a call for collaboration

At the Deltametropolis Association, our roots lie in the Dutch Randstad area. Twenty-six years later, we have expanded our horizon with a shared ambition: to envision, redesign, and strengthen the Rhine–Meuse Delta as an international metropolis, one that transcends borders and connects with the Flemish Diamond and the Ruhr area as part of the broader Eurodelta.

The spatial challenges we face today like: housing, mobility, energy, and climate adaptation, can no longer be addressed within administrative and national boundaries alone. They require an integrated, cross-border approach.

Through initiatives such as the Next Generation Podium and our research by design on rail embassies, and during last year’s cross-border transition events, including the September session “Transgression of European Border Regions”, a clear need emerged: stronger coordination of cross-border data. Fragmented datasets. lacking relational cross-border data and inconsistent access currently limit spatial development, regional collaboration, and innovation across the Eurodelta.

With this expression of interest, we share our ambition to mobilise and advocate for an accessible, GIS-based cross-border data infrastructure. Building on conversations with staff at Statistics Netherlands (CBS), and in coordination with partners at the Creative Industries Fund NL (Stimuleringsfonds voor de Creatieve Industrie), we propose starting with a minimum viable GIS interface. This interface would connect key datasets from e.g. CBS, Statbel, the Nationaal Georegister, and Geopunt through APIs.

We invite you to join us! Help us map shared data needs, identify where current limitations are holding back your work, and co-develop practical solutions. The Deltametropolis Association is ready to coordinate this effort. Please fill out this contact form below, so we can connect and better understand how cross-border data is currently limiting your projects