't Blijvertje, Derde Oosterparkstraat 64h, Amsterdam
Right to the city - 
Right to the city
'The right to the city' – what could this mean? Surely it
means that people have access to basic needs like housing,
clean water, and safety. But obviously the right to the city
will not mean the same thing for all people and for all
times. That is why we want to organize an event where we can
show and debate the diversity of struggles against urban in-
justices. We want to get inspired by and learn from experi-
ences of movements around the globe.
here is some more info on the various activities:
*** 14.00 Vegan brunch
*** 14.00-? Live graffiti on the control state, commercialization of public space and gentrification
*** 14.00-15.30 Squatting anno 2009 (probably partly in Dutch).
The crisis, the new 429 verdicts, the efforts to ban squatting; there is a lot going on. A discussion on how to deal with new developments with squatters from Rotterdam, a researcher from the SPOK and with a presenter from the new network binnenstad
*** 16.00-17.00 Prof. Mark Purcell (Washington University) on his book Recapturing Democracy: Neoliberalization and the Struggle for Alternative Urban Futures.
Mark Purcell advocates a vision of democracy in which many different social movements, all of whom are disadvantaged in some way by the dominance of neoliberalism, join together in broad networks to pursue the radical democratization of urban politics. He contends that there is much potential in the idea of "the right to the city" as an organizing principle that can bring movements together. The right to the city claims that urban space should first and foremost meet the needs of its inhabitants, not the needs of its owners. The presentation develops these ideas in dialogue with several concrete cases from the United States.
*** 17.00-17.30 The right to Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is often praised as a progressive city with excellent housing and social policies. It seems, however, that the Amsterdam government is increasingly and aggressively promoting gentrification. How did policies change during the last decade? How do social movements challenge the neoliberal policies of Amsterdam's government?
*** 18.00 Exhibition: axies in Amsterdam
Henk Langeveld has been active in the squatting movement and resident protest for several years now. With his pencil he documented demonstrations, street raves and evictions. Fortunately the number of axies in Amsterdam is so high that Henk's drawings just cover a small part of Amsterdam activism but they nevertheless give a graphic overview of some landmark places and historical events.
*** 18.30-20.00 A billion squatters: presentations and debate
The struggle for housing and for better living conditions is past its peak in Amsterdam but it is intensifying worldwide. The last couple of decades have seen the intensification of urbanization processes. Billions of people have been driven from their lands and pushed into cities. Especially in the developing world, cities are growing with dazzling speed. Most of the new urbanites have to resort to informal or illicit behavior in order to survive. They are forced to come up with new and creative solutions to cope with the consequences of failing markets and failing states. The amazing growth in the number of squatters is just one expression of this process. Around the world there are more than a billion squatters who live in self-constructed cities. In some countries, squatting has also drastically expanded outside cities – people who were pushed into the cities now take back their rural lands. At the same time, the police and paramilitary groups intensify their attempts to bring the land back under the control of the state and the market.
This workshop will kick off with a brief overview of urban struggles around the world and then zoom in on Turkey and several countries in Latin America.
*** 20.00 Voku
*** 21.00 Party! With live music by Son 5, inspiring clips and mojitos
E-Mail: oosterparkbuurt@gmail.com 
Website: http://www.myspace.com/tblijvertje
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