, and climate adaptation joined the sessions, bringing knowledge and perspectives together. Achtereekte: u201cEach session became a bit busier, because colleagues told each other about it and curious colleagues would join the next time. In between sessions, questions and ideas were discussed by phone or email, according to Schulkes: u201cWe were constantly approached. Can we spar with that colleague about this for a moment? Can we talk about this a bit further?u201d
This created an iterative process in which policy content, data analysis, and design thinking were constantly aligned. And, not insignificantly, in which everyone involved increasingly began to speak the same language. Two example areas around Colmschate station and the center were calculated. u201cWe developed indicators to compare strategies,u201d says Achtereekte. This allowed variants to be tested on themes such as densification, greening, livability, and mobility. The team explicitly built scenarios based on design rules and municipal preconditions.
Schulkes: u201cWith those preconditions, we look at how the design can develop afterward.u201d The result was ultimately clear. Densification and greening go together hand in hand. u201cThis was also actually to show, hey, it is possible.u201d
What has been modeled
GDO - indicators for healthy area development
Parking
Result
Discussion with the municipal council
The presentation to the council was tense. Reactions ranged from "A kind of Sim City, can I try it too?" to "Oh no, this really shouldn't get out, because it's going to go completely wrong." Ultimately, the project was enthusiastically received. In the meantime, the intention has been expressed to expand the project further. The lesson is clear. "Choose a pragmatic approach," emphasizes Schulkes. "Break it down into small pieces, because otherwise it simply becomes unmanageable." And Achtereekte adds: "You need an occasion and urgency to quickly get colleagues in the right mindset." Three months turned out to be exactly enough time in Deventer to go from skepticism to "shall we do a follow-up on this?"
Result
Discussion with the municipal council
The presentation to the council was tense. Reactions ranged from "A kind of Sim City, can I try it too?" to "Oh no, this really shouldn't get out, because it's going to go completely wrong." Ultimately, the project was enthusiastically received. In the meantime, the intention has been expressed to expand the project further. The lesson is clear. "Choose a pragmatic approach," emphasizes Schulkes. "Break it down into small pieces, because otherwise it simply becomes unmanageable." And Achtereekte adds: "You need an occasion and urgency to quickly get colleagues in the right mindset." Three months turned out to be exactly enough time in Deventer to go from skepticism to "shall we do a follow-up on this?"
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“Each session became a bit more crowded, because colleagues told each other about it and curious colleagues then joined in the next time.”
Margriet Achtereekte
Municipality of Deventer
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“Each session became a bit more crowded, because colleagues told each other about it and curious colleagues then joined in the next time.”
Margriet Achtereekte
Municipality of Deventer
