Assessing environmental gentrification in Slotervaart Image 1 Green in Slotervaart. Source: Makelaarsvereniging Amsterdam (2017) Rosanna Kistemaker 10729321 Bachelor thesis Dhr dr. I. Yannis Tzaninis and dhr. Dr. Rowan Arundel 17-06-2019 Amount of words: 10.605 1 Table of Content Introduction 3 Theoretical framework 4 Operationalization 8 Methodology 9 Case description: Slotervaart 12 Policy documents 17 Analysis 20 Conclusion 29 Discussion 30 References 31 Appendix 33 2 Introduction Environmental gentrification is a phenomenon that is occurring in cities worldwide. This phenomenon is defined as ‘processes started by the implementation of an environmental planning agenda related to green spaces that lead to the exclusion and displacement of politically disenfranchised residents’ (Dooling, 2009). It increases local property values and attracts wealthier residents with the consequences of exclusion and displacement of economically, marginalized residents (Gould & Lewis, 2016). There have been many cases, especially in American cities, where environmental gentrification has occurred. For example, in the study of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park in New York, environmental gentrification occurred due to the restoration of the park, which led to construction-building in certain areas around the park and a change in residents qua income and race (Gould & Lewis, 2012). In addition, this type of gentrification also occurred in the Harlem neighbourhood of New York through the sustainable policies. It attracted investors who wanted to build expensive housing, leading to the displacement of low-income residents (Checker, 2011). Another example of environmental gentrification occurred in Barcelona with the implementation of the citywide greening agenda and the creation of new parks and gardens in less served neighbourhoods. At the same time of this project, urban renewal projects were happening in these neighbourhoods. Areas around certain parks in several districts experienced a change in residents in terms of higher educational background and higher income (Anguelovski, Connolly, Masip & Pearsall, 2018). Also, another city that gentrifies is Amsterdam (Kloosterman & Van der Leun, 1999; Sakizioglu & Uitermark, 2014; Hochstenbach, Teernstra & Musterd, 2015; Pinkster & Boterman, 2017). Amsterdam is experiencing a transformation of its city, making it difficult for people with low incomes to settle. In addition to the fact that Amsterdam is gentrifying, it is also seen as a green city. According to the Economist Intelligenge Unit (2012) Amsterdam is positioned at number 5 of the greenest cities in Europe, which is measured with the Green City Index that exists of 8 categories such as energy, CO2 emissions and environmental governance. In the current city council Alderman Rutger Groot Wassink of Amsterdam has the ambition to make Amsterdam the greenest city of the Netherlands and even Europe. Thereby, all parties have an alderman who has an aspect of green or sustainability in his or her portfolio (Gualtherie van Weezel, 2018). In the named cases of environmental gentrification, a form of governance trough planning such as sustainable policies or greening agenda, were linked with environmental gentrification. Amsterdam scores good on this combination, green city and environmental governance/policies, however during the process of finding literature, no article was found concerning this subject. While Amsterdam is already gentrifying, it also has a specific municipal department Ruimte and Duurzaamheid which focuses, among other aspects, on the urban green space. This department has formed various policies and visions on green and environmental aspects such as the structure vision 2040, the Hoofdgroenstructuur and the Agenda Groen 2015 - 2018. With having multiple green policies, a form of environmental governance and a gentrifying city, it is interesting to research the possibility of having environmental gentrification happening in Amsterdam. Urban policy set by the municipality is an important driver of gentrification (Tieleman, 2013). In order to understand gentrification municipal policy is crucial, moreover since they own about 80% of the land in Amsterdam (Tieleman, 2013). According to Gould & Lewis (2016) greenery policies and initiatives form the groundwork for areas to gentrify, which can lead to environmental gentrification. 3 With multiple policies of the municipality of Amsterdam, but explicitly ‘Agenda Groen 2015- 2018’ this bachelor’s thesis researches if this link of green policies and gentrification is also occurring in Amsterdam. It will focus on one place where gentrification has been going on, namely Slotervaart. In this area many city dwellers are entering among which a new middle class, more highly educated people, two-income households and expats. In addition, the share of residents with a non-western background is decreasing (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2018) and the WOZ-value1 has risen with almost 27,7%% in 5 years (OIS, n.d.). Therefore, the research question of this thesis is, ‘How is gentrification manifesting in Slotervaart and what’s its relationship to green policies in the area?’. To answer this research question the focus will lie on two neighbourhoods in the district, namely Overtoomse Veld and Slotervaart Zuid, in which Overtoomse Veld has a park. First the theoretical framework will be described by using the theory of Scott Campbell’s triangular model to discuss the contradictions of planning. This will be followed by the methodology where the research design will be explained. Then a case description of Slotervaart will be given where it is made clear why this district is gentrifying. After that the policy documents concerning the area will be explained, followed by comparing the two neighbourhoods with each other. At last a conclusion will be given. Theoretical framework The theoretical framework for this research exists of two fundamental concepts, environmental gentrification and green policies, that will be connected to the theory of ‘the triangular model of conflicting goals for planning’ by Scott Campbell (1996). Environmental gentrification There are various but similar definitions of environmental gentrification. Gould & Lewis (2016) define environmental (or green) gentrification as ‘the process of greening initiatives that create or restore environmental amenities. Environmental amenities draw in wealthier groups of residents and push out lower-income residents, thus creating gentrification’. Checker (2011) use a much broader term and describe environmental gentrification as ‘the convergence of urban redevelopment, ecologically open-minded initiatives and environmental justice activism’. However, during the search of literature several definitions where found were sustainability/green policies were involved. Pearsall & Anguelovski (2016) defined environmental gentrification as ‘the implementation of environmental or sustainability initiatives that leads to exclusion, marginalization, and displacement of economically marginalized residents’, furthermore the Dooling (2009) defines it as ‘processes started by the implementation of an environmental planning agenda related to green spaces that lead to the exclusion and displacement of politically disenfranchised residents. All the definitions describe the relation between greenery and displacement of people, yet there is a difference. Not all the definitions explicitly name policies as an indicator for this phenomenon. However multiple scholars, such as Checker (2011) conclude that urban environmental policy can be a powerful tool for greening an area and urban renewal/replacement. Now that Amsterdam city council is pushing its green agenda forward and the sustainability plans have increased considerably, it is relevant to research in what extent this green agenda can be related to the gentrifying city. Environmental gentrification will be the main concept in the research. It exists of two important aspects, namely environmental planning agenda, so sustainable and green policies, and the demographic change of the residents in the area. 1 WOZ-Value stands for the Real Estate Valuation Act. It is the value of your home. Each year this is determined by the municipality (OIS, n.d.) 4 Sustainable and green policies Dooling (2009) states that sustainable or green policies are a direct indicator for environmental gentrification. Also, Pearsall & Anguelsovski (2016) mention the involvement of an environmental planning agenda. In the aforementioned examples some form of environmental policy or green agenda resulted in environmental gentrification, namely in Barcelona, Harlem and Brooklyn, New York (Anguelovski, 2018). In these examples, but also for this research, sustainable/green policies focus and relates to urban green space. Urban green space is defined as ‘all publicly owned and publicly accessible open space with a high degree of cover by vegetation’ (p.110) (Schipperijn, Bentsen, Troelsen, Toftager & Stigsdotter, 2013). This includes green spaces, such as parks, forests, nature areas and other green space (e.g. community gardens) (Wolch, Byrne & Newell, 2014). For this research various green or sustainable policies of the municipality of Amsterdam will be analysed and will be explained briefly. Economically strong and sustainable’ is the motto of the policy Amsterdam’s structure vision 2040. The structure vision shows the spatial development that Amsterdam has in mind, furthermore the city’s strategy on greenery is described here. Greenery is described as the improvement