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MSc Thesis UvA - The (mix)match between policy-makers and residents: On the problematization of Geuzenveld and social mixing as a potential solution

By Esther Lemsom

This study examines a deprived neighborhood by identifying its problematizations and to what extent social mixing is proposed as a potential solution, by policy-makers and residents. This has been done by analyzing policy documents on Geuzenveld, together with two interviews with policy-makers. The view of the residents has been captured by sixteen in-depth interviews with residents of different ethnic backgrounds. It seems that the majority of problems that Geuzenveld faces are similarly represented to be by the two actors. Underlying those problems are the lack of a good command of Dutch and the low-educational level of some ethnic minorities, which are problems that are assumed to cease in time. Social mixing is, according to both actors, also seen as a solution to the problems. While residents expect individual influences of income differentiation through housing differentiation on ‘weaker’ residents, policy-makers suffice with the stabilizing effect it is expected to bring in the neighborhood. Ethnic mixing is desired by most residents from different backgrounds. It remains however ambiguous why policy-makers are less focused on ethnic differentiation than in earlier policy on ethnically segregated so-called deprived neighborhoods.

Sociology – Migration and Ethnic Studies
Graduate school of Social Sciences
University of Amsterdam
Esther Lemsom

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Icon image: Wikimedia Commons - Geuzeveld