The Essential Margin

The district of potency and its key margin

In April 2007 former VROM minister Ella Vogelaar identified forty districts as Districts of Potency of which need to be “tackled”.

The districts of potency fit in line with the urban renewal of the late nineties, which in turn came from the urban renewal of the eighties. Compared to its predecessors, the Operation Districts of Potency is however, of an unprecedented size and complexity. Operation Districts of Potency act with great force; both physical and social aspects of the improvement districts are ‘tackled’. An important place is to strengthen the identity and “marketing” take an important place in. To place the districts is a better aspect some strange connections between the real situation and the desired image are made. While opportunities in the margins, often are not used. In addition, the plans typically focus on the desired final image and take little account of the ‘interval, the period between the start of transformation and completion. This ‘ interval’ may however reach fifteen or even twenty years causing the growth of one complete generation. To be sure to exploit the opportunities in the margin and improve the neighbourhoods to get rid of the rigid thinking, the organisation model Ttom is developed, a design of Tussentijd Ontwikkelings Maatschappij: The Company Time In-between for Development

After the disaster of war the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century were the stage of reconstruction, focusing on the emptying of the housing shortage. The ‘critical’ seventies were more focused on the smaller scale and quality in addition to quantity of the housing production. This directed to the urban renewal include up to late eighties deployed to overcome the disadvantages of engineering in nineteenth-century residential neighbourhoods, while maintaining demographic and urban structure. Although the physical aims were largely achieved by the urban renewal, it could not avoid the development of modern urban problems in the Netherlands. Because the awareness now arose that perhaps the solution was to be search outside the engineering domain, the government created during the early nineties a social renewal. In the mid nineties the idea came that not a unilateral, but rather an integrated approach to problems was needed to improve the problem areas. The new thinking was called urban renewal and the motto: “The attractiveness of areas as a place to live, work, do business and reside should be set centrally.

To determine which districts become qualified for an urban renewal, an eclectic mix of socio-economic data, engineering data and experience compiled values was composed, which are settled with each other yielded a list of the “worst” neighbourhoods in the Netherlands. Municipalities act as director of the ‘Wijkvernieuwing process’ (district renewing process) and work together with the now privatized housing associations and so called civil society such as health and education.

Because the positioning of the parties involved in urban renewal has not been defined yet the public and private partners exclude at each neighbourhood a covenant, in which the agreements about the content and financial coverage of the modernization process are binding and that translated the settlement terms into ambitions. Initially, the by selection set criteria of problems are now transformed into indicators of success.

The approach of Transvaal

The drawn up urban renewal plans are preferably focused on the most current ambitions and the focus is thereby sometimes changed. The focus on their zeal on the desired future, the accountability for policy changes has no priority, with result regular “inconsistencies”. This dynamic is also found in the planning history of The Hague restructuring district Transvaal.

Until six years ago in many parts of The Hague district Transvaal there were still houses with porches of early last century (1895 - 1930) when the neighbourhood was built. In Northern Transvaal you see typical in the eighties renovated old renovated building and new construction. The houses are poorly insulated, small and do not meet the need of modern housing. The public space is scare of the high density and Transvaal belongs to the most densely populated districts of the city

Transvaal is very multicultural: in 2004, the district population consist 28% Turks, 23% Surinamese, Dutch 15%, 13% Moroccans and 14% immigrants from non-industrialized countries. The district has many small shops, often with foreign owners, who are concentrated in some shopping, in which Paul Kruger Avenue is most important. Another important feature of the district is the famous Haagse Mart (local market), where everything is given, fresh products to electronics.

A study from 1998 was the reason for the current urban renewal operation in the district.

It was found that the housing was outdated, the socio-economic level was far below the level of The Hague and there was nuisance, crime and rubbish in the area. They decided that intervention was necessary. After District plan Transvaal in 2002 and Progress plan (2005), the Spatial Line-Zone 11 (2006), Recipe for Power districts the Hague (2007) and The New Approach to Transvaal (2007) followed, which is the last official districts plan. The district plans focus primarily on demolition and construction plans for new residents to attract middle-and high incomes, and it is fairly consistent. In the economic field the planning in recent years, however, is significantly revised.

The districts plan in 2002 highlighted the importance of small businesses for districtseconomie and refreshing of the Paul Kruger Avenue, the Haagse Mart and the jaded and unattractive the business industrial site Uitenhagestraat. The city acknowledges the multicultural identity of Transvaal with its unique shops and market had a potential that could be better utilized. They decided this particular multicultural character of the district’s to bring to positive attention with the slogans “Mondial City ‘and’ Transvaal: all-rounder‘

These initially modest, neighbourhood-oriented ambitions began in 2005 significantly “scaled up”. A vision was created in two years for a grand, tourist Transvaal. To achieve this vision the branch of the Hags Mart had to be “re-installed ‘(part of the abundant cheap clothing stalls and small fry had to go), the Paul Kruger Avenue has to be themed, and would have a brand new, highly architecturally recommended new built “Multicultural Leisure Centre”. This building is targeted at becoming a “jewel in the crown” of the Transvaal and the new district nationwide drop as the multicultural shopping and leisure area par excellence ‘

In three years, the vision of the economic future of the Transvaal transformed from a small, oriented-oriented upgrading of the existing qualities of the district, to the ambitious intention to make of Transvaal a tourist attraction, and to model the whole neighbourhood identity and districteconomie to this plan.

In conjunction with economic planning, the district marketing strategies were also adapted. Transvaal was suddenly not only to be put in the market as an attractive residential area, but also as a tourist attraction. The poor image of the district as dirty, unsafe and ‘black’ had to be adjusted. To tackle the first two problems additional management were brought, but a more complex action for removing the negative connotations of the black image was needed. The multi-ethnic character of the Transvaal is undeniably one of the main features; it seemed to impede both the tourist attraction and ensures socio-economic progress. The town struggled with this opposition and finally decided to look for a solution to frame in a smart way the multicultural character of Transvaal’s. Inspired by the Hindu constituency of the Labour Party of The Hague, the idea began to take root to set the district down as’ icon of the Hindu culture’. Transvaal indeed has a Hindu past, some shops at the Paul Kruger Avenue still remember of this past. The choice was further argued by the fact that a “Hindu Street” a much better unique selling point is than “just another multicultural shopping street ‘and in the middle region Haaglanden many Hindus live who could be drawn to the district by the new image as a consumer or occupier.

After alderman Norder and even then Minister Vogelaar enthusiastically showed the Hindu approach, the new vision was translated by the new planning: the Paul Kruger Avenue changed from ‘multicultural shopping’ to ‘Little India’; suddenly there was a plan of a Bollywood Cinema at the Uitenhage Land, and the new Leisure and Multicultural Centre got a along the Oriental theme, according to the municipality it covered all Asia except China, because The Hague has already a China Town.

But there is something to say on the Hindu-promoted Oriental character of the district. It has already been established that the population of the Transvaal in 2004 consisted of 28% Turks, 23% Surinamese, 15% Dutch, 13% Moroccans and 14% immigrants from non-industrialized countries. The trend since then is that people who leave the district are mostly replaced by Eastern Europeans. A dominance of (Surinamese) Indo-Asians or East is certainly not. Moreover, Transvaal is not a tourist attraction, but a residential area with a nice shopping and a market. The desired image is wishful thinking, a phantom identity. Although it is based on an identity with roots in the district. But this history apparently shows some remains that are characterized by positive memories and desires. The heavy intervention in the ideal and real Transvaal was perhaps better understood, as the district was demonstrably ugly and identity. Or if a district would not include citizens or entrepreneurship. The opposite is the case. It abounds in the Transvaal of immigrant entrepreneurs, civil society and citizen’s initiatives the inner district has an urban image, the well functioning of The Hague Mart and a central location. And these are just some of the qualities of Transvaal. The city passes largely in its current planning process these qualities. Therefore, a special district is to be sacrificed for economic and socio-cultural phantom-identity, and arises from the best possible intentions to economically strengthen a neighbourhood a grotesque absurdity.

The guardians of the critical margin

By processes of renewing of the districts, the relationship between the desired image and the actual identity is difficult arduous. When urban renewal the quantifiable results such as, average income and property value increases play a greater role than non-quantifiable peculiarities as the (urban) history, social structures, cultural capital and informal channels. This essential margin is outside the core business of the corporations and developers in the planning and often inappropriately placed in the token header ’social’.

Parties who have expertise to analyze and interpret the essential margin correctly, often struggling with their ranking, if they wish to interfere with the urban renewal. When they try to intervene in a process of districts renewal they know hardly to penetrate to the heart of the decision. They are tolerated, but only as players in the margin. The course of this research will examine how the essential guardians of margin, as artists, cultural planners, (architecture) historians, sociologists, anthropologists and other critically engaged, could acquire a better position within the urban renewal.

Laboratory of the Time in-between

Since 2002 three cultural organizations of the restructuring are active in Transvaal, namely STROOM, Stichting Transart and OpTrek. They all make use of vacant buildings be made available for temporary use by the municipality or corporation Staedion. Staedion sees the arty anti-cracking as an economical way to eliminate crime and illegal occupation of the ‘ghost streets’ and is also pleased with the positive image and publicity that cultural activities can bring. OpTrek is of these three organizations the only one who explicitly active with the transformation of the neighbourhood. Mobile Office of OpTrek Transvaal, established on the initiative of artist Sabrina Lindemann temporary will encourage discussion with her art projects to the development of urban space and the role that artists can play it, both in general and in Transvaal. Activities range from physical presence in the public domain, like a temporary café on a crane and the Transvaal hotel project, to research and discussion events. The workshop series of the Laboratory of the time in-between generates artists (urban) sociologists, philosophers, architects, urban planners and other critical viewers new ideas for the establishment of restructuring processes. The workshops, themed meetings and surveys, act as a think tank and concept development platform. Although there is now a riches of visions and concepts created and OpTrek has managed to bind of an impressive network of professionals, Staedion corporation has, the main player in the transformation of the Transvaal, still not specifically invited OpTrek to think about the future of the district, even now that new plans are developed for Northern Transvaal. Whether that will happen in the future, seems to depend on both the strategy of OpTrek and the openness of Staedion.

Welcome in my backyard

There are (were) more organizations active in the Netherlands who has interfered on a unique way with the restructuring of the post-war housing districts. One of which was the most ambitious of WiMBY! Hoogvliet. In 1999 the Rotterdam district of Hoogvliet decided to a major restructuring of the district. The former alderman of Urban Renewal Herman Meier wanted to create space for inspired planning in Hoogvliet and in 2001 the planning experiments showing the project WiMBY! (Welcome in My Backyard) arose, which got the mission to put Hoogvliet on the map.

WiMBY! enlisted some 1.3 million euros per year of various governments, corporations and funds and get started to work with an influential team consisting include Peter Kuenzli, Herman Meier, Crimson Architectural Historians and later Felix Rottenberg. Although initially the ambition was to position itself in the heart of the restructuring, this soon proved to be too ambitious. Most demolition and construction plans were ready and the flow of the restructuring was already unstoppable. WiMBY! was therefore designed as a research and development agency with an acupunctural ‘approach. In an attempt to give a redirection to the technocratic innovation wherever possible, initiated and facilitated WiMBY! in collaboration with many different stakeholders a series of separate urban and socio-cultural projects. The role of WiMBY was to defend the continuity of Hoogvliet, detect inconsistencies between different plans, and generate a greater appreciation for the existing and space for complexity and plea for contradiction in the planning. A nice illustration of this approach is the project Logic, in which organization shrewdly managed all firm plans at Hoogvliet through meetings with interested parties to form a joint model, called jokingly Policies of Always Existing.

If we compare OpTrek and WiMBY a number of cases will strike you. OpTrek operates autonomously and in full freedom, but pay for this with a marginal role in the planning of Transvaal. WiMBY chose to accept the limitations of the data restructuring plans at Hoogvliet and find for the margins where they could mean anything, but had to hand in a part of its conceptual freedom. Another difference is the background of both organizations: OpTrek was conceived from an individual initiative and an artistic approach; WiMBY had an ambitious alderman as initiator. WiMBY also had a significantly larger and more reliable budget than OpTrek.

An important similarity between the two organizations is that they have tried to break the technocratic procedure of urban renewal. They use various ‘flight paths’. OpTrek examines with Hotel Transvaal and a ‘think-tank’ for the Time In-between how to establish alternative ways of planning processes and puts the emphasis on sustainability, existing qualities and the particular context of the restructuring period, they called Time In-between. WiMBY worked pragmatic and search within existing frameworks and plans where it was possible to cause special connections or improvements in the planning. The involvement of both was also not limited to the conceptual but above all included lobbying, networking and consultation to get the plans done.

The invention of the Time In-between

In a quest for the ideal positioning of an independent organization in urban renewal it is interesting to see if the strengths of OpTrek and WiMBY could be combined into a new model.

A model that the essential role of the margins in urban renewal can strengthen giving by accountability of the modern checkout culture in urban renewal, but not let bully then. A model also based on the potency of the Time In-between as which is put on the map by OpTrek.

In its workshop series’ Laboratory for the Time In-between ” OpTrek has an abundance of playful, creative, innovative, realistic and unrealistic concepts developed, some of which would definitely enriches the urban renewal. Some inspirations are specifically applicable to the Transvaal, but others might well be used in other contexts. One of the most fruitful outcomes of the think tank so far, is the emancipation of the Time In-between, as independent, valuable time. The Time In-between refers to the required period of ten to twenty years to start and complete an urban renewal operation in an area. At this interval sticks often a negative image: the viability is under pressure, there are many uncertainties and nuisance and crime are increasing. But OpTrek meets with the Time In-between not as a period between an imperfect situation and the completion of perfection. In the fifteen to twenty -years that a restructuring usually takes, where the plans and actors constantly shifting and furthermore a generation grows up in a district in restructuring. This Time In-between should be taken seriously and can be used as development platform.

To continue the results of the Time In-between in the future of the district a little transparency in the planning is needed. Today, planning offers opportunities for temporary use in the form of anti-cracking or socio-cultural projects, but is not designed to adopt casually created or developed concepts and projects in the meantime. The participation of the residents in the planning is indeed becoming more extensive and attractive performed, but is nevertheless usually not arranged to direct the chosen direction of the actually planning in another way.

Ttom

The Company Time In-between for Development (Tussentijd Ontwikkelings Maatschappij) shortly: TtOM, with a small t for time, is an initiative that has drawn its lessons from the previous. TtOM represents a model that takes not only the current situation or the future situation as a reference but focuses entirely on the period of transformation of the place. Developments in the Time In-between can be able to achieve the targeted plan in a new and different perspective. To take the Time In-between seriously it stops to overlook these opportunities, you can conscious program the opportunity, you are respectful with the changing situation, and you increase your opportunities for a visible and tangible social and spatial continuity.

The design of the TtOM should focus on a specific situation and has no standard character. However, there are three key ingredients to be appointed within a TtOM-design, namely position, time and highly related programs.

In her position, the TtOM has to anchor independence in combination with planning. The TtOM may do so by become for instance owner of an abandoned building in the area that offers development prospects. The purchase and (slow) development of such schools or factories are funded by the TtOM from an expected increase in value over time. To draw itself as modestly as owner and developer, TtOM becomes the player in the field and find connection to the planning of the area, without profiling itself as rival to other players.

By taking a literal place in the area the TtOM provide also the time to build a network of residents and other players in the area. Both WiMBY and OpTrek the prolonged presence created opportunities for networking and lobbying. A physical presence in the context increases that possibility and also ensures that you as TtOM, which persists where in many other, involved employees and managers constantly changing. In this way the TtOM memory and continuity of the transformation is and especially present when the inevitable new and unexpected developments occur.

TtOM the profiles with its programming in the course of a transformation process as the ideal partner for research and concept development. On its own initiative it develops projects that reflect and visualize the situation and possibilities on catchy way visible. The TtOM doesn’t warn the margin and the experiment.

By initially especially inform but eventually actually involve other players in the field TtOM can response more to current events and so are increasingly profiling ‘ to formulate the assignment ‘. From a concerned but autonomous position more and more projects are created as in cooperation with but ultimately on behalf of other players in the area. For its reliability and the avoidance of a competitive TtOM remain physically confined to its original taken position.

The first organization that was founded on this model is foundation TtOM in Arnhem. Through involvement in various projects around derelict urban areas, deferred new housing estates and vacant land defence areas it examines its position within the spatial transformations. The TtOM model provides possibilities for the Time In-between period as seriously and restores the identity within the difficult relationship between actual and desired image. In this way the TtOM become the ideal guardian of the essential margin.