De Nieuwe Meent

De Nieuwe Meent

How it started
Selçuk experienced a social housing corporation from up close, before the start of de Nieuwe Meent, at the NieuwLand building on Nieuwlandstraat 93-95 in Amsterdam-Oost. He lives there in an independently organised social form of living and is a part of a living collective of 11 people. NieuwLand is more than just collectively organised housing, there is also a volunteer-led event space. The NieuwLand building was purchased by social housing association Soweto and founded by housing activists. The achievement of this residential building with a neighbourhood function brought along a lot of legal, financial and bureaucratic work with it.

Commoning
In NieuwLand Selçuk got a realistic impression of what commoning looks like in practice: blood, sweat and tears, but also possibilities. He experienced first-hand the difference it can make in someone’s life.

Commoning allows the possibility to take matters into one’s own hands through a shared vision, instead of letting everything be determined by markets or governments.

What is commoning?
Commoning allows the possibility to take matters into one’s own hands through a shared vision, instead of letting everything be determined by markets or governments. For example, if there is an empty lot in a city, a group of people can decide to develop a project at the location, such as a community garden.

While Selçuk lived in NieuwLand, he reaped the benefits of an income-based rent. The individual rent at NieuwLand takes the working situation of each member into account. Without the mental stress of having high rent, Selçuk had the opportunity to devote himself to social activism and social projects, one of those being de Nieuwe Meent.

He benefited from the input and work of those who started Soweto and NieuwLand. He chose, in the true spirit of commoning, to pass on that same input: by creating those same opportunities for others.

De Nieuwe Meent first went by the work title Nieuw[er]Land. As Selçuk had previously collaborated with Soweto, he was able to cultivate a useful network as well as the necessary experience. Before NieuwLand existed, gatherings were held at Joe’s Garage for the creation of NieuwLand, with de Nieuwe Meent coming together thereafter to work on NieuwLand. The idea is that de Nieuwe Meent will subsequently be able to support the future project, in the same way that they were supported. Likewise, de Nieuwe Meent is financially supported by (legalised) squats and other organisations who have their roots in commoning, thus choosing also to create opportunities for others.

In comparison to NieuwLand, located in an old, existent building, the design of a new building with affordable living groups offered new possibilities in terms of accessibility and integration of families within the community.

2017 – Tender
In 2017 Selçuk heard about the tender that de Nieuwe Meent ended up applying for. Winning the tender meant that de Nieuwe Meent would receive the rights to build the residential complex at the Archimedesplantsoen, located in Watergraafsmeer in Amsterdam.

Selçuk coincidentally came across this opportunity, when browsing the website of the municipality of Amsterdam, he encountered a map with free-building plots. On the map a pin was positioned right by NieuwLand, within the ring road of the city. When he investigated the building plot specifications, he noticed that the municipality mentioned Soweto and NieuwLand as being good examples of what could be built at the location.

Selçuk counted on his network to give shape to this new idea. His goal was to get together creatives, researchers, activists, all different types of people who are devoted to progressive urban politics and cultural practices.

Starting a social housing corporation costs a lot of unpaid labour, with uncertain outcomes and no guarantee.

Starting a social housing corporation costs a lot of unpaid labour, with uncertain outcomes and no guarantee. It takes expertise, experience and high availability. In the end a lot of people came together, who contributed in different ways, some from the beginning, some temporarily, some still to this day.

Inspiration from Spain, new connections
De Nieuwe Meent will be worked on by the future residents themselves, and in close collaboration with Time to Access as well as Roel van der Zeeuw Architecten. How did these architects get involved in de Nieuwe Meent?

After Selçuk heard about the free-building plot in Watergraafsmeer, he published a Facebook post asking for help to establish a ‘postcapitalist city commune’. People in Selçuk’s network understood the message with a nod, and soon after the core team of de Nieuwe Meent was put together. Selçuk first met the architects in Barcelona, during a visit to La Borda, a housing corporation which is in its completion phase. He knew the initiators.

The charm of commoning
Selçuk wrote his thesis on cultural analysis. In cooperation with others, he hoped to find a shared base through the language of commoning. The new group that would become de Nieuwe Meent, was aware that the idea of commoning resonated with organizations, activists, municipal movements and government officials.

The language of the commons gave the new group the certainty of being able to sum up the process: how de Nieuwe Meent would operate on a day-to-day basis, how they would live there in the future, which economic ties would be deployed in order to fulfil this, which social techniques could be applied, the type of urban politics that they had in mind, and what the ownership model would end up looking like. Commoning is a term that intersects all these different areas.

Commoning means that de Nieuwe Meent is a democratic, horizontal organisation, it describes an organised form. At de Nieuwe Meent decisions are made on basis of a consensus. It is a concept of ownership that is nor private nor public, where we take on the responsibility of managing and organising ourselves, the building that we plan out will be commonly managed. It is an economic model without profit.

From the moment that the architects and the core group were established, they met every Sunday for brunch, to discuss and work together. The goal was to find a balance between working, whilst also being radically welcoming. In 2018 they did the first application round of the building plot.
Later on, de Nieuwe Meent won the building rights of the plot Archimedesplantsoen 100, and more and more people set out to work on the legal, financial, and design aspects that come along with the achievement of a communal residential building. The crowdfunding that was put together was necessary to qualify for loans for construction. The campaign started at the end of 2020. With all the changed conditions the business case is still not complete and the construction is being delayed.

Many different people, professionals and organisations are involved in the realisation of de Nieuwe Meent. Now, de Nieuwe Meent is lobbying and discussing with the different involved parties to find a solution in order to round off the business case and start building. Keep an eye on the Facebook page or the Instagram account for updates.