Rotterdam for RealRotterdam for Real

Playful and inviting, yet political and critical too: Going South asks questions about power relations between north and south, including south Rotterdam. Here a radical gentrification process has been underway for several years. Challenging this, Going South has led to the establishment of De Raad (the council), as well as a reflective programme in which 'the south' is read and interpreted.

The absence of a voice for residents in the decision-making processes for south Rotterdam was the reason for investigating whether a so-called 'shadow cabinet' could play a role. A shadow cabinet could comment and advise on existing policy and develop alternatives and initiatives.

Gyonne Goedhoop (matchmaker, VSBfonds) and Alexandre Furtado Melville (then curator at Het Gemaal op Zuid and initiator of the Wider Perspectives project) organised various interviews for the project. The desirability of a shadow cabinet became a recurring point, and foundations were laid for what is now De Raad, the core of which is formed by Ahmed Abdillahi, Rianne de Beer, George Booij, Sarah Ghedes and Jan Konings, all of whom live or work in south Rotterdam.

Ahmed Abdillahi, who also works as a postman, was interviewed by De Correspondent in September 2019, and reported honestly on what was hanging over his head, and those of a large number of south Rotterdam residents: a forced relocation so that the city council could demolish their homes in the Tweebosbuurt neighbourhood. The transformation of the city's south is a spatial development policy that continues to plough ahead with a form of urban planning reminiscent of the peak years before the crisis. A big difference with urban renewal in the 1980s was that residents were part of the process and construction was done for them - 'for the neighbourhood' - not for a desired group of future residents. How different that seems as south Rotterdam prepares for its glorious future - one that current residents hardly seem to be part of.

Abdillahi recently wrote, "Tjeenk Willink was right - without counter-power there can be no democracy. As long as the municipality, influential civil servants, and the circle around them do not organise the counter-power, we, the inhabitants of the south, will have to do it ourselves. As committed citizens, we must join forces. We must form a bloc. Let the voice of the citizens be heard, as it is virtually absent at the moment."

De Raad is looking for new forms of reflection and participation as, in its words, "Every conversation on the street corner is potentially food for thought for policy-making or news items. The hairdresser's chair, the football field, the butcher's shop, and hubs of civil society are places where multivocal perspectives on citizenship can be found. These perspectives are not visible enough due to a lack of institutional weight and recognition, and are therefore only caught informally. The question we in De Raad are going to focus on is twofold; who has access to these perspectives, or is actually living them? Secondly, how can we organise access to resources and exert influence for the benefit of the informal capital of today's city and its citizens?"

Organisations that play a major role in shaping public space in the city still all too often ignore the qualities and informal capital of the south. De Raad therefore sees great importance in its role as a connector linking residents, informal knowledge, policy and administration, and implementation. One of its strategies is to change the image of south Rotterdam through a media platform, similar to Grenfell Speaks in London. By producing its own critical, multiple voices, it hopes to break through the monotonous reporting on the south and its residents, as well as organise contradiction and counter-power.

The media platform and De Raad's programme continue to be developed further.

For the third consecutive year, an exchange took place between Dutch and Belgian architects, building on the theme of an earlier exchange in Belgium - the reuse of modernist heritage. This time, the programme focused on memory and history in large-scale urban renewal projects, more specifically in south Rotterdam. Over two days, participants were introduced to a number of projects and issues in the south, with a city walk and presentations by Jan Konings, Ahmed Abdillahi, and Rianne de Beer (of De Raad), urban sociologist Saskia Naafs, OMA, and Vitibuck Architects. In a workshop, the architects discussed a specific case in Rotterdam's Carnisse district.

This programme examined the background and maintained perception of the north / south dividing lines - the result of a world order that manifested itself not only in global geopolitics but also in the micro-environments of urban spaces. These define formal and informal relations not only between nation states but also between local communities. Who and what is 'the south' today? Is there one, or are there several 'south's'?

In addition to critical reflection by international speakers on a geopolitical context, the programme also offered contributions from south Rotterdammers to provide a broader international context for De Raad. The development of the reflective programme was in collaboration with Angela Dimitrakaki, art historian, writer, and researcher in the contemporary art faculty at the University of Edinburgh.

The programme took place digitally in autumn 2020. Video documentation of all lectures and screenings is available on this page.