That City is Mine!: Urban Ideal Images in Public Debates and City Plans, Amsterdam & Rotterdam 1945 - 1995 (UvA Dissertations)

489 Pages·2005·4.71 MB·English

by  Cordula Rooijendijk

UvA Thesis T That City is Mine!
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Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is
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Urban Ideal Images in
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!

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Public Debates and City Plans,
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This thesis is about urban ideal images. It is about dreams – not fictitious beliefs, d
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but dreams that humankind can realize tomorrow. It is about images from intellectuals, la
R Amsterdam & Rotterdam
pastry cooks, urban planners and firemen. About people who deeply care about
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o
their cities, about their hopes, frustrations, anger and optimism. They describe i
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e
their ideals in city debates to gain support, and try to eliminate those with different n
1945–1995
d
urban ideal images. They grouse, cuddle, quarrel, adore allies and blacken enemies. ij
k
But are they successful? Do people change their urban ideal images because of
these discussions? Does the local planning council change their plans because they
conflict with ideals of citizens? The answers can be found in this book.
Cordula Rooijendijk (1973) studied urban geography and graduated in 2001 cum laude
at the University of Amsterdam, with a thesis on ideal images of Amsterdam.
She carried out her PhD research at the Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan
cordula rooijendijk
and International Development Studies (AMIDSt), under the supervision of
Len de Klerk en Paul van de Laar. Together with the historians Geert Mak and
Michiel Wagenaar, she has been teaching international students about Amsterdam’s
history. She enjoys telling stories about the city, as she has done regularly
in several newspapers, journals, and books.
isbn
90 5629 382 6
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UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM
That City is Mine!

Urban Ideal Images in Public Debates and City Plans,
Amsterdam & Rotterdam 1945 - 1995

I
Ontwerp binnenwerk: Cordula Rooijendijk, Amsterdam
Omslagontwerp: René Staelenberg, Amsterdam

ISBN 90 5629 382 6
NUR 906, 755

© Vossiuspers UvA, Amsterdam 2005

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II
That City is Mine!

Urban Ideal Images in
Public Debates and City Plans,
Amsterdam & Rotterdam
1945 - 1995

ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT

ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor
aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam,
op gezag van Rector Magnificus,
prof. mr. P.F. van der Heijden
ten overstaan van een door het college van promoties ingestelde
commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Aula de Universiteit
op vrijdag 13 mei 2005, te 12:00 uur

door

Cordula Rooijendijk
geboren op 26 september 1973 te Amsterdam

Vossiuspers UvA
III
Promotores:

Promotor: Prof. dr. L.A. de Klerk (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
Co-promotor: Prof. dr. P.T. van de Laar (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)

Beoordelingscommissie:

Prof. dr. G. Mak (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
Prof. dr. R. van Engelsdorp Gastelaars (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
Dr. R. Gabriëls (Universiteit Maastricht)
Prof. dr. R. Kloosterman (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
Prof. dr. A.M.J. Kreukels (Universiteit Utrecht)

Faculteit:

Faculteit der Maatschappij- en Gedragswetenschappen

IV
Contents

Preface IX

Chapter 1 Perception is Reality 1
Mainspring 1
Perceptions 1
Perceptions v. reality 3
Urban perceptions: urban images & urban ideal images 4
Differences and similarities between urban ideal images 5
Urban ideal images in public debates 7
The urban intellectual 8
The city planner 9
Variable/invariable urban ideal images 10
Notes 12

Chapter 2 Researching Urban Ideal Images 17
What? 17
Where? 18
When? 19
With whom? 19
How? 20
Controversial city debates 20
Methods for gathering empirical data 21
Analysing data 26
Identifying changes in urban ideal images 26
Identifying differences and similarities 32
Describing data 39
Why? 40
Notes 41

Part I 1945-1960/65 59
Introduction 60
Chapter 3 Rotterdam Basisplan 67
Provocation 67
Urban ideal images in the Basisplan debate 68
The urban ideal image of culturalists 68
Who were these culturalist urban intellectuals? 71
The urban ideal image of progressists 71
Who were these progressist urban intellectuals? 73
The urban ideal image of city planners 73
Strategies in Basisplan debate 78
The strategies of culturalists 78
V
The strategies of progressists 80
The strategies of city planners 81
The influence of urban ideal images in the public debate on the
final Basisplan 84
Notes 85
Chapter 4 Kaasjager 101
Provocation 101
Urban ideal images in the Kaasjager debate 101
The urban ideal image of culturalists 101
Who were these culturalist urban intellectuals? 102
The urban ideal image of progressists 103
Who were these progressist urban intellectuals? 104
The urban ideal image of city planners 104
Strategies in the Kaasjager debate 106
Strategies of culturalists 106
Strategies of progressists 110
Strategies of city planners 112
The influence of urban ideal images in the public debate on
the Nota Binnenstad 115
Notes 119
Conclusions Part I 133

Part II 1960/65-1980/85 145
Introduction 146
Chapter 5 Rotterdam Rehabilitation & redevelopment 153
Provocation 153
Urban Ideal images 153
The urban ideal image of culturalists 154
Who were these culturalist urban intellectuals? 158
The urban ideal image of progressists 158
Who were these progressist urban intellectuals? 163
The urban ideal image of city planners 163
Strategies 168
The strategies of culturalists 168
The strategies of progressists 171
The strategies of city planners 173
The influence of urban ideal images in the public debate
on final city plans 178
Notes 182
Chapter 6 The Amsterdam Metro 209
Provocation 209
Urban ideal images 210
The urban ideal image of culturalists 211
Who were these culturalist urban intellectuals? 215
VI
The urban ideal image of progressists 216
Who were these progressist urban intellectuals? 219
The urban ideal image of city planners 219
Strategies 224
The strategies of culturalists 224
The strategies of progressists 230
The strategies of city planners 233
The influence of urban ideal images in the public debate
on final city plans 237
Notes 243
Conclusions Part II 287

Part III 1980/85-1995 303
Introduction 304
Chapter 7 Kop van Zuid 309
Provocation 309
Urban ideal images 310
The urban ideal image of culturalists 310
Who were these culturalist urban intellectuals? 311
The urban ideal image of progressists 314
Who were these progressist urban intellectuals? 316
The urban ideal image of city planners 320
Strategies 325
The strategies of culturalists 325
The strategies of progressists 327
The strategies of city planners 329
The influence of urban ideal images in the public debate
on final city plans 335
Notes 341
Chapter 8 IJ-oevers 359
Provocation 359
Urban ideal images 360
The urban ideal image of culturalists 361
Who were these culturalist urban intellectuals? 367
The urban ideal image of progressists 368
Who were these progressist urban intellectuals? 372
The urban ideal image of city planners 372
Strategies 378
The strategies of culturalists 378
The strategies of progressists 383
The strategies of city planners 384
The influence of urban ideal images in the public debate
on final city plans 390
Notes 395
VII
Conclusions Part III 429

Chapter 9 Dedicated to the City’s Future 443
Level 1 A Flourishing City 444
Level 2 A Forward-looking CBD or a Backward Centre 447
Level 3 Straight or Bendy, Feet or Wheels, Nuisance or
Boredom… 450
That City is Yours! 462
Notes 466

Nederlandse samenvatting 469

VIII
Preface

Researching urban ideal images means spending endless amounts of time in
municipal archives. For three and a half years, I spent day after day,
ploughing through newspapers, journals and books, which came out of
seemingly bottomless depots. My eyes became sore trying to read the
blurred characters in the old documents, and my back and neck became stiff
because of the old chairs and low tables that forced me to sit in an
uncomfortable position. I drank lousy coffee (and soup that was even worse)
and spent long days in dusty, musty rooms with windows so tiny you would
think the architect of the building was afraid of fresh air. But I liked being
there. A lot.
The most interesting people gather in the archives. First of all, most
of them are old, and by that I mean really old, which has its consequences.
Some of them have such a bent back that just a tiny breeze would blow them
down but luckily the tiny windows in the archives are always closed, so
there are no breezes.
There are these two old men, both of whom are hard of hearing, and
for some reason do not wear a hearing aid, but who simply have to tell each
other every single discovery they make. And thus, in very loud voices, they
try to communicate with each other, and since these gentlemen happen to
discover lots of interesting things, this happens quite often. Most of the
visitors are familiar with these two men and have accepted the phenomenon,
but every once in a while it is more than someone can take. Then, he or she
stands up, shouts whether they can ‘Please be quiet!’, and sits down again.
This makes no sense at all. The chances are that the gentlemen do not hear
anyone shouting and, moreover, like old people should, they do not bother
too much about other people. And thus, it is quiet for a while, until the scene
repeats itself.
There is another man who puts on a dejected face and mumbles to
every new visitor that he receives unemployment benefit ‘…because of my
leg’. But sometimes he forgets about his leg and then suddenly runs like the
wind. And then there is this woman of an advanced age. She always looks
neat and tidy, immaculately dressed, has a nice hair-do, lovely make-up and
wears pink lipstick. And nobody knows exactly what she is doing in the
archive. The fact is, she is forgetful at the very least, and probably has
Alzheimer’s. For hours, she sits in the very same chair, without any
documents in front of her, but busy, busy with her own thoughts.
What I love about these people are their stories, stories about their
ancestors and their great-great-great-grandmother, and how they giggle when
they discover a healthy child was born after just three months of marriage. I
loved their stories about how the city used to be, about the streets, the
people, the houses, the noise, and the smell of oil, sweat, spices and coffee in
IX