The project Boschveld is a neighbourhood of neighbours is focused on the advancement of good-neighbourliness, including elements, such as knowing and acting according to one’s rights and obligations, the promotion of mutual communication, taking (joint) responsibility for living together in the neighbourhood and the promotion of meetings and consultation between residents.

The project in Boschveld originated from the fact that relations between indigenous and immigrant inhabitants were somewhat strained. There was an unstable balance. Moreover, the neighbourhood was characterised by a very low degree of participation. Several causes were mentioned for the problems in Boschveld. Besides the weak socio-economic position of the residents, there was a lack of knowledge about volunteer work, particularly among immigrants, there is the issue of a population with a biased composition, the district has a high concentration of its own problems and Boschveld has a low level of facilities. To confront this combination of problems, the municipality of Den Bosch initiated this project, starting from the following objectives: the improvement of relations between immigrants and indigenous residents and increasing resident participation.

Central to the approach was  approaching the residents personally. Follow-up activities take place partly based on the discussions. To increase the degree of participation among the people in the district, it is important to take the residents and their wishes and interests as the point of departure.

A district analysis was carried out. One of the insights gained from this analysis was that it appears that the approach had a relatively large scope, particularly also among immigrant groups. Social networks in the neighbourhood could be identified as a result of these discussions. Moreover, the community workers have been able to help residents further and can refer them on to specialist institutions. Furthermore, various residents groups have been formed and a children’s centre, which is supported by a multicultural team of volunteers, has been established. Also, there have been various social activities organised in the neighbourhood and the art project the Flagpole has been completed.

The basic costs of the project amounted to 322,000 euros, not counting the initiatives resulting from the project.

Ms W. van der Aalst, tel. +31 73 6219311

01/08/1996

case

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Community development

Citizens' participation