Equitable and social city social entrepreneurs

1

The Equitable and Social City?

Constellations for entrepreneurial social governance; the position and influence of social entrepreneurs during and after the crisis

1

Friday 15th JanuariJurgen Hoogendoorn

2

Who am I? Jurgen HoogendoornPolicy advisor at City of AmsterdamLecturer at the University of Applied Science of Amsterdam; Urban managament

EducationBachelor Sociology Master Urban Planning

Former pop musician/rock guitaristCo-founder breeding place policy

3

1 History & Context '70-'90; squatters '90-2008 growth

2 2008 – 2015 Crisis; upcoming city makers/social entrepreneurs

3 Comparison squatters-social entrepreneurs

4 Situation Now What's going on Threats,chances & challenges

5 Recommendations

6 future role's academics/students

7 Used and more information

4

1 History & Context '70-'90; squatters

Declining number of inhabitants

5

A city in degeneration


6

The '70-ties; upcoming of the squatters movement (social entrepreneursavant la lettre)


7


The squatters movement was a well of innovation1 Socialfirst Day Care (for little children) Shelter for outcasts (refugees etc)Alternative ways of living (communes)

2 CulturalPopmusic (Punk) recording &rehearsel studio's

3 Economic New enterprises; Bier & Co

8

During the '80-ties radicalization of the youth movement; squatters-, feminist-, anti-missiles-, anti-nuclear- movement

No Future generation


9

Political landscape dominated by the social democratic party (PvdA)dominated by working &middle (youngsters) class values and outcomesBecause of the protests, urban renewal started (instead of

demolishing)


<-Squatting manual

10

1 History & Context '90-2008 growth

a) Demographic growthb) gentrification; first city center later neighbourhoods built in 19th centuryc) increasing ethnic diversity

11

1 History & Context '90-2008 growth

Urban city led-development; large scale, top-down, blue printRedevelopment IJ-banks,Eastern harbour & IJburg (new land) Growing home ownership (10 – > 30%)Decline affordable housing (55 – 45%)Political landscape; liberal & social democratic partyDominated by middle class values & outcome

12

1 History & Context breeding place policy (1999)

13

1 History & Context breeding place policy (1999)

The city councel invested more than € 35 million in Breeding placesCharacteristics:

a) open to societyb) with a mixture of use

Breeding places became an instrument for city-led gentrification Breeding places important for the rise of the creative industry

14

2 Crisis 2008 – 2015

In Amsterdam the crisis arrived relatively late in Amsterdam; in 2010 the Alderman Maarten van Poelgeest announced a stopon (re)developing new areasthe (city led) developing machine stuckedThe result was a huge amount of vacant lot's (undeveloped sites) and empty buldings

15

2 Crisis 2008 – 2015

In Amsterdam there a many (young) people, who wants to express themselves. So there is a great demand for places where there projects can be realized.

The city administration published a map on the internet with plots which could be used for temporary use

16

2 Crisis 2008 – 2015

Temporary use became a big thing; the rise of social entrepeneurs

17

2 Crisis 2008 – 2015

The Ceuvel Amsterdam North

18

Former newspaper (printing) offices Trouw & Volkskrant

2 Crisis 2008 – 2015

19

2 Crisis 2008 – 2015 Utrecht

Utrecht a neighbour town; 50 km south from AmsterdamMuch less economic pressureAnother political landscapeAlso a lot of citymaking but sligthly different; a swarm of

20

2 Crisis 2008 – 2015; Utrecht

Utrecht a swarm of city makers

2 Crisis 2008 – 20152 Crisis 2008 – 2015

21

2 Crisis 2008 – 2015

Another valuesystem:Trust, more feminine (than masculine), transparancy (instead of hidden agenda's), dialoque (instead of opposition), cocreation & coöperation (instead of competition)Individualistic (sometimes connected)

characteristics city makers

22

City administration a facilitating but still highly controled approach

This policy was a succes, made possible especially by individual citymakers (temporary use and selfbuild housing)

Crisis? What Crisis?

2 Crisis 2008 – 2015

23

Squatters Citymakers

Amsterdam

Utrecht

movement Individuals sometimes coming together

A swarm; coördination

Fighting/opposing

No confrontation but dialoque

Against the autorities

In business with city council

In contact/dialoque with city council

Political engagement

Non-political engagement

Ideological engagement (fight for your right)

(non-)ideology; enterprise is the new way of changing the world

All adding value to the city! By adding new viable (social,

economic, cultural) concepts

3 Comparison squatters-social entrepreneurs

24

4 Situation Now

25

4 Situation Now

In 2015 quick economic recoveryCity more diverse than everState led gentrification and focus on small scale

developmentPolitical landscape; neo-liberalPolicy->focus on growth; economic, tourisme,

inhabitants, new housesDomination by wealthy upper class values &

outcome?Focus on the core of the city (there is a societal

concern about the city outskirts)Amsterdam nevertheless is a non-segregated

equitable and social city

26

4 Situation Now

There is more money than ever, made possible by the ECB

The return on investment/revenues on real estate is higher than on treasury bonds (because of low interest rate)

27

4 Situation Now; London calling

The city is confronted with a overheated housing market Accelerating housingpricesIn 2015 8.400 new houses will be buildIn 2025; the aim is to add 50.000 new houses within the

city boundaries

Price paid above the asking price (nov 2015)

28

4 Situation Now. Threat; de-urbanisation)

The economical, financial crisis and its structural elements are still there

International investors, seeking the highest return on investment, take over urban development

Risk of De-urbanisation (Saskia Sassen) as seen in NY + London

Saskia Sassen; Who owns our cities – and why this urban takeover should concern us all“the massive foreign and national corporate buying of urban buildings and land that took off after the 2008 crisis signal an emergent new phase in major cities! …Large cities have long been complex and incomplete. This has enabled the incorporation of diverse people, logics, politics. A large, mixed city is a frontier zone where actors from different worlds can have an encounter for which there are no established rules of engagement, and where the powerless and the powerful can actually meet...This also makes cities spaces of innovations, small and large. And this includes innovations by those without power: even if they do not necessarily become powerful in the process, they produce components of a city, thus leaving a legacy that adds to its cosmopolitanism – something that few other places enable.Such a mix of complexity and incompleteness ensures a capacity to shape an urban subject and an urban subjectivity. ...But today, rather than a space for including people from many diverse backgrounds and cultures, our global cities are expelling people and diversity. Their new owners, often part-time inhabitants, are very international – but that does not mean they represent many diverse cultures and traditions. Instead, they represent the new global culture of the successful – and they are astoundingly homogeneous, no matter how diverse their countries of birth and languages...

29

4 Situation now; challenges

ChallengesProtect diversity & spatial and social cohesionContinuously seek for a internal balance ethnicity

and incomeMitigate polarization between core and outer

area's

30

Recommendations

CitymakersEngageForm a movement

Local governmentFocus more on middle segment housing (rent)Emphasize citizen/social-entrepeneur-led urban

development & urban regenerationEstablish a new bureaucratic culture; from a

system point of view toward a human point of view (human friendly governance)

Be in dialoque with the whole city (not just the core & development area's)

5 Recommendations

ChanceThe population of employees in the public adminstration is ageing. So many will retire within 5-10 years. Independent citymakers can fill the gap because they can be trusted by societe & institutions. And they will work smarter and cheaper

31


So what about you?

32


What about academics/students,

So what about you?Be a critical friendAsk questions, questions, questions...EngageAnd probably make a (personal) choice between:a) working for economic growthb) working for human society

33

34

7 more and used information

• Saskia Sassen http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/24/who-owns-our-cities-and-why-this-urban-takeover-should-concern-us-all?CMP=share_btn_tw

• A design approach http://socialcities.org/blog/who-owns-the-city/

• A new movement?; http://www.faircity.amsterdam/

• From the UvA beautiful oversight article http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275115300093