An anatomy of volksbuurt

In the Netherlands there is the fascinating neighbourhood type volksbuurt. These are the neighbourhoods for the people and - also by the people. Allow me to introduce a particular neighbourhood that is very dear to me, known as Klarendal. It is a place where people knew each other by name and nickname. Yes, among the older inhabitants, there is the tradition of assigning nicknames like The Mouse or The Giant. These are not necessarily linked to one’s physical attributes. There is a lively culture of living outside , the sidewalk is most important. The neighbourhood has an air of authenticity that is hard to describe. It is my home just like you have yours. This does not mean Klarendal doesn’t have its problems. It does, and that is exactly why it is such an interesting place to write about. The neighbourhood knows a continuous (class) struggle.

This is where I grew up

Klarendal is a small neighbourhood in Arnhem. By Dutch standards it is a mid-sized city and counts about 170.000 inhabitants. Arnhem is the capital city of the province of Gelderland, which is situated along the eastern border of the country.

In order to understand Klarendal, you have to understand Arnhem. The city is situated along the ridges of the Veluwemassief. Which is an ice-age morene consisting of soil pushed upwards by shelves of ice coming in from Scandinavia. Fresh water springs are plentiful along the sandy ridges of this morene and one was particularly important: the Sint-Jansbeek, which provided the early inhabitants of the settlement with fresh water and later - during the period of industrialization - a constant source of power for machinery.

Presently, Arnhem is situated along the Rhine river. That is only a recent geographical reality, as somewhere in the 1400’s the decision was made to change the course of the river more towards Arnhem’s urban core to allow water-bound trade. The city was to be a node in the (inter)national trade network.

There is a saying in the city: “Arnhem was built with its backside towards the Rhine.”

Geography is the foundation in urban form. And as the city increased its economic ambitions when the Rhine changed course, the city layed the ground work for expansion northwards towards the traditionally affluent hills of the Veluwe.