Ceren Sezer gave a lunch talk at ETH Zurich – Future Cities Laboratory about the impacts of urban transformation processes on cultural landscapes of immigrant neighbourhoods in the context of Amsterdam on Friday, 25th of October 2018. The Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) was established by ETH-Zurich and Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF) in 2010, and operates under the auspices of the Singapore-ETH Centre. The centre aims to strengthen the capacity of Singapore and Switzerland to research, understand and actively respond to the challenges of global environmental sustainability.
Abstract:
The city of Amsterdam has long been known as ‘the just city’, after academics repeatedly praised it as a place of equality, diversity, and tolerance. However, Amsterdam has changed, becoming a major tourist destination, with growing economic inequalities, political tensions, and gentrifying neighbourhoods. These ongoing processes of commodification and gentrification in Amsterdam are the product of real-estate market trends, but urban spatial policies and practices have also had a significant role.
In this talk, Ceren Sezer will discuss urban transformation processes in Amsterdam and their impacts on cultural landscape of immigrant neighbourhoods, focusing on changes in immigrant amenities, such as shops, restaurants, and religious places. It approaches the topic through an analysis of the diversity and vitality of streets with immigrant amenities. She argues that the changes in immigrant amenities raise issues in relation to democratic public spaces and urban justice. City government, urban design and urban planning professionals should be informed and take this into account in city development policies and strategies.
