A Framework and Concept for a Decolonial Utrecht by Challenging Colonial Patterns

Abstract

This graduation project explored how awareness of Utrecht’s colonial past can be increased, while also taking a step towards breaking colonial patterns that continue in society.

When thinking about the Dutch colonial past, Utrecht is often not the first city that comes to mind. Yet its public space contains many references to colonial history, including street names. Street names influence how we relate to the past, as they reflect which histories and figures were once considered worthy of remembrance. However, many of these histories are unknown to the public. This matters because colonial structures are deeply interwoven in Dutch society, and visible in present-day forms of systemic racism and inequality. Furthermore, these public references can be painful for people with personal, cultural or intergenerational ties to the colonial past. Therefore, the Municipality of Utrecht started a project to create more awareness of the colonial stories behind street names.

This graduation project took that initiative as a starting point, but intended to move beyond awareness alone and take a step towards breaking colonial structures. A broader research was conducted using the Vision in Product design method, which starts from envisioning a likely future context and formulating a vision before designing tangible interventions. This is important, because it supports designing from values and societal understanding rather than merely reacting to existing problems. A framework was designed that describes the future context of how society relates to the colonial past. Both the framework and the tangible concept that emerges from it, are design outcomes from this project.

An important part of the process was the careful involvement of affected communities, which refers to people with personal, cultural or intergenerational ties to colonial histories. Community experts were involved at key moments to contribute lived experience, relevant expertise and critical perspectives. Their involvement supported reflection on my own position as a designer and on existing power dynamics within the process.

The designed framework identifies nine obstacles in moving towards a decolonial future. One of these directions was selected to further develop. The chosen direction focuses on control and knowledge. It describes how dominant narratives about the colonial past are created through selective facts and framing, presenting the Netherlands as an innocent, ethical country that can take pride in their ‘Golden Age’. This direction led to a design vision, setting out to break through this dominant narrative and open up space for multiple histories to exist alongside each other.

The resulting concept combines physical interventions with a larger digital platform. The interventions reveal hidden stories in everyday environments, while the platform offers space to explore these stories in depth. Users are confronted by presenting colonial and decolonial perspectives alongside one another and are invited to reflect through thought-provoking questions.

Evaluation with the municipality and community stakeholders showed clear potential in the combination of public interventions and an evolving platform. In addition, the framework offers guidance for future action beyond the chosen concept direction by highlighting what else is needed to more meaningfully address the colonial past.