From no-go area to a place to be? : the impacts of commercial gentrification on ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the Indische buurt

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From no-go area to a place to be?

The impacts of commercial gentrification on ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the Indische buurt

Bachelor thesis project: Everyday life in gentrifying Amsterdam University of Amsterdam: Human Geography and Urban Planning Student: Marieke Louise Voortman

Student number: 10797106

Email: mlvoortman@hotmail.com Mentor: Bahar Sakizlioglu

Second reader: Rowan Arundel Date: 14th of January 2019

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1. Introduction

The process of gentrification has become a global phenomenon (Hubbard, 2006). In cities all over the world, disadvantaged neighbourhoods are being reshaped, upgraded and transformed into areas attracting more affluent users of the space (Hubbard, 2006). A common consequence is that the upcoming middle- and upper-class often displaces the established and pre-dominant working-class communities. This is mostly associated with many new investments in the built environment and enormous redevelopment and regeneration regulation (Hubbard, 2006). Gentrification can occur in many different ways and its impacts can be huge (Rousseau, 2009). The process of gentrification does not only transform the residential facilities of a neighbourhood, but it also reshapes the commercial facilities which results in quickly changing shopping streets and is defined as commercial gentrification (Rousseau, 2009). Existing literature shows that many research has been done on residential gentrification. However, the last couple of years more scholars tended to focus more on the retail sector, so the tendency has shifted a bit (Ernst & Doucet, 2014). When commercial gentrification takes place, long-term businesses have to make room for upcoming hip and trendy shops, bars and restaurants aiming at attracting the middle-class residents and visitors (Jeong, Heo & Jung, 2015). This reshaping of shopping areas is often top-down regulated (He, 2007). Local municipalities or even the state sometimes make

suggestions to transform the existing commercial composition which results in the total upgrading of a neighbourhood (He, 2007). According to Zukin et al. (2009), the commercial buildings that seem to promote cultural and social vitality are creating further socio-economic polarization in a neighbourhood. Studies about the displacement of long-term residents due to the process of gentrification are relatively common. However, we can speak of a gap in existing literature on the ‘displacement pressure’ experienced by long-term entrepreneurs in gentrifying neighbourhoods due to commercial gentrification (Hubbard, 2017). This research will focus on the experiences of ethnic minority entrepreneurs with commercial gentrification and whether they experience displacement pressure as a result of it, since their perspective is understudied (Jeong et al., 2015). Furthermore, it is important to take this specific group into account while doing research about the impacts of commercial gentrification, since many urban policy makers believe that replacing the pre-dominant ethnic minority entrepreneurships in negatively stigmatized neighbourhoods with upgraded new businesses aiming at attracting more affluent users can be seen as a positive development. However, this process often displaces the former ethnic minority entrepreneurs that cannot stand up to the upcoming ethnically Dutch entrepreneurships (Ernst & Doucet, 2014). In order to find solutions to the eventual experienced displacement pressure of these ethnic minority entrepreneurs more research needs to be focused on their perspective.

This thesis will contain several theoretical, methodological and analysing parts that will elaborate the aspects and impacts of commercial gentrification and personal experiences with displacement pressure. First of all, a theoretical framework is offered to give an overview of all relevant concepts in this research. After this, the problem definition and two main research questions are noted. Third, the research design and methodology part is offered. After this, the empirical research follows, which starts with a contextual background chapter that provides background information for the first research question. Next, the two main research questions will be discussed and collected data will be analysed. The thesis will end with concluding remarks, a short discussion, recommendations for further research, the bibliography and the annex.

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2. Theoretical framework

In this research on the relationship between commercial gentrification and experiences with displacement pressure several theoretical concepts are important to include. In order to get a better understanding of gentrifying neighbourhoods and its impacts, the process of gentrification in general and more specifically commercial gentrification will be elaborated. After this, the concept of displacement pressure will be discussed with a broader perspective. The last two concepts are focused on ethnic minority entrepreneurships and how ethnicity sometimes is being promoted in order to create attractiveness in a neighbourhood. This theoretical framework offers an overview of all relevant concepts that are included in this research.

2.1 Gentrification

Within the existing literature on gentrification, the process of gentrification is often connected to a changing housing market (Hubbard, 2006). Gentrification occurs when parts of the city go

through regeneration or renewal, which often leads to more affluent residents moving in, who displace the original working class inhabitants that used to be the dominant class (Hubbard, 2006). Walks and Maaranen (2008) argue that the upgrading process of a neighbourhood is an important element of gentrification. Gentrification can positively influence neighbourhoods, since it can result in higher levels of environmental and commercial facilities, an improved quality of the buildings and better looking aesthetics. In this way, it leads to a more stable value of properties and it reduces criminality rates and other social problems in gentrifying neighbourhoods (Walks & Maaranen, 2008). However, the low-income residents are less likely to benefit from this upgrading (Lees, Slater & Wyly, 2013). A common result of gentrification is that the number of houses in the rental sector declines. Furthermore, the existing working class residents that have lived in the gentrifying neighbourhood for many years are often being displaced, sometimes due to rising costs of housing, another common result of gentrification. In the end, gentrification results in the visible transformation of a neighbourhood from a production area known for its lower-income working-class residents to a consumption area catering middle-class residents (Lees et al., 2008).

When the process of gentrification takes place in a neighbourhood, the ‘residential gentrification’ results in changing consumption patterns within the gentrifying area (Jeong et al., 2015). The state is often an important responder to these changing consumption preferences and intervenes to cater the upcoming middle-class residents or so called ‘gentrifiers’ and their demands (He, 2007). City developers often prefer to create commercial spaces and cultural facilities in a strategic way to put their real estate into the market (He, 2007). It is a point of discussion whether this upcoming new types of services and facilities in the neighbourhood attract gentrifiers, or if changing consumption patterns are a result of the upcoming middle-class in a neighbourhood. Most likely it goes both ways around (Gant, 2015).

Recently, the focus of the majority of existing literature has shifted from the housing sector and so called residential gentrification to the retail sector and the commercial aspects of gentrification (Ernst & Doucet, 2014).

2.2 Commercial gentrification

The process of gentrification results in changing consumption and retail patterns within

gentrifying neighbourhoods. This transformation can also be called ‘commercial gentrification’ (Rousseau, 2009).Commercial gentrification is a process whereby new facilities and spaces aim

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6 to attract and accommodate the demands of middle-class residents (Gant, 2015). Smith (2006) states that commercial gentrification takes place in two different phases. In the first phase, ‘pioneers’ start settling in a disinvested neighbourhood and open their own businesses and make use of relatively low rental prices and a central location. This transformation of the retail sector can be an important factor of neighbourhood upgrading, due to the attraction of young and relatively affluent customers. In the second phase, the increasing amount of boutiques creates an interesting and attractive area for investment, which attracts corporate capital. When the

reputation of the area changes into a good ‘place to be’, customers from outside the

neighbourhood are attracted and all these factors lead to the appearance of chain stores (Smith, 2006).

The state plays an increasingly important role in facilitating the changing consumption demands in gentrifying neighbourhoods (He, 2007: p. 172). The state not only responds to the upcoming middle-class residents and visitors of gentrifying neighbourhoods and supports or stimulates what they wish to consume, but the state often also intervenes in local urban policy and invests in environmental upgrading and the reconstruction of infrastructure in gentrifying

neighbourhoods in order to benefit from the capital circulation they created in the area. Furthermore, He (2007) states the following: “The state often mobilizes the most important

resources to tackle the problem of fragmented property rights and to facilitate commercial gentrification” (He, 2007: p. 171). Economic and urban growth are the two main goals that

motivate the state to sponsor this commercial gentrification (He, 2007).

According to several studies, commercial gentrification and the transformation of shopping streets can positively influence and support social activities in gentrifying

neighbourhoods (Zukin et al., 2009). However, this positive effect of new types of retail does not apply to everyone, because many businesses in gentrifying neighbourhoods only seem to follow the demands of people who wish to have a distinctive status (Zukin et al., 2009). The upcoming businesses that seem to promote higher social and cultural values are, according to Zukin et al. (2009) creating a growing socio-economic polarization. Only a small amount of existing studies focus on the people who can be seen as the victims of commercial gentrification since its first stages took place: the long-term entrepreneurs (Jeong et al., 2015). The impact of commercial gentrification on local entrepreneurs can be huge and it can result in a challenging situation (Jeong et al., 2015).

2.3 Displacement pressure

Not everyone is taking advantage of the process of gentrification. Gentrification often leads to a process of forced abandoning of a business, house, street or neighbourhood, which can be seen as a form of displacement (Grier & Grier, 1980). The concept of displacement can be explained as forced residential moving that is caused by external forces, without the households themselves having any control. The state is mostly seen as the strongest external force, by promoting urban renewal or infrastructure development (Grier & Grier, 1980). People who are not directly displaced by for example rising rental prices can still experience a certain pressure of

displacement (Smith, 2002). The process of gentrification can be seen as a competitive urban strategy, where the action is taken by urban policy-makers. A common result is that the working-class residents with a lower income are being displaced from their own environment. Because of actions taken by the state, they are sometimes directly or more indirectly forced to leave their houses or neighbourhood (Smith, 2002).

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7 displacement have to be included: direct last-resident displacement, direct chain displacement, exclusionary displacement and displacement pressure (Marcuse, 1985). About the concept of displacement pressure Marcuse (1985) states the following: “Displacement affects more than

those actually displaced at any given moment. When a family sees the neighbourhood around it changing dramatically, when their friends are leaving the neighbourhood, when the stores they patronize are liquidating and new stores for other clientele are taking their places, and when changes in public facilities, in transportation patterns, and in support services all clearly are making the area less and less liveable, then the pressure of displacement already is severe. Its actuality is only a matter of time. Families living under these circumstances may move as soon as they can, rather than wait for the inevitable; nonetheless they are displaced” (Marcuse, 1985: p.

207). Marcuse (1985) distinguishes a direct form of displacement from a more indirect form. A direct form of displacement occurs when a certain household is not permitted or able to move into a neighbourhood or forced to move out because they simply cannot afford it and the amount of affordable housing is decreasing. For understanding the impacts of commercial gentrification, ‘displacement pressure’ can be seen as a more indirect form of displacement. Displacement pressure does not only include the shortage of facilities for low-income residents in a

neighbourhood, but it also results in the collapse of social networks of these residents while their neighbourhood is transforming quickly (Marcuse, 1985: p. 208). Davidson and Lees (2010) point out that this experienced indirect displacement pressure can lead to residents experiencing a so called ‘loss of place’. This occurs when residents are being dispossessed and dislocated from their living areas in a forced way, something that can be seen as a form of displacement. In general, indirect displacement and this ‘loss of place’ concept are connected to the commercial

transformation of gentrifying neighbourhoods (Davidson & Lees, 2010).

In the existing literature, studies about displacement pressure as a result of gentrification are in general based on residential displacement. However, gentrification and more specifically commercial gentrification can also have big impacts on local businesses and as a result it can not only displace residents, but business owners as well (Huse, 2016; Jeong et al., 2015). For some long-term businesses, rising rental prices force them to move their business from a main street to smaller streets further away from the commercial centre, or they even have to leave the

neighbourhood. However, some businesses that are focused on long-term local customers ,such as hair salons, can often manage to continue their business. At the same time, some entrepreneurs are abandoned from their business in a forced way due to rising rental prices. This mostly forced decision to move or close their business is often related to experienced feelings of discouragement and despair and not only to rental prices that became unaffordable (Jeong et al., 2015).

2.4 Ethnic minority entrepreneurships

To get a better understanding of ethnic minority entrepreneurship it is important to make clear when someone is part of an ethnic minority. Following the Dutch context of Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (2016), the country of birth of the parents plays a central role when you want to demarcate someone with a migration background. In the case of people with a Dutch background, both parents were born in the Netherlands. For people with a migration background, at least one parent has to be born abroad. Someone who was born abroad is part of the first generation ethnic minorities, while someone of the second generation is born in the Netherlands. Within these generations, different generation groups can be distinguished, depending on the age of entry and

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8 ethnical background of both parents (CBS, 2016a)1.

A high amount of the immigrant population in the Netherlands has established itself as self-employed entrepreneurs (Rath & Kloosterman, 2000). Especially since the 1970s, the Netherlands are known for their big immigrant influx (Ernst & Doucet, 2014). In the case of the two big cities Rotterdam and Amsterdam, new immigrants constitute approximately a fourth part of the total amount of entrepreneurs. This is proportionate to the part that they represent within the total population in both cities (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). This means that the step to become an entrepreneur seems easier and more attractive than starting to work on the labour market, which can be related to their difficulties in accessing the labour market due to their often low socio-economic position that automatically leads them to lower skilled labour (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). The increase in the number of immigrant entrepreneurs in the country asks for a closer look on their development. Immigrant entrepreneurs can contribute to the creation of other immigrants’ employment and new demanded types of products and services (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). Especially the economic impacts of ethnic

entrepreneurships are very important, since ethnic entrepreneurships might contribute to the employment opportunities for other ethnic minorities, where networks are an important factor of influence (Rath & Kloosterman, 2000). Although the goods and services of ethnic

entrepreneurships are slowly becoming more diverse, most businesses are still very focused on the wholesale sector, retail and restaurants. The social network of these ethnic entrepreneurs make it possible to work very flexible by letting their family members or people that are part of their social network contribute to the business, so costs can be reduced. Most ethnic entrepreneurships are part of very competitive markets where price competition is the central issue. Up until now, several advisory bodies and local or even national government institutions made effort to intervene and professionalize ethnic minority entrepreneurships in the Netherlands, but up until now this had little effect (Rath & Kloosterman, 2000).

2.5 Ethnic packaging

While doing research about the impacts and consequences of commercial gentrification, ethnicity and the way that ethnic minority residents or entrepreneurs deal with the changing situation in a neighbourhood plays an important role (Hackworth & Rekers, 2005). In gentrifying

neighbourhoods, attracting new types of visitors and residents are the urban developers’ main goal in their strategic process of reshaping space (Huse, 2016). It happens in many gentrifying

neighbourhoods that ethnic culture is being produced to attract tourists and young urban

professionals. This practice can also be called ‘ethnic packaging’, where the intention mostly is not to displace residents or entrepreneurs, but where the construction of a multicultural urban landscape is very important in order to attract more affluent users to the spaces where ethnic packaging takes place. With ethnic packaging, a ‘racialized other’ is being shaped, which works to impede the ways in which ethnic minorities have become part of their neighbourhood and how they actively belong to - and shape the neighbourhood (Huse, 2016).

In some areas where ethnic minority entrepreneurships are already located for many years, these businesses can function in a way to promote and brand the area, which can lead to the process of residential gentrification nearby (Hackworth & Rekers, 2005). For the valorisation of, and investments in local real-estate markets, ethnic packaging and its ‘constructed ethnicity’ can play an important role. Hackworth and Rekers (2005) state the following about this: “Nowadays,

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ethnicity is sometimes commodified in a way that challenges both traditional notions of ethnic landscape formation in urban theory and explanatory models of gentrification” (Hackworth &

Rekers, 2005: p. 212). The exact relation between ethnic packaging and the process of gentrification can be arguable, but ethnic packaging can transform the status and image of gentrifying neighbourhoods. It creates a hip and attractive area, leading to the attraction of an increasing amount of more affluent residents and visitors (Hackworth & Rekers, 2005).

3. Problem definition and research questions

The process of commercial gentrification taking place in neighbourhoods can have enormous impacts on local businesses such as existing ethnic minority entrepreneurships (Ernst, 2011). Due to quickly changing demographics of gentrifying neighbourhoods, the commercial landscape of the neighbourhood is changing and adapting to these upcoming middle-class residents and visitors of the neighbourhood as well (Ernst, 2011). Since literature has shown that commercial

gentrification can lead to increasing socio-economic polarization in neighbourhoods (Zukin et al., 2009), it is important to find out who are the people taking advantage out of it and who are the ones that are not able to adapt to the quickly changing situation in the gentrifying neighbourhood. There is an emerging literature on displacement pressure in relation to residential gentrification. However, there is not much research done on only the impacts of commercial gentrification. There exists a gap in the existing literature on displacement pressure as a result of commercial gentrification. Especially the perspectives of ethnic minority entrepreneurs are understudied (Jeong et al., 2015). In this research the focus will be on this understudied perspective, by investigating the personal experiences of ethnic minority entrepreneurs with the process of commercial gentrification and the eventual displacement pressure that might occur as a result of it.

From this problem definition, two main research questions arise:

1. How do ethnic minority entrepreneurs perceive and experience (commercial) gentrification?

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4. Research design and methodology

4.1 Research design

This research will make use of a qualitative research strategy. Bryman (2012: p. 76-77) argues that in qualitative research usually words are more dominant than numbers when data is being collected and analysed. This qualitative research has an inductive character, which means that the relationship between theory and research is inductive, whereby theory is created by doing research and collecting data. Yet some deductive elements are also present in this research, since it starts with a literature review (Bryman, 2012: p. 19). Interpretation is an important and inevitable method for analysing the collected data, especially while doing a qualitative research (Bryman, 2012: p. 280-384). Since there exists a gap in existing literature and only little is known about the chosen topic of interest, the research has an explorative character where the collection of data will lead to new information and theory (Bryman, 2012: p. 77).

The research design that will be used in this research is a typical or representive single case study design. In a case study, the research design is known for its very intensive and detailed analysis of a single case (Bryman, 2012: p. 66-72). In this research, the single case that will be studied are the ethnic minority entrepreneurs located in the Indische buurt in Amsterdam. This specific group of people and their experiences with displacement pressure will be analysed intensively and in a very detailed way in a specific neighbourhood in the city of Amsterdam, which are all important aspects of a case study design (Bryman, 2012: p. 66-72). The research can be identified as a representive or typical case study, where the main goal is to capture the daily life conditions and circumstances of commonplace situations (Yin, 2009: p. 48). Some elements of the theory that will be generated from data collection in this case study in the Indische buurt might be

transferable to other gentrifying neighbourhoods in for example Amsterdam. However, this transferability of generated theory to other places or cases is completely dependent on the context of the other case, since cultural, economic, political and several other elements could have a big influence on the generated theory. For this reason, qualitative case study designs are known for their low external validity (Bryman, 2012: p. 70 & 71).

4.2 Case relevance

Within the city of Amsterdam, several neighbourhoods that used to be known for their dominant presence of working-class residents are going through a phase of transformation and upgrading (Ernst & Doucet, 2014). The Indische buurt is a clear example of one of these neighbourhoods (Sakizlioglu, 2014). This research will focus on the experiences of ethnic minority entrepreneurs with displacement pressure as a result of commercial gentrification. To focus on the personal experiences of these entrepreneurs, a relevant case of commercial gentrification in the Indische buurt has been chosen. The Indische buurt is located on the east side of Amsterdam, as visible in the map below (figure 1).

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11 Figure 1 – Location of the Indische buurt in Amsterdam

Source: Sakizlioglu (2014)

Within the Indische buurt, the influx of new middle-class residents is an important factor and sign of a gentrifying neighbourhood. Especially on the west side of Indische buurt where the Javastraat is located, the amount of upcoming middle-class residents has been rising from 2005 to 2017 (the dark green dotted line), while the red line shows that the pre-dominant residents with a non-western migration background are becoming less dominant in their presence (see figure 2).

Figure 2 – Share of new middle-class residents in comparison to residents with a non-western migration

background in the Indische buurt, 2005-2017

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12 Together with this residential gentrification, the process of commercial gentrification is clearly visible in the neighbourhood and nowadays it is identified as a social relevant topic of discussion that often makes it to the news on an urban or national scale (Moll, 2018).

The process of commercial gentrification can affect people both positively and negatively. Since gentrification started to take place in the Indische buurt, the neighbourhood changed very quickly with the upcoming middle-class residents that moved to the neighbourhood with the change of its commercial composition (Ernst, 2011). The neighbourhood is known for its clear distinction between local businesses that are focused on long-term residents and its many upcoming

businesses that mostly attract the new middle-class residents (Moll, 2018). It could be stated that, as a result of the mostly state-led neighbourhood upgrading, changing demographics and

commercial gentrification in the Indische buurt, many of the pre-dominant and mostly ethnic minority entrepreneurs might experience feelings of pressure: for example pressure to close their businesses due to rising rental prices, or pressure to leave the neighbourhood because they just don’t feel at home there anymore (Ernst, 2011). By walking through the neighbourhood, it is clearly notable that the types of businesses changed a lot since many businesses catering lower income residents closed while many new types of upgraded businesses appeared (Moll, 2018; Ernst & Doucet, 2014).

Also the existing literature shows that the process of commercial gentrification definitely takes place in the Indische buurt. In his research, Ernst (2011) states that the commercial supply of the Indische buurt changed a lot since the process of gentrification started to take place and that this neighbourhood gives a clear example of commercial gentrification. He argues that the dominant existence of the ethnic minority residents and their entrepreneurships can give the process of (commercial) gentrification a more positive character and it can make people appreciate the changes more. However, some ethnic entrepreneurships cannot manage to adapt to the quickly changing neighbourhood (Ernst, 2011).

In this research, the focus will be on the main consumption area of the Indische buurt: the Javastraat, located on the west side of the neighbourhood (see figure 3). The reason why there is chosen for this demarcation is that this area is known as a part of the neighbourhood where ethnic minority entrepreneurships are dominant in presence. Furthermore, in this part of the Indische buurt the process of commercial gentrification is the most clearly visible, since many low-quality businesses made place for upgraded, higher-quality businesses the last couple of years (Ernst & Doucet, 2014).

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13 Figure 3 – Location of the Javastraat in the Indische buurt

Source: Google Maps

It is chosen to only focus on ethnic minority entrepreneurs working in the Indische buurt for several reasons. First of all, the neighbourhood is known for its large immigrant population (OIS, 2017b; Ernst & Doucet, 2014). Kloosterman and van der Leun (1999) state that in Amsterdam, the

new immigrants constitute approximately a fourth part of the total amount of entrepreneurs. This is proportionate to the part that they represent within the total population (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999), something that is clearly visible in the amount of ethnic entrepreneurships in the Indische buurt. The immigrant population in Amsterdam neighbourhoods has a relatively difficult and mostly low position on the social ladder when it comes to their educational level, dependence on the Dutch welfare state and unemployment (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). Most immigrants seem to find it easier to start working as entrepreneurs, generally in retail, restaurant and wholesale sectors. This can be related to their difficulties in accessing the labour market due to their often low socio-economic position that automatically leads them to lower skilled labour (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). The very common and big gap between the socio-economic status of immigrant entrepreneurs and native Dutch entrepreneurs in Amsterdam neighbourhoods could result in the continuously hopeless battle and competition of ethnic entrepreneurs with these Dutch entrepreneurs (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). Big parts of the Indische buurt are slowly transforming into gentrified areas full of hip and trendy cafes, restaurants and shops. This can be seen as a response to the stigmatization of the ‘low status’ neighbourhood, that was mostly known for its dominant migrant population and the many problems coming with this low social-mix (Ernst & Doucet, 2014). Many policy-makers are convinced that the replacement of pre-dominant ethnic minority entrepreneurships in the Indische buurt, that mostly attract low-income and immigrant customers, with more upgraded and new businesses can be seen as a positive transformation. For this reason, it is important to do more research about the perspective of the ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the Indische buurt and the forms of pressure they might experience as a result of the upcoming Dutch entrepreneurships (Ernst & Doucet, 2014).

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4.3 Research units

In order to collect data that are needed for answering the research questions, the research unit where the data will be collected from has to be clear. In this research, the ethnic minority entrepreneurs are the unit of research, since they will be interviewed in order to collect data and the research focusses on their perspective within the process of commercial gentrification and their personal experiences with displacement pressure.

4.4 Conceptual model

This conceptual model offers an overview of the important concepts of this research and their interrelations. The variables below are moderating variables, influencing the relation between commercial gentrification and displacement pressure.

4.5 Operationalization

In the problem definition, several important concepts are mentioned that need to be made measurable by working them out in variables. Many of these variables could be investigated to measure the concepts as complete as possible. However, considering the lack of time and money in this research, only the most important variables will be pointed out, while some other aspects that could also be useful for the measurement of the concepts are not included.

Commercial gentrification

The process of gentrification results in changing consumption and retail patterns within gentrifying neighbourhoods (Ernst, 2011). This commercial gentrification is a commercial upgrading process, where new services and spaces serve to the demands of, and aim at attracting the upcoming middle-class residents and visitors (Gant, 2015). The state often plays an increasing role in stimulating and supporting commercial gentrification. The concept of commercial

gentrification can be made measurable with the following indicator: the emergence of new upgraded businesses in the neighbourhood aiming at attracting affluent middle class users which results in the displacement of the pre-dominant entrepreneurs (Ernst, 2011). In the semi-structured interviews, questions regarding commercial gentrification were asked in order to get an idea of the

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15 point of view of the ethnic minority entrepreneurs on the process and how they perceive and experience it. When the participants discussed the appearance of upgraded businesses and the new types of affluent customers or residents they attract, this could be used as an indicator of the process of commercial gentrification.

Ethnic minority entrepreneurs

In this research, ethnic minority entrepreneurs are defined following the definition of Centraal Bureau van de Statistiek. According to the Dutch context of CBS (2016a)2, someone is part of an

ethnic minority when they have a migration background and at least one of the parents is born abroad. Someone who was born abroad is part of the first generation, while someone of the second generation is born in the Netherlands (CBS, 2016a).

Displacement pressure

Displacement pressure does not only include the shortage of facilities for low-income residents in a neighbourhood, but it also results in the collapse of social networks of these residents while their neighbourhood is transforming quickly and becoming less liveable to them (Marcuse, 1985: p. 208). The concept of displacement pressure will be operationalized with the use of three indicators. An important indicator and variable of displacement pressure is whether the ethnic minority entrepreneurs that are going to be interviewed have involuntary moving plans due to external forces as a result of (commercial) gentrification. They should be asked whether they have plans to leave the neighbourhood and close or move their business and in case they do, what the reason is behind this moving plan. It is important to leave this ‘why’ question open, because it could be possible that they have moving plans that have nothing to do with the commercial transformation of the neighbourhood. A second variable to measure displacement pressure is whether the ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the Indische buurt deal with financial problems due to the commercial gentrification taking place in the neighbourhood. Do they struggle with more competition because of the upcoming businesses that aim to attract middle-class residents and visitors? Do they slowly lose their customers because of the increasing amount of displaced residents from the Indische buurt that used to be their most common customers? Do they deal with rising rental prices due to the total upgrading of the neighbourhood as a result of the process of (commercial) gentrification? These are all questions to take into account while asking the ethnic minority entrepreneurs about the (financial) status of their businesses. A third and very important variable and indicator of displacement pressure is whether the ethnic minority entrepreneurs experience a ‘loss of place’, which occurs when residents are being dispossessed and dislocated from their living areas in a forced way (Davidson & Lees, 2010). Did their feelings of belonging in the neighbourhood decrease since commercial gentrification is taking place? Do they feel less at home in, and connection with the Indische buurt due to the process of commercial

gentrification? Did their social networks collapse due to commercial gentrification which made the neighbourhood less liveable to them? These are all questions that are important to take into account while asking the entrepreneurs about their personal experiences and feelings when it comes to the process of commercial gentrification.

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16 Individual characteristics entrepreneurs

Several individual characteristics of the ethnic minority entrepreneurs could be of importance and seen as variables that can influence the relation between commercial gentrification and the

experiences with displacement pressure. First of all, the educational level of the entrepreneurs could be of influence on the amount of experienced displacement pressure. It might be possible that higher educated entrepreneurs are more able to adapt to the quickly changing commercial composition of the neighbourhood by making plans to change their type of retail to attract the upcoming new types of middle-class residents to their business. Furthermore, a higher educational level gives the entrepreneurs more other professional options when their business is not running well. In this way, the chance of experiencing displacement pressure could be decreased. Another individual characteristic of the entrepreneurs that could influence their experiences with

displacement pressure could be their networks (Rath & Kloosterman, 2000). When the ethnic minority entrepreneurs have access to a large network of other (ethnic minority) entrepreneurs in the neighbourhood or for example the local municipality, these contacts could help them to adapt to the process of commercial gentrification in the Indische buurt.

Characteristics of businesses

There are two characteristics of the businesses owned by the ethnic minority entrepreneurs that might influence experiences with displacement pressure. First of all, the type of retail is important to take into account. A business with a type of retail that attracts the upcoming middle-class residents and visitors of the neighbourhood might experience less displacement pressure than types of retail that are focused on the pre-dominant residents of the neighbourhood (Huse, 2006). Furthermore, for some types of retail (such as bakery’s) it might be easier to subtly change their service or products in order to adapt to the influx of more affluent users of the businesses in the neighbourhood than for businesses that offer products or services that are harder to change into something else, such as laundry services. Another characteristic of the businesses that is important is the duration of existence of the business. A business that already exists for many years or that even started before the (commercial) gentrification in the neighbourhood started to take place will probably experience more problems with the quickly changing Indische buurt than a business that recently opened and that was already able to adapt to the current residents and status of the neighbourhood and what they are demanding.

4.6 Research methods

In this research, several methods were used within the data collection process. Before the first research question, a literature review and a mini-survey are presented to discuss the contextual background regarding the process of (commercial) gentrification in the Indische buurt. For the literature review, a literature study has been done in order to discuss the (local) governmental interventions in the neighbourhood and their impacts. The contextual background also includes a mini-survey that has been done in the Javastraat in order to take a snapshot of the ethnic and commercial profile of this gentrifying street. By walking into every single shop, bar, or restaurant in the street, some basic data has been collected. All entrepreneurs were asked about the duration of existence of their business on its current location, the type of retail or service they offer and their ethnical background. It is important to ask about the type of retail or service they offer, because this says a lot about the type of customer they (try to) attract. The duration of existence of the business also gives important information about the business, because long-term businesses

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17 appeared in a time when the neighbourhood was still known as a low-status and problematic area that was not yet transforming into its current composition and status. These long-term businesses were focused on the pre-dominant working-class residents of the Indische buurt and might not (yet) have adapted to the changing neighbourhood, which can have a big influence on the

(economic) status of the business. For short-term businesses it might have been easier to adapt to the quickly changing neighbourhood and its new types of residents and visitors and their

demands, which might make it easier for these businesses to be profitable and valuable in a gentrifying neighbourhood (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). In this way, a map is drawn using these data in order to show the ethnic and commercial profile of the street. This map also shows the presence of ethnically Dutch entrepreneurships and their characteristics, so these can be compared to the ethnic minority entrepreneurships.

After the contextual background is discussed, semi-structured interviews with ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the Indische buurt were used. In this way, data regarding the personal

experiences of the ethnic minority entrepreneurs with (commercial) gentrification in the neighbourhood could be collected. This interview method is also used for the data collection of the second research question regarding the personal experiences of the ethnic minority

entrepreneurs with displacement pressure.

In semi-structured interviews, the interviewer works with an item list with generally formulated questions in a certain order, but the interviewer can choose to vary with this order. The questions often have a very general character, especially compared to the way of asking questions in a structured interview. Furthermore, the interviewer is allowed to ask further questions in response to what parts are seen as useable answers (Bryman, 2012: p. 471-473). The item list as used in this research can be found in the annex. In order to recruit participants for the interviews that were needed in this research, the use of the so called ‘snowball-sampling’ was of importance. With snowball sampling, the researcher looks for a small amount of participants that are useful and relevant for the research, in this case by walking into several ethnic minority entrepreneurships in the neighbourhood and asking the ethnic minority entrepreneurs if they are interested to

participate. After this, I made use of them and their networks to establish more contacts with others that are part of the same group (Bryman, 2012: p. 202-203). In total, eleven ethnic minority entrepreneurs participated in the semi-structured interviews and they were asked questions about several subjects such as their personal characteristics, characteristics of their business, personal experiences with and visions on commercial gentrification and questions regarding displacement pressure and the impacts of commercial gentrification on them. All businesses of the participants are located on the Javastraat, the main shopping street of the Indische buurt. The profile of the interview participants can be found in table 1 in the annex.

While collecting data with these several methods, some issues could appear that are important to take into account. For example, during the semi-structured interviews it could occur that the respondents do not wish to answer questions about certain private topics such as their financial status. In this case, we could speak of a ‘non-response’ and it could be difficult to collect data to make the concept of displacement pressure measureable, since for example financial problems with rising rental prices could be an important factor. During the interviews this did occur a couple of times, since some of the interviewees did not wish to share the amount of rent they have to pay monthly and some became very quiet when they were asked about their financial status in general. However, most of the interviewees turned out to be pretty open about these topics.

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18 Another issue that could obstruct the interviews is a language barrier with the interview

participants. When a certain ethnic minority entrepreneur is not able to understand or answer all the questions, we could speak of a ‘non-response’ as well. During some of the interviews some misunderstandings did occur due to a language barrier. Especially when the interviewees were asked whether they feel at home in the neighbourhood, some of them did not understand the question and further explanation was requested. Furthermore, some ethical issues could occur. With interview questions about sensitive topics regarding displacement pressure, confidentiality is a main factor of influence. The anonymity of the participants has to be assured in order to make them feel confident and unrestrained while giving their opinion or personal vision on certain topics (Bryman, 2012: p. 135-143). Before the interviews started, all the interviewees were assured that the interview results remain completely anonymous and they were asked for

permission to make a recording of the conversation. Besides this, it is important to be aware of the role of the person doing this qualitative research. Some of my individual characteristics could be seen as influential factors in the data collection process. It could be the case that the fact that I am an ethnically Dutch, young, female, high-educated university student interviewing male, ethnic minority entrepreneurs influences the results from the semi-structured interviews. Due to possible cultural barriers, the fact that I for example don’t speak Turkish or Arabic, my young age, my sex and some other aspects, it is imaginable that the interview participants don’t feel comfortable enough to tell me their complete and personal story and they might give more detailed or other information to someone with a position and life that has more in common with that of the interviewees. During some of the interviews, I did have the idea that my personal characteristics as a researcher might have influenced the quality of the interview. It could be possible that some of the interviewees would have been more open or more complete in their answers if I for example would have spoken their language or if we would have shared the same culture.

4.7 Data analysis

All collected data for this thesis is processed in certain ways. For the literature review that has been done, I read several relevant articles, another thesis and policy documents regarding state-led (commercial) gentrification and local municipal interventions in the Indische buurt. The making of a short summary of all relevant information and data offered an overview which made it easy to discuss and analyse all forms of (local) governmental interventions in the neighbourhood.

The semi-structured interviews with the ethnic minority entrepreneurs were recorded and transcribed in a separate file afterwards. With the use of computer program ATLAS.ti all the quotes from the interviews were coded in order to analyse the results of the interviews in a structured way. While reading the interview transcripts, several codes were created to divide the quotes into the different topics of discussion. These codes can be found in the codebook in the annex (table 2). Since the spoken language in the interviews with the ethnic minority

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5. Empirical research

5.1 Contextual background

Before analysing the interview results that include data regarding the personal experiences and perceptions of the ethnic minority entrepreneurs with the process of (commercial) gentrification and its impacts, a contextual background is offered. First, a review of existing literature discusses the municipal and governmental policy interventions in the neighbourhood and their role and impacts within the process of (commercial) gentrification in the Indische buurt. After this, the results of a mini-survey offer a snapshot of the ethnic and commercial profile of the gentrifying Javastraat.

5.1.1 Literature review regarding state-led (commercial) gentrification

The Indische buurt is going through an enormous transformation due to the process of

gentrification. Not only new, more affluent middle-class residents and visitors are attracted to the neighbourhood, but the commercial composition of many streets and squares in the

neighbourhood is changing a lot as well (Ernst & Doucet, 2014). Within the process of commercial gentrification, the state or local municipalities often play an important role in stimulating or supporting the commercial upgrading of neighbourhoods (He, 2007). For this research, it is interesting to find out whether this is also the case in the Indische buurt. By offering a short review of existing literature including policy documents regarding state-led (commercial) gentrification and municipal interventions in the Indische buurt, it can be made clear what role the local municipality or the state play or have played within the process of (commercial)

gentrification in the neighbourhood.

In the case of the Indische buurt, the local municipality and even the national government

intervened in several ways in order to achieve local urban upgrading and it can be stated that they are the main drivers behind the process of (commercial) gentrification in the neighbourhood (Hochstenbach, 2014). For many years, the Indische buurt has been labelled as a low-status neighbourhood dealing with problematic conditions in many ways. In the early 2000s, the

Indische buurt suffered from high criminality rates, a high amount of unemployed residents and a lack of social ties within the community (Sakizlioglu, 2014). For this reason, national and local policy-makers are already focused on the social problems of this area for many years. They are hoping to improve and transform the neighbourhood with the use of several, mostly top-down regulated methods (Hochstenbach, 2014). Decreasing the criminality rates in the neighbourhood was an important goal of the local municipality. However, according to the ‘Area analysis 2017’ of the Indische buurt, a relatively large amount of crime still takes place in the neighbourhood and residents do not always feel safe. There is still some nuisance of drug trafficking, especially on the west side of the Indische buurt. On the east side of the Indische buurt, loitering still creates

nuisance (OIS, 2017a).

According to Hochstenbach (2014), the main method implemented by the national and local government is the stimulation of a changing housing stock, where the decrease of available social housing is the main goal. Especially on the west side of the neighbourhood where the Javastraat is located, the amount of rentable social housing decreased enormously while the real-estate prices were growing even faster the than the average of the city (OIS, 2018). These increasing real-estate prices are also visible in table 3 below.

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20 Table 3 – Real-estate prices per square meter in Indische Buurt West and Amsterdam (in euros)

Source: OIS (2018)

With the changes in the presence of social housing, municipal and governmental policy-makers admit that their main goal is the attraction of middle-class, higher income residents that can improve the overall status and image of the neighbourhood (Hochstenbach, 2014). The

expectation behind this transformation of the housing stock was that it would be a solution to the existing social issues within the neighbourhood. Creating more social mixing in former

disadvantaged neighbourhoods such as the Indische buurt is considered a good-working policy strategy, since it results in the influx of middle-class residents who positively influence the general status of the neighbourhood (Hochstenbach, 2014; Sakizlioglu, 2014). Besides this, most local stakeholders state that the influx of middle-class residents can support the development of the pre-dominant working-class when the two different groups get in contact with each other and a ‘sense of community’ is created (Hochstenbach, 2014). In the period between 2001 and 2005 the first top-down regulated intervention, initiated by the local municipality of Zeeburg, took place in the Indische buurt and it was called Stedelijk Vernieuwingsplan Indische buurt (Urban Renewal Plan for the Indische buurt). This intervention was very important since it was the starting point of the transformation of the housing stock in the Indische buurt, where more differentiation within the housing stock resulted in changing demographics with the influx of many middle-class residents and this in its turn affected the composition of retail and other businesses in the

neighbourhood that fit into the demands of the new type of residents and visitors (Brocken, 2015; Sakizlioglu, 2014). By intervening in the differentiation of the housing stock, the main goal was to create more balance and decrease the amount of social-rental houses that used to be dominant in presence in the neighbourhood (Ernst & Doucet, 2014).

Furthermore, several municipal-led renovation projects started to occur in the Indische buurt, such as the renovation of some squares in order to improve their aesthetics and make them more

attractive for the new middle-class residents of the neighbourhood (Sakizlioglu, 2014). Apart from these intervention projects, the local municipality also collaborated with several housing

corporations and together they started a big city-marketing campaign in order to promote the neighbourhood and improve its general image. This campaign, called ‘Neighbourhood Promotion

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21 Indische Buurt’, even got financial support from the European Union. The neighbourhood was presented as a ‘World Neighbourhood’: a cultural hotspot and an area where cultural diversity plays a central role and in which the diverse types of residents are seen as a good way to improve the social and economic status of the Indische buurt (Sakizlioglu, 2014). This campaign was mainly focused on the Javastraat, where the local municipality took advantage of the dominant existence of ethnic minority entrepreneurships by using these businesses as promotion for the diverse and multicultural neighbourhood image. This process can be labelled as ‘ethnic

packaging’, where the ethnically diverse businesses function as advertisement for the attraction of new middle-class residents and visitors (Hackworth & Rekers, 2005; Sakizlioglu, 2014).

The state and local municipality not only played important roles in stimulating gentrification in general, but also in transforming the commercial structure of the Indische buurt (Brocken, 2015). The local municipality (Stadsdeel Zeeburg) implemented their vision on the catering industry in the Indische buurt and made clear what was needed in their opinion. This vision on the catering industry from 2009 stated that the Javastraat and its surrounding streets have the potential to become an entertainment area that attracts students and starters, which asked for an increase in the amount of bars and restaurants (Brocken, 2015; Stadsdeel Zeeburg, 2009). The local municipality has a powerful position in stimulating the process of commercial gentrification by assigning permits. The catering industry permits were selectively assigned to businesses offering high-quality food and products, since these kinds of businesses would improve the general appearance of the neighbourhood. On the other hand, the amount of low-quality catering industry such as snackbars and teahouses had to decrease to make place for more hip and trendy businesses. Besides the ward off of low-quality catering industry, the local municipality also created striking policy against certain retail businesses. Businesses such as telecom shops, coffee shops and money exchange offices did not fit into the new vision on the Indische buurt and were not allowed.

Another clear example of top-down regulated local and national governmental policy intervention is the facilitation of subsidies and thereby the investment in the commercial composition of the Indische buurt (Brocken, 2015). In a selective way, the collaborating municipality of Amsterdam and European Union assigned subsidies to businesses with the potential to fit into the

‘entertainment area vision’. These certain businesses received subsidies in order to for example renovate their restaurants or shops so they are able to adapt to the transformations of the neighbourhood and attract the middle-class residents, following the wishes of the local

municipality. Nowadays, the role of the local municipality has become a bit more passive, since most of the actively state- and municipal-led policy interventions already had a big impact on the image of the Indische buurt (Brocken, 2015).

The stimulation of (commercial) gentrification in the neighbourhood is supported by many of the short-term middle-class residents living in the Indische buurt. Many policy-makers make use of this mainly one-sided local support by stating that they listened to the wishes of the residents themselves as well before implementing their policy. However, all these different forms of regulation, projects and campaigns prove that the Indische buurt is a clear example of top-down, state- and municipality-led (commercial) gentrification (Hochstenbach, 2014).

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22 5.1.2 Mini-survey: An ethnic and commercial profile of the gentrifying Javastraat

In the city of Amsterdam, it appears that the new immigrants constitute approximately a fourth part of the total amount of entrepreneurs. This is proportionate to the part that they represent within the total population in both cities (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). This could mean that for these new immigrants the step to become a self-employed entrepreneur seems more attractive and maybe easier than finding access to work on the labour market, especially since the percentage of unemployment of immigrants is way higher than the average on the (formal) labour market. According to Kloosterman and van der Leun (1999), this preference for starting an entrepreneurship among immigrants has a reason: “On the official labour market, employers may

reject immigrants on the basis of real or supposed qualities. These exclusion processes may have serious long-term consequences. Immigrants wanting to start their own business must also deal with exclusion processes, but these are generally more complex and indirect (immigrants may and it harder to get a loan from a bank). As a result, the rate of immigrant entrepreneurs in the total population of entrepreneurs almost matches the rate of immigrants in the total population; and some ethnic groups, for example the Turkish and Chinese communities, are actually

over-represented in the total entrepreneur population” (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999: p. 664). A

positive aspect is that these immigrant entrepreneurships can contribute to the creation of other immigrants’ employment and new demanded types of products and services in a neighbourhood (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). Immigrant - or so called ethnic entrepreneurships can positively influence the employment of ethnic minorities, where networks play an important role (Rath & Kloosterman, 2000). Research shows that most ethnic entrepreneurships in Amsterdam are focused on the wholesale sector, retail and restaurants. The main reason for this is that it is relatively easier to open these kinds of businesses, since a shortage of capital or a lack of

education do not have to be an obstacle for these kinds of entrepreneurships (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999).

The Indische buurt in Amsterdam is known for its dominant presence of residents with a

migration background, especially since the 1970s (Ernst & Doucet, 2014). By walking through the neighbourhood it is clearly visible that the area offers many ethnic entrepreneurships. These businesses can easily be recognized as ethnic entrepreneurships by their names or through certain symbols such as national flags on the walls. In order to get an overview of the ethnic

entrepreneurships and their characteristics in the Indische buurt, a mini-survey has been done. It is chosen to do this mini-survey in the main shopping area of the neighbourhood, the Javastraat, since this street is known for its concentration of ethnic minority entrepreneurships. By walking into every single shop, bar, or restaurant, some basic information is gathered in a table to create an overview (see table 4 in annex). The entrepreneurs were asked about the duration of existence of their business on its current location, the type of retail or service they offer and their ethnical background.

By using this collected data, a map of the Javastraat from the railway until Javaplein is drawn in order to offer an overview of the ethnic profile of the entrepreneurships in the street. This map also shows the presence of ethnically Dutch entrepreneurships and their characteristics, so these businesses can be compared with the ethnic minority entrepreneurships.

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23 This ethnic and commercial profile of the entrepreneurships in the Javastraat tells us several things. First of all, it is clear that ethnic minority entrepreneurships are the dominant type of entrepreneurships in the street. The collected data as visible in table 4 in the annex shows that the most common ethnicities of the ethnic minority entrepreneurs are Turkish and Maroccan. This dominance corresponds to the dominant existence of Maroccan and Turkish immigrants in Amsterdam and the Netherlands, with their large influx in the 1970s (CBS, 2016b). When

comparing the types of retail of all the businesses in the street, it is remarkable that the ethnic minority entrepreneurships mostly consist of laundry services, (grill)restaurants, Turkish bakery’s, household appliances shops, greengrocers and telecom shops. Some of these entrepreneurships do not only attract the pre-dominant (immigrant) residents of the neighbourhood, but also new middle-class Dutch people visit the Turkish bakery’s and greengrocers sometimes. It could be stated that it is a matter of course that these types of businesses owned by ethnic minority entrepreneurs are dominant in presence, since research found out that most of the immigrant entrepreneurs in Amsterdam start a business in the retail, catering or wholesale sector. It is easier to start a business in one of these sectors, since a shortage of capital or a lack of education do not have to be an obstacle for these kinds of entrepreneurships, while this will be required for

independent professionals (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). A clear distinction is visible between the businesses of newcomers and the ones of old-timers when looking at their types of retail. Most of the businesses that are already located in the street for many years offer lower-quality and cheaper products and services compared to the higher-lower-quality businesses of the newcomers, that are mostly focused on the middle-class newcomers of the Indische buurt. This transformation is a clear sign that the process of (commercial) gentrification is taking place in the street, since more and more upgraded businesses and affluent middle-class residents are located in the neighbourhood. Only a very small amount of the ethnic minority entrepreneurships are hip and trendy businesses such as the Couscous Bar, Saber Nuts or IJs van Oost and do mostly attract the upcoming middle-class, which are all businesses that recently appeared in the street. There is also a small amount of ethnic minority entrepreneurships in the street that adjusted their supply in order to attract more middle-class customers while the neighbourhood is transforming, such as Tigris & Eufraat. Another important conclusion that can be drawn from the map and table, is that almost all of the ethnic minority entrepreneurships in the street can be labelled as long-term businesses, since most of them are already located in the street since the 1990s or even earlier. However, except for only a few, most of the upcoming businesses that appeared in the last five to ten years are owned by ethnically Dutch entrepreneurs. The majority of these short-term

businesses are upgraded and high-quality restaurants, bars and clothing shops that are more expensive, offer luxurious products or services and attract the upcoming middle-class residents and visitors of the neighbourhood. These types of ethnically Dutch businesses could be seen as a

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24 cause of commercial gentrification since they attract new middle-class residents, but these

businesses could also be seen as the result of a quickly gentrifying neighbourhood that respond to what the upcoming middle-class residents and visitors are demanding. However, it is arguable whether commercial gentrification is being fed by residential gentrification or if it goes the other way around.

5.2 Experiences with (commercial) gentrification in the Indische buurt

The Indische buurt is going through a process of urban upgrading and transformation as a result of municipal policy interventions (Sakizlioglu, 2014). The ethnic minority entrepreneurs are also involved in this process, since the commercial composition is changing drastically. For this research it is interesting to find out how this group of people perceive and experience the process of (commercial) gentrification in their neighbourhood.

5.2.1 Perspectives on changing neighbourhood

As formulated in the theoretical framework, the process of commercial gentrification refers to the growing amount of new facilities and spaces that aim to attract and accommodate the demands of middle-class residents (Gant, 2015). The visions of the interviewed ethnic minority entrepreneurs and interview results correspond to this description. For most of the interviewed ethnic minority entrepreneurs it seemed easy to generally describe the Indische buurt and they all stated that the neighbourhood drastically changed over the last couple of years. Several interviewees spoke about the ethnic diversity of the neighbourhood and how the types of retail and other businesses located in the Indische buurt changed over the last couple of years:

“Well, I live here already for 30 years, but the neighbourhood really changed a lot so I’ve really seen it changing. I think right now, the neighbourhood is the most popular. In the Javastraat you have a mix of shops, of anything and everything, so people stay in the neighbourhood. This is a lovely neighbourhood, with all kinds of cultures and nationalities. But yes, the last four years it changed very drastically. Now there are more high-quality shops, and more catering industry, more bars. But also more diversity, so clothing shops, book shops, coffee bars, everything. And the type of people that live here changed a lot as well, they have more money now” (Turkish man,

41 years old, owner clothing repair and dry cleaning shop).

About the changes in the commercial structure of the neighbourhood, most of the interviewees had similar ideas:

“Well, those changes, I’ve been through them all. First, in the ’90, all Dutch businesses had disappeared from the Javastraat and those places were taken over by foreigners, mostly by Turkish people. It was not a very nice street back then, you had only the same types of shops, greengrocers and stuff. So it was monotonous, but still pretty crowded. And then in those years, you could see it all got worse. In that time, many shops closed as well. And then, I think it was a project from the municipality, because there was more variation in the businesses, more and more different businesses came into this street” (Turkish man, 41 years old, owner Turkish teahouse).

According to all the interviewed entrepreneurs, a major result of the upgrading process within the neighbourhood was that new types of residents and visitors started to come to the Indische buurt. These newcomers were unanimous described as young, ethnically Dutch couples, students or small families with high educational levels and a relatively high income compared to the

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pre-25 dominant residents of the neighbourhood. Their description corresponds to existing literature regarding gentrification, where it is stated that the process of gentrification in neighbourhoods results in the influx of more affluent, mostly young people (Hubbard, 2006).

5.2.2 Municipal influences in the neighbourhood

The influx of these new types of residents is also stimulated by the local municipality. As argued by some of the interviewees, a big part of the social housing in the Indische buurt is removed and replaced by housing for sale, which attracts more affluent people. The participants all confirm that the local municipality plays a dominant role in stimulating and supporting the process of

(commercial) gentrification in the Indische buurt. When the interviewees were asked who the main driver behind all the changes in the Indische buurt is, all the entrepreneurs wholeheartedly pointed at the local municipality. A Turkish grill-restaurant entrepreneur states the following:

“I think the eastern district, the local municipality is important. The municipality was in charge and put a lot of effort in changing the neighbourhood, to actually make it work. They have really put a lot of effort in it, not only the municipality, the police as well. Back in the days, I remember that this neighbourhood was called a ghetto. But now, the neighbourhood completely converted into a safe and nice area. And yes, the municipality did all of that” (Turkish man, 62 years old,

owner grill-restaurant).

He is not the only entrepreneur that was very convinced about the dominant role of the municipality:

“Those changes? That was the municipality. They have interfered with it, about who can come and who cannot. And they closed deals with landlords, the entrepreneurs, they all worked together” (Turkish man, 41 years old, owner clothing repair and dry cleaning shop).

Several interviewees argued that the municipality plays a central role in decision-making regarding the commercial structure of the Indische buurt, about what types of retail or other businesses should be located at what location in the neighbourhood:

“It would be nice if the municipality would regulate everything a bit more. Like, we want this much of this, that much of that. Just what we want, it doesn’t have to be that much. Now the municipality is in the luxurious position to consciously make selections, following their own wishes. Like, this is what we want, not those bakery’s, not those greengrocers” (Turkish man, 43

years old, bakery).

Most of the interviewees also spoke about the municipal power to hand out catering industry permits to certain high-quality types of businesses who respond to the demands of the municipality. Besides this, one of the interviewees even argued that, in his point of view, the municipality consciously removed many of the ‘foreigner’ businesses in the Javastraat. He was convinced that the local municipality believes that many of the businesses owned by ethnic minorities do not fit into their vision on the upgrading Indische buurt. The reason why this particular interviewee had these ideas could have to do with the fact that he was clearly refusing to adapt to the changing neighbourhood and stated that he did not feel welcome in the Javastraat anymore. Compared to the other interviewees, he was speaking very negative about the

From no-go area to a place to be? : the impacts of commercial gentrification on ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the Indische buurt