Eilandje (Antwerp)

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Merten

Het Eilandje (The little Island), in the middle of a swampy tidal stream connected to the Schelde river, became part of the harbor of Antwerp in the golden age, when large numbers of cargo ships sailed into the city´s docks. When the port area consolidated later on, the island remained, between the Willems- and Bonaparte docks. It used to be a lively harbor quarter with the usual bars and nightlife.

By the 1980´s, Het Eilandje had become a rather abandoned and rundown neighborhood. The still populated sites in the area were indicated for urban renewal. State subsidies were considered to let inhabitants renovate their dwellings. However, this didn´t stop the decline of the neighborhood, which in the end attracted real estate developers and investors. Ground prices started rising and bit by bit gentrification took hold of Het Eilandje.
The municipality stimulated the redevelopment of the area by building the Museum Aan De Stroom (MAS), designed by Dutch architects Neutelings Riedijk, which opens in May 2011.

The seriousness of play

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Merten

At the expert meeting ‘The Seriousness of Play’ the question was asked how art can be used to improve access of the population to cultural heritage. The meeting was meant to bridge the gap between artists, curators and heritage institutions such as museums. Merten Nefs was invited to shed light on the matter from the perspective of architecture and urban planning. A short number of inspiring examples were given of cooperation between a museum and an artist, for example at the Zuiderzeemuseum and Art Fortress Vijfhuizen in the Netherlands. However, this cooperation is rather an exception, not the rule.

As the border between art and the artist is quite subtle, some of the artists soon came to the conclusion that they weren´t eager to be used for anything by anyone, let alone to promote institutions, nations or cities. For example, in incubator areas throughout the world, young artists usually help to raise profits for the real estate industry. The benefits for the pioneers themselves are limited. The statement was made, that artists should actively propose interventions in a museum or other cultural heritage, instead of waiting for an invitation.
On the other hand, if the artist maintained a firm position in the process, instead of an ‘underdog’ position, both heritage institutions and artists would benefit. If the artists became more aware of their cultural and socio-economic role, perhaps they could negotiate better with institutions and investors to realize their personal artistic goals while at the same time performing a productive role in society. In this case, everyone uses everyone to achieve their objectives. But that’s a lot of if´s…
It was mentioned that one of the difficulties in practice is that an artist cannot guarantee the results of the artistic process beforehand, which makes it more complicated for companies and institutes to start a partnership. At the end of the evening, it was concluded that cooperation between heritage institutions and artists can be fruitful, but no one really knows what would be the best way to cooperate.

The Seriousness of Play was organized on September 10 2010, by Cultureel Erfgoed Noord-Holland, Kunst & Cultuur Noord-Holland, Saskia Monshouwer and Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen.

Gentrification Battlefield

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Merten

Invited by Mediamatic, Coen Rens and 21 artists, for example Golfstromen, spent the summer of 2010 mapping the borough’s visible and invisible locations, people and data flows, and research its history and future. The work resulted in an exhibition and gave rise to the first Arabic travel guide to The Netherlands. They created the game Gentrification Battlefield.

The game demonstrates the competition and clash between social groups in recent urban redevelopment sites in Amsterdam North. More than a decade ago, only few start-up businesses were based on the north bank of the IJ river. After succesful incubator projects and real estate development, the area is now ‘under attack’ by yuppies and mega-companies such as MTV. The former inhabitants are slowly being squeezed out through gentrification.

“Amsterdam-Noord is slightly changing. Not everyone is happy with this. The battle of Noord is a fight between traditional inhabitants defending their positions, and new ‘Noorderlingen’ discovering this district as a new frontier. The NDSM Wharf and the Van der Pekbuurt are already taken over by the invasion army of hipsters and yuppies, but big parts of Noord are still left alone. What will the future of Amsterdam-Noord look like? Who wins Gentrification Battlefield? Play this strategy game with hipster Timo and his freight bike and Volkswagen van! Cross the IJ river and fight your way through the North. Or play with traditional Sjaan and her Canta car to defend affordable housing and save good old Dutch ‘gezelligheid’. But be careful: soon a secret tunnel will be opened…”

Amsterdam – densification or expansion?

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Merten

Amsterdam desperately needs more dwellings. These can be built along the Zaan axis, north of the city center, or by expanding satellite town Almere, west of Amsterdam. At the same time, a third project, the office district Zuidas, is already under development. In January this year, politicians have decided to give the go-ahead for a plan to build 60.000 dwellings near Almere, almost doubling the city in size. Since the economic recession of 2008-2009, it has become clear that the city cannot pay for all three projects at the same time. Criticism is mushrooming among experts in spatial planning.

Possible industrial redevelopment sites at the riverbanks of the IJ and the Zaan.

The Council of State Advisers has expressed doubts regarding the Almere expansion. It is an expensive alternative, since a new bridge would have to be constructed to the island Flevoland, costing over 4 billion euros (70.000 per dwelling). Furthermore, the concept of Almere as a satellite town is in essence very unsustainable. Most Almere workers commute daily to Amsterdam by car. More and more, the advantages of redeveloping the riverbanks near the center of Amsterdam are put forward: They are places with strong identity and history. The Zaan region was the first industrial zone in the world, which at the time thrived on small wind powered industries, shipbuilding and waterway logistics. The re-urbanization of this area would happen almost naturally, contrary to the massive State investments needed for Almere 2.0.

Possible expansion sites near satellite town Almere.

Read more:
Stop de Nieuwbouwwijken – article by Tijs van den Boomen and Theo Baart in NRC Handelsblad (Dutch)
Prachtig compact NL – publication by College van Rijksadviseurs (Dutch)
www.zaanstreek.nl

Polder pioneers

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Merten

When I started to do research on urban incubator projects in 2002, in Berlin and Amsterdam, many municipal projects were already underway and several research programs, such as Urban Catalyst (Philipp Oswalt e.a.) were already studying them. Since then, there has been an explosion of academic research and real estate strategies, pointing out and using the incredible force of cultural incubators as instrument for urban revitalization. In the process, the perception of the ‘creative entrepreneur’ changed from something exotic, exciting and underground, to quite an ordinary person. As a matter of fact, today several of one’s neighbors could be one and you may even be a creative entrepreneur yourself without knowing it, according to some definitions. What does this mean for incubator projects?

Clearly, the idea of incubators as subsidized workspace for a selected group of young creative individuals at the periphery of the economic system, has become distorted. The idea was originally intended for an exceptional creative minority, which was supposed to have insufficient access to regular workspace, where ‘normal’ economic activities take place. For this reason, subsidies and incentives were justified. The distinction between new creative economy and the ‘traditional’ kind, is fading. For Richard Florida, this is not a surprise: in his book ‘The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity‘ he explains that the whole Western economy will necessarily become more creative and flexible after the current economic crisis. And, crisis or not, before 2008 large mainstream companies were already buying their way into urban incubator areas. Simply because they’re the best places to find young talent and provide a cheap way to make a traditional enterprise look trendy. What happens, when everyone becomes a creative economic actor, when everyone becomes an underground alternative organization, when everyone becomes a urban pioneer?

In the first place, the scenario doesn’t sound very likely, as pioneering and creative organizations typically emerge from a mainstream status-quo situation, not the other way around. And if the new creative economy is to be the new status-quo, surely it won’t take long until someone starts doing things differently (we just don´t know the name for that yet). Many innovative characters have already grown tired of the (Dutch) way of regulating incubator areas, which according to them mostly attract followers instead of innovators and turn them into instruments of the real estate market.
Secondly, what would happen to the rest of the city when we all start living and working in renovated factory buildings? And would there be enough of those places for everybody? The answer is simple: incubator projects are since long becoming an integrated part of the existing real estate market, just like social housing, suburbs, historical downtowns and business districts. Just like the rest of the market, incubator areas are now regulated by government policies and market forces of supply and demand. The last decade, there has been a steady supply of new (former industrial) areas and a growing demand for ‘creative type’ workspace with good infrastructure. Therefore both the quality and the price of this type of workspace have increased. The occupants of the incubator buildings are no longer just urban catalysts or pioneers…… they are half pioneer, half consumer.

There may be negative effects for creative economy in the Netherlands: When adding value to empty square meters of floorspace becomes the dominant aim, stimulating creative use of urban space ceases to be the leading factor in incubator projects. Truly innovative businesses and professionals may prefer other European cities to work in, such as Berlin, where space and living costs are still cheap.

On the other hand, positive aspects can be mentioned: Reuse projects at post-industrial sites seem to become mature, attracting no longer only a limited share of the population but rather a fair part of the Dutch middle class. This is promising, regarding the great amount of industrial buildings that becomes vacant each year. If post-industrial areas became focal points of middle class housing projects, new suburban sprawl could be avoided.

To be continued…

Urban Change

Cities in Transformation

Category Archives: Wastelands

Eilandje (Antwerp)

The seriousness of play

Gentrification Battlefield

Amsterdam – densification or expansion?

Polder pioneers