On Thursday 7 October 2021, AFFR and AIR organized a Rotterdam Special on the topical issue of housing policy in Rotterdam. Drawing on the short films Exodus (Guido Jeurissen, 2020) and This is my land… (Salvador Miranda, 2019), and a fragment from Outskirts (Xavi Esteban en Odei A. Etxearte, 2020), Bart Cosijn moderates a discussion on the current situation in Rotterdam, the changing neighbourhoods, and the fairness of policy. With a special performance by theater maker and singer Joris Lutz.
Dean Bowen, on whose poem the film Exodus is based, and Sanne Poot, journalist for Vers Beton, among others, will tell us something about the current state of the housing market in Rotterdam and what the consequences are for the residents of the city. In addition, Mark van de Velde, director of Housing Association Cooperation in Vlaardingen, and Herman Meijer, former alderman for Housing for GroenLinks, talk about the power and power of housing associations and politics within the current system. Finally, Tonny van Sommeren, resident of the Singel blocks in Rotterdam-West, and Mike Emmerik of the Independent School for the City will talk about their experiences with housing policy and possible alternatives.