Wildemanbuurt, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Wildemanbuurt is a neighbourhood in the district of Osdorp in Amsterdam. It is situated in the Nieuw West area, a part of Amsterdam that was built in the post-war period and is considered to be a prime example of urban design following CIAM principles. It has large apartment buildings with a lot of green space and air in between them. While this initially made the area popular with people fleeing the more hectic city centre, the flaws of these urban design ideas quickly became apparent. Mainly, the neighbourhood isn’t built at a human scale, and this has its effects on the community there.

The neighbourhood houses around 5000 people. There are a lot of elderly people, as well as a lot of children and teenagers in families with a large number of children. These families often live in relatively small houses for how many people there are. The Wildemanbuurt is also quite diverse: it is inhabited by people of 75 nationalities and of even more different cultural backgrounds. The cultural knowledge that people still carry about food and gardening, along with the fact that the Wildemanbuurt has so much green space and is situated at the edge of the city, makes it a uniquely interesting place for urban farming and community projects.

The Wildemanbuurt is also often framed in Dutch media as a problem area full of criminals. Many people live in poverty, and they feel forgotten by the municipal government and social housing corporations, who make plans and promises but often don’t end up delivering. As a result, trust in institutions is low in the neighbourhood. That said, there certainly is more to the Wildemanbuurt than crime; it is also a place where people come together and make things work, despite the challenges that they face.

Is a post-war social housing area of poor quality, a vulnerable neighbourhood (app. 5000 inhabitants) in the city.

The aim is to create new pathways, prototypes and processes towards new forms of meaning, imagination, shareability and realisation of an inclusive and sustainable (circular) living environment, by exploring how local qualities (high cultural diversity, high share of young and elderly people, heritage, green space, edible gardens) can integrate with policies and expertise of housing corporations.

Our vision is a neighbourhood in which the inhabitants form a close-knit community; they feel ownership over the Wildemanbuurt, they feel agency in the changes happening in the Wildemanbuurt, and they work together in making those changes. We want to promote the democratisation of public housing policy, city planning and programme making in the neighbourhood through co-design. Challenges faced by the inhabitants, such as loneliness, health, unemployment, and biodiversity are tackled by citizen-led and citizen-initiated cooperatives.

These cooperatives work from community hubs, such as Station Wildeman and The Beach, where citizens can find each other and find help navigating the institutions that the neighbourhood is beholden to. Through these hubs and other organisations, Wildeman becomes a pedagogic neighbourhood in which people can gain the skills needed to give shape to their neighbourhood.

There are opportunities to transform paved areas and low-biodiversity greenery into urban farming spaces. In particular, the courtyards between buildings would be a great place for this, as they could serve as a way to create communities out of people who live close together. Additionally, developments for the energy transition are sorely needed in the neighbourhood: houses are poorly insulated, largely use natural gas for heating and cooking, and there are still many roofs without solar panels.

By co-creating with residents from all walks of life, our partners can create visions for an equitable and sustainable future; one that is not just for the few, but includes everyone. - All Desire partners visited Wildemanbuurt in Amsterdam in May 2023.

Published July 12, 2023

If you go for a walk in Wildemanbuurt in Amsterdam on Saturdays, then you might come across a coffee cart and be offered free coffee.

That is a local citizen group that wants to get in contact with their fellow citizens and discuss how to create more local economy in the area. The concept is simple: Free coffee – free talks.

Our partner institutions The Beach and STICHTING SAMENWONEN-SAMENLEVEN facilitate this group and four other citizen groups in the social housing area of poor quality, a vulnerable neighbourhood in the Dutch capital.

”We began in 2022 with a workshop for the locals and asked them, which issues were important for the area. They came up with several wishes: combating poverty and unemployment and combating crime in the neighbourhood that is considered a criminal hub. The citizens also want green public spaces owned by the citizens, and they request support for the local economy,” says Hans Krikke, Director of STICHTING SAMENWONEN-SAMENLEVEN.

Now they are dealing with all those issues driven by the local citizens at the forefront of the work. The five design groups have their own agenda and own budget of 25,000 euros to start with, so they can hire a consultant to help. The money comes from the Desire partners and their partners.

”We think it is possible to influence the decision if you organize some power. It’s not only about arguments – it is also about power. We engage the locals, and we have to redesign the relationship between the system and local people," he says.

Transformation: Public green spaces are under pressure

The Wildemanbuurt, with approximately 7500 inhabitants and a poverty rate of about 60 percent, is a part of the New West district with 170,000 inhabitants, that more or less face the same problems as the Wildemannbuurt. The population constitutes 1/5 of Amsterdam's population. The Desire project contributes to the big The New West program, that works for 20 years to help to transform the district.

The municipality has big plans for the district. There is a lack of housing in Amsterdam and therefore new housing must be built in the area. In July 2023, three scenarios will be presented for a transformation of the area.

”There is a need for new housing, all over Amsterdam, so public green spaces are under pressure and losing space. That is one of our struggles in Desire where one of the design groups works with green public spaces. The transformation is needed, but how to do it?" Hans Krikke says.

”The fear is that it will affect the many green areas in the district - which could probably be used better and be more open than today, where many green spaces are fenced - but at the same time are green breathing holes. Our experiences are, that housing companies and the municipality think in less green terms. When the three suggestions are announced for the district, it will not be too late to do something. Our big fight is about dealing with each other on an equal level - leaving no one behind.” 

Startup as a way to solve challenges

Hans Krikke supports three design groups. People just show up to take part in the design groups with talks, dinners, and opportunities to claim ownership in the design process for the place they live. The design groups are quite diverse groups with open dialogue with the neighbourhood.

One focus for the local economy group is on circular company startups. They have managed to involve an expert who together with the locals looks at how to make a business plan for a startup.

"When you move around, you see a lot of waste. The municipality is not able to tackle the waste in this neighbourhood. So locals say: "We can do it better." So locals want to start their own company to handle the waste in a circular way, so the waste is turned into a resource. Besides tackling the waste problems, this will create local employment for the people in Wildermannbuurt,” he says.

Facts

Wildemanbuurt in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is a post-war social housing area of poor quality, a vulnerable neighbourhood (app. 7500 inhabitants) in the city.

The aim is to create new pathways, prototypes and processes towards new forms of meaning, imagination, shareability and realisation of an inclusive and sustainable (circular) living environment, by exploring how local qualities (high cultural diversity, high share of young and elderly people, heritage, green space, edible gardens) can integrate with policies and expertise of housing corporations.