ABSTRACT
Twenty years ago, Amsterdam’s Bijlmermeer neighbourhood spent months in the throes of a conflict surrounding the European Commission’s URBAN programme. Some talked of a ‘black revolution’. Local (‘black’) groups felt overlooked by the programme’s decision-making structure, and demanded the opportunity to have their say. They used a black-white dichotomy as a lever to enforce a breakthrough within URBAN Bijlmermeer, but, more than this, they were seeking to achieve the emancipation of the ‘black’ population and bring about an actual improvement in their situation. Ultimately, their efforts were successful: not only was the structure of the programme drastically revised, but progress was also made with respect to increasing participation by the local population in the district on the whole.
