The broad objective of the renovation operation is to reduce or eliminate socio-economic deprivation in the Nieuw West districts. Residents who make advancements in their socio-economic situation often leave the district. The objective of the physical restructuring is to retain these middle-income groups as much as possible.

In 1993, three “model projects” were launched in Amsterdam Nieuw West. The parties involved in these projects gradually wanted to have more say in this matter at the submunicipality level. In 2001, this resulted in a development plan for the area known as Richting ParkStad 2015 (‘towards a park city by 2015’, this plan has also been authorised by the city and housing corporations) that formulates the general concepts of a joint programme based on experiences acquired during the model projects.

The renovation operation in Amsterdam Nieuw West is an integrated project aimed at improvement in three areas: social, economic and spatial. The project’s social improvements should result in the social advancement of the residents of Nieuw West. Not only should this operation deal with existing problems, but it should place even more emphasis on developing the potential offered by Nieuw West. Following the large-scale evaluation of the renovation operation in 2005, even more effort will be devoted to policy aimed at social cohesion, improved educational results, participation in society, and participation in the labour market.

The economic renewal focuses on stimulating entrepreneurship, particularly among small businesses, and on a better alignment between education and the labour market. Nieuw West’s housing stock, 75% of which consists of social housing, should offer more variation so that residents of all income groups can begin and continue their housing careers in Nieuw West. Around 13,000 dwelling units will be demolished and 24,000 new ones built – a net gain of 11,000 dwellings.

Close cooperation between government (central municipal authorities and the city districts) and housing corporations as well as the involvement of other parties such as residents’ organisations, welfare organisations, and health insurers.

The main concepts of the renovation are laid out in the Richting ParkStad 2015 Development Plan in which Amsterdam Nieuw West is further divided into 27 renovation areas. A renovation plan is being drawn up for each of these areas in cooperation between the city districts and the housing corporations. Each renovation plan provides a substantive and financial framework for its area. Included in each plan are the housing programme to be realised, which social amenities are involved, the number of square metres of business space to be realised, and the social programmes that will be employed.  Each renovation plan steadily undergoes a process of becoming more tangible as expressed in its implementation plan and implementation agreement. The housing corporations realise the residential construction; the city district carries out the redevelopment of public space.

The concept of social renewal has been translated into a number of priorities, each expressed in a project. Most of these projects, set up or intensified to serve the purposes of the various priorities, were established at the district level. Good examples are the virtual mini-pitches, the social work manager for primary education, and the Moederkind Centrum (for women’s empowerment). When more effect could be achieved by means of cooperating with the Amsterdam Nieuw West authorities, a joint approach was taken. A few examples are the 5 O’clock Class (a theatre class for young people) or a ten-day festival on the Sloterplas.

Considering the long period involved in the renovation of Amsterdam Nieuw West, there is still a long way to go before all of its objectives yield results. Even so, some results – the ones involving projects exceeding the boundaries of the city district – can be seen already:

The objective is to have as many of the existing residents of Nieuw West as possible benefit from this programme, but with an emphasis on those in poorer socio-economic positions. Another objective: a housing career for everyone.

The municipality will be investing more than 400 million euros. This amount was determined as based on specific agreements within Amsterdam (in the form of a ‘supplementary ground lease’). The most important point of this agreement is that the housing corporations in the area will demolish their own property themselves and then prepare these sites for construction. In exchange for this, the municipality will receive a substantially lower price for the land on which the new buildings will be built. This will apply to the first 110% of the volume as compared to the volume to be demolished.

A single source of financing – the Public Housing Promotion Fund – is covering the shortages involved in land development.  The municipality will receive 55 million euros from this fund (2001 price level). The housing corporations will receive an identical amount from this fund for the construction of housing for special target groups such as large homes or homes located near care facilities for the elderly.

In addition to the funding available from the Public Housing Promotion Fund, another important source of financing for the investments to be made by the housing corporations is the sale of homes they currently own. Various budgets were available for social renewal projects aimed at specific purposes. Some of these sources included the national government’s Social Integration and Safety fund, a European subsidy, and municipal contributions (Urban Renewal Investment Fund).

Eigen Wijsheid has received an ESF-EQUAL subsidy.

Bureau Parkstad, tel. +31 20 3463060

01/01/1993

31/12/2015

case

Urban Policy > Urban environment > Urban renewal

Urban restructuring