The effects of the aesthetic environment on feelings of inclusion/exclusion - Urban art in de Afrikaanderwijk

In the last decades, an important issue on the agendas of European countries is the ‘assumed’ concentration of poverty in urban neighbourhoods. The debate about the one-sided composition of neighbourhoods in terms of socio-economic circumstances affecting liveability and safety plays a significant role in changing policies to redevelop cities. Redeveloping degraded places into lively, mixed neighbourhoods is often approached by city councils as the answer, for having a positive effect on the whole city and its image. In the city of Rotterdam this gentrification process plays a significant part in the redevelopment of the city from a working-class harbour city to a more ‘cosmopolitan’ modern city, attractive for residents with high economic and cultural capital. The Afrikaanderwijk is one of the neighbourhoods in which this process can be closely observed, for that it is near the city centre and is known for high criminality rates, poverty and social housing. The last couple of years, the municipality has started to invest to revitalize the neighbourhood and make it more attractive for more-fortuned newcomers. A tool, which is employed to ‘enhance’ the liveability of the residents is commissioned street art, though the question raises, if this is the case? The aim of this research is to understand if an imposed tool as street art as part of the gentrification process enhances liveability and if it is conducive to feelings of inclusion for original residents and newcomers. Method: This research consists of eleven in-depth interviews, consisting of newcomers, creative entrepreneurs, yet mostly original residents of the Afrikaanderwijk. During the interview, ten images of graffiti and street art in the neighbourhood are presented to the respondents and they are asked to respond and reflect on them. The choice of using images is to reflect the complexity of the discourse about the aesthetic value of street-art and graffiti as a tool of gentrification and to what extent it is conducive to feelings of inclusion or exclusion. Results & conclusion: The results show that the respondents indicate that the municipality disregards the original residents, which is influenced by the way the municipality, together with housing corporation Vestia, have implemented the steps of gentrification. The original residents perceive some positive sides of the changes (e.g. less crime, safer feeling). Nonetheless, the feeling of exclusion dominates for the original residents. In this research, the original residents perceive street art as part of the gentrification process different in comparison to the newcomers. The commissioned street art has the opposite effect for the original residents, which is related to their experiences with this process of gentrification, though also is affected by their cultural capital and their perceived appreciation for the arts. For the newcomers, the presence of the street art works reflects a feeling of pride, for the fact that it is a popular form of art which portrays a certain class. This research shows that the changes in the urban environment, specifically the portrayed street art, mostly plays a role in feeling excluded for the original residents with low economic and cultural capital. Original residents perceive the applied works as imposed to cover up their displacement. This demonstrates that the municipality ignores the needs of the—mostly original—residents, resulting in this group feeling excluded and not feeling as the desired group of residents. Enforcing and presenting street art in the urban space in the Afrikaanderwijk as something positive and contributing to the liveability is a form of symbolic violence by the municipality. It is not made for the original residents; it is made for the newcomers.