A history and examination of public policy and public institutions

Amsterdam Zuidoost



Ganzenhoef

Even though Amsterdam Zuidoost, also called Bijlmer, is a relatively young district of Amsterdam, it already has a long and rich history. People have come, left, returned and stayed for short and long periods. Since 1992, Zuidoost has undergo radical changes, not only physically but also socially. Despite the problems and critiques about Zuidoost and the dissatisfaction of the early residents, generally, the residents who are living in Zuidoost nowadays are proud to live here and be part of a rich multicultural community. Poetry pusher Justin Samgar ones wrote a poem about Amsterdam Zuidoost: “There is life in the middle, without boredom and with peace”¹. Which refers to the liveliness and bubbling character of Zuidoost.




Figure 1. Flyer of the exhibition ‘The Functional City: Living, working, traffic, recreation in the contemporary city’ at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in 1935. Source: Verhagen, 1987.



 After the second World War there was a high demand for housing; 40.000 houses had to be build. Inspired by the innovative, modern ideas and ideals from the Congrès Internationaux d’Archtiecture Moderne (CIAM), founded in 1928, a whole new city plan was developed for the Zuidoost area. The Swiss architect Le Corbusier was a leading figure within the new style and he was a proponent of the separation of living, working, traffic and recreation. This new idea was a critique against the industrialization of society who led to chaotic cities in which these activities were combined in one place. The city had to be turned into a “functional city” (figure 1). Form had to serve function.

The Bijlmer had to be “the city of tomorrow” and “the future”. There was a strong believe in the social engineering of society. The strong ideal of a collective community in which people would live and work together and feel responsible for the shared spaces leaded the architectures in their work. “High rise estates were perceived as the expression of a new world, one that expected a lot from modern ideas about an egalitarian society, and that leaned on technological solutions made long-term demographic and mobility forecasts, and had high ideals about the common use of facilities”². The high rise blocks (figure 2) were therefore an answer on the high prospects of population and mobility.

The honeycomb form had to reduce the distance between the apartments and the parking garages and maximize the amount of daylight in the apartments. The green parks in between the blocks had to serve as a place to meet others (figure 3).

Figure 2. The honeycomb blocks. Source: Verhagen, 1987.



Figure 3. Image of the ideal. Notice the train. It would deliver the purchases of the residents. Source: Verhagen, 1987.

The mayor of Amsterdam G. van Hall hit the first pole into the Bijlmermeer ground on 13 December 1966. On 25^th November 1968 the first residents, family Copray, got the keys of their new apartment in the first flat build in the Bijlmer, Hoogoord (figure 4 and 5). We get to speak to Rudi van der Meer (81) (see slideshow below for pictures taken by van der Meer in the early days of the Bijlmer). He and his wife and kids were one of the first residents of the Bijlmer. We go back to the beginning of Zuidoost, when most terrain existed of sandy ground where kids had all the freedom to play: “Every day when school was over we took on our rain boots and played on the large fields as if we were great explorers”, tells Judith van der Meer (52), the first born child of Rudi van der Meer.
 

Figure 4. Hoogoord would replace the old farm.

Figure 5. Hoogoord.

“We, the residents of Hoogoord, were told we were the ones who had to shape the city of the future. It was a giant task” says van der Meer.  But requirements were set for living in Hoogoord: certificated testimonies and a certificate of good behavior was needed. Consequently, people from the same social class, high educated people, lived in the apartments. “We felt that we had something in common, people had a stronge sense of community. The clearest example of this would be the so called ‘zitkuilen’ (‘sit holes’) in which we spent long nights”. On ground level there was a common room where the residents came together, the keys of the room were with the doorkeeper.  

Slideshow. An impression of the early days of the          Bijlmer.

 “Hoogoord was a solid group. Which differed from the huge honeycomb blocks who were build ”. And that is where van der Meer hits the core of the problems arising soon after the construction of the high estates. The blocks were colossal, monotonous (figure 6) the galleries were extremely long. People felt disorientated and isolated. The high rise blocks were soon neglected. People did not feel responsible for the common spaces. In contrast, high social control and a feeling of collective responsibility existed at the Hoogoord flat as van der Meer explaines: “Other residents corrected children from the neighbors and felt responsible for them. The galleries were always smelling like cleaning liquid”. The neighbors at Hoogoord “were on speaking terms”, while residents of the high rise blocks felt anonymous and had no direct contact with their neighbors. Van der Meer comments: “Harry and Anne from South Limburg got assimilated before we noticed it”.

Figure 6. Source: Verhagen, 1987.

The honeycomb blocks did not correspond to the preferences of middle-class and higher working-class families who were intended to live in the new city. They were more attracted to the alternative choice of single-family houses with gardens in the suburbs. The flats remained for the most part empty and there were high turnover rates. Their place was taken by other groups, mainly Surinamese immigrants and homosexuals. The first group moved before the independence of Suriname in 1975. Not knowing where to place all these immigrants they were assigned to the empty flats. “More and more Suriname children were introduced in our classes. Almost every day we had a new Surinam classmate. Every day two airplanes landed on Schiphol full with Surinam people says Judith van der Meer. In subsequent years the native Dutch would move out quickly, being replaced by Surinamese and other non-native: first mainly Ghanaians and Nigerians. On average during 1985–2000 one-sixth of the population left every year, according to Kwekkeboom (2002, p. 76):

New residents generally did not come because they deliberately had chosen a flat in the Bijlmer, but what was available most quickly.. . . This reality was diametrically opposed to the ideal image that the developers of the Bijlmermeer had, of middle-class families with an income from wages, a strong sense of community and a feeling of collective responsibility.

At the same time Hoogoord and Hofgeest got separated from the rest of the neighborhood and because of the problems occurring in the rest of the neighborhood many residents left the dwelling. Another factor which leaded to high turnover rates was the not completed public facilities due to financial problems. Public facilities including the promised green parks, shopping centers and the metro line were build years later. Also the high rents leaded to several protests.

Disorientation because of the monotonous environment and identical blocks, the uncontrollable spaces, pollution, vandalism, crime, feelings of insecurity, lack of responsibility and management problems; all these problems had to be attacked.

In 1992 new and radical plans were introduced by the Projectbureau Vernieuwing Bijlmermeer which contained three so-called pillars: A physical pillar to create more differentiation, including demolition and new construction₁, a social economic pillar, including work, education and training, and improvement of the quality-of-life problems (crime, safety, drugs, vandalism, pollution), and better management.

 

The majority of the residents with lower incomes, who had to move because their dwelling was being pulled down, stayed in the district in existing or new council housing projects. Those with higher incomes could move up the housing ladder, now that new built properties came within the free rental sector and owner-occupied houses were available as well. The target groups now are people who prefer to live in the Bijlmer and who want to stay when decent housing and a decent environment are offered. Some of the flats are used for specific groups such senior citizens and students.

 

Most of the high rise blocks were demolished (figure 7 and 8). In the spaces made available by the demolition and also lowering of the elevated avenues, individual homes and small-scale apartment blacks are being built. Diversity in buildings and dwellings is showed in the slideshow below.

                                           Figure 7. In red the galleries-shaped high-rise blocks which dominated the original layout. Source: Projectbureau Vernieuwing Bijlmermeer (2008).

    

                                       Figure 8. Many of the honeycomb blocks are demolished and replaced by low-rise buildings. In green all the constructed buildings between 1992 and 2010. Source: Projectbureau Vernieuwing Bijlmermeer (2008).

 Slideshow.

The new buildings are easy recognisable, helping people to orientate themselves within the area. As we walk through the neighborhood we notice some places, landmarks and building who link the past and present of Zuidoost (figure 9).

Figure 9. The Bijlmerdreef. In contrast to the dark and unsafe subways it is now colored and surrounded by open spaces.

One of these landmarks helping to orientate oneself, especially at the time of the monotonous environment, are the green poles, ‘the cruise missile’ at the Bijlmerdreef placed in 1984 (figure 10). After the lowering of the Bijlmerdreef (partly remained as an elevated avenue) the management did not want to replace it. But due to protests of the residents it is still an important landmark as well as an art piece in the neighborhood. 



Figure 10. ‘The cruise missele’ at the Bijlmerdreef.

Art has always been an important part of the Zuidoost scenery. Here we will only describe a few but obviously the list could be extended with numerous other examples.



Figure 11. Mama Aida. Designed by Chaim Oren in 1986.



Mama Aisa (figure 11) should not be forgotten. She is the Surinam mother of Earth. She stands as a symbol for the fraternization of all the nationalities coming together in Zuidoost. Aida is submissive, tolerant and forgiving.

Different religious communities are based in Zuidoost. The original master plan of the Bijlmer did not included spaces for all these different communities. New residents searched for space to profess their faith in so called ‘clandestine churches’ in parking-lots, empty buildings, in the open air an at residential homes. After breaking down most of these spaces the communities needed new shelters. This leaded to the establishment of De Kandelaar (the Candleholder) (figure 12). “The church has a social function for the community in Zuidoost. If someone in Zuidoost says ‘church’, he also says care and services” says Emmanuel Koney, pastor of the Pentecost Revival Church, one of the churches who are using De Kandelaar. 

Figure 12. De Kandelaar.

Figure 13. Jama Masjid Thaibah mosque. Build in 1985.

Also the Jama Masjid Thaibah (figure 13) mosque and the Mondir temple are examples of buildings which have been build to rearrange the environment and space and disengage it for the people who live there.

 

Figure 14. Henk.

Green is very important in the Southeast of Amsterdam. It is the most green district of Amsterdam. 90% of the original plan was reserved for green spaces designed in a classic English garden style. While walking through the green zone between the honey-comb flats we meet Henk (figure 14), an employee of the Groenadvies Amsterdam bv. and Hans Kapteijn, always been actively contributing to the development of the neighborhood, first as a biology teacher in several Bijlmer schools, now still concerned with the conservation of the green areas as member of the sector district management (‘wijkbeheer’). Together they are making their yearly round around the green areas in Zuidoost checking if all the trees are still growing and healthy. 

                              

One tree needs special attention. It is ‘the tree that saw everything’ (figure 15). It reminds us of the El Al Boeing plane crash on 4 October 1992. It crashed into the Groeneveen and Klein-Kruitberg blocks. Official numbers shows us 42 victims, but because many unregistered immigrants were living in the blocks, we will never know how much people died that day.

Figure 15. ‘The tree that saw everything’ (De boom die alles zag). A monument at remebrence of the Bijlmer disaster (Bijlmerramp) on 4 October 1992.

 

Next to the tree stands a monument designed by Herman Hertzberger. It shows all the names of the victims (figure 16).
  Figure 16.

Judith van der Meer still remembers the sounds of the plane coming down: “Although you never heard the sounds before you know immediately what it means”. She was also confronted with the unreal and painful consequences as a teacher at ‘Onze Wereld’ (‘Our World’): “In several classes children were missing. Heart rending"(figure 17).

Figure 17. Drawing by Soraja Buinendaal. Source: Een gat in mijn hart, 1993.

Outcome of the Bijlmer monitor since 1997 shows that many (new) residents are strongly connected to Zuidoost. They live, or lived there,  have relatives here, work is often nearby, shops are on the corner and they recreate here as well. Nowadays we can find a variety of different residents living all together who are getting more and more positive about their district. Support of the residents has been one of the key factors of success in the Bijlmer.  The ‘modern citizen’ did not want to conform to the original model of “the city of the future” which was drawn behind a drawing-board. New residents are getting more freedom to shape their own living environment. Beautiful examples are the Dreamzones (see below) and DeFlat (figure 18).

 

Figure 18. Flyer DeFlat.

For more Zuidoost experiences:

·         Make a city walk with a guide. Check the website of the United Different Voices foundation (by Hans Mooren) and get a ‘Bijlmer Experience’ tour. Phone number: 020 7769195. www.bijlmerexperience.nl

·         www.bijlmertours.nl

·         http://www.zuidoost.nl/agenda

Visit the art galleries:

·         Centrum Beeldende Kunst Zuidoost (http://cbkzuidoost.nl/)

·         Open Ateliers Zuidoost (http://www.openatelierszuidoost.nl/)

·         Bijlmer Gallerie (http://www.grubbehoeve.net/galerie/index.htm)

Prominent public policy and public institutions, with attention to education, culture, and transport

Current policy issues

The renewal of the Bijlmer is present in many areas, and of course also when looking at public policy. A recent decision that has to do with the ongoing renewal of the Bijlmer is for example the decision to create so-called Droomzones (figure 19) in ‘s Gravendijk, Drostenburg and Driemond (the latter is not located in the Bijlmer). ^{3 4} Because in the 80s and 90s the quality of life in the Bijlmer was very low, in 1992 the first renovation period was announced with as primary goal to improve the economic position of the Bijlmer. These renovations lasted till 1999, when the second renovation period was announced. The focus remained the same but fundamentally different was that it was decided that most of the high-rise buildings had to be taken down. Instead there should be low-rise buildings, with more types of houses to attract a more divided group of people.⁵ The Droomzones are an example of ways to attract different kinds of people to the Bijlmer. The second renovation period is taking till 2014.



Figure 19. Promotion for Droomzone ‘s Gravendijk.

Further policies that are covered in the local media have to do with participation, pointing at the Uitvoeringsplan Participatie Zuidoost 2013. This plan consists of all the projects that will be executed with priority this year. The projects ensure more participation of residents in the areas of employment, education, youth, care, culture, ‘civil society’, and security.⁶ In the local media there is also attention to participation (figure 20 and 21). A project that focuses on participation is for example the Natuurplan Zuidoost. It is namely possible to let the district office know where you would want to have a tree planted, and why.⁷

 

Figure 20. Participation of residents wanted in deciding where to locate 1000 new trees.

Figure 21. Urwin Vyent explains a resident about the 1000 new trees. Source: Zuidoost. Amsterdam.nl. 07-02-2-13  

Next to policies concerning the ongoing renewal and the promotion of participation, there is however a more small-scale policy issue that has been covered in the local and national media quite extensively, namely decisions considering the Kwakoe Festival.

‘Het Kwakoe Festival, aanvankelijk opgezet als simpele voetbalcompetitie, is uitgegroeid tot een feest van nationale, ja, internationale allure.’ Said Reinier Heidemann sr.⁸ What is called the Kwakoe Festival first took place in 1975. Originally it was a Surinam festival, with as highlight a football match. It takes place a couple of weekends during the summer. As Reinier Heidemann sr. said above, it has become a well-known festival.

Unfortunately, over the recent years the organisation of the festival has not gone without difficulties. For example, every year the district Zuidoost has to give permission for the festival to take place to the organiser of the festival. Not only is there tension about whether or not the permission will be given, but mostly, the tension is about which organisation gets to organise the festival.⁹ On top of that, in recent years, the organisations that organised the festival have had difficulties with their finances.¹⁰ This even led Desi Bouterse to wanting to donate 50.000 Euros to the festival.¹¹ The district of Amsterdam however not very positively received this.¹²

News considering the Kwakoe Festival is most of the time covered in local, and even national media. It is worth mentioning as a current political issue, because for example according to Marjolein Houweling, the Kwakoe Festival is a representation of the politics in the Bijlmer.¹³ That politics and the Kwakoe Festival are closely related also became clear in 2011, when there resulted a political crisis in Zuidoost after the decision that the Kwakoe Festival would not take place that year.¹⁴ This year, the festival will be called Zomerfestival. De Vries Producties will organise it and it will take place four weekends, starting on July 5 2013. For the first time people will have to pay an entrance fee.

 

Important institutions

 

Some of the important institutions of the Bijlmer are a result of the renewal of Zuidoost. The Bijlmer Parktheater is a good example of this (figure 22). This theatre has opened her doors in 2009 and is a collaboration between several cultural institutions that at the time were already located elsewhere in the Bijlmer. The main focus of the theatre is children and young adults, with the aim to educate, stimulate artistic development and create social cohesion. Bijlmer Parktheater sees itself as a ‘local initiative with a national impact’ and wants to form a bridge between the city and the Bijlmer. ¹⁵

Besides funding from the district office Amsterdam Zuidoost, housing corporation Ymere and their revenue from hospitality, rental of the theatre and ticket sales, the Bijlmer Parktheater receives subsidy from the European Union.¹⁶ The European Union (EU) subsidises the theatre as part of a program to reduce the economic differences between regions in the EU. Dutch national politicians are against it because they believe subsidies should go to the least prosperous countries of the EU. Nevertheless, district office Amsterdam Zuidoost already received 14 million Euros from the EU from 2000 till 2008. Without the EU funding the Bijlmer Parktheater could not have been realized.¹⁷

Figure 22. Bijlmerparktheater.

 A very important cultural institute is the CEC – Cultureel Educatief Centrum. As Mirjam Nicolaas, facilities manager, in an interview on March 25 2013 explained, CEC is set up by six organisations. Among these are the district office Zuidoost and ROC Amsterdam. It was initially set up to be kind of a community centre, and to be of great use for immigrants who need information on anything. However, this changed through the course of time. Now the main goal of CEC is to refer to the various organisations that are also in the building, and to other bodies outside of the building.

In the Bijlmer are also public sports facilities. For example, in 2008 a new sports centre was built, the Bijlmer Sportcentrum. It facilitates a range of sport activities for all ages, like a fitness centre, an indoor sports hall, a recreational swimming pool and swimming classes for children as well as adults. Besides paid sporting facilities in 2010 the district office also created a public fitness station in the K-buurt, a neighbourhood in the Bijlmer by placing several fitness machines in a public park. The district office promotes a healthy and sportive life and by making some sporting facilities free of charge they try to reach the less fortunate residents of the Bijlmer, of which there are a lot.¹⁸

A final important renewal in the Bijlmer is the so-called Brede School. This is collaboration between the district office, primary schools and after school childcare. The aim is to work together in order to give the children from the neighbourhood a chance to discover and develop their talents and meet up with other children that live nearby.¹⁹

Further educational and cultural institutions of the Bijlmer are mainly centred near the ArenaPoort. This area covers the newly build Anton de Komplein (figure 23 and 204, the shopping centre Amsterdamse Poort, the station Bijlmer Arena and the Arena Boulevard. Many public facilities are settled around the Anton de Komplein, like Bijlmer Sportcentrum, Bijlmer Parktheater, the district office (stadsdeelkantoor) and Centrum Beeldende Kunst Zuidoost.

Figure 23. Anton de Konpleim markt. Every monday, tuesday, thursday and friday

Figure 24.

Transport

Looking back at the historical purposes of the neighbourhood, the Bijlmer was originally planned and built with separate roads for cars and pedestrians. The eleven story high buildings were surrounded by a car free scenery of nature, footpaths and playgrounds. Roads for cars where built on 3-meter high platforms, so called dreven, and were divided from the footpaths. The absence of traffic at certain times of the day caused a permanent feeling of insecurity. Aiming to bring some liveliness to the Bijlmer, in 1992, as a part of the second renovation period, policy makers decided to lower the driven (figure 25 and 26), just like they demolished unsafe parking lots (figure 27). The original design of the Bijlmer namely included parking lots beneath or nearby the high-rise flats. These parking lots were built right next to the dreven, in order to keep the space around the flats car free. The parking lots and indoor footpaths to the flats became the territory of criminals and junks, which made them very unsafe places for residents.²⁰

Figure 25. The lowered Bijlmerdreef.

Figure 26. So called 'Stadstraat' ('City street'). Bijlmerdreef.

As the Bijlmer is situated next to the highway, it is easily reachable by car. Visitors of ArenaPoort can park on one of the secured parking decks in the neighbourhood. The Arena also offers another parking facility, the ‘Park + Ride’. Cars can be parked on the parking deck at a lower price and people will receive a public transport ticket, which can be used to travel to the city centre.²¹            

Figure 27. Parking lot nowadays.

In some parts of the Bijlmer it is still possible to park for free in the so-called ‘blue zones’. In these zones cars can be parked for free up to 1,5 hours. In other parts, mostly nearby shopping areas, the fee for parking is €1,40 per hour from 9AM till 21PM on weekdays. Residents of these areas can get a parking permit immediately; unlike in other parts of Amsterdam there is no waiting list.²²

 

Further, it is very easy to go from the Bijlmer to the city centre of Amsterdam with public transportation. There are three metro lines running through the Bijlmer area, of which two lead to the city centre of Amsterdam. The third line goes through Amsterdam South and stops in Amsterdam West. There are also a lot of bus lines departing from the Bijlmer with destination different parts of Amsterdam Zuidoost, the centre of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Schiphol and villages in the region.

As some concluding words we would like to think about how the history of a neighbourhood, in our case the Bijlmer, has its influence in the present and future. Having investigated the history, policies, means of transportation and important institutions of the Bijlmer, we are slightly surprised how much of the Bijlmer as it is today is a result of the city renovation periods and we are curious as to what will come after 2014, when the second renovation period will be finished.

Katja

Ipek
Vera B

Vera V

Notes

¹ For the whole poem: http://www.zuidoost.nl/artikelen/cultuur/zuidoosthet-klopt-hier

² Wassenberg, F. (2011). Large housing estates: ideas,rise, fall and recovery: The Bijlmermeer and beyond. Technical University of Delft, (39)4, 363-379.

³ http://www.amsterdam.nl/@619674/pagina/ Visited on 5 April 2013

⁴ http://www.droomzone.nl/ Visited on 5 April 2013

⁵ http://kennisbank.platform31.nl/pages/27629/Amsterdam-Zuidoost-de-Bijlmermeer.html Visited on 5 April 2013

⁶ http://www.amsterdam.nl/@624832/pagina/ Visited on 6 April 2013

⁷ http://www.zuidoost.amsterdam.nl/natuur-milieu/1000-bomen/ Visited on 6 April 2013

8 2009 Bibliotheek van Amsterdamse Herinneringen: Bijlmermeer. Amsterdam: Bas Lubberhuizen Press. Memorie of Heidemann sr. on p. 92

⁹ http://nos.nl/op3/artikel/250330-wat-ging-er-mis-met-kwakoe.html visited on 4 April 2013

¹⁰ http://nos.nl/artikel/250255-definitief-geen-kwakoefestival.html visited on 4 April 2013

¹¹ http://www.nu.nl/binnenland/2884974/desi-bouterse-helpt-festival-kwakoe-met-50000-euro.html visited on 4 April 2013

¹² http://nos.nl/artikel/407289-adam-tegen-kwakoegift-bouterse.html Visited on 4 April 2013

¹³ http://www.marjoleinhouweling.nl/2012/08/kwaken-over-kwakoe/ Visited on 4 April 2013

¹⁴ http://www.mamjo.com/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=390753.0 Visited on 4 April 2013

¹⁵ http://www.kunstraad.nl/2012/05/bijlmer-parktheater/ visited on 2 April 2013

¹⁶ Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsdeel Zuidoost, notitie bedrijfsplan en begroting exploitatie en beheer Stichting Bijlmer Parktheater 2012-1016, 21 June 2012

¹⁷ NRC Handelsblad, 25 June 2009

¹⁸ http://www.zuidoost.amsterdam.nl/buurten/bijlmer-oost/wijkaanpak-egk-buurt/artikelen/nieuw_openbaar/ visited on 4 April 2013

¹⁹ http://bredeschoolzuidoost.nl/info/index.php?id=1 visited on 4 April 2013

²⁰ Feiten en Cijfers, Projectbureau Vernieuwing Bijlmermeer, juni 2008

²¹ http://www.zuidoost.amsterdam.nl/algemene-onderdelen/overige/zoeken/hoe-werkt-p-r/?caseid={1C986C21-FB72-4F0F-BDED-8EAD29797EDF}&parentproductid={8374972C-757B-438C-9105-4863B8A2403D}

²² http://www.cition.nl/main.php?obj_id=677639655

References
 

 

Een gat in mijn hart (1993). Uitgeverij Waanders Zwolle.

Projectbureau Vernieuwing Bijlmermeer (PVB) (2008) Yearly Reports, PVB, Amsterdam.

Kwekkeboom, W. (2002). Rebuilding the Bijlmermeer 1992-2002, in D. Bruijne, D. van Hoogstraten, W. Kwekkeboom and A. Luijten (eds): Amsterdam Southeast, Thoth, Bussum, pp.73-114.

Verhagen, E. 1987. Van Bijlmermeerpolder tot A,sterdam Zuidoost. Sdu uitgeverij, Den Haag.