'Toekomst te huur'. Migratie, etniciteit en stigmatisering: de Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago en de Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam

Migration, ethnicity and stigmatization: the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago and the Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam In this article a comparison is made between the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago, possibly the most extreme example of the pathologies that can occur in an American black ghetto, and the Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam. The Bijlmermeer is a series of high rise buildings in Amsterdam with a high number of non Dutch inhabitants. Special attention is paid to one of these buildings, the Gliphoeve. During its short existence (1972-1983) the Gliphoeve, with a population that for 90 percent existed of Surinamese, was the closest thing to an American ghetto that ever existed in the Netherlands. In both cases the decision to build high rise flats was made because architects and city planners believed that in this way better living conditions could be created. Both projects were extreme failures. Though there are significant similarities, in the end the differences seem to have been more important, the most important being the extremity of the American situation and the very different role of governments and governmental institutions.