myobservations

Wider Context:
• The space acts as a social hangout, it makes the street appear open and friendly
• The neighborhood didn't always have this welcoming feeling, the street was notorious for drug dealers and crime, they have tried to make it more family friendly
• Historically this street was made up of lower income immigrants: people from Suriname, the Antilles, Cape Verde, Chinese, Turkish and Moroccan people
• In efforts over the last 10 years the municipality has tried to make it a safer place, and from my research they worked closely with residents to make sure they agreed with the changes
• Recently it seems its been hard for the municipality to find the right balance of outdoor space, due to corona measurements. But at what cost do we encroach on public space? Just because a space doesn't give economic value that doesn't mean it shouldn't be taken seriously.

Body Movements:
• Sit on and around the park
• Outdoor seating for restaurants
• Busy crossway for trams/cars/bikes
• Usually parents and kids, young people or older dudes hanging out
• Place to relax, talk, observe others passing by
• Place for people to have a break for a few minutes and then move on

Spacial Setting:
• The terraces block off access from the front - when they're empty you can walk through but when they're full you can't
• The central seating area is a rounded triangular shape, its raised off the ground at sitting height
• It's lined with concrete and some wood which acts as a bench. The height is short enough for small kids to be able to climb up
• Inside is grass that is kept short so it is also possible to sit or lie in the grass.
• Behind it is a similar structure except the inside is full of bushes and flowers so you can't sit inside of it
• Around this large bench structures the floor is tiled with bricks so its suitable for bikes and scooters (especially for kids as there isn't that much free space for a bunch of large bikes zipping around)

From my research I can see a definitive change in the appearance of the park and the storefronts in the Middellandplein area. The style is changing to be more neutral toned and monochromatic. They are slowly removing the bright colours in favour for greys, warm browns, whites, with small pops of colour like blue or purple or a muted green. It seems they are trying to make it appear more uniformed. In my opinion the previous uniqueness of the stores provides a certain charm that represents the culture of the residents.

I spoke with Mareike Hillen, manager of the Wijk Paleis – a community center that used to be on middellandstraat. She informed me of the changes that have been happening over the last 5 years. The street used to attract a lot of drugs and crime, it wasn’t safe at all and finally people decided to change it.

In 2015 local organization Mooi, Mooier Middelland came together to figure out a way to make the street safer and more attractive. The Kruiskade and Nieuwe Binneweg already had a ‘glow up’ and the locals felt like Middelland needed the same thing. Residents, entrepreneurs, shop owners, community organisers and the municipality came together to plan the changes of the storefronts and the park. They created a plan to remove the parking from the park and to add more greenery, in order to reduce the traffic and make it the main attraction of the street. The collaborative effort of the group, called co-creation, was a mixture of cultures and ages to have the widest range of voices represented. They worked to improve the quality of life, paying special attention to the youth, to make it safer for vulnerable kids. They also improved infrastructure of the street, like the walking and cycling lanes.

Marieke said that some of the smaller shops were looking forward to the changes because they thought it would attract more customers. They have had to compete with the other bigger shops in recent times.

This summer, following the corona measures we saw terraces be put up on streets as extensions of restaurants. The park at Middellandplein was used for the same purpose. Tables, chairs and barrels filled with plants were put up to create distanced seating for nearby restaurants: Rainarai, Capri, Caeser Lounge and Arzu. These furnishings blocked access to the main section of the park used for sitting, at least for people that were not customers. The terraces became exclusive to only the customers of the terraces, anyone else that was hanging around was told to leave - according to a news article and word from some locals.

Now that restaurants are closed and the terraces aren't in use anymore, the park is free to be used but what occurred over the summer still says a lot about the how the changes affect the locals. Recently they have removed the bar and the rest of the terrace set up, so the park is back to how it used to be. But is the feeling of exclusion still there?

For my intervention I wanted to react to the banner at the corner of the terraces, the one that says Welkom Op Terras Middelland . So I created 4 posters that contain slogans that make big assumptions about the opinion of the terraces, here’s the first draft, the second draft, using the imagery from the original banner to mimic the voice of the city and here’s the final version, changing the font to create a vintage, tongue in cheek feel.

My plan was to use my collages and intervention posters to direct conversations about the changes with local shop owners. I wanted to know how they felt about the changes. Were they able to benefit from them? Did they feel a part of the change? My plan was to use the posters to trigger a response from people in the street but I found it difficult to connect with people who were walking quickly by, they didn’t understand the aim of the posters. So I took pictures of the posters in the space to queer the space.

I ended up having few but in-depth conversations. when asked about the changes of the street, store manager from KARIZMA said, he likes the changes, they are positive and bring in more clients to his shop

The owner of Le Rouce Beauty says she likes the changes too, but corona has affected her clientele

I spoke mostly with the people at STONELOVE, the dreadlocks place, they say that the street looks better, less ghetto, they like the bigger windows as they attract more customers. When asked about the feeling of inclusion, one man said he does not feel welcome in the park as police were chasing people away during the summer.

Here is the beginning of my talk with the manager of STONE LOVE, Joseph Ashanti Kotoko
Overall Kotoko also appreciated the changes, it gave the street a fresh look. But he felt like he and his friends couldn’t hang out around the street anymore, the parks were there but they’re used to hanging out around the shops more. He said it was becoming extremely expensive which made it difficult to continue living there, as a result a lot of people have left, to Belgium for example. We ended the conversation trying to be hopeful that things will be okay for his community.

K– I don’t think its wrong for the changing, changing is always good, but here is the problem, most of them is here for the cars, that’s the only problem here
S - aha,cus i kno it used to be a parking n they took out the parking
K – yeah, now the parking is there still
S – yh ok... but where do u guys hang out, where do u feel like u can hang out?
K – well there but, now its cold to hang out, people hang out there, and sit down there, and sometimes go to the kruiskade by the park

My final thoughts...

I think the community appreciates the efforts to make the street safer, more appealing to the eye, and to involve the residents in the decision making. Despite this, there are still cases where people have been forcefully excluded from using public space.

The way I see it is like this:
The street was occupied firstly by the black diaspora community, then the Turkish and Asian communities moved in, the street was neglected for a long time and now that it is being improved more and more people are choosing to live there. The city takes pride in this street as a multicultural hub but seems like it is becoming less hospitable to the ones that created it.
My next steps would be to find out more about the housing situation, I have some people I can contact about that, or to continue to interview residents of the west to learn more about their experiences of gentrification.