Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona Departamento de Tecnología Arquitectónica

425 Pages·2017·31.5 MB·Spanish

Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona
Departamento de Tecnología Arquitectónica (TA)
Programa de doctorado en gestión y valoración urbana y
arquitectónica

POLÍTICAS DE REGENERACIÓN URBANA Y SU INFLUENCIA
EN LA PERCEPCIÓN DE SEGURIDAD:
método de aproximación a entornos conflictivos.
Casos de estudio: Bijlmermeer, La Mina y Villa del Socorro

Tesis presentada para obtener al grado de doctora por:
María Daniela Idrovo Alvarado

Director: Dr. Carlos Marmolejo Duarte
Doctor en gestión y valoración urbana y arquitectónica

Barcelona, septiembre 2017
Urban regeneration policies and their influence on safety and security perception

CHAPTER IV.
CASE STUDY BIJLMERMEER

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Bijlmermeer is an area that was designed and built from the expansion plan of the city
of Amsterdam. Since its construction in 1968, the physical, social problems and lack of
institutional management (which derive from its conception) have made it an area
considered to be conflictive and dangerous.

Since 1980, it has begun a program of reforms to solve some of the problems in the
area. But it is not until the third phase of this program (2001) that planning’s, design,
and management policies are considered radical, with the objective of influencing
structural factors (demographic, labor and income, housing and services, education
and health, quality of life and coexistence) causing insecurity and conflict.
The present case study is of an exploratory type and its main objective is to help us
understand and analyze how these policies implemented through an urban
regeneration project have influenced the perception of security in this area.

Objectives:

1. Characterize and analyze the factors considered structural (demographic,
labor and income, housing and services, education and health, quality of life and
coexistence and safety) and their behavior before and after the urban regeneration
project.
2. Identify factors (social, physical and institutional) that influence the perception
of insecurity of the people who live and / or use the area and the role they play in this
perception.
3. Identify the planning, design and management policies that were applied in
Bijlmermeer through the urban regeneration project and analyze if its application
transcended towards social and institutional prevention.

As a conclusion, we can say that Bijlmermeer is a neighborhood nowadays perceived
(by its neighbors and users) as a relatively safe neighborhood. According to the results
it is a neighborhood considered good to live in, the institutionalist of basic public
services is well evaluated, has all the services and equipment necessary to develop
daily life. Residents feel the public institutional presence and this has positively
influenced their perception of abandonment, impacting directly on their perception of
security.

2.500 million euros were invested in this project, 80% of the budget was invested in
physical policies (planning, design and management) and 20% in social programs. This
fact brings again the attention to the debate on the pertinence of continuing to invest
from situational or physical perspective in order prevent insecurity (objective or
subjective).

The additional benefit of these case is that the evaluation of the implemented policies
reflects that the following policies (planning, design and management) have also
achieved to influence social and community factors.

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Urban regeneration policies and their influence on safety and security perception

• Planning policies related to the creation of vitality, mix of uses and natural
surveillance.
• Design policies related to the change in the layout of the urban fabric: demolition
policy and construction of new housing with new typologies as well as the
specific location of certain activities in the urban fabric.
• Management policies related to the formal and institutional prevention,
monitoring and control of crime and unsocial behavior.

Not everything is solved in the Bijlmermeer, social problems still need greater
investment in people, education and employment. Better houses for some of the people
do not provide the majority of poor immigrants with a better income, better work or
better education. But we have a great lesson, if we raise awareness and take into
account safety and its social, community and environmental factors with an integral
vision while planning an environment, we could avoid this kind of social and economic
costs.

4.1 The Netherlands context

The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of twelve provinces and Amsterdam is its
capital. The political system is a constitutional monarchy and is based on the Charter
for the Kingdom of 1954 and the Constitution of 1815.

The Netherlands is a member of the European Union (EU). Its official language is
Dutch. Number 4 in the human development (HDI) ranking and in 2014 the GDP figure
was 653,476 M. € according to the latest published data. Public expenditure is devoted
to education 11.81% to 20.90% health and defense 2.76%. The latest data on the
percentage of GDP invested in housing policies is 3.2% and dates from 2000 (Trilla,
2001).

4.1.1 Sociodemographic structure

The Netherlands is a prosperous country with a gross national product of €463 billion,
an average disposable income of €37149, and 7.3% unemployment. It is a country with
coalition governments and a strong consultation culture1.

1 https://data.oecd.org/natincome/gross-national-income.htm#indicator-chart

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Table 4.1: Socio-demographic structure 2015
Netherlands Amsterdam
Surface (Km2) 41.500 219,332
Total Population (N0) 16.800.000 811.1853
Population density (Hab./Km2) 4984 4.9225
Unemployment (%) 6,8%6 11%
Population at risk of poverty or social 15%7 15%
exclusion (%)
Foreign population (%) 1,08%8 7,4%9

4.1.2 Urban planning, design and management policies

Urban planning, design and management have always been the concern of Dutch
society, and housing has been one of the most important policies. Social housing in
the Netherlands has a tradition of over a hundred years.

The 19th century industrial revolution carried thousands of peasants and migrants from
all over Europe to the cities where the factories were, to find work and a way to survive.
Housing in that time was built to serve the industry, workers living near the workplaces
in the worst conditions.

In the Netherlands, the housing situation was different since the beginning, the
landlords felt responsible for the welfare of its employees so they started to build
housing and in a certain point the housing associations arose. At the beginning, they
were established by these wealthy and then the government became progressively
involved, leading this to the enactment of the Housing Act 1901 (Woningwet). This Act
established the legal bases to promote the formal conformation of housing associations
to develop social housing projects (Kadi, 2011).

The Act also specified that housing associations approved by the national government
(referred to as: authorized institutions) could receive subsidies to social housing. The
so-called subsidized housing started to be a fact, and with the course of time, tens,
hundreds, and finally thousands of associations of people - especially in the first period
socialist workers – appeared; they wanted and needed to build their own homes with
the support of the government.

2 http://www.os.amsterdam.nl/
3 http://www.os.amsterdam.nl/feiten-en-cijfers/#
4 http://www.exteriores.gob.es/documents/fichaspais/paisesbajos_ficha%20pais.pdf
5 http://www.os.amsterdam.nl/zoek/
6 http://www.exteriores.gob.es/documents/fichaspais/paisesbajos_ficha%20pais.pdf
7 http://www.eengezondernederland.nl/Heden_en_verleden/Participatie/Sociale_uitsluiting
8 http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?VW=T&DM=SLEN&PA=37943eng&LA=EN
9 http://www.os.amsterdam.nl/feiten-en-cijfers/amsterdam/

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Following a chronological order, Figure 4.1 explains the evolution of the public policy
of social housing in the Netherlands and Amsterdam. An evolution that goes from the
protection and exclusive public participation in the policy to a gradual retirement of the
administration, giving more freedom to the private market to act, but always under
certain regulation (Kadi, 2011).

Figure 4.1: Housing policy evolution in Netherlands and Amsterdam

Fuente: Kadi 2011 - Walker y Van der Zon 2000, Amsterdam, Wonen, Federatie, & Woningcorporaties,
2009 y Housing Europe review 2012. Own elaboration.

In many countries, social housing is almost exclusively targetal for deprived
households in a situation offering few societal prospects. Social housing is often
situated in impoverished neighborhoods, so that a negative stigma is soon attached.
In the Netherlands, it is totally different.

The change in social housing policy in Amsterdam and generally across the country
has gone from a universal distribute policy providing rental housing, to promote access
to housing for the middle and upper classes on a Property regime (Amsterdam, Wonen,
Federatie, & Woningcorporaties, 2009; Gent, 2009).

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4.2 Amsterdam context

The capital city is placed on dozens of islands connected by hundreds of bridges, all
the buildings have their foundation supported by piles or wooden stakes, now they are
replaced by iron and concrete, buried tens of meters deep through the peat and clayey
sand to touch the substrate. The canals of Amsterdam are a way to control the water
dividing the bed of the river Amstel in numerous waterways and they are also an
excellent network of transport and communication.

Amsterdam is a compact and dense city with a population of approximately 811.185
inhabitants and a population density 4922 inhabitants / km2.

4.2.1 Residential social structure

Figure 4.2 shows the weight of social housing in Dutch society and especially in the
city of Amsterdam, which still maintains around 48% of the total stock of its housing
stock as housing in social rent. However, as we said before the policy has changed
and there is a tendency to move from a model with a rent regime to a property regime
(Walker & Zon, 2000), as happened in the rest of the country.

Figure 4.2: Residential social structure of Amsterdam

Source: (“Housing Europe review 2012,” n.d.) http://www.os.amsterdam.nl/english/# Own elaboration.

The rent of social housing and even a part of private rental sector (with certain
characteristics) is regulated by the Valuation Law that establishes valuation criteria for
both the renting and sale of social housing (Kadi, 2011). Based on this Law, each
municipality establishes the regulated amounts of rent, both for social housing market

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and private rental market stock that fall within this regulation. In Amsterdam, the
maximum rental amount of social housing until January 2016 was € 710.68 per month,
for families with annual net income of up to € 34,911. In the case of free housing, if the
fee is between € 710.68 and € 1148 monthly, families who opt for these homes must
have a net annual income between € 29,900 and € 44,656 (Moya, 2007)

But who can access this market? As we can see in table 2, even high middle-income
families with annual net income between € 27,720 and € 47,040, could access social
housing, according to the data mentioned before.

Table 4.2: Monthly and annual income 2013
Types of income Monthly net Annual net
Low income (single-person households) € 1.330 € 18.620
Low income, multi-person households € 1.680 € 23.520
Middle income > hasta € 1.988 € 27.720
Middle high income from € 1.988 to € €27.720 a
3.360 €47.040
High income € 3.360 € 47.040
Source: (Amsterdam, Federatie, & Woningcorporaties, 2013; Gemeente Amsterdam, 2009). Own
elaboration.

4.2.2 Policy competences

Article 22.2 of the Dutch Constitution establishes that "the public authorities shall
promote a policy oriented to the existence of sufficient housing". To fulfil that purpose
the same constitution proposes three levels of territorial government: the National level,
the regional level and the municipalities with specific competences on in matters of
social housing (Figure 4.3) (Eijgelaar, 1988; Moya, 2007).

Figure 4.3: Institutional Competences

Fuente: Amsterdam, Federatie, & Woningcorporaties, 2013. Own elaboration.

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4.2.3 Urban extension

Because of its location, and the particularity to gain Ground Sea in order to grow,
Amsterdam has always had a planer tradition.

Figure 4.4: General Extension Plan of Amsterdam area 1935

Source: http://citybreaths.com/post/40011703127/amsterdam-morphology-a-history

In 1935, the urban development office of city hall, presented the General Extension
Plan of Amsterdam area (See figure 4.4). In this plan, the department predicts that
Amsterdam will have approximately 960,000 inhabitants by the year 2000. The
conclusion was that Amsterdam had to expand, and one of the areas selected to be to
be the scene of this growth was the Bijlmermeer polder.

The Bijlmermeer polder was a rural area subject, located beyond Diemen and
Duivendrecht with no direct relation with the city. It was considered very difficult if not
impossible to incorporate it with the city10.

10 https://bijlmermuseum.wordpress.com/de-bijlmer-in-tijd/

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4.3 The territorial expansion of Amsterdam in Bijlmermeer

4.3.1 The expansion decision

In the Netherlands, the 2nd world war took a lot of houses, 87.000 houses were
destroyed and 43.000 badly damaged. The total population was 9 million people by
that time, and an increase of 2 million was forecasted by 1960. Housing throughout
the Netherlands was calculated as 2 million homes and with the population increase;
there was a lot to be built. The challenge was to build one million houses by 1962 and
another million by 197211.

In 1950 Amsterdam starts the construction of the western suburbs Slotermeer and
Geuzenveld, and later the Slotervaart, Osdorp and Buitenveldert suburbs. In 1953,
Amsterdam city council calls for expansion of the city with the Bijlmermeer polder,
which also included the municipality of Diemen. (Diemen had 7.000 inhabitants)12
In 1959, the Suburban Commission presents a structure plan for a new territorial
expansion of Amsterdam, this time to the southeast, a location called the Bijlmermeer.
The scope of the southeast plan of Amsterdam was to build a new 'lob', including
territory of Weesperkarspel, Driemond, Diemen and Duivendrecht. The Bijlmermeer
was planned to be an entirely new residential area, and Duivendrecht and Diemen also
needed to expand significantly in terms of housing. In 1961 the number of required
properties estimated in the Bijlmermeer (plus Diemen and Duivendrecht) was 35.500
dwellings, which should accommodate 100,000 residents together13.

The fight between Amsterdam and the Central Government, particularly with the
Ministry of the Interior, on the property of the Bijlmer was very tough. The Minister of
that time Edzo Toxopeus, did not want the red city of Amsterdam to get even more
people and power14. The story, however, tells that that Toxopeus was in favor of close
distances and against sprawl.

Finally, in 1962, Weesperkarspel municipality "owner" of most of the region of the
Bijlmermeer agrees to a zoning plan that provides a residential destination to this
agricultural area.

After the acceptance of the plan, the Mayor van Hall requested a hearing and
convinced the ones that were still against it with the argument of the future job openings
that would be developed in the Bijlmer and with the support of the employment unions,
Amsterdam became the provisionally owner of the Bijlmer area (over 1800 hectares)
with the condition of given it back in 12 years to Weesperkarspel its original owner,

11 https://bijlmermuseum.wordpress.com/de-bijlmer-in-tijd/
12 https://bijlmermuseum.wordpress.com/de-bijlmer-in-tijd/
13 https://bijlmermuseum.wordpress.com/de-bijlmer-in-tijd/
14 https://bijlmermuseum.wordpress.com/

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