Soft Bijlmer

Heard in Amsterdam Southeast on 8 June 2015:

The fourth guest lecture in the urban planning studio on Paasheuvelweg, organized by the University of Amsterdam, was given by Augusto de Campos Neto. Augusto coordinates safety issues in the Southeast district of Amsterdam. His Bijlmermeer area, with a dominant Afro-Caribean population, has a bad reputation and is known as a criminal zone, because of its drugs traficking, its many day light robberies and street murders in the past. Nowadays the climate has changed, radically, though. There are no hotspots in the neighborhood anymore. The youth is using almost no drugs any longer. Nowadays you can move safely in any direction. De Campos Neto, who was born and raised in the neighborhood, stressed the importance of subjective safety feelings among the population, more than focussing on the police statistics, which do not really tell the truth. He insisted that influencing the personal safety feelings is preferable, more than getting more favorable statistics.

De Campos Neto advocated a more soft approach of fostering public participation, of listening to citizens and of supporting local initiatives, also of promoting positive news in the media. He didn’t think a ‘broken windows theory’ is key, even though cleaning public space on a continuous base might be very helpful. He stressed repetition and, more so, open communication. For sure, all the methods he promoted were communicative in a way. Nowadays, he stressed, the Bijlmermeer is one of the safest neighborhoods in Amsterdam. Can you imagine? Only some of the Bijlmer youth – which consists of a third of the population – still does some pickpocketing in shops or steals smart phones at festival grounds. Sometimes guns are used. De Campos Neto: "They are not criminals like those in Amsterdam South who do the murdering on purpose. They do it emotionally, in a rather stupid way." The students loved his speech. A soft approach like his may lead to better urban planning.