Wij waren hier altijd al
When The New York Times compared Amsterdam-North to Brooklyn and placed it at number three in their annual list of undiscovered gems you must visit, Massih Hutak was concerned. Because now the neigbourhood was hip, but at the same time he noticed more and more residents and entrepreneurs got in financial trouble due to the increasing rents. They did not benefit from the investments being made in the area.
This does not only apply to Amsterdam, but all over the world. San Fransisco, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Berlin, he saw the same phenomenon everywhere: the original residents are rapidly being replaced by new, often young residents, with higher income. Trendy coffee shops take the place of local grocery shops. Expensive homes for the fortunate few replace affordable housing.
Gentrification, is what this is called, and it is not a natural phenomenon, but the result of policy. Witnessing the changes in his own neighborhood, Massih Hutak went in search of how gentrification works and how cities can grow and old and new residents can live together. Because the city must be a place for everyone.
- Massih Hutak
- In Dutch
- Paperback
- 232 pages
- First Edition
- Publisher Pluim
- ISBN: 9789083054209
