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Limitations

In document Accessing Amsterdam (pagina 78-91)

This section addresses the limitations of this research. Almost all limitations, if not all, are methodological limitations. These were discussed in the ‘Methodology’ chapter, but here is a brief summary. One of the most glaring limitations is the small sample size of participants.

While all participants came from different backgrounds and held a variety of perspectives, they are still not an accurate representation of the general population of residents in

Amsterdam or The Netherlands. There are definitely many viewpoints missing from this sample size, and a larger sample size of participants is necessary for a more accurate and representative portrayal of Amsterdam and its people. I intended to have more participants, but as mentioned in the Methodology chapter, it was difficult to find participants that had time to chat or that were part of a relevant group for the purposes of this research. This also affected the authenticity of this research, since the lack of participants, time limits, and necessary resources for research were simply not enough. If someone were to do a similar research, I would recommend looking for more participants and doing it for a longer period than three months.

While remaining completely biased is humanly impossible, I did my best as an interviewer and researcher to remain as unbiased as I could throughout all my interviews. Despite this, there were times during the interviews when it became harder to be objective, as some

participants described the unjust or difficult treatment they had received. To remain as objective as possible during these times, I followed the interview questions I had written before the interviews, to take the interview back to its focus and avoid giving any opinion on the discussions. My positionality was also discussed in detail in the ‘Methodology’ section.

There is something to say about the discussions getting “lost in translation” as some of the participants and I did the interviews in English, while English was not our first language. All participants were either Dutch or had been living in The Netherlands for many years, and for two of the interviews, I needed a Dutch interpreter, because two of the participants did not speak English, or were not comfortable speaking it. I want to say that I understood

everything that my participants said and that all of them understood me perfectly as well, but there were times when clarification was needed, or words were forgotten or unknown in English, from both parties. Still, I believe that despite the language barrier and the need to speak a second language, the mutual understanding was good.

´

7 Conclusion

The municipality of Amsterdam has put in tremendous work to protect its UNESCO World Heritage and its city, and now it is putting a visible effort into creating an accessible city for people with disabilities, in all aspects possible. This research was done with the intention to observe how municipal inclusion policies were affecting the accessibility of cultural venues for people with disabilities. After presenting the findings and analysis of my fieldwork, I can say that municipal inclusion policies are affecting the accessibility of cultural venues

positively and that there has been a massive focus on museums and the cultural sector in the past year to boost their accessibility. Many measures have been taken to create more

inclusive and accessible experiences for Amsterdammers, and while the rollout has not been evenly done, thanks to these municipal policies, there has been a significant and visible change in the way that these venues are dealing with accessibility now. Since the project is ongoing, I cannot say with full certainty that this initiative has been successful or not, but it is going in the right direction.

The policy called “Everyone Participates” has been the main driver of the inclusion project with its 10 inclusivity points, and it gets updated regularly to show the progress of the city towards its inclusion ambitions. Because of this project, people with disabilities who were not able to participate in cultural events and activities before, are now able to participate in a variety of ways, and this has led to positive reactions from them. This includes UNESCO Heritage and all around its buffer zones, where the municipality of Amsterdam has been working on boosting the accessibility of these areas as much as possible. It is still unknown on whose shoulder the responsibility falls to enforce accessibility within venues, if on the owner, or the municipality, especially when it is in regard to Heritage protected areas.

Despite this, thanks to the efforts that the municipality has done since 2018, I can say that the answer to my research question is that the accessibility of cultural sites in Amsterdam is booming and that people with disabilities feel more included and are able to participate in cultural venues with less and fewer barriers every time they visit.

Further work is always welcomed, and further research on this topic is recommended.

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Appendix

A1 Operationalisation table

Key Concepts Dimensions Variables Questions

Accessibility Usage Visiting frequency How often can someone visit entire sites comfortably?

Spatial distribution How do spaces have to be mapped out in order to be easily navigated?

Mobility justice What are ways to ensure even mobilities for visitors?

Universal accessibility

Accommodations for different groups

How does an entity select which accommodations to utilise in their venues?

What signage gets priority?

Universal accessibility guidelines

What are the benefits and drawbacks of universal guidelines?

When does a judicial entity decide it is necessary to standarise accessibility?

Social Justice Parity of participation

Inclusion Are PWDs included in the creation of accessible sites and accessibility policies?

Visibility Is there a way to ensure a fair amount of visibility?

Lack of barriers What constitutes as barriers for people with physical disabilities?

Equal opportunities How can equal opportunities in navigating space be ensured?

Spatial justice Visibility Same as visibility above Distribution of

space

Same as spatial distribution above

Creation of space Same as spatial distribution above.

Mobility Justice Mobility injustices Is the Municipality of Amsterdam measuring mobility injustices?

Social inequalities How do people from different backgrounds experience mobility (in)justice?

Infrastructure How do city infrastructures affect or replicate mobility injustices?

Sense of inclusion, belonging

How can inclusion and a sense of belonging be cultivated in cultural sites?

Historical Preservation

Preservation policies

Preservation of historic buildings

Are the buildings preserved solely inside, outside, or both?

Preservation of historic

neighbourhoods

What is the selection process of which neighborhoods to preserve?

Considerations of authenticity

How can we challenge the notion of

“authenticity” while still keeping the notion of “historic”?

Modifications Scale of detail preserved

What percentage of preservation makes up “preservation”?

Historic venues How restrictive does a preservation project can be? i.e. no new structure Infrastructure What is the process for designating an

infrastructure “historical”?

A2 Conceptual Scheme

In document Accessing Amsterdam (pagina 78-91)