National politicians told to stop adding problems to disadvantaged neighborhoods

Twelve directors at the National Liveability and Safety Program (NPLV) are asking politicians in The Hague to take "unorthodox measures" to prevent the accumulation of problems in disadvantaged neighborhoods. They made the appeal in an opinion piece published in AD, saying the effectiveness of their approach" is threatened by this accumulation.

"We can continue to offer school breakfasts, school social work or extracurricular activities for a long time to offer residents more opportunities and prevent disadvantages. But that is negated when people come home to nuisance and insecurity in their own living environment. It is like trying to mop up water while the tap is running. There is more perspective needed. Perspective that things really will get better," they wrote.

The directors see merit in a similar approach to the asylum distribution law, that mandates a fair per capita placement of asylum seekers. Their idea is to also take into account the average income of residents where higher income areas receive more asylum seekers.

"Our neighborhoods have the lowest incomes. We therefore ask that this logic be extended within our municipalities. Not only for asylum seekers, but for all (vulnerable) groups, up to and including regular home seekers."

They want to prioritize the arrival of households that actually work in these deprived neighborhoods, such as police officers, nurses and teachers, and "home seekers who do not require extra attention from neighbors or authorities." This will break the cycle of very high concentrations of "people who are surviving instead of living."

This can be done through "smart management of housing associations' waiting lists, through performance agreements between municipalities and housing associations, and certainly in the case of private landlords, by applying the Special Measures for Metropolitan Problems Act," they said.

A number of mayors from the twenty NPLV areas will speak with Parliament factions in The Hague next week about the problems in these disadvantaged neighborhoods.