University of Amsterdam
Graduate School of Social Sciences
State-of-the-art or middle-of-the-road?
How embeddedness in networks of power defines opportunities for
radical development in Landtong Nieuwe Meer.
Master’s thesis
Author: Astrid Druijff Student number: 10423036
Programme: Master’s Urban and Regional Planning Supervisor: prof. dr. Maria Kaika
Date: June 2018
Email address: astriddruijff@gmail.com Word count: 15153
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Foreword
This thesis is the final proof of competence for obtaining the master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Amsterdam. The basis for this thesis stems from my passion to understand how unique urban space can emerge when art, innovation and spatial development collide. During the past six months I conducted qualitative research on a bottom-up initiative by an artist community in Amsterdam: Landtong Nieuwe Meer. By analysing the ability of the initiators to connect to networks of power, I hope to shed light on opportunities and impediments for radical urban development.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supervisor at the University of Amsterdam, Maria Kaika, who guided me through the thesis project and gave me the confidence I would succeed. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the participants of this research, who invested time and effort in sharing experiences with me, which formed the foundation of this thesis. During the thesis project I interned at Antea Group, and while my research is separate from the internship, my intern supervisor, Jesse Stammers, provided me with constructive feedback for which I am grateful. A big thank you to my family as well: your moral support and (sometimes) criticism helped me through the process. Last but not least, I would like to thank my coaches and rowing team, who made an effort to help me combine my thesis project with competitive rowing at A.A.S.R. Skøll.
Astrid Druijff,
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Table of contents
Foreword ...2
1.
Introduction ... 5
1.1.
Introduction and motive ... 5
1.2.
Aim, objectives and research question ... 6
1.3.
Scientific significance ... 6
1.4.
Methodology ... 7
1.5.
Outline ... 7
2. Theoretical framework... 8
2.1.
Introduction ... 8
2.2.
Grassroot initiatives and urban sustainability ... 8
2.3.
Neoliberalism and the pressure to upscale ... 8
2.4.
Power ... 9
2.5.
Power and its implications for grassroot initiatives ... 9
2.6.
Planning as a means to acquire power? ... 9
2.7.
Conclusion ... 10
3.
Research methods and techniques ... 11
3.1.
Introduction ... 11
3.2.
Research strategy and design ... 11
3.3.
Case selection ... 11
3.4.
Data collection ... 11
3.5.
Data analysis ... 12
3.6.
Limitations and ethical concerns ... 12
3.7.
Position of author ... 13
3.8.
Conclusion ... 13
4. Results: Landtong Nieuwe Meer ... 14
4.1.
Introduction ... 14
4.2.
Landtong Nieuwe Meer: setting the context ... 14
4.2.1.
Location ... 14
4.2.2.
Early history ... 15
4.2.3.
Policy framework ... 16
4.3.
Broedplaats Nieuw & Meer: from activism to urban development ... 18
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4.5.
Conclusion ...22
5.
Results: Power relations, opportunities and impediments to radical development ... 23
5.1.
Introduction ... 23
5.2.
External networks of power ... 23
5.3.
Internal networks of power ...24
5.4.
Opportunities and impediments to radical urban development ...24
5.5.
Conclusion ... 26
6. Conclusion, discussion and recommendations ... 27
6.1.
Introduction ... 27
6.2.
Summary of the research ... 27
6.3.
Main findings ... 27
6.3.1.
A multiplicity of stakeholders and actors ...28
6.3.2.
Becoming embedded in networks of power ...28
6.3.3.
Opportunities and impediments to radical urban development through
embeddedness in networks of power ...28
6.4.
Relation to theory ... 29
6.5.
Recommendations ... 29
References ... 30
References consulted for documentary research ... 32
Appendix I: Overview of respondents ... 33
Appendix II: Coding scheme Atlas.ti ... 34
Appendix III: Observation reports ... 35
Observation 1 ... 35
Observation 2 ... 37
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1. Introduction
1.1.
Introduction and motive
There is an old saying: “God created the world, but the Dutch created Holland.” From land reclamation to dikes and coastal engineering: The Netherlands derives its existence from radical, innovative spatial development. Nearly 90 years ago, in 1930, the Wieringermeer was the first polder of the former Southern Sea that was reclaimed. Two years later the Afsluitdijk followed, and nowadays the Netherlands has a worldwide reputation as a pioneer in spatial interventions (Van Wegen, 2016).
The Dutch produced unique urban space on local levels as well. Looking at Amsterdam, we have the well-known canal belt stemming from the Golden Age, but also the Amsterdamse School style and Van Eesteren’s Garden Cities (Feddes, 2012). By the time the 1990s arrived, the neoliberal movement had reached The Netherlands and government-led planning was replaced by an institutionalised approach in which the market gained more control. This approach delivered innovative results too though, in a way: the Dutch government launched a national urbanisation policy, the Vinex – where else in the world would you find entire series of urban districts named after a piece of policy? Around 2000, project developers, investors and large construction companies had acquired firm positions in the Dutch planning regime. But spatial development can become a threat for landscape, cultural history and environmental quality when land is being filled up with monotone building blocks, under speculative conditions, by means of customer-driven construction (De Klerk & Kreukels, 2015).
This rapid, mechanically-like system collapsed in 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis. Many municipalities in The Netherlands, also Amsterdam, halted their land policies in response to problems with over programming, lack of demand and unprofitable real estate projects. At the same time, new societal challenges emerged such as the urge for climate proof development, circular solutions and community-based urban development (Savini et al., 2016).
The financial crisis offered opportunities for new attitudes towards spatial planning: rather than taking the lead, the state adopted a facilitating approach, allowing for ‘slow development’: an organic approach that responds to emergent needs rather than setting out a blueprint for the future. The municipality of Amsterdam reoriented towards stimulating re-use of empty space and temporary use of vacant land. A range of grassroot initiatives emerged (Savini et al., 2016), that in general have a better capability to address societal issues over market operators, for their intrinsic drive to experiment with alternative ways of production and consumption, according to Seyfang and Smith (2007). A statement confirmed by for example De Ceuvel in Amsterdam North and Glamourmanifest in South East: respectively a temporary hub for circular experiments, and a successful city lab addressing social cohesion in a dilapidated business park – both established during the recession (Van Uum, 2018). Ten years after the outbreak of the financial crisis, the economy is back in full swing and the city of Amsterdam is facing housing- and office shortages. The municipality intends to build 50.000 new homes before 2025 (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016), but will that be in time? Project developers claim the Dutch planning sector has changed unrecognisably since the financial crisis, but critics state that the property market is almost as strained as a decade ago, and demand-driven, institutionalist development seems to be the status quo again (Staalduine, 2017). Nobel prize winner D.C. North defined an institution as ‘the rules of the game’ – a game played by organisations, citizens, but mostly businesses and the state, in an era of neoliberalism (De Klerk & Kreukels, 2012). What does this mean for the capability and brainpower of grassroots? Do these initiatives for innovative urban development have a future in Amsterdam, now pressure is rising? And if so, will initiators be able to play ‘the rules of the game’ in order to mobilise the radical change they pursue?
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1.2.
Aim, objectives and research question
This research seeks to explore to what extent radical grassroot initiatives in urban development remain radical when faced with the need to upscale. The central case is Landtong Nieuwe Meer, a bottom-up initiative for the transformation of public space by an artist community in Amsterdam. Specific focus is on the friction between radical grassroots and networks and relations of power inherent to the Dutch planning regime. The aim has been translated into three objectives:
1) To identify the actors and stakeholders that hold power in Landtong Nieuwe Meer, and the relationships between them.
2) To analyse the ability of the initiators to become embedded in networks of power.
3) To analyse the extent to which networks operate power by creating opportunities or impediments for radical development.
These objectives lead to the following key research question:
To what extent does the pressure to upscale for grassroot initiatives lead to the loss of opportunities for radical urban development through embeddedness in networks and relations of power?
The central concepts in this research question are understood as:
Grassroot initiatives: bottom-up projects for sustainable development that incorporate the values of the
community.
Radical urban development: the process of transforming to new, unique, original urban space. Embeddedness: the quality of being ingrained in something.
Power: the ability to influence decisions that have an impact on the continuity of grassroots.
1.3.
Scientific significance
This thesis aims to generate knowledge relating to two fields of literature: grassroot initiatives and power. The research is renewing in that it connects embeddedness in networks of power to the opportunity for radical change, by conducting a real-time analysis of an initiative in an early stage, where end goals still have to be determined. This ex-durante approach will address a gap in the academic debate in that most of the existing literature relating to grassroots and power apply an ex-post approach. Seyfang and Smith (2007), for example, have conducted research on grassroots focussing on the extent to which predetermined goals were met. The authors have shown that grassroots are successful in contributing to sustainable solutions (Seyfang and Smith, 2007). It will be interesting to see how the incorporation of radical values of the initiators of Landtong Nieuwe Meer will develop in formulating goals during the process. VanHoose and Savini (2017) and Sager (2017) showed that communities can manage to overcome barriers by using strategic planning and social capital to achieve their end goals. But these studies used small-scale, straightforward cases that were already implemented. New insights could be obtained with research addressing embeddedness in power networks for a grassroot initiative that faces large scale urban development as we speak.
The incorporation of embeddedness in power relations in this research could fill a gap on a conceptual level as well. Aveline and Wittmayer (2016) seek to understand the development of grassroots by capturing the actors and power relations between actors that determine the rules of the game. While the authors themselves provide a conceptual framework to analyse bottom-up developments, they call for empirical research that adopts a more elaborated actor perspective, in order to increase the understanding of the political implications of grassroots on the (dis)empowerment of multiple actors (Aveline and Wittmayer, 2016). The thesis responds to this call by zooming in on one specific case to gain insight in how power relations affect grassroot initiatives, with attention on the actor’s point of view.
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1.4.
Methodology
The research question is answered through qualitative research methods. In-depth interviews have been conducted with stakeholders ranging from artists to planning experts. Next to that, field reports from two observations, policy drafts and internal memos have been analysed. By using Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) the data has been interpreted and coded. The output has been used to reconstruct the development process and relations of power in Landtong Nieuwe Meer. The methodological justification will be discussed in more detail in chapter 3.
1.5.
Outline
This thesis consists of 6 chapters. The introduction is followed up by a theoretical chapter that provides a framework of existing academic literature on grassroots and power. Chapter 3 contains an argumentation for the methods and techniques used to answer the research question. Chapter 4 and chapter 5 together form the empirical part of this thesis: chapter 4 defines contextual characteristics of the Landtong Nieuwe Meer case, whereas chapter 5 zooms in on power relations and their impact on opportunities and impediments for radical transformation. The thesis finishes off with a conclusion and discussion in chapter 6: main findings are reviewed and put into perspective with the theoretical framework, limitations of this research are discussed and suggestions for further research are made.
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2. Theoretical framework
2.1.
Introduction
This thesis seeks to understand how the pressure to upscale for local grassroot initiatives leads to the loss of opportunities for radical development by zooming in on networks of power. In order to embed the research question in the academic debate, the thesis engages with two fields of literature: grassroot innovation and power. This chapter provides a framework of relevant theoretical contributions to these two fields and starts off with a general introduction on sustainable grassroot initiatives in a neoliberal planning arena. The chapter then narrows down to the key topics: section 2.4 addresses the concept of power, section 2.5 the implications of power on grassroots, and section 2.5 goes over literature arguing that urban planning could be a means to acquire power. The chapter is concluded in section 2.7.
2.2.
Grassroot initiatives and urban sustainability
Cities are critical hotspots for transitions towards sustainability, not only due to their importance in terms of population in an urbanizing world, but also regarding their role as incubators of socio-economic and environmental change. Patterns of production and consumption on the urban scale are primarily responsible for the global flows of people, materials and information. Complying the management of urban environment to sustainable development is one of the most important tasks for cities the coming decades (Wolfram, 2017).
Seyfang and Smith (2007) argue that change towards sustainable urban development in cities is unlikely to emerge from the global marketplace, but may emerge from community-based activities that create space for experimentation with alternative systems of production and consumption. Community-based activities approaches to city making have been classified using a handful of terms: self-organization, temporary, bottom-up, handmade, guerrilla, pop-up, insurgent, grassroots and do-it-yourself urbanism (VanHoose & Savini, 2017). One of the more elaborated upon terms are grassroot initiatives, which have been defined by Seyfang and Smith (2007, pp. 585) as “networks of activists and organisations generating novel bottom–up solutions for sustainable urban development; solutions that respond to the local situation and the interests and values of the communities involved”.
Urban sustainability can be understood as having two key features. The first is a concern with intergenerational equity and equity among present-day citizens empowered to different degrees. The second feature is a joint concern not only with supporting resilient social and economic processes, but also with environmental processes (Pickett et al., 2013).
2.3.
Neoliberalism and the pressure to upscale
Although grassroot initiatives are likely to be more successful in achieving urban sustainability, Seyfang and Smith (2017) argue that policy agendas in contemporary western societies often consider grassroots a neglected site of innovation for sustainability. Policy agendas instead focus on facilitating reforms towards green economic growth (Seyfang and Smith, 2017). Under the influence of the upcoming neoliberal ideology, western societies have transformed into welfare states that outsourced services to the market, resting on the belief that competitive markets represent optimal socioeconomic development through economic growth. Cities in particular have become the loci for experiments with e.g. place-marketing and enterprise zones in order attract investments and jobs (Peck et al., 2009).
From a transition theory point of view, the dominant neoliberal system of most Western societies make it difficult for grassroot initiatives to steer into a radical new direction: they are ‘locked-in’ by overlapping regimes. Regimes select against the introduction of new practices, since these do not mobilise city space for economic growth, meaning they are incompatible with the ‘rules of the game’ (Boyer, 2015). In order for grassroot initiatives to become competitive with prevailing regimes, they
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either need to develop away from regime selection pressures via protected spaces (niches), or to undertake a process of upscaling in order to get access to institutionalised organisations and actors (Schot & Geels, 2008).
2.4.
Power
According to Flyvbjerg (1998), urban planning is in fact a power game in which interests are played off against each other. Power can be derived from position-related and personal resources. Position-related resources include legal authority for policy making, implementation and law enforcement (administrative power), the possession of up-to-date information (informational power), the possession of budget and resources (economic power). Personal resources include the possession of knowledge and experience (expert power) and the possession of a network (relational power) (Van Dam & Marcus, 2005). Mitchel et al. (1997) identify two types of power relations between stakeholders: mutual power dependence and unilateral power dependence. The first relates to stakeholders depending on each other to exist, whereas the latter relates to a situation where stakeholders’ achievements can affect or are affected by other stakeholders.
2.5.
Power and its implications for grassroot initiatives
Aveline and Wittmayer (2016) seek to understand the ability of grassroots to scale up by capturing the actors and power relations between actors that determine the rules of the game. The authors introduce the multi-actor perspective for specifying shifting power relations between different categories of actors: state, market, community, non-profit sector. Prevailing widespread neoliberal discourses led to two-sector market-state logic to be dominant in all dimensions of Western society (Aveline and Wittmayer, 2016). In terms of planning practices, neoliberalism has resulted in a practice characterised by an informal phase in which early agreements are reached in closed market-state negotiations between municipal planners and private developers (Falleth et al., 2010). Grassroot initiatives are at risk of marginalization from such exclusionary urban policy processes because they are insurgent and community-based by nature (VanHoose & Savini, 2017).
A critical perspective on the impact of power relations on community-based initiatives in a neoliberal planning practice comes from Novy and Hammer (2007), who argue that already at the end of the 1970s an ongoing transfer of power from legislature to the executive was perceived in academic literature. Mass political parties isolated the bureaucracy from popular discontent and permit the growth of parallel power networks cross-cutting the formal organization of the state. An example from their case study in Vienna shows that monetary decisions crucial to grassroot initiatives are made by steering committees in which civil society is not represented. As a result, it becomes difficult for civic actors to become engaged with powerful actors that have a big vote in the development of grassroot initiatives (Novy & Hammer, 2007).
2.6.
Planning as a means to acquire power?
While abovementioned references consider power as a barrier for small-scale initiatives, several researchers revealed how activist communities – as initiators of grassroots – used urban planning as a means to reach end goals. Sager (2017) has tried to capture viability of activist communities choosing a lifestyle outside the mainstream: are the goals of the activists clearly reflected in the plans? How are the activists involved in the planning? Are the planning ideas of the community well received by the municipality? The researcher studied an urban intentional community in Norway: the activists have used planning strategically to mobilise and build external support, to frame the cooperation with the municipality and to establish a legal underpinning of the intentional community (Sager, 2017).
VanHoose and Savini (2017) applied the concept of social capital to understand the internal organization of two activist communities and their capacity to connect with public and formal institutions. The two communities concerned a small skate park in London and a squatting initiative in
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Amsterdam. The researchers show that the activist groups were able to achieve end goals because they featured selective membership, maintained a common purpose and identity, and made strategic use of intermediaries and experts to create bridges to external institutions and resources. Especially interesting in this research is the notion on how intermediaries and experts in planning and decision-making took advantage of established institutional and policy networks, and can provide activist groups with knowledge that is not explicitly available to the core community in order to achieve their end goals (VanHoose & Savini, 2017).
2.7.
Conclusion
This chapter provided the theoretical framework used to link empirical results to the academic debate. Grassroot initiatives are likely to be more successful in achieving urban sustainable development than market-oriented practices, but neoliberalisation in planning has led to parallel power networks and informal partnerships that are hard to access for community-based initiatives. Research has shown this could hinders such initiatives to thrive. Remarkably, two studies related to activist grassroots in specific showed that communities can manage to overcome barriers by using strategic planning and social capital to achieve their end goals. However, the two studies used small-scale cases that were already implemented, whereas this research explores how the embeddedness in power networks works out for a grassroot initiative incorporating large scale urban development in an early stage. The methodology used to investigate this initiative will be explained in the next chapter.
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3. Research methods and techniques
3.1.
Introduction
This section covers the argumentation for choices made regarding the methodology used to answer the key research question: To what extent does the pressure to upscale for grassroot initiatives lead to
the loss of opportunities for radical urban development through embeddedness in networks and relations of power? First, the research strategy and design are discussed in section 3.2, followed by a
clarification of why Landtong Nieuwe Meer is a suitable case for this thesis in section 3.3. The methods for data collection are discussed in section 3.4 and section 3.5 describes the methods for data analysis. Section 3.6 addresses the limitations and ethical concerns that should be taken into account when reading this thesis. Section 3.7 contains a statement of the position of the researcher and the chapter finishes off with a conclusion in section 3.8.
3.2.
Research strategy and design
In order to reach a deep understanding of radical opportunities for grassroot initiatives, a qualitative research strategy has been chosen over a quantitative strategy, using a single case study design. Qualitative research tends to focus on a small number of research units, to use concepts instead of measures, and to provide the opportunity for a researcher to interpret data not only during the analysis, but during data collection as well. A single case study design allows for many variables to be analysed while considering one (or a few) units of analysis (Bryman, 2012). The unit of analysis is
embeddedness of grassroot initiatives in networks of power in the Dutch planning regime and can be
exhaustively analysed through a single case study design. This approach therefore contributes to answering the research question.
3.3.
Case selection
Landtong Nieuwe Meer is a suitable case to analyse for it qualifies as a radical grassroot initiative1; it is a project that will be investigated in real time as the group initiated a unique bottom-up solutions for sustainable development while at the same time seeking to manage development in a community-based manner. As the development process proceeds, the initiators are faced with a range of influential stakeholders in multiple governmental layers. It will be interesting to see whether the radical elements survive when the preconditions for upscaling are in hands of others.
3.4.
Data collection
The research is based on semi-structured interviews, documentary research and participant observation. The interviews have been conducted in spring 2018. Potential participants for interviews have been selected with purposive sampling, focusing on participants that correlate with the actor categories as introduced in chapter 2: state, market, community, non-profit sector. Artist community Nieuw & Meer, initiators of the project, are referred to as community in this case. In total, eight in-depth interviews have been conducted, lasting an average of 45 minutes. A list of the anonymised interview respondents can be found in Appendix I.
The interview questions were open ended and based on a topic list that was fine-tuned according to the specific actor that was interviewed. The standard topic list was divided over three themes: physical transformation (referring to the presence of unique and innovative elements in the plan), power (referring to the distribution of resources) and embeddedness in power networks (referring to representation and interaction between the initiators and possessors of resources). At the end of each interview, the respondent was asked to draw a stakeholder map depicting the relations between different actors and to suggest other contacts that would be interested in participating, thereby employing snowball sampling.
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By means of triangulation, policy drafts and memos have been retrieved for documentary analysis, and observational research has been conducted during two occasions. The documents stem from 2015 onward and were mostly delivered by interview participants. A list of the documents analysed for the purpose of empirical research can be found in the references chapter on page 32.
The two observed occasions were a public workshop in a conference hall and a closed event on the Nieuw & Meer complex, both in April 2018. The public workshop ended with a discussion whereupon the researcher adopted a moderate participation approach (DeWalt et al., 1998) to evaluate observations gathered thus far by engaging with the population during the debate. The second event involved a closed meeting of six people working on the Landtong Nieuwe Meer initiative. The researcher observed in a bystander role, i.e. adopted a passive participatory approach (DeWalt et al., 1998), to prevent disturbing the meeting and gather as much authentic data as possible. In both occasions the ad libitum sampling method was used, meaning that there was no organised system of recording the observations and the researcher noted everything that seemed relevant at the time (Altmann, 1974). The full field reports can be found in Appendix III.
3.5.
Data analysis
The primary method for data analysis is content analysis using Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS). The interview transcripts2 and documents were categorised according to a code list that can be found in Appendix II. ATLAS.ti was then used to label text fragments and analyse them with the query and mapping tools offered by the software programme. CAQDAS was chosen because it helps structuring large bulks of qualitative data. Since multiple in-depth interviews and documents were retrieved, an efficient method was desired to save time. Moreover, using software to label text improves the validity of this research since a fixed, transparent code list was used (Bryman, 2012).
3.6.
Limitations and ethical concerns
Limitations regarding methodology
Whereas case study research derives its strength from the ability to do in-depth analyses, a general limitation of this design relates to external validity: outcomes can only be generalised to the population of cases sharing the same characteristics (Bryman, 2012).
When it comes to the primary method used for data collection, a weakness of semi-structured interviewing lies in the fact that the replicability of the research is affected by lack of systematic measurement of concepts during the interviews, and the interpretations of the researcher (Bryman, 2012). However, the strengths of this approach are considered invaluable in this case: conducting semi-structured interviewing provides the opportunity to dig further into a topic when a relevant contribution to the research question is suspected (Bryman, 2012). This in-depth questioning is necessary since there is almost no secondary data available to analyse, due to the fact that the Landtong initiative is still in the early stages of its development. In terms of the observatory method, limitations of the passive participation type used in the first meeting relate to the lack of opportunity to immerse in the field and ask questions when new information comes up (De Walt et al., 1998). This limitation has been tackled by adopting moderate participation in the second observation which allows for a bit more involvement. A strength of observatory research is that researchers can discover discrepancies between what participants say and carry out (De Walt et al., 1998), due to which observing is considered a useful method for triangulation in addition to interviewing and documentary research.
2. Interview transcripts are bundled in Appendix IV, which is a separate document and will not be published for the sake of respondents’ privacy.
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A pitfall of the methods for data analysis used in this research, CAQDAS, is to lose sight of context by focussing too much on quotes and small chunks of text, according to Bryman (2012). This has been prevented as much as possible by going back-and-forth between fragments and the entire interviews and documents.
Time constraints
This thesis entails a real-time analysis of the upscaling process of a local initiative, but the research only covers a couple of months of this process due to a strict timeframe. The conclusions most likely capture only a small piece of the puzzle that the development process eventually will become. By applying three methods the researcher pursued the richest data collection possible in order to understand the case. However, it should be taken into account that results collected now might not be representative for the future.
Ethical concerns
Since this research relates to an ongoing development process including yet-to-be-made strategic decisions, respondents might be asked to share sensitive information. This adds to the importance of informed consent, which implies that respondents should be informed about the purpose of the research (Bryman, 2012). The researcher informed interview respondents and meeting attendees of her presence and role beforehand. Prior to taking off, participants confirmed whether the interviews could be recorded for transcribing purposes. The researcher and respondents agreed that transcriptions confidential and references will be anonymised to safeguard privacy.
3.7.
Position of author
The author of this thesis conducted research while working on an internship. To ensure her autonomous position, the researcher agreed with the internship company that the thesis is in full ownership of the researcher. No rights can be derived from the results by anyone except the researcher. The researcher always represented herself as a UvA student while collecting data.
3.8.
Conclusion
This thesis seeks to understand opportunities for radical transformation for local initiatives that are in a process of upscaling. In order to acquire deep understanding of the unit of analysis (embeddedness of grassroot initiatives in networks of power), a single case study design is chosen. Landtong Nieuwe Meer in Amsterdam has been chosen as a case since it incorporates unique ideas for urban development and since it meets the theoretical definition of a grassroot initiative. The research is based on semi-structured interviews that provide space for in-depth questioning, complemented with observatory and documentary research. The methods of analysis is content analysis using CAQDAS which helps investigating text in a transparent and efficient manner. The research comes with a couple of limitations regarding validity and reliability, which has been tackled by using triangulation methods wherever possible in order to attract the rich data collection that the research question asks for.
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4. Results: Landtong Nieuwe Meer
4.1.
Introduction
Chapters 4 and 5 together form the empirical results section of the dissertation. This chapter zooms in on the contextual characteristics of Landtong Nieuwe Meer. Firstly, the geographical location and historical context of Landtong Nieuwe Meer are described in section 1.2, followed by an overview of the prevailing spatial policy that applies to the Landtong Nieuwe Meer area. Section 1.3 then shows a timeline of the process in which the initiators turned from activists to advocates for urban development. In section 1.4, the stakeholders and actors involved in this process are described. The findings are summarised in the conclusion in section 1.5.
4.2.
Landtong Nieuwe Meer: setting the context
Figure 1: Location of Landtong Nieuwe Meer in respect with the city of Amsterdam
Source: www.map.amsterdam.nl, edited by the author
4.2.1. Location
Landtong Nieuwe Meer is the geographical name of a peninsula in the southwest of Amsterdam, close to the Amsterdamse Bos. The peninsula separates the Nieuwe Meer lake from the Ringvaart canal and is adjacent to a larger natural/recreational park called De Oeverlanden. Opposite the canal lies the village of Badhoevedorp, which is part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. Landtong Nieuwe Meer is home to a marina and to a complex of former military warehouses that is now inhabited by artist community Nieuw & Meer. The area is surrounded by motorways A4 and A9 and Schiphol Airport is located relatively closely as well.
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Figure 2: View from Landtong Nieuwe Meer on the Ringvaart Figure 3: Recreational park De Oeverlanden
Source: Author’s collection Source: Author’s collection
4.2.2. Early history
A large part of Landtong Nieuwe Meer and surrounding areas did not exist two centuries ago. The Nieuwe Meer used to be a small bay of the huge Haarlemmermeer lake and the Spieringmeer lake (see figure 4). These lakes were reclaimed between 1849-1852 and that is how the municipality of Haarlemmermeer arose. The Haarlemmermeerpolder is encircled by the Ringvaart, a canal also created by manpower. Simultaneously with the land reclamation works, four fortresses were built to strengthen the Posten van Krayenhoff, which was an inundation zone to protect Amsterdam. Military officers decided to extend the Nieuwe Meer fortress when the Dutch artillery happened to grow explosively in the beginning of the 20th century. The fortress became part of the Stelling van Amsterdam and a complex of warehouses was built for the storage of ammunition: the Magazijnen voor Bijzondere Opkomst (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2018).
Figure 4: Nieuwe Meer de dato 1840
Source: www.topotijdreis.nl
Landtong Nieuwe Meer is a remainder of the peatlands on the south side of Amsterdam. 90 years ago, the municipality decided upon the development of an artificial forest à la Ebenezer Howard to counterbalance the urbanisation of this area: the Amsterdamse Bos. Another large operation was the construction of a new residential area on the northwest side of the Nieuwe Meer with the help of sand extracted from the lake. Due to these drastic interventions the composition of the soil around the lake changed from peat to a mixture of soil types. This eventually resulted in the park-like green belt that the Landtong Nieuwe Meer area is today (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2018).
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The Magazijnen voor Bijzondere Opkomst had been occupied by the Dutch Ministry of Defense up until the 1980s. On the day of the inauguration of the Dutch soccer team in 1988, a group of artists and activists from the squat at Conradstraat 11 in Amsterdam squatted the warehouses in search for a new home. Conradstraat 11 was cleared a couple of days before, and the municipality pledged cooperation if the community managed to find a decent location within the Ring A10. Six weeks later Stichting Nieuw & Meer was founded. The group obtained ownership of the buildings in 1991 for 1 million guilders and has been residing there ever since. Nearly all disciplines within the visual and applied arts and crafts are practiced: from painting to web design and from the construction of music instruments to steel structures (Nieuw en Meer, 2018).
Figure 5: Original buildings of the Magazijn voor Bijzondere Opkomst Figure 6: Entrance of the Nieuw & Meer complex
Source: Author’s collection Source: Author’s collection
4.2.3. Policy framework
Since Landtong Nieuwe Meer is located on the intersection of a recreational zone, a canal and a lake, as well as a busy infrastructural node and a dense urban area, the peninsula is subject to numerous spatial acts and policies on all governmental levels. This subsection sums up the most important legislation to understand the forces and restrictions that apply to Landtong Nieuwe Meer.
Supranational policy
The European Water Framework Directive aims at reaching a balanced condition of surface water and groundwater, and applies to the entire Nieuwe Meer area. The WFD prescribes that, in case of spatial development, local authorities need to assess whether the desired water condition is jeopardised (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016a). Since the Nieuwe Meer is one of the city’s most important water basins, but also functions as a swimming location, as a main route for barges and recreation craft and as a site for houseboats, the area is subject to European quality standards (Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland, 2012). The water quality of the Nieuwe Meer does not meet these standards. As a result, all spatial decisions need to be preceded by a set of WFD tests (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016a).
National policy
Landtong Nieuwe Meer is part of the National Ecological Network (Natuurnetwerk Nederland). The national government produced this policy to protect Dutch flora and fauna. The provinces – in this case the province of Noord-Holland – are responsible for the enforcement. Spatial interventions occur in conformance with the “no, unless- principle”: those having a negative impact on ecological features are prohibited, unless there are societal interests at stake or in case of lack of alternatives3.
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Provincial policy
The province of Noord-Holland has the Provincial Spatial Regulation, according to which Landtong Nieuwe Meer is partly situated outside the existing built environment. The regulation prescribes that zoning plans cannot accommodate new urban development in rural areas. A ‘rural area’ is defined as currently non-existing built environment. Unless a zoning plan happens to accommodate development in rural areas after all, its urge needs to be proved (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016a).
Municipal policy
Municipalities in The Netherlands need to have legally binding zoning plans for their administrative areas. Landtong Nieuwe Meer is subject to the specific zoning plan ‘Kop Landtong Nieuwe Meer’ by the municipality of Amsterdam. This plan secures the flood control areas on the peninsula as well as the protection of fauna (bats and grass snakes) and the archaeological conservation of the military warehouses by prescribing building restrictions (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016a).
In terms of policy, the municipality of Amsterdam has designed a so-called Main Green Structure (Hoofdgroenstructuur) that consists of areas that are precious to the city because of their contribution to outdoor recreation, quality of life for inhabitants, water management, heat control, air quality, biodiversity and food production. The Main Green Structure applies to Landtong Nieuwe Meer as well. Nature and recreational occupancies should be given priority and new interventions are being assessed according to the extent to which they meet criteria for green development as established by the municipality of Amsterdam. Next to that, the municipality designed policy regarding the development of hotels together with the neighbouring municipality of Haarlemmermeer: the Regionale hotelstrategie 2016-2022. The goal of this document is to reserve space in zoning plans in both municipalities for the development of tourist accommodation (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016a).
Policy by the city district
Landtong Nieuwe Meer falls under the district of Amsterdam Nieuw-West. This district is one of the seven districts in the municipality of Amsterdam and has its own governmental committee. Since districts have certain tasks and authorities regarding spatial planning in Amsterdam, Nieuw-West produced a couple of policy documents regarding water management, nature reservation, housing, leisure and business parks (Stadsdeel Nieuw-West, 2017). Nieuw-West is therefore one of the governmental institutes that have a say in the development of Landtong Nieuwe Meer.
Policy by the water boards
Water boards are local government bodies in The Netherlands that manage water barriers, waterways, water levels and water quality in their respective regions. Landtong Nieuwe Meer falls partly under the control of Waterschap Amstel Gooi en Vecht and partly under Waterschap Rijnland. Both water boards can regulate interventions that have an impact on the water system (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016a).
Policy framework
Responsible government body
Water board Amstel, Gooi, Vecht (north side of Nieuwe Meer)
Water board Rijnland (south side of Nieuwe Meer)
Province of Noord-Holland Municipality of Amsterdam European Water Framework Directive X X National Ecological Network X Provincial Spatial Regulation X
Main Green Structure X
Regional Hotel Strategy X
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4.3.
Broedplaats Nieuw & Meer: from activism to urban development
Early 2000s: The hurricane’s eye
Since the migration from the Conradstraat to the peninsula in 1988, Nieuw & Meer grew into a community of around 125 artists. Simultaneously the city of Amsterdam expanded too. A number of people launched ‘Knooppunt Nieuwe Meer’ – a reference to the nearby infrastructural node A4 – in recognition of the fact that Broedplaats Nieuw & Meer is no longer a secret sanctuary, but centre of a dynamic urban environment. The group invited a renowned landscape architect in 2008 to trigger a debate about the future, which brought the peninsula its nickname: the hurricane’s eye. While a couple years after a consultant moved in with Broedplaats Nieuw & Meer to follow up on a plan for the future, no actions were taken to materialise this (Sculptor N&M, Appendix IV, interview 3, 19-04-18).
2015: A luxurious hotel?
A wake-up call for the foundation emerged in the shape of development plans for a luxurious hotel by housing corporation Rochdale. The head of the peninsula is home to marina ‘De Boekanier’, partly owned by Rochdale (figure 7). The former president of the corporation caused controversy when he bought the marina for an amount of money considered way too high, together with a business partner that is supposed to have ties with the underworld. While the former president is fired and convicted for fraud, Rochdale still officially owns the marina. Rochdale wanted to get rid of the marine without making too much loss in order to restore its core activities and corporate image (Loorbach, 2015). The housing corporation applied for planning permission to transform the marina into a large hotel which could be sold to an investor upon completion (figure 8). The alternation of the zoning plan was supposed to be approved at the end of 2015 (Grontmij, 2016a).
Figure 7: De Boekanier as seen from above. On the right
side of the marina is broedplaats Nieuw & Meer. Figure 8: Artist impression of the proposed hotel.
Source: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016b, pp. 4 Source: Gemeente Amsterdam, 2016b, pp. 26
2016: Danger warded off...
This planning application caused panic among the people of Nieuw & Meer, who foresaw forced relocation if the hotel plans would be materialised. A group of committed artists decided to upscale their efforts and to become competitive with the development plans. The crew asked the same consultant as before to help launch a counter proposal, published as ‘Head of Landtong Nieuwe Meer: a peninsula of possibilities’. Bottom line of this proposal is that Landtong Nieuwe Meer should become a 21st century-city park: a playground for experiments that integrates ecology, technology, art and recreation (Hobijn et al., 2016) [examples of concrete ideas in chapter 5]. While this proposal created buzz and awareness amongst neighbours and the steering committee of district Nieuw-West, the real rescue came in the guise of new policy: the municipality introduced a hotel stop in 2017 in response to the heated discussion on mass tourism in Amsterdam (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2017). The plan for the luxurious resort on Landtong Nieuwe Meer was discarded, Rochdale surrendered.
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2017: ...But what now? – The rise of Stadslab Landtong Nieuwe Meer.
The danger of the Rochdale plans were warded off, but what now? To prevent being startled by unforeseen development plans again in the future, the consultant stressed the importance of taking the counterproposal to a higher level: “We thought, like: the hotel is gone now, but that doesn’t mean this location will be able to continue doing what it’s been doing for the past 30 years. So what’s the plan for the future?”4
(Consultant A, Appendix IV, interview 1, pp. 18, 22-03-18).
Consultant A attracted another external advisor (consultant B) to help professionalise the activist-like organisation, to create support for the city park proposal and to attract subsidies. Together with the artists they established a workgroup for developing the proposal: the Landtonggroep. In early 2017 the first funding was approved by Stimuleringsfonds voor de Creatieve Industrie (Impuls Fund for Creative Industry) to create a so-called Stadslab (City Lab), an experimental garden for urban projects that try to have an impact on the system. Stadslab Landtong Nieuwe Meer was born (Consultant B, Appendix IV, interview 2, 09-04-18).
Part of the Stadslab subsidy went to the development of the ‘bospont’ (‘forest ferry’), a creation made by E.H., the artist responsible for most of the radical ideas in the counterproposal. The bospont is a ferry made from organic material that autonomously navigates between the peninsula and the dock of the Amsterdamse Bos, transporting people and sanitising the water at the same time (Hobijn et al., 2016). The testing of technology was outsourced to two local schools. In summer 2017 the first test round of the bospont took place.
Figure 9: Prototype of the bospont (forest ferry)
In 2017 consultant B took on the organisation of three public Stadslab meetings for which local residents, municipality and other organisations around the Amsterdamse Bos and Nieuwe Meer area were invited. Attracting people and organisations from outside the artist community was a conscious strategy, as consultant A explains: “…One of the things we strived for was that an increasing number of people and parties would join the initiative.” (Appendix IV, interview 1, pp. 5, 22-03-18).
Source: www.nieuwenmeer.nl
While these meetings aimed at building a broad coalition to support the plan in general, the Landtonggroup also worked on improving the viability of the contents of the plan in specific. Via via, an external consultant from an international engineering firm was invited to Nieuw & Meer complex to give a workshop on revenues: how do you ensure those creative ideas will generate value? The consultant doubts whether this workshop made a difference: “I am a little critical, though, because I feel like the people over there are just muddling along. No hard feelings towards the artists, because they are extremely creative, but to turn creative ideas into concrete plans... They don’t seem to succeed in that. That’s why nothing is happening, really.” (Consultant C, Appendix IV interview 6, pp. 48, 09-05-18).
2018: Opportunities for the Anthropocene Forest
At the same time as the commotion took place on a very local scale, the municipality of Amsterdam had been working on the Nieuwe Meer area in a larger context. In November last year, the project
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manager of the spatial development department started working out a sketch for the area named Groot Amsterdamse Bos. Advisory groups were formed around four themes: water & nature, sport & recreation, culture and economic development. Their task was to deliver an essay on the future of Groot Amsterdamse Bos that would contribute to the final proposal for the city council. The senior project manager asked consultant A from Stadslab Landtong Nieuwe Meer as the president of the advisory group on culture (Project manager, Appendix IV, interview 5, 08-05-18).
Together with the renowned landscape architect mentioned earlier, and with input from local inhabitants and organisations, consultant A delivered an advisory report titled ‘The Anthropocene forest: contribution by the advisory group of culture’ to the municipality in March 2018. The report combines creative elements from the 2016 city park proposal with the anthropocene philosophy. Anthropocene refers to the (officious) ecological era in which human activity impacts the living climate on planet earth. The authors argue that Groot Amsterdamse Bos is a pattern-card of human influences in the landscape that should be cherished by nature preservation and adding a cultural programme (Sijmons & Saris, 2018). Goal: “For us to make a new kind of green environment that holds the answers on present-day questions. If we are able to carry out this message firmly and convincingly, I think we can create a strong coalition and that the executive board will give us a chance.” (Consultant A, Appendix IV, interview 1, pp. 12, 22-03-18).
Meanwhile, the artists and consultants behind the Stadslab became slightly agitated with the interference of the board members from the Nieuw & Meer foundation. In their urge for independence the group started an independent foundation in March 2018: Stichting Landtong Nieuwe Meer. “Nieuw & Meer cannot check everything the entire time. They have to have the freedom to address Landtong from their own vision.” (Board member, Appendix IV, interview 4, pp. 37, 03-05-18). The objective of this new foundation is to try and influence the development plans for Groot Amsterdamse Bos. Not much later the second subsidy from Impuls Fund for Creative Industry was approved.
Figure 10: Draft for the festival by artist Daniel Schwarz Figure 11: Impression of Anthropocene Museum
Source: Sijmons & Saris, 2018, pp. 28 Source: Sijmons & Saris, 2018, pp. 26
Future: Groot Amsterdamse Bos?
If it were up to the authors, the Nieuwe Meer area will become the décor of an Anthropocene arts festival in 2019 to promote Groot Amsterdamse Bos and to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Broedplaats Nieuw & Meer (see figure 10). The area should also host a museum about the Anthropocene philosophy (figure 11) (Sijmons & Saris, 2018). Whether these ideas will materialise depends on the direction the local authorities want to go. In March 2018, the inhabitants of Amsterdam chose a new city council and the formation process of the aldermen committee has just been rounded off. The senior project manager handed over the final proposal to the new committee and the ball is in their corner now: will Groot Amsterdamse Bos become a development project coming years? And if so, which of the four themes will be leading? (Project manager, Appendix IV, interview 5, 08-05-18).
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4.4.
Stakeholders and actors
The previous section mentioned numerous parties involved in the development of Landtong Nieuwe Meer one way or another. These parties can be labelled as actors and stakeholders. An actor is someone who can influence a decision making process without have a strong personal interest in the outcome (Licht & Nuiver, 2006). Stakeholders are people and organisations positively or negatively influenced by a decision. In other words: they have a stake in one way or another (Edelenbos, 2000).
Figure 12: Stakeholder map made by consultant B Figure 13: Stakeholder map made by consultant A
Source: Interview 09-04-18 Source: Interview 22-03-18
Besides the parties involved in the larger development process, the key player in the case is artist community Broedplaats Nieuw & Meer. There are several committees and project groups present on the Nieuw & Meer terrain. The artists are organised through a foundation (stichting Nieuw en Meer) and an association (vereniging Niks Minder). The activists and consultants of Stadslab Landtong Nieuwe Meer started the Landtonggroep and, later on, a foundation with a separate Board.
Figure 14: Stakeholder map by senior project manager municipality of Amsterdam
Source: Interview 08-05-18
As described in chapter 2, Aveline and Wittmayer (2016) identify four actor categories: state, market, community, non-profit sector. When asked to draw a stakeholder map of Stadslab Landtong Nieuwe Meer, consultants A and B mostly identified stakeholders who have a stake because of their embeddedness in the neighbourhood from which they derive relational power (community), or because of legal authority over the peninsula (state) (see figure 12 and 13). The community actors represent a mutual power dependence with Landtong Nieuwe Meer: the achievements of Stadslab Landtong Nieuwe Meer affect the local community, but the (lack of) support of the local community also affects the performance of the Stadslab, which is why the initiators took actions to engage with the local community. The state actors represent a unilateral power dependence, in which the municipality in specific is identified as having authority over development of Landtong Nieuwe Meer.
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for Creative Industry, who holds economic power as being a grant provider, was not mentioned by the consultants.
The fact that the development of Groot Amsterdamse Bos involves a wide range of actors and stakeholders, is illustrated by the complex stakeholder map as drawn by the senior project manager (figure 14). Whereas the consultants identified community actors holding relational power, he identified influential stakeholders and actors possessing administrative and economic power even while on a regional or national level, e.g. Schiphol Airport or the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water. The stakeholders have been visualised in the map below. The inner circle represents the peninsula, the middle circle the lake Nieuwe Meer and the outer circle depicts stakeholders related to the entire Groot Amsterdamse Bos development.
Figure 15: Stakeholder map based on documentary research and respondents’ input.
Source: Author’s design
4.5.
Conclusion
This chapter entailed the first part of the empirical section and described the contextual characteristics of the case. Landtong Nieuwe Meer is a peninsula in the middle of a unique manmade landscape on the outskirts of Amsterdam, that faces pressures caused by rapid densification of the city region. The people from Broedplaats Nieuw & Meer that settled in the historical buildings on the peninsula 30 years ago to build an artist community are aware of this demand. When danger in the shape of a large hotel on the peninsula disappeared, a couple of pioneers from the community decided to scale up their counterproposal to become competitive with external pressures. With help of consultants from outside the group took on a process of fund seeking, plan drafting and coalition building while the municipality is working on a spatial plan as well. Scaling up a grassroot initiative requires patience from the initiators: the peninsula is subject to numerous spatial acts and policies on all governmental levels, and the municipality is in the middle of the aftermath of the elections. Stakeholder maps drawn by interview respondents demonstrate the multiplicity of people to take into account. The next section will zoom in on the power relations between these stakeholders, and their impact on the (loss of) opportunities for radical urban development on Landtong Nieuwe Meer.
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5. Results: Power relations, opportunities and impediments
to radical development
5.1.
Introduction
This chapter analysis the extent to which the initiators of Landtong Nieuwe Meer have become embedded in networks of power and the impact that has had on the original contents of the plans. Section 5.2. zooms in on external networks of power, referring to established networks in the official planning regime that the initiators face. Section 5.3 then focuses on internal networks, referring to power relations within the organisation of the Stadslab and the Broedplaats Nieuw & Meer. Section 5.4. describes the opportunities and impediments to radical development, and findings are concluded in section 5.5.
5.2.
External networks of power
Bottom-up meets top-down
The bottom-up initiative coalesced with top-down planning in 2017, when the senior project manager started preparing a development proposal for Groot Amsterdamse Bos for the city council. An opportunity arose for the Landtonggroep to introduce their plans to the administrative power network of the council, when the project manager installed four project groups to write a preparatory advice. “So, the artist group Nieuw & Meer was indirectly involved, but not ‘in the lead’, to put it like that. (…) This way it was possible to have the artists play a role and to create a certain kind of freedom, so that they were not responsible, but not left out either.” (Appendix IV, interview 5, 08-05-18, pp. 42).
Planning experts: gateway to resources
By bringing in two professional consultants the initiating artists gained access to knowledge and social networks. Consultant A is a retired planning expert who has broad experience with assisting creative initiatives through his consulting company. Back in the 1990s consultant A was installed as an alderman in the city council of Amsterdam and has a broad network in and outside Amsterdam. This network seems to have been crucial for the Landtonggroep to grab their chance: the project manager explains that he asked consultant A as the chair of the culture group because the two of them had been working on a project together in the past. “We had good experiences with that. I can get along with him well and I think he’s doing nice things with the Stadslab.” (Appendix IV, interview 5, 08-05-18, pp. 41). When asked if he indeed feels like the Landtonggroep enjoys the fruits of his political history, consultant A confirms: “I know the game, yes. (...) Everyone still knows who I am, of course. And I know the shortcuts within the municipality.” (Appendix IV, interview 1, 22-03-18, pp. 9-10).
Besides gaining access to networks of administrative power, acquiring financial resources was another necessary step for the Landtonggroep in the process of upscaling. After getting two subsidies from the Impuls Fund for Creative Industries, the initiative needs to attract new capital. Observations done during the Landtonggroep meeting show that artists frequently appeal to the consultants for help on subsidies (Observation 2, Appendix III, pp. 35). Due to his expertise as a cultural heritage specialist, Consultant B has sight of a number of useful subsidies, some of which he used to be in the admission committee himself in the past. When asked why it is best to have consultants complete the application procedure, consultant B explains: “You have to speak the language of the grant provider, that’s very important. (…) Creative people have all kinds of fantastic ideas, but sometimes you lose them already after 5 minutes.” (Appendix IV, interview 2, 09-04-18, pp.16-19)
Name and fame
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join the initiative. The Executive Board of the foundation (figure 16) is – besides consultant A – made up of the renowned landscape architect mentioned before, an architect, and a former politician for district Nieuw-West, who as a matter of fact exerted himself for the legalisation of Broedplaats Nieuw & Meer (Sculptor, Appendix IV, interview 3, 19-04-18). When opportunities for free exposure arise, such as the Stadslabs workshop in Pakhuis de Zwijger on April 16th 2018, consultant B is mobilised to give presentations. During the Stadslab workshop he explains how vital PR is for success of grassroot initiatives: “You need to be visible, so that important people know who you are”. This statement is supported by other attendees, one of whom adds that it is usually best to have professionals do PR, since creative thinkers are not very capable of articulating abstract ideas (Appendix III, observation 1).
Figure 16: Board members of the two foundations in spring 2018
Source: Author’s design, based in interviews 1, 3 and 4 (Appendix IV)
5.3.
Internal networks of power
Stadslab Landtong Nieuwe Meer vs. Nieuw & Meer
In the beginning of the process, before the Stadslab foundation existed, the Landtonggroep depended on the Nieuw & Meer foundation in terms of treasury: approved subsidies were transferred to the Nieuw & Meer bank account first, which led to interference from the Board by default. A designer who used to be involved in the Landtonggroep explains why how this structure led to struggles when the initiative scaled up: “What you often see with alternative projects, is that as soon as it’s getting more professional, people are getting jumpy. Meetings minutes have to be taken, finances have to be controlled, et cetera.” (Appendix IV, interview 7, 14-05-18, pp. 53)
When the Landtonggroep installed their own foundation, Nieuw & Meer nominated a candidate from their Executive Board to be a member of the Stadslab Board to ensure the interests of the artist community would be guarded (see figure 16). The architect stresses that the Landtonggroep has not drifted away from the artists’ concern so far, but she will cut them down as soon as they do. While there obviously are artists involved in the Landtonggroep who could represent the Nieuw & Meer, the appointment of the architect in the Board was thought out: she does not rent a studio on Nieuw & Meer, thus holds a relatively neutral position (Appendix IV, interview 4, 03-05-18).
During the data collection process, a sculptor from Nieuw & Meer unfolded herself as a key player as well: she has been residing on the Nieuw & Meer complex almost from the beginning and is one of the founding mothers of the Landtong Nieuwe Meer initiative. On the other hand, the sculptor is able to switch between the creative and professional world because of her academic background in geology and biology (Appendix III, observation 2, 19-04-18 and Appendix IV, interview 3, 19-04-18).
5.4.
Opportunities and impediments to radical urban development
Radical ideas
As described in chapter 4, the roots of the Landtong Nieuwe Meer initiative lie in the Nieuw & Meer community: a couple of pioneers designed radical spatial plans that have been collected in the counterproposal from 2016. Next to the forest ferry, which is meant as the showpiece and catalyst for
