Mapping Inclusion: Understanding Neighborhood Dynamics in Ommoord, Rotterdam

Ommoord, a neighborhood in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is currently experiencing a shift in its demographic make-up: slowly moving away from the traditionally majority older, white population of Dutch descent and towards a more diverse and younger population with increasingly a migratory background. This research maps the situation in Ommoord, focusing on the governance networks in place and how they work on inclusion within this context. ‘Inclusion’ is understood here as being made up of different conceptualizations, as this makes it possible to recognize a broad number of initiatives and approaches as falling under inclusion. However, it remains important to keep the distinctions in mind to help categorize different views on inclusion encountered in the neighborhood, since actors might have differing definitions of inclusion. The plurality of the term is an integral part of the theoretical conceptualization used here, as it can aid in understanding different actors, without imposing a certain view of inclusion on their stories. The leading research question guiding this research is: “Which factors impede and which promote the interactions between different civil society actors on the topic of inclusion in light of demographic shifts in Ommoord?” To answer this question, a thematic analysis was made of interviews conducted with actors in the neighborhood, specifically focusing on the established community of older people of Dutch descent. Eleven interviews were conducted with recreation groups and residential association to gather the data necessary to answer the research question. Through its findings, this thesis offers an insight which is currently lacking in the academic literature: how the receiving community of older people of Dutch descent approach inclusion of people with a migratory background into their neighborhood. Additionally, it provides a mapping of the situation in Ommoord to aid the Rotterdam municipality in their neighborhood-based inclusion efforts. The research found two formal top-down initiatives working towards a form of inclusion. The other networks in the neighborhood, none of them working on inclusion, are informal and bottom-up. Interestingly, only a limited number of impeding factors were found; while the power in the neighborhood is spread unevenly, those who hold power do share it through knowledge-sharing and providing guidance. As such, there seems to be a lack of power abuse for one’s own gain in the neighborhood. Regarding promoting factors, there is a notable presence of trust between all actors in the neighborhood, likely in part due to the fact that they belong to the same in-group. Additionally, the willingness to work on inclusion, while lacking in some actors, is mostly present in Ommoord, forming a factor in favor of inclusion efforts. Yet, this willingness often does not extend beyond a mentality of equality within the organization, resulting in a lack of active inclusion efforts towards those outside of the organization. Finally, it was found that the demographic shift in the neighborhood currently seems to have little influence on the above and the behavior of the actors.