Talent Hub Den Haag Zuid West

Abstract

The neighborhood of Morgenstond is accounted as one of the 50 problem neighborhoods in the Netherlands. The social development is similar to many post-war urban plannings outside of city centers. After the moving out of the first very homogenic young family population in the course of a suburbanization trend in the late 60s’ and 70s’, the district lived through a process of urban decay. Spatial aspects as a vast amount of unused green space, the generic public realm and a mostly monofunctional structure are influencing the attractivity of the district. Multiculturalism but also relatively high unemployment, poverty and low education are lived reality in Morgenstond. The social structure is characterized by low social cohesion, low life satisfaction and minor engagement with the immediate surrounding. These conditions result into a passive lifestyle of inhabitants, which feel worthless, lonely and depressed. They don’t see the necessity to engage with the public life. Plans for gentrification and densification with new social classes could increase social segregation and frustration in the existing social environment. The new vision of the municipality ‘bestemming Zuidwest gebiedverkenning’ is aiming for an intense densification of the neighborhood with new dwellings and with this ‘diversify’ Zuid-West economically. Without any interventions for social cohesion in this process, social tensions will intensify. One answer addressing these problems is creating a new identity through empowerment of the inhabitants. Empowerment, which is created through a deep inner motivation and a new self-confidence, can build bridges and form a base for a resilient social structure. I believe that the ‘public condenser’ for Morgenstond is a chance to contribute to the establishment of a diverse and stabile society and functions as incubator for empowerment.