Who is Afraid of a Changing Population? Reflections on Housing Policy in Rotterdam
Abstract
Like other major cities in the Netherlands, Rotterdam has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of ethnic minority households in its population in recent decades. However, in contrast with other major cities, Rotterdam has responded vigorously to this demographic trend by introducing housing permits for rental dwellings, a program that tries to regulate the inflow of tenants into designated neighborhoods. The Dutch government passed special legislation, called the “Act on Exceptional Measures concerning Inner-City Problems,” popularly known as the “Rotterdam Act,” which offered a way around the anti-discrimination regulations in housing allocation. This article discusses the housing permits based on the Rotterdam Act in the context of (1) the development of Rotterdam and its more general housing policies; (2) the recent rise of populist parties in the city and the country as a whole; and (3) changes in Rotterdam’s’ demographics. We critically assess the effects of this additional housing policy in relation to the Susan Fainstein’s concept of the “just city” and conclude that it does not convincingly meet Fainstein’s criteria or provide an answer to the problems and public discord it was supposed to resolve. In the end it must be seen as merely a token gesture.References
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