From 020-Gaza to Nieuw-West in Verzet
Lecture by Tayfun Balçik

Video: Nicola Baratto & Kitty Maria

Please note: this lecture is in Dutch

The building where de Appel is currently housed is called a ‘broedplaats’ (creative hub), but until 2015 it was known as the Calvijn College and before that the Christelijke Scholengemeenschap Pascal (built in 1959). The building was planned to be demolished, but after becoming a municipal monument in 2020, a tender was published in the summer of 2021 to renovate and develop the building. Although many buildings in Nieuw-West are being demolished and there is a poignant shortage of social housing, the municipality still chose to develop the building and its surrounding area into mid-segment rental houses and a ‘broedplaats’. But who will be able to live in this building after the development plans of 2023? Who can permit themselves a mid-segment rental house, and who will feel at home?

Together with fellow residents and activists, historian and resident Tayfun Balçik started Nieuw-West in Verzet: a protest movement against the gentrification of the city district Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Balçik wants to reclaim the right of residence, particularly for local young people. How is it possible that, in the past decades, financially marginalised and people of colour have been left out of the developments concerning housing? Why is it so hard for young people, who were born and raised here, to find affordable housing? What needs to change? Tayfun Balçik will expand on the history of Nieuw-West, and the necessity of Nieuw-West in Verzet.

Biography Tayfun Balçik:

Tayfun Balçik is a historian and journalist for the news platform De Kanttekening. In his work, he investigates how Muslims are portrayed in the media. For The Hague Peace Projects he is committed to the dialogue between Armenians, Kurds and Turks. Since 2021 he is involved with the housing association De Budel, and the action group Nieuw-West in Verzet, that both stand up for affordable housing in the city district of Nieuw-West.

Programme:

1:30-1:45pm: Introduction by Huib Haye van der Werf (interim director of de Appel) and researcher Rosa te Velde (author of Schetsen voor de toekomst, herinneringen aan een gebouw)

1:45-2:30pm: Lecture Tayfun Balçik

2:30-3:00pm: Questions from the audience