Following the research conducted by Praktijk van het Samenleven (Practice of Living Together) in 2025 with VU Amsterdam, we collaborated with an interdisciplinary research team representing both sociological and architectural perspectives to explore, in practice, what a neighborhood needs to foster connection. Two neighborhoods in Amsterdam Zuidoost served as case studies: Venserpolder and K-buurt. We are sharing the results in Huurpeil, a magazine aimed at housing associations.

“We happily continue to build spaces without questioning whether those spaces are suitable for today’s city residents,” Lyongo explains in the interview. In the Netherlands, the process of creating a building—and more broadly, developing an area—is entirely defined in policy plans, schedules, and spreadsheets. We can calculate in advance how large a home can be to make it “profitable.” Even when we involve (future) users, this is fully in a participatory processes. Does this rigid system truly address the societal need for (living) space and pleasant coexistence in the city?

Designing for a more diverse group

The city of Amsterdam is what we describe as superdiverse. This means that we not only have a great diversity of minority groups, but also a great diversity of other characteristics, such as income, education, age, migration history, religion, sexual preference, lifestyle, and so on. How do you design and build for a superdiverse city when people differ from each other in so many ways? How is connection between residents created?

Municipal officials, housing associations, developers, and architects (the “space makers”) have formulated an answer to this question based on the rational system: meeting spaces. The idea is that we naturally connect with each other in a courtyard, playground, or neighborhood park.

Research results

But in practice, these spaces often do not lead to the desired encounter. And because we don’t meet each other, we become alienated from each other, with the result that people no longer feel at home in their own neighborhood. People primarily encounter each other on daily walking routes, and you need to create meeting places on those routes.

You also need to be aware that encounters also occur within the housing block, both positive and negative. For example, people meet on the gallery of an apartment building, or in the communal hallway. The residential towers in the K-buurt (area in Zuidoost) taught us that the social problems we know from the streets, such as addiction, homelessness, drug dealing, and prostitution, can also spill over into the residential tower. The conditions there are grim.

The building managers are looking for a clear long-term vision for the buildings and their residents. They don’t want just some quick wins, but they want to take the time to thoroughly assess and listen to the residents. Our research is a first step in that direction.

You can read the article (Dutch) below or via the button at the top of this page.