Designing for Co-Existential Spaces
The Case of Afrikaanderwijk
F. Ntafou (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Maurice Harteveld – Mentor (TU Delft - Urban Design)
Ruta Ubareviciene – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Urban Studies)
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Abstract
In the last decades, due to a number of reasons, cities have become more diverse than ever. This diversity, although an “inherent characteristic” is not always perceived as positive, especially in the so-called deprived areas, which mainly consist of multicultural, low-income social groups, having serious implications not only on how people live together in space, but also on the actions taken to “minimize” the differences.
Research increasingly shows that low neighbourhood status, poverty, stigmatization of lower income areas with high concentration of ethnic minority households, and racial discrimination have a great impact on how inhabitants of an area perceive and interact with one another.
And Rotterdam South is a prominent example of this situation. Afrikaanderwijk is one of those hyper-diverse and socio-spatially segregated neighbourhoods, where spatial interventions in the public space are necessary, in order for co-existence to be ensured.
Investigating the city from the perspective of hyper-diversity and acknowledging it as a given, the current project aimed at contributing to redefining the public space, in Afrikaanderwijk, where conflicting interests between local authorities, people of power and local inhabitants regularly occur, in order to ensure social cohesion and create a common identity for all.
In this process, a number of methods were used to conclude to the spatial interventions in the public space, with the use of design principles proving to be one of the most important in bridging research and design and creating the basis for the design interventions that focus on local-based alternatives to the demolition and renovation plans of the municipality.
Thus, this thesis, through spatial interventions, and taking into account the needs and identities of different social groups, aimed at enabling the participation of people from different socio-economic statuses, lifestyles, attitudes and activities to interact and communicate, consequently steering the city towards fairer opportunity distribution and a more harmonious and co- existential urban environment.