Diamantbuurt

In 2004 two people saw themselves forced to move out of the Diamantbuurt in Amsterdam because they had been pestered over a longer period of time. It turned out to be difficult to determine what had exactly happened, but that is not really the issue here. The incident attracted a lot of media attention and ever since, the neighborhood keeps getting mentioned when there is trouble with problem youth anywhere. De Diamantbuurt now has a reputation that goes way beyond just city limits.

I have been living in this same neighborhood for three years now and have personally never witnessed or experienced anything really unpleasant. Sure, it is not a posh area and there is a lot of social housing. It is also a real 'volkswijk' with an interesting city dynamic. Even with a background in communication science I am surprised about the impact of a few incidents on the reputation of an entire neighborhood. Some people think you cannot cross the street here without getting mugged or harassed. It is also an indication that many journalists do not research very well and keep pointing at the same area even though the situation has changed. With this ongoing series of portraits I am showing the neighborhood from my point of view and hopefully I can help counterbalance some of the bad publicity on de Diamantbuurt.

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