CO-CREATING OUR CITIES

Abstract

Through this essay we aim to contribute to a more nuanced and multifaceted understanding of co-creation. We present ‘Herdenken en Helen’ (to Commemorate and Heal), a 2023 project on the annual commemoration of slavery in Amsterdam, co-created with memory activists, heritage professionals and scholars. By bringing together our combined experiences, building on expertise in the field of participatory practices and the topic of this cocreative project, we provide a critical reading of the affordance of co-creation when aiming for multivocality, and offer some considerations on how to re-think ideas of co-creation. We argue that a focus on ‘community’ in co-creation risks glossing over existing differences and antagonisms. These ‘undercurrents of co-creation’ – the tidal push and pull beneath the surface – need to be brought into view. We propose to acknowledge that the undercurrents are part of the co-creative process, and to find ways to make them productive.

Keywords: Co-creation / Memory Culture / Slavery / Amsterdam / Intangible Heritage

Discipline: Anthropology and Heritage Studies

DOI: doi.org/10.61299/It141TR

Abstract

This paper analyses ACTA, a former dentistry school in Amsterdam’s Nieuw-West repurposed into affordable student housing. The building embodies the ambivalence of urban life: it offers a communal refuge amidst a deepening housing crisis, while simultaneously commodifying bohemian aesthetics to legitimise substandard living conditions. We argue that ACTA exemplifies a mode of existence that catalyses commoning practices in conditions otherwise hostile to collectivity. Our analysis is conceptualised through ‘post-commoning’ – the practices of adaptation that appropriate both material and social structures in response to precarity. Repurposed classrooms and salvaged materials give ACTA its visual and ideological character, reflecting the efforts of early residents to create a self-managed, world-making space in the context of late capitalism. Methodologically, this paper draws on interviews with residents and photographs of its interiors. It puts into conversation the theoretical frameworks of Lauren Berlant’s commons, Henri Lefebvre’s ‘right to the city’, and Pierre Bourdieu’s ‘social space’ to unpack ACTA’s physical, social, and aesthetic complexities.

Keywords: Commons / Urban Space / Aesthetics / Precarity / Gentrification

Discipline: Cultural Analysis

DOI: doi.org/10.61299/ki182HI

Abstract

Cities are diverse ecosystems, inhabited by various life forms that interact, share each other’s space, and co-create urban life. This essay is an attempt to learn about the conjuncture of interspecies reciprocity, hospitality, gift-giving practices, and the co-creation of urban spaces, while focusing on the potential for and complexity of neighborly relationships between humans and plants. Borrowing the concept of the ‘good neighbor’ from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass, it considers the conditions under which relationships based on care and responsibility can thrive through ‘circular reciprocity’. Sites for close interspecies encounters, like urban foraging practices and community gardens, show the potential of a caring and attentive striving toward neighborliness but also reveal the multiplicity and ambiguity of what can be considered different, sometimes irreconcilable, interests and needs of various urban dwellers. Nevertheless, this essay argues that the practice of becoming ‘good neighbors’ ultimately benefits both humans and plants.

Keywords: Plants / Hospitality / Neighbors / Reciprocity / Gift

Discipline: Cultural Analysis and European Studies

DOI: doi.org/10.61299/we163AJ

Abstract

This paper explores the role of Egyptian-owned snack bars in Amsterdam as everyday spaces of co-creation and creolisation within the city’s superdiverse landscape. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in 16 snack bars, the study shows how these establishments function as informal neighbourhood hubs that foster cross-cultural interaction and a sense of belonging. Rather than fixed representations of ‘Egyptianness’ or ‘Dutchness’, these spaces are shaped by dynamic encounters between Egyptian- Dutch owners, diverse customers, and the urban environment. Grounded in theories of superdiversity, creolisation and cocreation, the paper highlights how cultural boundaries are continually negotiated and remade through daily practices. These snack bars extend beyond their commercial function, becoming overlooked yet vital sites of social connection and cultural transformation. By centring these spaces, the study offers insight into how diaspora, urban change, and everyday acts of co-creation and creolisation shape the city as a shared and ongoing process of belonging.

Keywords: Snack Bars / Superdiversity / Egyptian Diaspora /Co-Creation / Creolisation

Discipline: Cultural Anthropology, Migration and Diaspora Studies

DOI: doi.org/10.61299/ii204IS

Abstract

This paper examines how artist interviews can support and sustain the goals of co-creation in contemporary museum practice. Taking the Jacob Geel Project in Amsterdam as a case study, it explores how interviews with artists, residents, and museum professionals can help preserve both tangible and intangible outcomes of co-created projects. These outcomes were evaluated through the lens of the Amsterdam Museum’s four core co-creation values: equity, reciprocity, empowerment, and belonging. The paper also considers whether existing literature on artist interviews and oral history reflects these values. Findings indicate that reflective, dialogic interviews enrich understanding of diverse perspectives while shaping future strategies for acquisition, care, and display. Far from being merely evaluative, the interview emerges as a co-creative tool in itself—one that reveals intentions, fosters dialogue, and actively contributes to shaping the future of co-created outcomes. As such, it should be seen as an essential, forward-looking component of the co-creation process.

Keywords: Graffiti / Metro / Cultural Heritage / Urban Co-Creation

Discipline: Cultural Heritage

DOI: doi.org/10.61299/kn268DI

Abstract

This paper expands on research in memory activism and decolonial urban transformation by analyzing artistic and activist reinterpretations of Berlin's colonial monuments, focusing in particular on the Bismarck Monument and the Humboldt Forum. While prior scholarship has centered on the historical and material dimensions of these structures, the transformative role of artistic interventions and decolonial activism in reshaping them into spaces of resistance and co-created memory remains underexplored. Addressing this gap, the research applies Edward Soja’s Thirdspace model (1996), drawing on discourse analysis, spatial mapping, and digital ethnography. Artistic projects and decolonial activities (protests, performances, etc.) are examined as critical interventions that generate counter-memories and reconfigure urban space through embodied performance, dialogue, and collaborative engagement. By tracing how these practices transform colonial monuments into contested, lived Thirdspaces, this study contributes to critical urban geography and decolonial studies, foregrounding spatial justice and collective memory formation in the postcolonial city.

Keywords: Decolonial Activism / Thirdspace Theory / Contested Urban Spaces / Spatial Justice / Berlin Colonial Monuments

Discipline: Architecture, Heritage and Decolonial Studies

DOI: doi.org/10.61299/vb246AU

Abstract

This paper integrates research on citizenship education and argumentation studies, positing that argumentative dialogue holds the potential to foster dynamic citizenship, which is essential in the co-creation of cities. Our contribution has a dual purpose. Firstly, we discuss the theoretical interrelation between argumentation studies and dynamic citizenship, focusing on the concept of ‘collaborative argumentation’, and taking the Toolkit for Educating to a Dynamic Citizenship project (TEDYC), addressed to young people aged 12 to 18, as an exemplar of this interrelation. Second, based on qualitative results from a test phase of the TEDYC project, we identify empirically what aspects related to argumentation emerge as prominently important for dynamic citizenship. Based on our findings, we discuss the importance of two aspects: promoting ‘inventio’ (discovering arguments) and reflecting on the delicate role of non-canonical third participants in argumentative discussions on the co-construction of cities.

Keywords: Dynamic Citizenship / Argumentation / Public Space / Education

Discipline: Argumentation studies, Linguistics, Geography education, Democracy education, Citizenship education, Digital citizenship

DOI: doi.org/10.61299/ae127NL

Abstract

In 2015, the Zilvermeeuw metro in Amsterdam had its last ride and was taken out of circulation. Two wagons of this metro set have been restored and conserved to become an A-status heritage object. In the restoration process, the graffiti that covered the wagons was removed and the project to make graffiti a part of the Zilvermeeuw’s story failed. In line with research considering graffiti as cultural (intangible) heritage and focusing on the meaningful relationship between graffiti and the urban fabric, this paper uses the case of the Zilvermeeuw to illustrate the tensions between heritage authorities and a counterculture such as graffiti. Showing that heritage is about creating a narrative, the paper uses graffiti as a case to emphasise the need for community involvement to achieve fair co-creation of the city.

Keywords: Graffiti / Metro / Cultural Heritage / Urban Co-Creation

Discipline: Cultural Heritage

DOI: doi.org/10.61299/kn268DI

Essay 1:

By Cas Versluijs. They are a museum educator working at the Amsterdam Museum since 2024. In their practice, they focus on developing new forms of co-creation with children within the museum. They work closely with young communities, empowering children to tell their own stories and claim their place in the world.

Essay 2:

By Isabelle (Belsie) Pidcock. She is a Museum Studies masters graduate and exhibitions assistant at the Jewish Museum, Amsterdam. She is interested in the museum as a place where we can find connection and build community. She works with low/no-technology interactivity and playfulness as the mediums through which to do this.

Essay 3:

By Bram Sizoo. He worked for four years as a tropical doctor in Malawi. Upon return to the Netherlands, he became a psychiatrist in 2008 and is specialized in developmental disorders. Currently he is a professor at the University of Amsterdam where his research focuses on the clinical psychology of radicalization.

Essay 4: 

By Mirjam Marks. She worked at VPRO to make youth television programs. The series Ruilen Internationaal brought her to Suriname in 1997, where she and her family lived and worked on and off for over six years. In 2009 she founded the children's museum Villa Zapakara. Back in the Netherlands Mirjam continues her work as an independent documentary filmmaker.

DOI: doi.org/10.61299/am289PV

In this round table five expert participants discuss the process and effects of co-creation 

Vanessa Vroon-Najem

holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and works as a researcher and educator at the Amsterdam Museum and the University of Amsterdam. Shespecializes in co-creation,   research, and participatory public programming within the New Narratives and Collecting the City museum programs and serves on the editorial board of the Amsterdam Museum Journal. Vroon-Najem is coguest editor of this AMJournal edition.

GL Hernandez

holds a Ph.D. in Communication Science from Universita della Svizzera italiana (USI). He specializes in intercultural communication and critical discourse studies. His research interests center around diversity and representation; he is particularly interested in discourses of inclusion and exclusion and how those discourses shape material and embodied relations. Hernandez is co-guest editor of this AMJournal edition.

Thaniel Owusu Agyemang

is a versatile artist who invites you into his own distinct realm through his work as an artist, curator, director, photographer, and DJ. Among other things he works as a Future Teller at De Kazerne, a cultural centre and incubator in the Reigersbos district of Amsterdam Zuidoost.

Linde Lamboo

is a program manager at BOOST Amsterdam where she enjoys bringing people with different ideas together to co-create projects that really matter, and is passionate about community-driven work. BOOST is a home base for newcomers with a refugee background and local volunteers.

Francesco Gori 

is an author and actor specialized in dramatizations in non-theatrical spaces (museums, art galleries, villas, squares, parks). He is also artistic director of Genius Loci Performance, an artistic collective with years of experience in producing immersive, participatory, and multidisciplinary performances focused on the relationship between the body, urban space, live music, and ritual.

Guest Editors

Vanessa Vroon-Najem
GL Hernandez

AMJournal Editor-in-Chief

Emma van Bijnen

Board of Editors

Judith van Gent
Norbert Middelkoop
Tom van der Molen

External Board of Editors

The editorial board is supplemented by an extensive international external editorial board comprised of scholars from various academic fields and disciplines:
Pablo Ampuero Ruiz; Rowan Arundel; Sruti Bala; Markus Balkenhol; Ellinoor Bergvelt; Christian Bertram; Stephan Besser; Carolyn Birdsall; Cristobal Bonelli; Pepijn Brandon; Petra Brouwer; Chiara de Cesari; Debbie Cole; Leonie Cornips; Annet Dekker; Christine Delhaye; Brian Doornenbal; David Duindam; Karwan Fatah-Black; Maaike Feitsma; Wouter van Gent; Javier Gimeno Martinez; Sara Greco; Suzette van Haaren; Laura van Hasselt; GL Hernandez; Pim Huijnen; Julian Isenia; Paul Knevel; Gregor Langfeld; Mia Lerm-Hayes; Virginie Mamadouh; Julia Noordegraaf; Esther Peeren; Gertjan Plets; Menno Reijven; Jan Rock; Noa Roei; Bert van de Roemer; Margriet Schavemaker; Britta Schilling; Steven Schouten; Irene Stengs; Eliza Steinbock; Dimitris Serafis; Sanjukta Sunderason; Rebecca Venema; Tim Verlaan; Janessa Vleghert; Daan Wesselman; meLê yamomo; Mia You; Emilio Zucchetti 

Editorial support

Isabelle Vaverka (graphic design); Patrick de Bruin (graphic support); Sigi Samwel (visual editor); Imogen Mills (polylogue editor); Jari Lemmers (editorial support)

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