Mobiliteitstraagheid Als Factor in Buurtvorming. Een Gevalstudie in Winschoten

INERTIA OF MOBILITY AS A FACTOR IN THE FORMATION OF A NEIGHBOURHOOD — A CASE STUDY IN WINSCHOTEN: Every city has a number of neighbourhoods, each with its own character determined by the type of construction, the architectural design, the type of inhabitant, the age and state of the structures and distance from other quarters, e.g. commercial and industrial quarters. A neighbourhood may grow on the principle of “laissez-faire” or, as regularly happens in present circumstances, may be put up by a single developer, either private or municipal. In the latter case the neighbourhood is given a predetermined character, as the owner decides who are to be admitted as buyers or tenants. In Winschoten, a town in the Northern Netherlands, a number of duplex homes (homes of normal size split up into two separate living units, each with its own entrance and facilities) were put up by the municipality around 1948 to 1952 to alleviate the shortage of housing caused by the war on the one hand, and the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Indonesia on the other hand. Initially built for families, these small homes gradually passed into the hands of aged tenants as more larger homes were built by the municipality, private companies and building societies. And so the duplex homes in the Winschoten Zeeheldenbuurt, located near the centre of the town, developed into a “quarter for the aged”, acquiring its own typical social structure in the process. Plans were tabled to reunite the duplex homes to large single units. This, of course, would have seriously affected the social structure and group cohesion of this quarter, which, in turn, would have impinged on the private life of the aged of whom the oldest is 97 years. In view of this, the Council of Winschoten asked the writer to investigate the matter. He advised that this area be permitted to become a permanent neighbourhood for the aged with full respect for the privacy and independent life of each individual. Mainly because of the age of its inhabitants, this neighbourhood is characterized by an inertia in surface mobility, i.e. most inhabitants have no wish to move but intend to complete their lives there. Thus, they are giving a certain stability to the character of the neighbourhood. Of the total of 180 houses, 166 were investigated. Of these 106 are inhabited by persons of 65 years of age and over, including 64 widows, while 123 are inhabited by only one person (single or widowed). Only 35 residents are married. All inhabitants are in the lower income groups but keep their homes very neat, which makes the neighbourhood quite attractive for both residents and others

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