You Wanna Be Where You Can See, Troubles Are All the Same. a Case Study to the Sociability Within a Gentrifying Neighbourhood
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You wanna be where you can see, troubles are all the same. A case study to the sociability within a gentrifying neighbourhood. Name: Jule Geeris UvA ID number: 11724749 Date: 28-06-2018 Program and track: Master Urban Sociology Supervisor: dhr. prof. dr. J.C. Rath Second reader: mw. dr. O. Sezneva Email adress: [email protected] ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ 2 Table of contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 5 Summary research ...................................................................................................................... 6 A big building in the middle of a gentrifying neighbourhood ................................................... 7 Theoretical framework ............................................................................................................. 11 Invasion of middle class people ........................................................................................... 11 Improving social order in deprived neighbourhoods ........................................................... 11 The search for authenticity ................................................................................................... 12 The purest form of social interaction ................................................................................... 13 Behaviour in public place ..................................................................................................... 14 Places of sociable association .............................................................................................. 16 Sociability and commercial gentrification ........................................................................... 18 Context ..................................................................................................................................... 20 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 21 Operationalisation of key concepts and terms ...................................................................... 21 Data collection...................................................................................................................... 22 Interviews ............................................................................................................................. 23 Data analysis ........................................................................................................................ 25 Ethical issues ........................................................................................................................ 26 Role as a waitress ............................................................................................................. 26 Results ...................................................................................................................................... 27 A magnificent building full of history and memories .......................................................... 27 Terrace .............................................................................................................................. 28 Patio .................................................................................................................................. 29 Indoor................................................................................................................................ 30 What is the accessibility, who are making use of het Badhuis? ........................................... 35 The whole neighbourhood represented? ........................................................................... 35 Aspects that lead to bigger accessibility ........................................................................... 39 It is not simply having a coffee or a beer ............................................................................. 43 Atmosphere ....................................................................................................................... 43 Feeling .............................................................................................................................. 44 A home away from home ................................................................................................. 45 The social function and connection to the neighbourhood ............................................... 45 Conclusion and implications .................................................................................................... 49 3 What are the physical characteristics of Het Badhuis? ........................................................ 49 Who are making use of Het Badhuis, what is the accessibility? .......................................... 50 What is the meaning of Het Badhuis for its visitors? ........................................................... 50 How are processes of gentrification showed in these aspects? ............................................ 51 What is the sociability of Het Badhuis within a gentrified neighbourhood? ....................... 51 Limitations of the research ....................................................................................................... 52 Implications for further research .............................................................................................. 52 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 54 Annex 1 .................................................................................................................................... 57 Annex 2 .................................................................................................................................... 58 4 Acknowledgements When graduating at Tilburg University for my bachelor of Sociology, I never would have thought I would end up writing a master thesis at the University of Amsterdam three years later. After having struggled a lot past year. I never would have thought being able to write this thesis. Moving to a new city, working twenty hours a week and focussing on a Master Urban Sociology, might have not been the best combination for me. A lot of problems were feared and many hours were spent on not knowing how. Still, it was worth every struggle, the academic skills I have learned this year together with personal skills, will be of big importance the rest of my life. In front of you lies the result, my master thesis focusing on the sociability of Het Badhuis within the context of gentrification in Indische Buurt in Amsterdam. I want to express my appreciation to all persons who were willing to participate in my interviews and share their lovely stories, insights, ideas and perceptions. I would not have been able to write the thesis without their enthusiastic participation. Next to my boss giving me the possibility of using Het Badhuis as a case of research. I am grateful to my thesis supervisor Jan Rath, who supported me with helpful feedback and helped me completing this thesis. He always had tips and material helping to create my own project. Furthermore, I would also like to thank my second reader Olga Sezneva, her valuable feedback led me in the right direction. Lastly, I would like to express gratitude to my family and friends who kept believing in me even when I did not and kept encouraging me every single moment during the process. Their unlimited support, kindness and hospitality were of big help. Thank you, Jule Geeris 5 Summary of the research Indische Buurt in Amsterdam is a context of gentrification leading to new inhabitants and catering establishments fitting their needs. Mostly leading to social inequality and segregation, a place for both the old residents as the new residents, might lead to more social cohesion. Purpose of this thesis is trying to come to a full understanding of the sociability of Het Badhuis, within a gentrifying context. Theories that were used to build a theoretical framework were to understand sociability, Simmel (1949) and Goffman (1966). Furthermore, the third place concept of Oldenburg (1999), complied with Rosenbaum (2006) were used leading to the research question: what is the sociability of Het Badhuis within a gentrifying neighbourhood? The concept of sociability is understood as facilitating an open atmosphere supporting social interactions between people visiting that place. In order to give a comprehensive answer to the research question, qualitative research has been used. Observations and in-depth interviews among visitors that visited Het Badhuis at least two times a month were conducted. The respondents consisted of 19 visitors, 3 waiters and the owner of Het Badhuis, the ages variated from 21 to 70 years old. After analysing the transcripts by using Atlas.ti turned out the sociability of Het Badhuis is rather limited. The diversity of visitors is still big and the place has deeper meanings and leads to social contacts. However, the residents living in Indische Buurt were not all represented, the visitors were considered as ‘whiter’ than the neighbourhood. Based on this conclusion is implicated to find out what the reason could be some groups are not making use of a place next to study the case again in five years to see to what extent the process of gentrification leads to more changes in the sociability. 6 A big building in the middle of a gentrifying neighbourhood When