Challenging gentrification: Community struggle in CLT H-Buurt, Amsterdam

Abstract

In recent years, community land trusts (CLT) have emerged globally as strategies for community-based development, collective land stewardship and affordable housing provision in contexts undergoing pressures related to gentrification. Offering an alternative approach to land ownership based on the idea that land is a public rather than a private good, CLTs function as a steward for affordable housing and other community amenities in perpetuity, on behalf of — and even in favour of — communities. We explore the impact of CLTs on pressures related to gentrification, and specifically on displacement, drawing on the case of H-Buurt in south-east Amsterdam. Viewing this case through ideas on the urban commons and the right to the city, we establish a framework of CLTs-as-commons to understand the impacts of community-based alternatives on gentrification. The article contributes to theoretical debates on CLTs in the context of the commons, drawing empirical insights from the case of Amsterdam. Contributing to limited work on the impact of CLTs under gentrification, we suggest that, while not a universal solution to tackle such challenges, this approach may be effective for those gaining access to housing, or for those living in communities supported by community amenities.