She also received a letter two years ago that she must leave her social housing, so that new-build homes can be built in its place. The richer and more highly educated city dwellers should live there. There are now 535 homes, all social rent. Only 350 homes will be included in the new plans, of which only half is social rent.
‘Insurgents’
The fact that they want to demolish her house has a lot of impact on her. “I’m more dizzy and more shaky,” said the 81-year-old. “Rotterdam is a port city. A working-class town. And now they want to turn it into a yuppie city. Only for the big money,” said Ms Pelger. “I think that’s really crazy.”
A group of residents refuse to leave and are motivated to actively work on it. Residents want the neighborhood to be refurbished and not for expensive new-build homes to be returned. Mrs. Pelger has no intention of leaving either. “I’ll sit down.”
Tweebosbuurt
Months later, Mrs. Pelger is told that she will not be allocated a new home in the neighborhood by the Vestia housing cooperative. That causes great stress. “I fell backwards. Now I broke a vertebra. And I can’t go up the stairs anymore,” she tells Sophie. And now Mrs Pelger has decided to move. “This cost me ten years of my life. But I will continue to fight.”
“They are going to demolish houses, but they have actually demolished you too”, concludes Sophie. But despite all the resistance of the residents, the houses are flattened shortly afterwards.
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Curious about the broadcast? Look Insurgents: Demolition City Rotterdam here back.
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