· · · Institutional Repository

To regenerate neighbourhoods of North Tower Hamlets by improving living environment and public space with child-friendly concept

The facility structure in post-war areas of The Netherlands is probably one of the most intricate in the world, with facilities clustered in neighbouhood units that are functionally ordered across the cities. However, developments in society threatened the viability of the hierarchic structure and forced the adaptation or dismantling of neighbourhood centres at the base of the pyramid, a process still continuing. Economic viability competes with the social desirability of a neighbourhood centre as a heart of the neighbourhood.

This research is looking for an integral approach in regenerating Dutch problem neighbourhoods. With an integral approach is meant an approach that combines spatial and social measures. This is currently missing in practice and theory of urbanism and results often in the replacement of problems instead of the solving of problems.

A review on the socio-spatial integration and empowerment of (arriving) migrants and other disadvantaged groups in urban restructuring plans in the Netherlands.

The extent to which socioeconomic (dis)advantage is transmitted between generations is receiving increasing attention from academics and policymakers. However, few studies have investigated whether there is a spatial dimension to this intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantage. Drawing upon the concept of a neighbourhood biography, this study contends that there are links between the places individuals live in with their parents and their subsequent neighbourhood experiences as independent adults. Using individual level register data tracking the whole Swedish population from 1990 to 2008, and bespoke neighbourhoods, this study is the first to use innovative sequencing techniques to construct individual neighbourhood histories. Through visualisation methods and ordered logit models, we demonstrate that the socioeconomic composition of the neighbourhood children lived in before they left the parental home is strongly related to the status of the neighbourhood they live in 5, 12 and 18 years later. Children living with their parents in high poverty concentration neighbourhoods are very likely to end up in similar neighbourhoods much later in life. The parental neighbourhood is also important in predicting the cumulative exposure to poverty concentration neighbourhoods over a long period of early adulthood. Ethnic minorities were found to have the longest cumulative exposure to poverty concentration neighbourhoods. These findings imply that for some groups, disadvantage is both inherited and highly persistent.

Contact between neighbours is a logical starting point for making a neighbourhood a pleasant place to live. A scientific research has shown that the area in streets where most contact between neighbours takes place is the hybrid zone. Hybrid zones are the zones between one’s private space (ones house) and the public space (the street); things like gardens, personalized sidewalks etc. This graduation thesis is intended to design to stimulate contact between neighbours in streets without a hybrid zone. This thesis is performed as an addition to a research performed by DE ecotecten on the influence of hybrid zones on communication between neighbours. In order to design something which fits the users’ needs and habits an extensive context analysis is done by using among others, generative techniques, data gathering through crowdsourcing and literature. This context analysis has the purpose to understand everything that has to do with being neighbours, and the experience one has with his street. To find out what the differences could be between different neighbourhoods, and what factors influence its specific contact atmosphere, three different neighbourhoods have been taken as research area in which a total of 20 residents have participated; Blijdorp, Bospolder and Pendrecht. Blijdorp is a mostly “white”, safe and friendly neighbourhood with relatively high educated residents. Bospolder and Pendrecht are both very multicultural neighbourhoods. They are so called “probleem wijken”. Although the last two neighbourhoods seem to be demographically like each other, they differ on architecture. The conclusion that can be drawn from the context analysis is that the best neighbour contact is a modest form of contact. Contact consisting of saying hello, a little chat now and then, and some extra neighbour favours with your direct neighbours. Its main function is to keep up the good atmosphere in the street. Saying “hello” actually means “I want to have it nice here”. Saying “hello” is showing your good intentions. It turned out that we all wish for a street with such good modest contact. In Blijdorp they can imagine this dream street with their current neighbours but one of the problems is that they are busy people, not able to spend much time on the street and so not meeting each other often. This in contrary with Bospolder and Pendrecht, where most people cannot imagine this dream street with their current neighbours. The contact atmosphere in these last two neighbourhoods is one of avoiding each other to avoid contact. It seems plausible that the different neighbourhoods will need a different type of design to solve the problems. The causes of lack of contact in Blijdorp are partly created by the lack of a good hybrid zone. In Bospolder and Pendrecht the reasons for lacking contact are to a big extant attributable to the attitude of the people and only to a small extent to the absence of a hybrid zone. To keep within the scope of the research of DE ecotecten it was decided to design for the neighbourhood Blijdorp in this thesis. The design goal to design for Blijdorp is: to offer opportunities to show your good intentions for the street on own initiative. These opportunities are lacking nowadays because the people in Blijdorp don’t have enough opportunities to greet each other, and because of many upstairs houses, not many people can make a façade yard and show their good intentions in that way. In order to reach the goal an interaction vision was made which resulted in three concepts. A. Streetboxes: all neighbours in one street have the key to a shared showcase. It can be used to give, show, inform, ask etc. B. Street shares: Neighbours can buy a piece of a new product for the street, designed by one of the neighbours, and get their name printed on it. C. Save for a tile: One can save for a customizable street tile at the local shops. After an evaluation with a focus group it is decided to explorer the Streetbox concept further: A multifunctional concept which offers opportunities for individual actions on a collective concern without feeling patronized. Through testing the basic interactions in a real street with real residents it turned out the concept was very much liked, and people would find enough purposes to use it, but they felt a bit uncomfortable acting around the Street box. The associations one has with the concept are very important and should be one of “being proud and independent”. To keep the design realistic for possible future realization of the concept it was chosen to keep it simple and basic. Something which is almost innovative in these digital times, but very natural for contact with neighbours who are after all very close by. The final design is called de Straathoek . De Straathoek is a “corner” situated at a central place in the street. It can be used for all kinds of surprising and convenient matters between neighbours; to give, to share, to ask, to discover and to take what is given by somebody else. De Straathoek can only be used by the residents of the accompanying street. Only they will have the knowledge about the combination of the locks. Everyone who puts something in- or takes something out of the Straathoek, can write a note and/or leave a message on the website; the Straathoek online. De Straathoek contains 4 metal showcase boxes. The showcase boxes are attached to an old construction pile. They each contain a solar cell to power a light which will turn on at night in order to get the real showcase feeling. Besides the Straathoek being an object that offers opportunities to show your good intentions for the street, it also creates little connections between neighbours, and it could function as a meeting place in the street. The 10 days final test of the Straathoek with a mock up model and a website in the Sonmansstraat in Blijdorp was mostly a success and made a lot of people enthusiastic, though some recommendations for future design will be made with regards to the website and some other practical adjustments. Because of so many enthusiastic responses from people who believe a real version will soon be placed in their street, it was decided to try and make it a reality. However, it is not a design anybody can make any money with and the municipality doesn’t have enough subsidies to cover the costs. A solution for this problem could be crowdfunding. The Straathoek is an ideal concept to test the possibilities of crowdfunding for urban issues with. A newly seen phenomenon, which is still in an experimental phase, but might be promising. If enough money is raised and the municipality gives permission, Blijdorp will be the first neighbourhood with a Straathoek in its streets, this summer.

Like other West European countries, the Netherlands are facing a growing uneasiness about its changing demographics. It is within this context that animated discussions concerning immigrant neighbourhoods dominate. The general opinion is that living in such neighbourhoods hinders the 'integration' of immigrants into Dutch society. This book contributes to the academic and policy debate by not only examining the effects of ethnic concentration, but also by finding out how people are sorted into neighbourhoods. Bringing together different bodies of literature, this book offers a more holistic view of the creation of ethnic residential segregation and its potential significance for individual life chances.

Like other West European countries, the Netherlands are facing a growing uneasiness about its changing demographics. It is within this context that animated discussions concerning immigrant neighbourhoods dominate. The general opinion is that living in such neighbourhoods hinders the 'integration' of immigrants into Dutch society. This book contributes to the academic and policy debate by not only examining the effects of ethnic concentration, but also by finding out how people are sorted into neighbourhoods. Bringing together different bodies of literature, this book offers a more holistic view of the creation of ethnic residential segregation and its potential significance for individual life chances.

There has been a growing understanding in the Netherlands and in the UK that sustained area based interventions are needed to address the multiple forms of deprivation concentrated in some neighbourhoods. Not-for-profit housing associations contribute to the regeneration of these neighbourhoods, each within the context of their national housing system. In both countries housing associations developed from traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ landlords into social entrepreneurs. They not only undertake social housing projects but have also widened their activities to include more commercial projects and to address social and economic deprivation. More and more housing associations see vibrant communities and a commitment to create live chances for residents as a core part of their mission. This paper explores and compares the changing roles of Dutch and UK housing associations in neighbourhood renewal as organisations with a hybrid position between state, market and society. Applying a network governance perspective developments on a national level are explored. This is supplemented with more detailed data from an on-going longitudinal research on the role played by housing associations in neighbourhood renewal. The paper concludes with a discussion on the future role of housing associations in neighbourhood regeneration considering the harsh economic climate and the policies of the currents Dutch and UK centre-right governments. Both administrations emphasise localism and a more dominant role for citizens and civil society while simultaneously implementing drastic austerity measures.

Energy efficiency and architectural value of post-war residential buildings in Europeis poor. To deal with energy efficiency, decay and livability problems, improvements of building façades seem to be indicated especially when combined with tenants’ preferences for architectural aesthetics. But a valid way to assess multiple characteristics of housing façades is lacking. To assess tenant’s preferences we used an online visual experiment. In particular, we developed a questionnaire and pilot it with the students of Architecture. All the tested characteristics, i.e. Surface Articulation, Coloring, Sustainable Character, Glazing, Shading and Rent significantly contributed to the valuation of façades. This indicated that such a visual experiment might be sensitive to further investigate tenant’s preferences in innovative façade directed renovation approaches as well.

Neighbourhood effects research is at a crossroads since current theoretical and em-pirical approaches do not seem to be moving the debate forward. In this paper, we present a set of ten challenges as a basis for a new research agenda which will give new direction to the neighbourhood effects debate. The ten challenges are: 1) Future work should concentrate on explaining what is in the “black-box” of the ‘neigh-bourhood effect’ by deriving and testing clear hypotheses on causal neighbourhood effect mechanisms; 2) Studies should explicitly investigate the relationship between neighbourhood context and individual outcomes; 3) Alternative outcome variables such as subjective well-being should be considered; 4) We should move away from point-in-time measures of neighbourhood characteristics and take into account peo-ple’s neighbourhood histories; 5) More attention is needed for the intergenerational transmission of neighbourhood effects; 6) We need to understand neighbourhood se-lection and to incorporate neighbourhood selection explicitly in models of neighbour-hood effects; 7) We need a better operationalization of neighbourhood; 8) Neigh-bourhood effects researchers need to broaden their horizon to include other spatial contexts which might matter, in addition, or in place of the residential neighbour-hood; 9) We need bespoke data to investigate neighbourhood effects; 10) The tenth and final challenge is to combine qualitative and quantitative methods into one re-search design.

This graduation project is aimed at improving the liveability of the Afrikaanderwijk by using the Design for Social Impact [DSI] method. Within the Netherlands, there is a large number of post war suburbs that face an accumulation of problems such as a high unemployment rate, neglected housing facilities, crime and a lack of social networks or contacts. The Afrikaanderwijk is one of these so called ‘Vogelaarswijken’, located in the district Feijenoord in Rotterdam Zuid. The Afrikaanderwijk was built in the late 19th century during the development of Rotterdam’s city harbours and is one of the Netherlands’ first multicultural residential areas. Vestia, the housing corporation responsible for over 85% of the housing in the Afrikaanderwijk wants to improve the quality of life within this neighbourhood. An important element of their plans is an urban renewal project, which involves 15 years of demolition, forced relocation, annoyance and constructional activities. By using the DSI method I was able to have the desired social impact as a starting point for design. By first looking at a societal context and the impact you want a product to have on this context, it is possible to subsequently design a product -interaction- stimulating this behaviour. The DSI method is based on this approach. Therefore, the aim of this project is to design a product which intends to improve the quality of life within the Afrikaanderwijk by realizing a specific social impact. This project was a part of the doctoral research of Ir. N. Tromp on this method. By applying the DSI method to the case of the Afrikaanderwijk, she was able to evaluate the applicability of the method. Aimed Societal Impact: Because of the (cultural) segregation within the neighbourhood and its habitation of entire families, the Afrikaanderwijk knows strong but small communities, which lead to a strong social attachment to the neighbourhood. Physically, residents seem to have only little attachment to the area; it is not so much the current physical environment of the neighbourhood, but the people that live here and the built memories over time which create pride and connectedness with the Afrikaanderwijk. This project wants to stimulate this physical attachment to the neighbourhood so people will also feel connected with their physical home environment, to trigger a feeling of responsibility and rootedness. With the upcoming renewal plans, and related changes, there is a risk of people losing this feeling of attachment. Instead of being a threat, residents can be stimulated to open up to the neighbourhood dynamics and incorporate the newly built environment in their habitat. This physical attachment can be created by explorative and personalising behaviour. Product: The welding works project is an integrated approach for improving the position and prospects of the local youth in the Afrikaanderwijk. While offering free welding courses, they get the opportunity to acquire a welding certificate and design their own fences which will be placed around the construction site within their neighbourhood. The fences are inviting residents towards the construction site instead of simply trying to keep them out. This way, the product stimulates personalization and exploration of the redevelopment activities within the neighbourhood. This way, the product responds to the concerns of three different parties; the certificate offers the local youth a qualification increasing their chances on getting a job or education, related residents have a personal connection to the redevelopment plans which increases their sense of rootedness and finally, Vestia has a positive solution for the upcoming years of fenced in spaces in their environment and a new way to find exposure for their commitment to the neighbourhood.

A research for the effects of interventions in Dutch post war neighbourhoods from a physical as well as a social and economic point of view. The The Hague neighbourhood Mariahoeve is used as a case to make a design for improvement.

Urban policies in various countries aim at integrating minorities into mainstream society through combating residential segregation. One strategy is to change the housing stock. Assuming that the middle classes leave certain neighbourhoods because they lack suitable dwellings, building more expensive dwellings is an important policy trajectory in the Netherlands. However, living in the proximity of other income groups is in itself insufficient to overcome racial, ethnic and class divides in social networks. The usual policy indicator for defining ‘middle class’, e.g. income, is not a very good predictor for the diversity of networks of people living in mixed neighbourhoods. What, then, is? The first step is to ask what distinguishes people who prefer diverse neighbourhoods. Are people who are attracted by the diversity of an area different from others? Next, we question whether people who like diversity have more diversity in their networks or contribute in other ways to a more integrated neighbourhood through their use of it. We use social network data collected in a mixed inner-city neighbourhood in Rotterdam to explore this. We argue that attracting people to an area because of its diversity may contribute to the economic viability of local businesses and possibly to the nature of interactions in public space. However, we can not empirically substantiate that a preference for a diverse neighbourhood translates into distinct practices or social networks that enhance the integration of ethnic minorities into mainstream society.

Project background This graduation project is performed to gain a grasp on the relationship between public transport system investments and urban development and regeneration. In what way do they influence each other, how can they benefit from each other and what conditions are necessary to create this sort synergetic relationship? A framework of theories and tools is developed which can help urban planners to implement urban public transport (upt) systems into the socio-spatial urban fabric in an efficient manner. The graduation project is the final project of the master track Urbanism at the Faculty of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology and is performed in collaboration with the Department of Traffic and Transportation at dS+V Rotterdam. Research techniques The different research techniques used within the course of the project are literature research, empirical research and location specific research and design. The literature study performed provides insight in the relation between upt systems and urban development and regeneration and the factors which could positively influence this relation. The empirical framework is composed out different cases and literature (primarily professional and policy papers). Special attention will be given to the relation of new peri-urban expansions in combination with an expansion of the urban transport system. Two cases have been extensively researched: Ypenburg (Den Haag) and IJburg (Amsterdam). The location specific research and design concerns the Vinex-neighbourhood of Carnisselande (Barendrecht). Location analysis is performed and design propositions on different levels of scale are made for the neighbourhood and its regional context. Results An important research outcome is that pt investments positively influences urban development and regeneration projects linked to pt investments. These positive effects are however modest and could be enhanced when proper design, planning and policy measures are being taken. These measures (involving pt design; urban design; pt system service and functioning and urban planning & policy) have been researched and summarized within the Planning & Design Tool booklet. This gained knowledge is next integrated into a design which is aimed to improve the quality of urbanity and pt system quality of Carnisselande. Design The design consists from adaptations and additions to the local and regional public transport network while the embedment of these networks into the socio-spatial fabric of Carnisselande and Barendrecht have been researched and designed. Different types of urban development zones are linked to the introduced pt system investment and provide the neighbourhood with the much needed possibility to develop into a neighbourhood with a more interesting, diverse and high quality urban environment, making it suitable for a larger mix of lifestyles and flavours and less dependant on surrounding regional urban centers. The more efficient and diverse pt system provides Carnisselande with a larger potential reach, which allows the inhabitants to reach more (work) facilities and places within the same amount of time while make Carnisselande more interesting for business and facilities to settle. The symbiotic design of the pt network and the urban socio-spatial fabric provide Carnisselande with the possibility to develop into a sustainable and interesting urban neighbourhood.

This graduation project focuses on improving the public space and pedestrian connections between the different neighbourhoods surrounding the station area of the Hague Moerwijk. In the present situation the station area of the Hague Moerwijk is not well accessible or visible from its surroundings and the existing qualities of the area are neglected. The area around this tertiary station of the Hague is well located within the city structure, but has insufficient connections to the network of public space and facilities surrounding the location. The project location is now a left over space between the several neighbourhoods around the station. However it could be transformed into a central space connecting the city and the neighbourhoods, as well as being an interesting living area in the Hague south west. To achieve the objectives for this graduation project, several literature has been reviewed and studies are done on the project location. Within this thesis the results of the research and the development of the design are described.

Globalization and the boom of new media technologies have rapidly changed the social dynamics of contemporary cities: increased mobility and migration waves determine new relationships between diverse ethnic groups who now share common urban spaces and facilities, while new mobile technologies allow the formation of hybrid (between virtual and physical) communities (Pucci & Mulder, 2013). Within these new multicultural and information rich environments, new forms of social cohesion are constantly formed and challenged; an interesting opportunity lies in designing new ways to leverage local social capital. Afrikaanderwijk is a highly multicultural neighbourhood in Rotterdam South. Although it has a low social index compared to the rest of Rotterdam (and of The Netherlands) it is considered a neighbourhood with opportunities. Consequently, many initiatives have spurred in the last years as part of a National action plan to improve the relatively disadvantaged conditions of the inhabitants, leveraging the unique characteristics it withholds. The ethnic diversity of the neighbourhood is treated in a polarized way: on one hand, it is seen as an important element of richness in a rapidly changing society as the one of Rotterdam, a living lab for new social practices; on the other, the generally low level of education of the inhabitants and their different ethnic background are somewhat stigmatizing them, relegating them in a lower level of society, with slim opportunities given by the local work and social environment to improve their condition. An especially crude situation is observed within the Afrikaander youth. Despite incentives given to initiatives for children, women, and elderly, youngsters seem completely neglected by policy makers. These youth usually attend lower education institutions and have little or no initiatives promoted by the neighbourhood to stimulate their passions and talents after school hours. Furthermore, they are frequently stigmatized as problematic; a common observation regarding young Turkish/Moroccan boys who hang around in groups in public spaces, doing nothing or worse. They often do not have anything better to do than hang around, a practice more common to Mediterranean or Latin cultures, but seen with a certain degree of suspicion within Dutch society. The lack of initiatives within their own local society is aggravated by their poor education level; an immigrant with a low education level (or even no diploma at all) is not attractive to employers, therefore the chances of these youngsters to fulfil their dreams to become better citizens and gain success is very slim. Yet these young adults do have passions, interests, and talents. However, local institutions do not seem to understand the potential of uncovering and exploiting these qualities for societal benefit. The current project, therefore, proposes a more viral, decentralized way of stimulating youth’s self-organization using social media and mobile technologies. Interestingly, young adults interviewed displayed a natural fluency in their relationship with new technologies: smart phones, game consoles and social media are embedded in their everyday life. Obviously belonging to the first generation of digital natives, who “think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors” (Premsky, 2001). They withhold an inherent potential that can be unlocked in innovative ways, stirring educators and policy makers towards future-oriented talent development programs. Inspired by the contemporary Open Design movement, the current project exploits young digital natives’ potential by co-creating with them a means for their empowerment through a peer-to-peer talent development platform. The corresponding step-by-step workshop concept IK BEN STER(K) was proposed and co-designed with Sophie, a coach from the Wijkschool Feijenoord Rotterdam Offensief and performed with the Wijkschool students on a weekly basis over a period of a month. During six workshop steps the students were progressively made familiar with different open source tools such as: Thingiverse, an crowd sourced collection of open designs created for 3D printing and laser cutting, Tinkercad an open online 3D modeling tool to create personal designs for 3D printing and laser cutting, Instructables, an online How To and DIY community where people share their inspiring projects and inventions, the Ultimaker an open source 3D printing machine available at CityLab Rotterdam. The workshop inspired the design of a new interaction scenario for the workshop experience, with a Facebook group as the digital platform for the resulting hybrid community, and two sets of ubiquitous devices as the intermediaries between the digital and physical interactions of the participants. The touch points and the wireframe of the new product service system have been designed optimizing the steps of the workshop, and evaluated with the students during a new workshop on laser cutting. A refinement of the entire product service system (both the digital Facebook page and the ubiquitous devices) followed the workshop evaluation and tested again to verify its acceptance in the student community of the Wijkschool. The final workshop platform is envisioned as a product service system using the Open Data released by the young adults through the documented workshops (via Instructables or similar means of knowledge sharing), and identifying each contribution as a valuable piece of his/her own skills’ portfolio. Members of the community have their own interactive “community membership ID”, a RFID connected token which enables them to personalize and to be recognized in multiple access points of the neighbourhood (e.g., clubs or cultural centres). A more active member will benefit more and will be recognized as a valuable citizen. Other challenges exist, especially on the level of the young adults’ acceptance to be visible to their local community. A reward system could be a possible solution, in terms of enhanced work opportunities or special treats in local stores or cultural centres. The relevance of the project is two-folded: on one hand to increase the level of participation of the youth in their neighbourhood, on the other to allow them to self-promote their value within their own community using new open technologies. Fostering their skills and talents enabled them to contribute to increased social capital of the Afrikaanderwijk, and desirably, of the wider context of Rotterdam. The current pilot serves as a “best practice”, inspiring future social interventions with similar socio-cultural characteristics and affordances.

This paper examines whether and how neighbourhood composition is connected to, and has impact on relationships and social capital. Three debates in urban sociology engage with this question: studies on poverty neighbourhoods, on gentrification and on gated communities. These debates reveal that in order to understand how spatial segregation matters, the role of place for the networks of both the resource-poor and the resource-rich should be examined. Furthermore, in stead of asking whether the neighbourhood matters, I examine how the neighbourhood matters in network formation. Two questions are empirically examined: first, are local ties formed because of the neighbourhood, or are ties rather maintained (and perhaps intensified) in the neighbourhood, and second, what is the relative importance of local ties given people’s total networks: are they main relationships in people’s lives, or are they a small (and perhaps less important) fraction of their widespread networks? I use a multi-method approach to examine the networks—local and non-local—of both working and professional class people, who live in three differently composed neighbourhoods (in Rotterdam, the Netherlands). I first discuss the three debates from which two mechanisms of how spatial segregation and the reproduction of class inequality can be derived. Based on qualitative data on networks I then present a model of network formation, which represents network formation as a result of involvement in few or many contexts, such as family, school, work, and the neighbourhood. Lastly, I examine how neighbourhood matters using quantitative data on networks.

Does the neighbourhood in which people live matter for the resourcefulness of their personal network and thus for their opportunities in life? Do residents of a multi-ethnic ‘problem’ area maintain fewer relationships with fellow-residents compared to residents of a homogeneous problem-free neighbourhood? And do ‘diversity-seekers’ who choose to live in a mixed neighbourhood translate their liking for diversity into more mixed networks and more bridging ties? This book brings together key insights from urban studies and network studies in order to understand whether and how spatial segregation matters for personal networks and inequality. By approaching these questions through different urban sociological perspectives, the book engages with current debates on poverty concentration as well as ethnic diversity, gentrification and social capital. The study is based on detailed quantitative and qualitative data on the personal networks of people living in three differently composed neighbourhoods in Rotterdam, the second largest city in the Netherlands.