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“This neighbourhood deserves an espresso bar too”: Neoliberalism, Racialization, and Urban Policy
Author(s) -
Koning Anouk
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
antipode
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.177
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 1467-8330
pISSN - 0066-4812
DOI - 10.1111/anti.12150
Subject(s) - neoliberalism (international relations) , gentrification , neighbourhood (mathematics) , sociology , urban policy , racialization , urban studies , political economy , vision , politics , context (archaeology) , political science , urban planning , economic growth , geography , law , economics , anthropology , mathematical analysis , ecology , mathematics , archaeology , biology
Abstract In the Dutch and more broadly European context, urban policymaking has generally been studied through the conceptual lens of neoliberalism. While important, I argue that this neoliberal lens does not fully account for the design and impact of urban policies currently transforming cities like Amsterdam. Following Mustafa Dikeç's (2007, Badlands of the Republic : Space , Politics , and Urban Policy ) understanding of urban policy as place‐making practices that normalize particular distributions of people, authorities and spaces, I propose to focus on underlying visions of the normal and the good city that shape urban policymaking. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic research on Amsterdam's “notorious” Diamantbuurt, I argue that this vision is informed by neoliberalism and by racialized concerns with migrants and ethnic minorities. It entails particular classed and racialized preferences that normalize and underwrite the partial displacement that is underway in the neighbourhood.