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PDF hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen The following full text is a publisher's version. For additional information about this publication click this link. http://hdl.handle.net/2066/68992 Please be advised that this information was generated on 2018-07-08 and may be subject to change. NARRATING THE CITY Urban tales from Tilburg and Almere Een wetenschappelijke proeve op het gebied van de Managementwetenschappen Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen op gezag van de rector magnificus prof. mr. S.C.J.J. Kortmann, volgens besluit van het College van Decanen in het openbaar te verdedigen op woensdag 19 november 2008 om 13.30 uur precies door Stefan Elisabeth Martinus Dormans geboren op 14 februari 1976 te Heerlen Promotor: Prof. dr. F.W.M. Boekema Copromotores: Dr. H.J. van Houtum Dr. A. Lagendijk Manuscriptcommissie: Prof. dr. H. Ernste Prof. dr. W.Th.M. Frijhoff (Universiteit van Amsterdam) Prof. dr. U.H. Meinhof (University of Southampton) De Creative Commons Naamsvermelding 3.0 Nederland Licentie is van toepassing op dit werk. Het werk - of een afgeleide werk ervan - kan worden gekopieerd, veranderd, verspreid en vertoond, onder de enkele voorwaarde dat de naam van de maker wordt vermeld. Ga naar http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nl/ of stuur een brief naar Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, VS om deze licentie te bekijken. De hoofdstukken 7 en 10 vormen een uitzondering op deze licentie. Voor (her)gebruik van informatie uit deze twee hoofdstukken is schriftelijke toestemming van de auteur vereist. Cover photo: #4033, 2001 by Bill Jacobson Printed by Printpartners Ipskamp, Enschede ISBN 978-90-9023395-6 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE 1 1. A SIMULTANEITY OF STORIES-SO-FAR 3 1.1 A narrative approach to the city 3 1.2 A polyvocal approach to the city 5 1.3 Urban tales from Tilburg and Almere 7 1.4 Research aims 10 1.5 Outline of the book 11 2. A NARRATIVE APPROACH TO THE CITY 13 2.1 The narrative turn in the human and social sciences 13 2.2 The narrative approaches: a general introduction 14 2.3 A narrative analysis 17 2.4 A typology of urban tales 21 2.5 Concluding remarks 27 3. A MULTIPLICITY OF VOICES 29 3.1 A polyphonic-driven mode of research 29 3.2 Case study research 34 3.3 Criteria and techniques for qualitative research 35 3.4 Concluding remarks 41 4. THE VOICES FROM THE FIELD 43 4.1 Collecting the urban tales 43 4.2 Looking for repertoires and plots 52 4.3 Concluding remarks 55 5. ABSTRACT URBAN TALES 57 5.1 Urbanism as a way of life 57 5.2 The death and life of great American cities 62 5.3 From managerialism to entrepreneurialism 66 5.4 European cities, the informational society and the global economy 70 5.5 Concluding remarks 75 6. CONCRETE TALES OF TILBURG 77 6.1 Planners' tales of Tilburg 78 6.2 Marketing tales of Tilburg 85 6.3 External tales of Tilburg 93 6.4 Local tales of Tilburg 101 6.5 Concluding remarks 113 7. PERSONAL TALES FROM TILBURG 115 7.1 The tale of Fons van Hest 116 7.2 The tale of Chérie Cohen 122 7.3 The tale of Noud Hersmus 131 7.4 The tale of Marie-Thérèse Blomme 137 7.5 Tilburg and moving 142 7.6 Living in Tilburg 148 7.7 Concluding remarks 152 8. A POLYVOCAL STORY ABOUT TILBURG 155 8.1 The problematization of fragmentation 155 8.2 The renaissance of a former industrial city 157 8.3 Beyond a traditional repertoire and a modern plot 160 8.4 An absence of repertoires 162 8.5 The loss of community 164 8.6 Journeys of personal development 166 8.7 Local pride in a Calimero city 168 8.8 Concluding remarks 169 9. CONCRETE TALES OF ALMERE 171 9.1 Planners' tales of Almere 172 9.2 Marketing tales of Almere 182 9.3 External tales of Almere 189 9.4 Local tales of Almere 205 9.5 Concluding remarks 216 10. PERSONAL TALES FROM ALMERE 217 10.1 The tale of Eva-Maria Kintzel 218 10.2 The tale of Frits Huis 224 10.3 The tale of Jos Corveleijn 231 10.4 The tale of Adri Boellaard 234 10.5 Almere and moving 239 10.6 Living in Almere 244 10.7 Concluding remarks 250 11. A POLYVOCAL STORY ABOUT ALMERE 251 11.1 Solving the housing shortage 251 11.2 A one-day visit to Almere 253 11.3 More than a second-choice city 255 11.4 A lack of amazement and excitement 257 11.5 Explicit local pride 259 11.6 A complete city of space and tranquillity 261 11.7 Concluding remarks 263 12. STORIES OF TWO CITIES-SO-FAR 265 12.1 Polyvocality and urban complexity 266 12.2 Polyvocality and equality 267 12.3 A polyvocal audience 269 12.4 The intertwinement of the urban tales 271 12.5 A former industrial city and a new town 273 12.6 The voice of the researcher 274 13. REFERENCES 277 SUMMARY 291 SAMENVATTING 297 CURRICULUM VITAE 301 MAPS The maps included in this study are based on data from varying sources: built environment (CBS, 2001), water (bodemgebruik 2000 and NWB-RWS 2004), urban districts and neighbourhoods (CBS, 2006) and municipal borders (Iris int., 2008). The legends of the four maps are included here below. Figure 3: Tilburg in the region Figure 16: The city of Tilburg Figure 27: Almere in the region Figure 45: The city of Almere PREFACE This book is what I always wanted it to be: a city. I have many people to thank for that. First and foremost I want to thank my supervisor and my co-supervisors: Frans Boekema, Henk van Houtum and Arnoud Lagendijk. Frans, thank you for your trust and the opportunities you gave me. I genuinely appreciate the freedom I got to make my own choices. Although I gradually drifted further and further away from the initial topic of city marketing, one of your fields of expertise, you remained very enthusiastic and supportive. Henk, thank you for your critical and imaginative remarks. It is no coincidence that the title of this book was the result of a discussion with you. During my study, you inspired me to be(come) an academic and nowadays you still are an inspiring colleague. Arnoud, thank you for your sincere and personal involvement. It meant a lot to me. Although none of your culinary metaphors or Dadaistic sketches ended up in the final version of this book, I could not imagine this book being what it is now without your input and your support. Thanks. Furthermore, I want to thank my colleagues in Nijmegen. I loved working with you and hold fond memories of the many lunches, dinners, drinks and all the other social events. Despite the occasional stress and fatigue, I always enjoyed going to my work because of you. I specifically want to thank my colleagues at the Geography department and the GaP research group for creating such an inspiring academic environment. I would like to thank Huib Ernste for initiating and coordinating the Alexander von Humboldt Lectures in Human Geography. Over the years, 'Humboldt visits' of esteemed colleagues like John Paul Jones III, Doreen Massey, Ulrike Meinhof, Erik Swyngedouw, Patsy Healey and Joe Painter were a constant source of inspiration. I also would like to thank all the interviewees for telling me your life story. For me, these stories are an essential part of the book. Especially, I would like to thank Connie Franssen and Fons van Hest for being so kind to introduce me to many of the other interviewees. Moreover, I would like to thank Marleen Schonewille for transcribing the majority of the interviews, Jeremy Rayner for editing the language, Ron Wunderink for helping me with the maps, and Bill Jacobson for letting me use one of his photographs for the front cover of this book. Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family for their support and friendship. In particular, I would like to thank my parents for their unconditional and never ending love. Werner, thank you for being such a good friend and for having the courage to be my paranimf. Ralph, I am sure that the public defence of this book will be no problem with my big brother at my side. Marit, you are great! Inge, thank you for your love, your support and your patience. Without you nothing would be the same. 1 2 1. A SIMULTANEITY OF STORIES-SO-FAR In order to imagine the ultimately unrepresentable space, life and languages of the city, to make them legible, we translate them into narratives. The way we narrate the city becomes constitutive of urban reality, affecting the choices we make, the ways we then might act. (Sandercock, 2003a: 12) [E]very narrative, even the most abstract, allegorical, or personal, plays a critical role in making places. It is through narrative that we interpret the processes and events of place. We come to know a place because we know its stories. (Potteiger and Purinton, 1998: 6) In the middle of the Dutch town Almere there lies a large lake called the Weerwater. The recently built new city centre of Almere is located on one side of the lake, while a motorway is located on the other side. So, if one drives along the motorway one can get a view of the city centre across the lake.