Gentrification in De Pijp

• Read the clues and go to the places they point to.
• Each location has a short edcuational description with links to urban transformation and the gentrification processes in the area. Do not read the description until you have figured out the clue and reached your destination!
• If you can't decipher it, the answer is provided below the clue.
• Learn and enjoy!

Clue 1: This building is on a street named after Amsterdam’s first city architect, remembered for his contributions to the Royal Palace. The building’s house number is the same as the year Nelson Mandela was sworn into office.

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Answer: Project "De Pijp 19"

Daniel Stalpertstraat 94, 1072 XL Amsterdam

This is a project done by De Alliantie, a housing construction company that has renovated, destroyed and reconstructed several buildings across in de Pijp since 2002. Since the 1980s, de Pijp has been subject to much renewal (de Boer, 2005). Before World War II, de Pijp was a decaying neighborhood. In the 1950s, the municipality wanted to turn the housing into offices, but the residents protested. Ten years later, de Pijp became home to many new residents, most of them being ‘guest workers’ from Morocco or Turkey. Because of this new wave of residents, more provisions appeared in the neighborhood and residents grouped up. Houses in de Pijp were being renovated for the first time in a bigger amount. So, since the 1960s, de Pijp has been thoroughly renewed. This renewal accumulated in the 1980s, when de Pijp started to increase in popularity. In the 1990s, real estate agencies started to buy up many buildings in de Pijp, and in the second half of the nineties, gentrification suddenly picked up, which also had to do with the city's growing economic prosperity. New people started to move into the neighborhood, mostly highly-educated twenty- and thirty-year-olds without children. This building has only recently been built, having been finished in 2003. It was designed to fit in with the surrounding 19th century buildings in the street. Though it is a modern building, with all the luxuries of newly built housing, it has a similar look and feel as other, older buildings in de Pijp. Renovation and renewal have been important to the gentrification of Amsterdam, to suit the needs of the new groups of people moving into the area. However, such reworkings make neighborhoods inacessible to long-term residents of the neighborhood, forcing them to move to other neighborhoods. This can either be due to such residents being unable to afford housing in their current neighborhood, or due to a disidentification with the feel of the neighborhood resulting from changes to the space which ensue as a result of a new, higher-class demographic moving in.

Clue 2: This market is named after a Dutch painter from the 17th century who predominantly painted landscapes.

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Answer: Albert Cuyp Market

Albert Cuypstraat, 1073 BD Amsterdam

The Albert Cuypmarkt is the most popular street market in Amsterdam, with thousands of visitors every year. Here you can buy anything from typical Dutch treats such as Hollandse Nieuwe (seasoned raw herring) or Poffertjes (small fluffy pancakes), to clothes and souvenirs, to fresh vegetables and spices. Although the Albert Cuyp is an attraction for all kinds of people, residents (including students) and tourists alike, the majority of visitors are tourists, making the businesses in the market very much reliant on tourism. However, this was not always the case. The stalls of the market and the surrounding businesses have had to adapt to the changing dynamics in the neighborhood. According to a study conducted by Rard Claessen (2019), the entrepreneurs of the area “unanimously concluded that the socio-economic and residential changes in the neighborhood were the main cause behind the processes of change that have made the Albert Cuyp into what it is today” (idem, 39). These changes came about with the inflow of new residents, mostly students and yuppies (middle-class people with well-paid jobs), who, according to the entrepreneurs, had no interest in their stalls. Rather, these new residents were interested in trendy cafes and restaurants, barbershops, vintage stores, and other such businesses. In a reinforcing effect, trendy and expensive businesses started to appear as a result of the new resident’s consumer demands, and their emergence attracted even more yuppy and student residents. These new locals drove away the previous population without replacing their presence in the local businesses, leaving the market’s stalls and businesses of the surrounding area struggling (idem, 24). Ultimately, a lack of local clientele in the area’s businesses forced the local entrepreneurs to adapt and cater to tourists by adding souvenirs, international shipping, and other such goods and services to their business (ibid). This in turn hurt the authenticity of the market in locals' eyes, making the market even less attractive. Therefore, although the Albert Cuyp is visited by everyone, its focus on its tourist clientele is the result of, and boosts, gentrification in the area. 

Clue 3: You’ll find this French-named, two-time Michelin star restaurant in one of De Pijp’s most bustling streets.

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ANSWER: Ciel Bleu

Ferdinand Bolstraat 333, 1072 LH Amsterdam

Ciel Bleu is one of the Netherlands’ most famed fine-dining restaurants. Located on the 23rd floor of Hotel Okura on De Pijp’s Ferdinand Bolstraat, the restaurant boasts scenic views of Amsterdam along with one of the most expensive dining experiences one could have in the Netherlands, with a typical dinner costing 225 euros per person. Ciel Bleu represents the pinnacle of how De Pijp’s culinary infrastructure has fundamentally been reshaped by gentrification. Growing literature suggests that culinary geography in the Netherlands has undergone growing change as a result of the rise of an urban middle class which is manifested through gentrification (Boterman, 2017). Haute cuisine cannot be viewed through the same lens as any dining experience, as it also has important symbolic value: high-status restaurants are useful in mapping the status of neighborhoods. Their symbolic value lies in differentiating the neighborhood where they are located from its lower-status counterparts, creating a space catered to wealthier residents and tourists. Processes of gentrification fuel this differentiation: haute cuisine in De Pijp have been set up to cater to the desires of the local clientele and tourists, but also themselves reinforce the idea that it is precisely this demographic that is welcome in the area. Such venues, accompanied by higher housing prices and tourist-friendly attractions, reinforce the idea that De Pijp no longer belongs to the lower and working classes, pushing long-term residents away through displacement pressure. This occurs when long-term residents no longer identify with their neighborhood due to incoming residents changing the “feel, tastes, norms, and desires of an existing neighborhood” (Versey et al., 2019). The phenomenon of haute cuisine in De Pijp represents a symbolic divide between wealthier and less wealthy residents of the city and operates in a mutually reinforcing manner with gentrification in the neighborhood, ultimately displacing long-term lower-income residents.

Clue 4: This underground location will let you travel to the North or the South of the city within mere minutes.

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Answer: De Pijp Metro Station

1072 LS, Amsterdam

In an attempt to alleviate the tourist-related pressures in the city’s center, the Amsterdam municipality has been, for the past decade, dispersing tourists towards other neighborhoods of the city, including de Pijp (Claessen 2019: 9). One of the tools used to achieve this goal was the improvement of transportation from the center to Amsterdam’s more peripheral neighborhoods, such as de Pijp (ibid.). The Noord-Zuid metro line (M52) opened in 2018 and did just that, as it connected de Pijp with Central Station and Amsterdam Zuid, both stations which have connections with Schipol Airport. The opening of this line thus increased the number of tourists visiting and staying in the neighborhood (ibid.). It must be mentioned that platform capitalism, exemplified by such developments as Airbnb holiday apartments, was already on the rise, signalling that tourism was already prominent. The construction of the M52 also increased the attractiveness of the neighborhood to Amsterdam residents, as it became a well-connected neighborhood which grants accessibility and proximity to the city center and entertaining daily activities (Balat 2013: 262-263). The metro station therefore provides an interesting example of fifth-wave gentrification, which refers to the most recent form of gentrification where the state supplements the role of finance in shaping neighborhoods. In this case, the state catalyzed the process of gentrification in De Pijp (by improving its infrastructure), while the decision to invest in De Pijp was also guided by the interests of finance (e.g. interests of platform capitalism and corporate landlords) (Aalbers 2018: 5-6).

Clue 5: This street is protected by the watchful eye of a stone owl which you can find on its corner.

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Answer: Eerste van der Helststraat, Amsterdam

This street is full of cafes, bars and other 'horeca', and small stores, catering to locals as well as tourists. The gentrification of this street specifically has been made possible, among other things, by the municipality of Amsterdam. Since they decided to close the street for car traffic, they have engendered the leisure-character of the street (de Boer, 2005). According to de Boer, many trendy cafes and small hip furnishing stores have popped up. What is characteristic of the locations present on this street is that they are no longer friendly to the budgets of lower-class residents. Rather, they are oriented towards budgets of tourists and middle-to-upper class residents which are both willing and able to spend more. Such locations are important factors in the perpetuation of displacement pressure, which, as explained above, refers to incoming residents changing a neighborhood’s feel and replace those of long-term residents (Versey et al., 2019). As current prices are too high for lower-class residents, an economic barrier is created for these individuals as they lose spaces where they would otherwise have been able to interact with their neighbors on their time off work. Because coffee shops are spaces where individuals can meet and solidify their bonds, losing such spaces results in long-term residents losing their connection to the space, pushing them away from the neighborhood. It is known that spaces which facilitate everyday interactions lay the foundations for one’s feeling of belonging to their neighborhood (Drozdzewski & Webster, 2021), so this change in the street’s makeup is crucial for long-term residents.

Clue 6: You will find a sign saying “Cash for Fashion” displayed on the window of this thrift shop.

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Answer: ReLove Exchange

Ferdinand Bolstraat 110, 1072 LP Amsterdam

ReLove Exchange is De Pijp’s most famous thrift shop. It sells second-hand clothes, jewelry, shoes, and other items of clothing. It is well known in Amsterdam for its collection of clothes and affordability. However, thrift and vintage shopping have become another mechanism through which gentrification and the displacement which results from it are facilitated. In the past, thrift shopping was typically lower-class, but a recent explosion in popularity has inspired middle and upper-middle class people to thrift shop in large numbers, with some academics qualifying this as gentrification (Ronobir et al., 2020). As a result, the thrift stores sell clothes at extremely inflated prices due to heightened demand from wealthier target groups. Therefore, the resulting market for retail shopping in de Pijp is outside of the price range of lower- and working-class residents, resulting in another example of displacement: middle-class individuals, whose preferences for thrift shopping have resulted in the establishment of expensive clothing stores as opposed to cheaper thrift stores, moving to the area drives current residents to shop in areas outside of their neighborhood, further facilitating displacement among these groups. What’s more, such individuals may no longer identify with such shops due to class differences between themselves and the typical customer shopping in such a place, resulting in disidentification with the neighborhood as a whole, perhaps prompting a move away from it.

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Thank you for participating in this scavenger hunt! We hope you enjoyed and gained some insights into different processes of gentrification in de Pijp, how they have shaped its streets and residents.