The New Neighbors

Abstract

This thesis report, the new neighbors: urban revitalization in the Rosmolenwijk, presents the socio-spatial effects that urban revitalization plans combined with the housing crisis (and other trends and policies) have on working-class neighborhoods. The working-class neighborhoods are built-up with mostly social housing to provide home for the workers of the industries in the industrial revolution. However, with the industries disappearing, the neighborhoods are left with low quality housing and homogeneous population with low-income levels. Currently, these working-class neighborhoods are often considered as fragile and low-quality neighborhoods with a various of problems by the municipalities. To tackle these problems, municipalities came up with revitalization projects that meanly consists of methods like state-led gentrification and social mixing to boost the socio-economic status of the neighborhoods. On paper, these plans sound promising. Although, these plans are conducting friction between the new and native inhabitants. Firstly, the displacement of native inhabitants, who often have a strong connection to the community is high. This displacement is strengthened by some urban policies on housing associations that put pressure on making the housing more sustainable, leaving no other choice than selling blocks to the private sector or rebuilding blocks for the highest rental prices to be able to finance such investments. Secondly, the mix of new and native inhabitants rises the socio-spatial fragmentation between the new and native inhabitants as they are not mixing groups but create hotspots with the wealthier groups. And thirdly, the lifestyles are so different that the target groups do not seem to connect with each other. They have their own perception of theirs and what is not, the new inhabitants seem to like the community idea but hardly participate in it themselves, and the environmental connection to the neighborhoods of the new inhabitants is different than from the new inhabitants as well. The thesis plan points out some centers that have the potential to increase the social cohesion between the target groups based on the usage of the neighborhood. Furthermore, these locations will be transformed in a way that embraces the positive goals of the revitalization plans, while decreasing the socio-spatial friction that has is conducted with the current revitalization plans of working-class neighborhoods. Combined with this transformation comes the new condition in policies and legislation that are necessary to fulfill the aim of this thesis.