Amsterdam s twin towns a special relationship

Transcription

1 1 In the 1960 s and 1970 s Amsterdam was experiencing shrinkage. In many parts, the city was in bad shape, including the Joan Melchior Kemperstraat (1985). Photo: Hans van den Bogaard 2 The Joan Melchior Kemperstraat in Since the 1990 s more attention has been paid to the quality of the public space. Photo: Alphons Nieuwenhuis Amsterdam s twin towns a special relationship 1 by Karin van der Wansem k.van.der.wansem@amsterdam.nl On 7 July 2010 the newly elected mayor of Amsterdam Eberhard van der Laan made his maiden speech to the City Council. Outlining the areas he intended to focus on in his new job, Van der Laan mentioned safety, community spirit, the economy and one other, unexpected ambition: to make sure Amsterdam helps other parts of the Netherlands to deal with regional shrinkage. Van der Laan s statement caused all-round surprise, leaving the audience wondering what is Amsterdam s interest in shrinkage. Why would a thriving, prosperous capital city concern itself with the country s fringe regions?, they were asking. The new mayor duly explained. In his previous job as the Dutch government s Minister of Housing, Communities and Integration, Van der Laan had got to know first-hand the issues surrounding regional shrinkage. He had visited the Northern provinces, the southern province of Limburg and the province of Zeeland in the far south-west corner of the country, and had seen with his own eyes the downward spiral a decline in population can cause, resulting in vacant homes and shops, schools that are forced to close down and a general weakening of the economy and social infrastructure, making the region progressively less attractive for people to live. For a long time, the issue of shrinkage had been a taboo subject, with some authorities pretending it did not exist, fearing it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. So they just continued building houses and roads, hoping against all odds that people would stay. The mayor also reminded his audience that only a short time ago Amsterdam itself had been facing depopulation. During the 1970 s and 1980 s, the Netherlands major cities were experiencing massive problems. Young families moved en masse to the surrounding towns and villages, to enjoy more space and peace and new, high quality housing. During this period, the rest of the country helped Amsterdam and other cities to cope. In the coming years, the reverse would need to happen. For Amsterdam, the tide turned in Despite the economic crisis, the city was thriving and had become a magnet for people and businesses from the Netherlands and abroad. Amsterdam now found itself in an upward spiral. At the same time, whichever way you look at it, this growth was and is directly or indirectly accompanied by shrinkage in other places. As the mayor did not want his city to flourish at the expense of other areas, he introduced his motto: Amsterdam wants to be a responsible capital city. Amsterdam as a responsible city Over the years this motto has started to resonate more widely and been put into action across the Netherlands as well as abroad. In his speech, Van der Laan took the first step to express Amsterdam s solidarity and build a symbolic bridge between the thriving capital and the shrinking regions, announcing that he would invite the mayors from the country s three municipalities experiencing the highest rates of shrinkage which at the time were Heerlen, Sluis and Delfzijl to see if they could help each other. > 2 04 Plan Amsterdam

2

3 3 A meeting in Heerlen, with Mayor Krewinkel (Heerlen), Mayor Beukema (Delfzijl) and Portfolio Holder Councillor Werkman (Sluis). Photos: Heerlen Municipal Council 4 Following their meeting in Heerlen, the participants visited various projects in and around the town. Photo: Heerlen Municipal Council 5 Working visit in Heerlen. In 2016, the Canary in a Coal Mine mural won the Dutch Street Art Award in the Wanderwall category. In 2017, Heerlen won again, this time in the Local Government category. Photo: Heerlen Municipal Council Mural: Super A and Collin van der Sluijs Plan Amsterdam

4 6 In 2013, mayors Jetten and Van der Laan officially reopened the Sluis Belfort, which houses the Van Dale Foundation, marking the start of the Writers in Sluis project. Photo: Sluis Municipal Council 7 Performance of Delfzijl s Eemsmond Big Band at the Amsterdam Vondelpark Open Air Theatre (2014). Mayor Van der Laan opened the event. Photo: Wietske Schober

5 The past no longer cast its dark shadow, it was a heritage to look back on with pride. Amsterdam council employees on their way to Heerlen, Sluis and Delfzijl Delighted with Van der Laan s generous gesture, the three mayors called in soon after to engage in talks. At the request of the mayor, a team of Amsterdam city council employees visited the three towns to start getting more familiar with their problems. A whole new world opened up for the Amsterdam team, as they got to know Heerlen, Sluis and Delfzijl as three unique and beautiful towns, each with their own character, attractions and history, but also sharing one important characteristic: shrinkage. Here is a quote from the memo relating to the new relationship which was sent to the city council in 2013: During their visit, the Amsterdam delegation were overwhelmed by the history of these three shrinking towns and their great national significance. In Sluis, they heard about the role the people from Zeeland played in the defence of the Dutch Republic during the 17th century, the Delta Project that keeps large parts of the Netherlands safe from the sea and the often forgotten bombardments during the Second World War. In Heerlen, they discussed the former coal mines in the area, the social fabric of the mining community when it was still thriving and its lasting significance, and the feeling among the community of having been abandoned by the West (the western part of the Netherlands, including Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht, eds). In Delfzijl, they talked about the many villages in the area which had the life sucked out of them, the significance of the harbour of Delfzijl and the failed transition to develop new industries. All these discussions touched on lost identities and the search for a new one. At that point, much had already been written about the issue of regional shrinkage. The Amsterdam team learned that there are different forms of shrinkage. They explored concepts such as dejuvenation and ageing, and the difference between hard and soft shrinkage. They found out which measures had proved successful and which had not, and they discovered that there are no real ready-made solutions. One of the most important lessons the three towns learned was to accept the situation, stop building new roads and shopping malls against better judgement and adapt to the new reality. Another issue the Amsterdam team discovered is that these towns have too little capacity in terms of council employees to deal with problems of this magnitude. With its 15,000 city council employees, Amsterdam can handle a large array of issues all at once, but in these shrinking towns often a handful of council workers have to face a huge and complex task on their own. The start of a new collaboration The mayors met at Van der Laan s official residence in Amsterdam and decided to meet up every year. Discussing their collaboration, Mayor Van der Laan was adamant to get rid of Amsterdam s image of being the arrogant capital, and insisted that discussions were held on an equal footing. The Heerlen, Sluis and Delfzijl mayors and their staff indicated what they needed, including expertise on restructuring, civil participation, urban planning and applying for European funds. A team led by the Director of Mayor Van der Laan s Office organised the collaboration, mediating between Amsterdam and the three twinning municipalities. The team was made up of the same people who made the initial visit and who were pioneering this special collaboration. They received the questions and queries from the shrinking towns and asked their colleagues in Amsterdam to come up with answers. As well as serving as a go-between, they also became ambassadors for this special collaboration and spread the motto of responsible capital with flair and enthusiasm across the Amsterdam organisation and beyond. Here is an example of how things went during this first period. The Amsterdam team soon found that if they wanted to get to know Heerlen better, they should delve deeper into the town s mining history. Heerlen s demographic shrinkage and economic decline has often been directly linked with the closure of the mines in the late 1960 s and early 1970 s. Seen from this perspective, Heerlen is still overshadowed by its past. However, when the Amsterdam delegation visited, Heerlen council had just initiated a positive comeback from this dark past. Shining a different light on the town s mining heritage, they were preparing for the 08 Plan Amsterdam

6 8 DelfSail Preparing the DelfSail event, Delfzijl called upon the City of Amsterdam to support them in their security, communication and relation management efforts. Photo: Yolanda Wals 8 Year of the Mines in 2015, celebrating this special heritage. The Amsterdam mayor was made patron of the Year of the Mines and Amsterdam city council staff helped with the marketing of the event. Private parties were also getting involved, with Amsterdam platform for urban transition Pakhuis de Zwijger organising a series of presentations on the Year of the Mines. These presentations turned out to be a resounding success and a great catalyst for renewed self-confidence. The past no longer cast its dark shadow over the town and surrounding area; it was a heritage to look back on with pride, an example of an identity which had been reclaimed. Signed and sealed Amsterdam and its twin towns had been exchanging people and information, and the four mayors had already met a number of times when in 2014 the partnership was officially signed and sealed with three agreements, between Amsterdam and Heerlen, Sluis and Delfzijl respectively. In January 2014, the mayors jointly signed the agreement at Van der Laan s official residence in Amsterdam. In the background the partnership was steadily moving forward and expanding. The various exchange programmes included not only information and expertise but sometimes also cultural matters, such >

7 It was an enriching experience to step out of the Amsterdam bubble. as Sluis being the birthplace of Johannes Hendrik van Dale, the founding father of the official Dutch dictionary, also known as the Dikke van Dale (Big van Dale). In 2013, the Amsterdam mayor visited the re-opening of the Belfort in Sluis, where the Van Dale Foundation resides, and the Writers of Sluis project was launched. One of the first writers to take up a residency in the medieval building was the Amsterdam poet Menno Wigman. During his time there, Wigman wrote a poem about Sluis, which Mayor Van der Laan presented to his Sluis colleague at the opening event. Interestingly, the poem describes Sluis in a rather negative fashion, which will not help much to counteract the town s shrinkage. Another example of cultural exchange is the performance of part of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2013 in Delfzijl. A year later Delfzijl returned the favour with a performance by their local Eemsmond Big Band at the Vondelpark Open Air Theatre. Mutual benefits Heerlen, Sluis and Delfzijl also felt the urge to respond to any issues, queries or requests the capital might have. In 2013, this ambition was first realised with an initiative to invite a group of Amsterdam school children to spend part of their holidays in Sluis. It was reminiscent of the old days, when pale looking boys from the city were sent away to the countryside to breathe in the fresh air and recover. In 2015, a group of pupils from a school in Amsterdam Nieuw-West sailed from Delfzijl to Den Helder across the Wadden Sea along with the sea cadets corps, before being invited by Mayor Van der Laan to tell him all about this spectacular and unforgettable adventure. During the joint masterclasses the participants discovered that, despite the different challenges they face, they also have much in common and can learn a lot from each other. For instance, all four parties know first-hand the importance of making and keeping local neighbourhoods attractive places to live, and the way Delfzijl approached this issue was a real eye-opener to Amsterdam council officers. More often though these mutual connections and shared interests appear on a more subtle level. All the Amsterdam council staff who were involved expressed that meeting the teams from the shrinking towns was a truly enriching experience not only for members of the pioneering core team, but also for executives working in the Public Order and Safety, City Development, Housing, Planning and Sustainability, Legal Services and Communication departments. Using their expertise, they worked with their counterparts from these remote corners of the Netherlands to come up with solutions to their problems, small and large. To them, it was an enriching experience to step out of the Amsterdam bubble and deal with a completely different set of issues which on closer inspection turned out to be not that different from the problems facing a city such as Amsterdam. On top of this, many of the executives involved really enjoyed being able to support these towns, to shake off Amsterdam s image as an arrogant city and to help it become the responsible capital city it wants to be. More than just twin towns As I indicated before, Amsterdam s motto of being a responsible capital city stretches further than just a friendly relationship with other towns. Using his motto, Mayor Van der Laan wanted to make clear that a capital city must also have the ambition to set an example. Not as an arrogant, selfish city believing itself a cut above the rest of the world, but as a city which is aware of its own strengths and limitations, and which wants to share its know-how and prosperity with the rest of the world. Most Amsterdam people the Amsterdam team discussed this with in recent years fully understood and agreed with this. In 2012 Amsterdam chaired the G4, an informal partnership between the Netherlands major cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. In previous years, the G4 had been wont to join forces against the central government if needed. Van der Laan was happy to join forces, but he did not like the idea of doing battle against the government. Instead he advocated that the four major cities can solve their problems themselves by combining their strengths, and allowing each city to excel in the role that most suits them. Amsterdam also changed its course in relation to the EU. Just like many other cities and regions, Amsterdam had been used to see Brussels as the proverbial cash 10 Plan Amsterdam

8 cow you turn to if you needed funding. But Mayor Van der Laan stressed that the city should not just present Brussels with a wish list. In talks with commissioner Hahn, responsible for the EU s urban policy at the time, Van der Laan expressed his wish to be of help to other cities such as Athens this was at the time that Greece was on the brink of financial collapse. Hahn was surprised by this original approach and the generous offer was eagerly accepted. Ever since, Amsterdam and Athens have been working together on several fronts, with Amsterdam advising on care for homeless people and other issues. Amsterdam s motto of being a responsible capital city is also the guiding principle in its global relations. This means, for instance, that a working visit abroad by the mayor will tend to be set up as a joint project with another region in the Netherlands. Amsterdam can use the expertise these regions have - for example in food safety, which is of great interest to Amsterdam s partners in China. Vice versa it is of great interest to regional institutes such as Wageningen University to travel with a delegation from Amsterdam, simply because Amsterdam has international appeal and can help other parts of the Netherlands promote their goods and services. Amsterdam s global policy is emphatically geared towards mutual benefit. Amsterdam has a lot to offer when it comes to arts and culture, water management and planning. Taking this expertise along on foreign visits, the city can sometimes use it to secure a new commission, but, more importantly, to help build a balanced relationship with its partners: Amsterdam does not just visit to acquire contracts, it also wants to give something in return. As a responsible capital city, Amsterdam will no longer try and attract companies from other cities or regions in the Netherlands. On a number of occasions the mayor even contacted his colleagues directly to assure them that a certain organisation or company will not be actively pursued. Vice versa, other cities, towns and regions can help to ease crowding in the capital. On the Amsterdam Marketing website, tourists and visitors can read not only about Amsterdam but also about all the sites and activities they can visit outside of the city, benefitting both Amsterdam and these other towns, cities and regions. Seven years on: the highlights and where to go from here? Heerlen, Sluis and Delfzijl are no longer the regions worst affected by shrinkage in the Netherlands. In Heerlen the process of depopulation has been reversed. But the overall trend of regional shrinkage and growing inequality between city and countryside is still relevant. New shrinking regions are emerging, also close to Amsterdam; and although the initial motive for the partnership was never to stop shrinkage, the question does arise how to continue from here. In 2016, the programme was evaluated and new ideas and suggestions for the future were proposed. One of them was for the three towns to work together more and learn from each other s experiences. Another was to make their expertise and experience available to other shrinking regions in the Netherlands. The evaluation also stated that the partnership has changed in character, because Heerlen, Sluis and Delfzijl are no longer in the top tier of shrinking regions in the Netherlands. It was also recommended that the ideas, values and beliefs supporting the partnership, based on the idea of the responsible city, should be more firmly embedded in Amsterdam s organisation and policies, so they will not be lost. The mayors will address this point in their next meeting. The evaluation has an appendix comprising all the activities and exchanges which took place over the last seven years, ranging from city marketing masterclasses to making available the Amsterdam training programme to council officers from the three towns; from advice on planning development in Sluis to Heerlen s council officers getting some insight into the methods used by the famous Amsterdam Van Traa team to fight organised crime; and from advice on quay walls in Sluis to a collaboration between the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam and the MuzeeAquarium in Delfzijl. The list goes on for pages, a reminder of the successes that seven years of partnership between Amsterdam, Heerlen, Sluis and Delfzijl has brought and a positive sign of more constructive collaboration to come