A City of Comings and Goings Wouter Vanstiphout & Michelle Provoost
A City of Comings and Goings
extremely mobile, with networks of relations that spread across the whole world that can be quickly mobilised for work or a place to stay.
Scrolling through the long list of victims of
However, within the jargon of Dutch immi-
Friday 13 November 2015 in Paris, we see a
gration policy, the victims of 13/11 would not
heart-rending portrait of a young cosmopolitan
be considered a single heterogeneous genera-
generation from very diverse backgrounds: from
tion but rather a series of highly distinct cat-
the banlieues to the world of international ar-
egories: migrant workers, expats, children of
chitecture. They are not only lucky students who
political refugees, and third-generation immi-
have seen the world on fellowships or foreign
grants. They would be subject to different poli-
tourists enjoying themselves in Paris’s concert
cies, views, investigations and political opinion.
venues and trendy bars. Some of the victims
However, their shared tragedy should force us to
were French citizens who had emigrated from
look more closely at what this generation has in
Chile as children; others have parents who emi-
common, and that is: migration. The ‘Généra-
grated from Algeria or Congo in the 1970s.
tion Bataclan’ inspires us to view migration
The victims represent an urban class that is
as a general and fundamental phenomenon in
Eagles Of Death Metal fans just moments before 89 of them were massacred by ISIS gunmen
page 2
contemporary Europe instead of a series of
ers, standing lost at a bus stop in the rain; the hol-
problems which when viewed separately drive
iday camps miles from the nearest shop, and the
us apart and which, moreover, can never be ad-
monumental barracks filled with beds. A large ma-
equately solved.
jority of the current wave of asylum seekers will be granted the coveted refugee status, whereupon
Refugees
the COA will work together with local authorities to
The initial trigger to write this piece was not
find them permanent housing. This leads to fur-
the tragedy of the events that took place in
ther conflicts, for example with housing associa-
Paris on 13 November, but the refugee crisis
tions that have been told by housing minister Stef
that the Netherlands and many other Europe-
Blok that they should offer less social housing,
an countries have experienced over the past few
with the result that they now have no accommoda-
months. This crisis confronts us with the fragil-
tion to offer to refugees. Because, due to political
ity of how we define and manage our borders.
pressure, Minister Blok is unable to give refugees
While recent decades have shown that conflicts
priority, there is a resulting scramble for locations
on the periphery of Europe and beyond have re-
and buildings. This has led to some interesting
sulted in sudden peaks in numbers of asylum
conversion projects, such as the headquarters of
seekers, we were nonetheless ‘surprised’ by the
the Ministry of Social Affairs in The Hague, which
thousands of Syrian refugees arriving in our
is currently being converted into housing for im-
country, fleeing a conflict that has been going
migrants. Nonetheless, the dominant image is one
on for years. It necessitated the speedy fitting
of a government that has allowed itself to be over-
out of emergency shelters, the commandeering
run.
of empty holiday camps, and the erection of
tent villages. The hasty response sometimes led
cations where asylum seekers are initially housed
to heated confrontations with local communi-
onto a map showing those regions (mostly in the
ties. The acute urgency of the situation meant
Randstad) with the most job vacancies, we see lit-
that in most cases the COA (the Dutch central
tle overlap. This is remarkable given that we all
organisation for refugee intake) and the IND
want the accepted refugees to be integrated into
(Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service)
society as quickly as possible: we want their chil-
had to pay the highest price for locations and
dren to go to school, for them to learn Dutch, that
had to disregard local objections.
they get jobs and make a contribution to society.
But more telling than the logistics prob-
Looking at how those seeking asylum are housed,
lems are the locations of the majority of shel-
we can only conclude that there is no urban strat-
ters: in the less-densely populated eastern and
egy enabling us to absorb them within the heart of
northern regions of the Netherlands. We are
our economy, our cities and our communities.
familiar with the images of the leafy villages
suddenly inundated with hundreds of foreign-
gee crisis as a temporary emergency situation
It would be too easy to brush off the refu-
page 3
Wouter Vanstiphout and Michelle Provoost A City of Comings and Goings
If we superimpose a map showing those lo-
Map showing the locations where asylum seekers are initially housed (left) and the job vacancies per region (right). Source: Adzuna and Volkskrant/COA
with its own unique set of problems. But that
EU migrant workers. There are currently some
we find it difficult to provide adequate shelter
400,000 migrant workers in the Netherlands,
for those that seek refuge in the Netherlands
many of whom have poor temporary accom-
is a symptom of a wider problem concerning
modation in holiday camps, small sublets, car-
the flexibility and absorption capacity of our
avans or at their places of work. And again the
cities. Furthermore by isolating the refugee cri-
problem is reduced to purely a housing issue.
sis we deny the fact that migration has become
What makes it so difficult to provide adequate
a fact of life and will only increase in decades
housing for this group is precisely the tempo-
to come. The only way to deal with the refugee
rary nature of their stay and the many different
crisis is to view it not as a separate issue but as
individual choices they make. Some of them
a broader phenomenon that concerns not only
work a few months in the Netherlands each year
those fleeing war or poverty but also well-paid
but keep their main residence in Poland; others
expats, migrant workers, nomadic students, ar-
decide to live here and start a family; others live
chitects who travel from city to city and even
here for a few years with their family and then
Dutch workers whose existence has been ren-
move back to Poland.
dered unpredictable by a more flexible labour
market.
buying houses, between hotels and apartments,
The experience of asylum seekers is not
between social housing and the private housing
dissimilar to that of seasonal workers in the as-
sector, and the absence of short-term rental
paragus harvest, Polish workers and so-called
contracts make our housing system unsuited
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The gap that exists between renting and
to coping with fluctuations in the demand for migrant workers, whether that concerns the Slovenian asparagus picker or the Canadian expat who works for the International Court of Justice.
It seems strange to compare the lot of an
asylum seeker fleeing terrorist violence in Syria, waiting in a barracks in Drenthe, with the situation of a Romanian plasterer who sleeps in a caravan in Limburg or a well-educated but
Polish migrant workers in a vacation park in Udel. Source: wereldjournalisten
average-earning expat looking for a furnished rental apartment. But all three confront us with an inadequate relationship between city and countryside based upon stability and definitive settlement in a world that, at all scales, is increasingly about flexibility and migration.
Looking at the world around us, there is
no reason to think that the influx of migrants into Europe and the Netherlands will remain at the same level or even decrease. The combination of the effects of climate change with those
Refugees housed in a vacation park in Zeeland. Source: omroepzeeland
of extreme population growth in Africa, where according to the United Nations Populations Division the population will increase fourfold from 1.1 billion to more than 4 billion, creates almost unimaginable projections for migration. In 2014 alone, according to the UN, 60 million people were forced to leave their homes due to
ous NGOs estimate that that figure will increase to between 150 and 200 million by 2050. Like war refugees, the majority of climate refugees
Temporary student housing in Delft. Soucre: unknown
and the hundred million new Africans who move to cities will do so within their own region. But if even one per cent of the new Africans move to Europe that will mean some 30 million people, page 5
Wouter Vanstiphout and Michelle Provoost A City of Comings and Goings
the effects of climate change. The UN and vari-
page 6
The Chinese city of Shenzhen could be seen as the ultimate migrant city with millions of people migrating in and out of the city every year
whereas according to the IOM (International
globalisation with direct visibility at the level of
Organization for Migration) there are currently
the street and the neighbourhood.
around 5 million Africans in the EU.
The pressures that force people to come
nomic migrants and asylum seekers on our
to our region from elsewhere in the world are
borders and the conflicts in our neighbouring
expressed in the dramatic images of hundreds
regions will undoubtedly lead to political de-
of thousands of people crossing the Mediterra-
bates and probably to drastic changes in how
nean Sea in boats and the residents of the now
we deal with migration, the precise nature of
almost permanent ‘Calais jungle’. But we also
which we cannot predict. But we can be sure
see it in the outskirts of London where African
that migrants in all their diverse guises will
entrepreneurs breathe new life into abandoned
become ever more present and that ‘the sys-
shopping centres with wholesale outlets and on-
tem’ will be forced to change. The distinction
line supermarkets for products from Somalia,
between the migrant and non-migrant will be
Eritrea, Ghana, Nigeria, etc. Alongside the grim
blurred and the common ground between the
images of the confrontation between migrants
refugee, the asylum seeker, the immigrant, the
and ‘Fort Europe’ there are also the informal
migrant worker, the research fellow, the student,
networks in which illegal immigrants, asylum
the guest professor, the intern, the au pair and
seekers and those refused asylum mix with
the pied-à-terre owner will become increasingly
those with refugee status and the Dutchmen,
clear. And that common ground is that they lead
Englishmen, Frenchmen or Germans with Afri-
a flexible and uncertain existence in which their
can roots who have an entire economy of their
adaptability and mobility is crucial to achieving
own.
the happiness they seek.
If the future unfolds as outlined above our
Netherlands is funnelled back to their country
cities will increasingly be characterised by a
of origin. The African Studies Centre in Leiden
coming and going of people, population growth
reported in 2011 on investments by Amster-
and contraction, the emergence and disappear-
dam-based Ghanaians in housing in Accra, while
ance of amenities and enterprises, and a con-
the architect Bernd Upmeyer recently published
stantly changing racial profile.
a fascinating study entitled Binational Urban-
ism, which documents people of Turkish origin
Comings and Goings mean in concrete terms?
who live in and invest in property in both Kreuz-
We might begin with the acute problem of asy-
berg in Berlin and in cities in Antalya Province.
lum seekers and refugees who are now leading a
These transnational or binational spaces consti-
difficult existence on the margins of the Nether-
tute an important economic exchange between
lands with children that have no access to nor-
these countries that is entirely separate from in-
mal levels of care and education. The question
ternational trade or diplomacy. It is bottom-up
is: where do we want these people to rebuild
What does designing and planning a City of
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Wouter Vanstiphout and Michelle Provoost A City of Comings and Goings
A portion of the money people earn in the
The increasing pressure of so-called eco-
Aslan Bulduk and his wife (both born in Turkey) in their self-build house in Almere. Source: Volkskrant Magazine
their lives? Where do we want them to ‘make
such as Zoetermeer, Capelle, Purmerend and
a contribution to society’? Instead of isolating
Spijkenisse are well connected with the infra-
them in marginal parts of the Netherlands, we
structure, amenities and jobs of the Randstad
could welcome them in those regions where
and they also have space for transformation
there are jobs and where the scale and diversi-
and growth. New shops, work places and, above
ty of welfare and education provision is better
all, new generations of students and custom-
equipped to deal with population surges; in oth-
ers would breathe new life into these old growth
er words: in the urbanised landscape of North
centres. A benefit of the older new towns, such
Holland, South Holland, Utrecht and North Bra-
as Almere, is that they are already very popular
bant.
with the immigrant middle classes, who buy or
It is not only the social and economic op-
build houses here, for example in the Homer-
portunities that are greater in the Randstad. In
uskwartier. These existing networks of earlier
the more densely populated western part of the
immigrants can ease the process of social and
Netherlands there are areas where the arrival of
economic integration for their newly arrived
new residents can have a positive influence, for
compatriots. For example, there are many mu-
example in cities with an ageing population and
nicipalities, including Vathorst, Lansingerland
declining amenities.
and Leidsche Rijn, with incomplete Vinex lo-
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Former centres of
urban development
cations, for which the land purchases have al-
Many Vinex locations are still uncompleted like here in Lansingerland. Source Unknown
ready been made but the project development
locations. They are unpopular places among es-
in line with the Vinex model has not yet begun.
tablished residents and businesses but as de-
Here too there is a need for a new generation
velopment locations may well offer potential for
of residents and a new impulse for thinning
internationally oriented newcomers.
provisions. Despite the fact that anti-immigra-
tion parties such as the PVV enjoy a relatively
City describes neighbourhoods or entire cities
high level of popularity in the growth centres
where new immigrants are received, from Slo-
and Vinex neighbourhoods, these are also areas
tervaart and Thamesmead to Shenzhen and
with a strong middle-class, immigrant presence
North Mumbai. Can we actively build such ‘ar-
and therefore a breeding ground for further in-
rival cities’ in the Netherlands? Can we design
ternationalisation. And a dynamic economy fed
these places so that they offer the freedom and
by immigration will eventually reverse the so-
networks for new groups to integrate into the
cio-economic stagnation that leads to votes for
Dutch economy? If so, what requirements would
xenophobic and racist parties such as the PVV.
such developments have to meet? We would
Finally we can also include the many pe-
need to review our property market and housing
ripheral office locations and industrial estates,
policy to create flexibility and dynamism rather
which are largely empty, especially in growth
than obstacles. We would need to look at how
centres, among the category of well-connected
the construction industry functions and the legpage 9
Wouter Vanstiphout and Michelle Provoost A City of Comings and Goings
Journalist Doug Saunders’s book Arrival
page 10
The student hotel in Amsterdam - a new concept for short-term student housing ‘Hotel Style’
islation relating to zoning and the environment.
owes it to its reputation to embrace migration
We would need to subject the new National En-
as an enormous impulse for the development
vironmental Vision currently being formulated
of the cities and neighbourhoods of the future.
by the State to a critical review in terms of the
Design-driven research is important to visualise
flexibility, temporary housing, enterprise and
and simulate scenarios and innovative combi-
networks. We would need to look simultaneous-
nations. But concrete projects are also needed
ly at the environmental policies of local author-
to create ‘facts on the ground’ and to gain real
ities and how they can actively offer space to
experience.
the economic and social dynamic of migration.
We would need to consult with social welfare or-
citizens who require mobility and flexibility can
ganisations, local authorities and businesses to
come together, whether they be young native en-
examine how we can employ public amenities
trepreneurs with a large international network,
as fixed beacons for neighbourhoods typified by
students who want to live inexpensively in a dy-
change. We must try to understand what role
namic neighbourhood for three or four years,
public spaces in general can play as sites for
the newly arrived refugee who wants to build
encounters and exchanges between the nomad-
a new life, or the migrant worker who needs a
ic citizens of the twenty-first century. Nonethe-
Dutch base for his transnational existence. Can
less, to bring together all these issues and to
the Netherlands, with its institutionalised plan-
make visible the consequences and possibilities
ning and design, create such places that will
of a City of Comings and Goings the urban
connect us with the world? Can we create a City
planning design is of crucial importance and
of Comings and Goings, one that does justice
must even be the starting point. Making the
to the diversity and energy of the Génération
combined significance of the various implica-
Bataclan?
After all, we need real places where those
cities visible and concrete is indispensable for
A city of Comings and Goings is a research project initiated by
their integral development and also for a social
Crimson Architectural Historians and executed in collaboration
debate. Using urban planning images we can
with the chair of Design as Politics and The Berlage Center
visualise the broad significance of migration for
for advanced studies in architecture and urban design at TU
our cities and escape the simplistic dichotomy
Delft. A Dutch version of this text was originally published
of the expat or the refugee, the migrant worker
in the Blauwe Kamer Jaarboek Landschapsarchitectuur en
or the international student. We need images
stedenbouw 2015.
and models of a city or a street in which migration is a phenomenon that citizens share rather
Wouter Vanstiphout is Professor at the TU Delft Chair of Design
than driving them apart.
as Politics and partner at Crimson Architectural Historians.
Michelle Provoost is director of the International New Town
Given the urgency of the refugee crisis,
Dutch design (and the Netherlands as a design)
Institute and partner at Crimson Architectural Historians. page 11
Wouter Vanstiphout and Michelle Provoost A City of Comings and Goings
tions of immigrant-rich neighbourhoods and