Public Facility: places with social significance

With around twenty-five examples, the exhibition shows how residents themselves shape their city and living environment. Always together, with collective strength, in diverse communities. The Netherlands has a multitude of citizens' initiatives that, alone or in cooperation with the government and the market, control the city.

The exhibition shows: it is possible, and that is hopeful. But citizens' initiatives are also vulnerable and often still move on the margins of institutions. How do they get stronger? What can they learn from each other? And how do we all contribute to a just city that is shaped by residents themselves? These questions will be the focus of five interviews in October 2025.

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‍Public Facility: places with social significance

Kickoff by Joke van der Zwaard (co-initiator Reading Room Rotterdam West, co-author The Invention of the Reading Room). Using projects such as Rotterdam West Reading Room, Michi Noeki Groningen, Groenten zonder Grenzen, Cascoland and Wagenspeelplaats Amersfoort, we explore how public facilities connect people and give meaning to the city.