7/9 Municipal planner: Zuidas outdated

Municipal planner: Zuidas 'completely outdated' 7 September 2008 - The development of the prestigious Zuidas business district is facing financial problems. In addition, a senior planner of the municipality now says the concept is 'completely outdated'. The Zuidas is supposed to boost Amsterdam's position as an international financial centre. The active involvement of ABN AMRO and other financial institutions, which are to come up with 60% of the total cost of 2 billion euro, has been seen as an indication of the viability of the project. However, last spring, prospective investors threatened to back out, complaining that the risks were too high and demanding more control of the project. In addition, Joop van den Ende withdrew his plan to build a theatre at the Zuidas. On top of that, an investigation has been launched into possible fraud in connection with the construction of the Zuidas. The current crisis provides an opportunity to have a public debate on the Zuidas, argue the editors of Agora Magazine, which has devoted an issue to the project. Until now, the debate has been largely limited to the back rooms. Stan Majoor (University of Amsterdam), a researcher who is closely associated with the Zuidas development, argues that it is understandable that there has not been much of a public debate so far. "A few large office blocks have been built on a relatively empty stretch of land. The government hasn't had to make any large investments yet nor have many residents been inconvenienced". However, as a way out of the current crisis, Majoor suggests to 'radicalise the urban ambition' and to 'politicise' decision-making. Apparently, public debate is no longer seen as an obstacle, but as a useful tool to push through the Zuidas agenda. A number of experts question whether a large-scale office location is really what Amsterdam needs. "Regulations, taxes, a generous immigration policy and good education are far more important than a bunch of shiny sky-scrapers", writes Ewald Engelen (also University of Amsterdam). Jos Gadet, a senior planner working for the municipality, says that it has been ten to fifteen years since the development of the Zuidas started and that the concept is in fact 'completely outdated'. He says the focus should be on small places like cafe-restaurant Dauphine, opposite the Amstel Railway Station, where freelancers and other professionals bring their laptops and mobile phones to work and do some networking. Still, he does not think that the Zuidas plans will be reconsidered. He likens them to an oil tanker: once set in motion, it is very difficult to slow it down or make it change course. Agora (in Dutch)

6/9 Arrest at protest against deportation centres

4/9 Don't give Queen control over palace

D66: 'Don't give Queen control over palace'

4 September 2008 - A new law may make it even more difficult to use the palace on Dam Square for public purposes, warns Petra Hoogerwerf (D66). The Queen must be able to use the palace, but it 'should not become private property of the Royal Family'. The palace originally served as City Hall and meeting place for Amsterdammers. In 1808 Louis Bonaparte confiscated it and currently the national government lends it to the Royal Family. There are recurrent pleas to restore its public function. A new law which the Senate will start debating later this month may do just the opposite, warns Hoogerwerf. The law states explicitly that the Royal Family can dispose of the palace on Dam Square. Currently, there is only a provision that it can dispose of 'palaces'. D66 fears that the new law will make it easier for the Royal Family to block activities in and around the palace. "Of course the Queen should be able to use the palace for state visits", Hoogerwerf says. "But when she's not using it, we should be able to use it for other purposes".

"For example, it would have been an excellent location to honour the Amsterdammers who participated in the Olympics. I'm sure Prince Willem-Alexander would approve".

The new law has been approved unanimously by the Lower House, including the D66 MPs. "As I understand it, it all went very quickly", Hoogerwerf explains. She is now calling on Mayor Job Cohen to convince the government to change its mind.

Image: Wikipedia / BMA. See also: Evict the Queen from the palace

3/9 Stalinist rule: problems for welfare recipient

2/9 Squatters like flower children

Squatters like flower children

2 September 2008 - Squatters are being portrayed as violent, but in reality, today's squatters are more like flower children, argues Alex van Veen. Personally, he thinks that it's often justifyable to throw stones at 'harnessed policemen'.

In the current anti-activist climate, VVD, CDA and CU have proposed to make squatting illegal. Large cities and renters' organisation Woonbond oppose the ban, because they fear buildings will be left vacant. A recent poll commissioned by het Parool found that 62% of Amsterdammers also oppose a ban. A VVD politician suggested that squatters are responsible for radical activism. Van Veen, editor of Ravage Digitaal, says this suggestion is an insult to renters and house owners. On the other hand, many of today's squatters are a lot like the flower children of the past. "They adorn their houses and cycle around with flowers on their handlebars, walk around with long hair wearing what we used to describe as hippy clothes, create wall and vegetable gardens and involve their neighbours in neighbourhood activities". Incidentally, they are a vanishing breed. Last week, squat historian Eric Duivenvoorden told NRC Handelsblad that the number of squats in Amsterdam has decreased from 1,000 to 1,500 in the 1980s to 65 today. Ravage Digitaal (in Dutch). Photo: Trailer punk / Indymedia

1/9 Rubber duck spotted

31/8 Museum right to display Damien Hirst

Museum right to display Damien Hirst 31 August 2008 - The Rijksmuseum will be the first museum to display the controversial diamond-encrusted skull created by artist Damien Hirst. In so doing, the museum makes a connection between today's consumerism and the hypocritical greed of the Golden Age, writes NRC Handelsblad. The provocative work might seem out of place in a museum with a respected collection of works by artists including Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer and Frans Hals. However, one must not forget that Rembrandt shocked people with his exuberant paintings as much as Hirst does today, NRC Handelsblad points out in a commentary. By showing Hirst's skull among the morbid Vanitas paintings of the Golden Age, "the Rijksmuseum makes a connection beteween the hypocrisy of the greedy mentality of the Dutch East India Company and the unthinking consumerism of the 21st Century".

The newspaper further says that the skull is both a masterpiece and an 'ultra-flashy thing'. The museum would be fulfilling one of its basic tasks by facilitating debate on this. The skull will be on display from 1 November untill 15 December.

NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Image: Adriaen van Utrecht: Vanitas - Still Life with Bouquet and Skull (c.1642). Rijksmuseum / Wikipedia

30/8 Bridge commemorates anti-Nazi resistance

30/8 Amsterdam lax on integrity

Bridge commemorates anti-Nazi resistance 30 August 2008 - At the initiative of district council member Daphne Brekveld (VOZ), Bridge 401 has been renamed Ernst Cahn en Alfred Kohnbrug, to commemorate the German Jews who managed the Koco ice-cream parlour and opposed the German occupiers. The Grüne Polizei raided the ice-cream parlour in 1941. After the agents opened fire, staff would have returned fire and sprayed ammonia acid at them. Cahn was executed at the Waalsdorpervlakte and Kohn died as a prisoner. After the incident, razzias were held in the Jewish Quarter. As a protest against these razzias, the February Strike broke out.

25/8 Amsterdammers at Democratic Convention

24/8 Duyvendak welcome in council

24/8 The activist past of council members

Duyvendak welcome in Amsterdam council 24 August 2008 - With his activist background, Wijnand Duyvendak, who recently stepped down as MP, should be able to become a member of the city council or a district council in Amsterdam. This is the outcome of a survey among 65 (district) council members. During the past weeks, Duyvendak (GroenLinks) became the talk of the town for having committed political burglaries and published names of civil servants in the 1980s, which would have resulted in threats. However, sixty percent of the respondents say that it should be possible for him to be a council member with this background. Support is strongest among members of GroenLinks and especially the PvdA. Respondents who have themselves participated in many types of actions are more inclined to support Duyvendak. On the other hand, the VVD members who participated in the survey unanimously say Duyvendak should not be a council member. Five members of GroenLinks agree. For example, Aaron Moscoviter (Bos en Lommer) says that Duyvendak has played a role in personal threats. Further, he has indicated that he can no longer be an MP, 'then you can't be a council member either'. In general, 37% of respondents say that people who have broken the law while participating in actions, without use of violence or threats, should be able to be a council member. Twenty-six percent say that they should only be able to become a council member if they have been open about their own role, and another 20% further say they must have renounced their unlawful actions. Here too, a majority of VVD respondents reject politicians who have been involved in civil disobedience. Various GroenLinks politicians are uneasy with the current policy of their party, which has renounced unlawful protest. "Does this mean that [party leader] Femke Halsema won't let us plant flowers anymore?" asks Rutger Groot Wassink (Westerpark), hinting at the clandestine 'guerrilla gardening' actions the party has been organising.

Last week, Alderman Maarten van Poelgeest (GroenLinks as well) said in the Nova TV show that civil disobedience could be justifiable under certain conditions. VVD party leader Eric van der Burg called this statement 'unacceptable'.

Seventy-two percent of respondents have no problem with aldermen saying that civil disobedience can be justifiable. This includes a few VVD members, that is, Jos de Wit (city council), Michèl Tromp (Geuzenveld party leader) and N.J.H. van Hasselt (Zuideramstel).

Thirty-one percent of respondents say that the selection committee has asked them about their past activism. Seventy-nine percent say that the committee should discuss this topic.

Respondents could indicate whether they wanted to remain anonymous, over half the respondents said they did. The issue seems to be most sensitive for PvdA members, who were far more likely to choose to remain anonymous.

Mainly members of GroenLinks (20), PvdA (15) and VVD (11) participated in the survey. The results cannot be assumed to be representative for all Amsterdam council members. They reflect the opinions and experiences of the 65 respondents who participated in the survey.

See also comments by resondents in the Dutch version of this article. Image: GroenLinks youth commit clandestine guerrilla gardening at the Stadhouderskade. Photo from website.