Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. Author Robert Neuwirth suggested in 2004 that there were one billion squatters globally.
De Blauwe Aanslag was a squat and autonomous social centre in the Dutch city of The Hague. The large building formerly housed tax offices and was occupied in 1980. When the local council took over the ownership of the building, it was agreed to renovate it in three stages, with the squatters living there. However the plans changed and since 1995 the council decided to widen the roads next to the building; for this reason the squat needed to be demolished. After many efforts to block the demolition with lawsuits, the squatters were evicted by military police on 3 October, 2003.
Eurodusnie Collective was an anarchist collective based in Leiden, the Netherlands. It was established in 1997, in opposition to a summit of the European Council at which the Treaty of Amsterdam was signed. A small school was squatted for the purpose of holding a 'counter summit' as a protest over the official EU summit. From that, a more permanent anarchist project evolved which was of national importance.
Nørrebro is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (Nørreport), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current Nørreport station.
Villa Amalia is the name of the building that hosted the former Second High School of Athens in Greece. It is located on the corner of Acharnon and Heiden streets, near Victoria metro station. It was an anarchist squat before its eviction in 2012. It reopened as a school in 2016.
St Agnes Place was a squatted street in Kennington, south London, which resisted eviction orders for more than 30 years. When a number of derelict houses were scheduled for demolition to extend Kennington Park in 1969, squatters occupied the properties and a High Court injunction prevented the demolition. The street was run by a housing cooperative until 2005, when Lambeth London Borough Council obtained an eviction order. Demolition was completed in 2007.
Ungdomshuset was the popular name of the building formally named Folkets Hus located on Jagtvej 69 in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, which functioned as an underground scene venue for music and rendezvous point for varying autonomist and leftist groups from 1982 until 2007 when—after prolonged conflict—it was torn down, and later also for its successor, located on Dortheavej 61 in the adjacent Bispebjerg neighbourhood. Due to the ongoing conflict between the Copenhagen Municipality and the activists occupying the premises, the building on Jagtvej was the subject of intense media attention and public debate from the mid-1990s till 2008.
The Battle of Ryesgade was a nine-day series of street fights in mid-September 1986, in the Copenhagen street Ryesgade. It was the most violent event in a long-standing conflict between the Copenhagen city council and the city's community of squatters. Faced with an ultimatum to leave their illegally occupied housing or face eviction, the squatters instead fortified the streets around their building so strongly that it became a cop-free zone. They took advantage of this lack of control by burning down a building belonging to the Sperry Corporation. For nine days, massed police unsuccessfully attempted to evict the squatters. The civil disorder was of a magnitude never before seen in Denmark. After communicating a manifesto through the media, the defenders finally abandoned the squat and dispersed without being apprehended.
RHINO was a famous squat in Geneva, Switzerland. It occupied two buildings on the Boulevard des Philosophes in downtown Geneva, a few blocks away from the main campus of the University of Geneva. RHINO housed seventy people until its eviction in July 2007. It had been occupied by the squatters since 1988.
The Frances Street Squats were a set of six squatted houses, including one women-only squat, that existed between February and November 27, 1990 in Vancouver in one of the most successful public squats in Canada.
The Dutch squatting ban refers to the law ) introduced on 1 October 2010, under which squatting in the Netherlands became de jure illegal. There were riots in Amsterdam and Nijmegen and several other protests. Squatters converged, occupying a former fire station.
Squatting in England and Wales usually refers to a person who is not the owner, taking possession of land or an empty house. People squat for a variety of reasons which include needing a home, protest, poverty, and recreation. Many squats are residential, some are also opened as social centres. Land may be occupied by New Age travellers or treesitters.
Can Vies is a building located in the Sants neighborhood of Barcelona, built in 1879. It has been squatted since 1997 when a group of youths occupied it and began using it as an autonomous social centre and infoshop. In late May 2014 riots broke out in a successful attempt to stop an eviction. The building was partially demolished and rebuilt by the local community.
This article lists some of the events from 1980 related to the Netherlands.
Binz was a factory building squatted as an autonomous social centre from 2006 until 2013 in the district of Wiedikon in Zürich. The occupation housed 50 people and provided workspace for 100.
The Amsterdam coronation riots refers to major violence and rioting in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on the day of the accession of Queen Beatrix, 30 April 1980. It was the biggest episode of such disturbances in the country since the end of World War II and the most significant event of the Dutch squatters' movement (Krakersrellen).
We Are Here is a collective of migrants based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which campaigns for human rights for its members and all undocumented migrants. The asylum seekers have in many cases had their applications to remain in the Netherlands denied but they either cannot go back or refuse to return to their country of origin. They ask for access to social services such as medical care and housing.
Vrankrijk is a legalised squat and self-managed social centre on the Spuistraat in central Amsterdam. There is an events space on the ground floor and above it a separate housing group.
Squatting in the Netherlands refers to the occupation of unused or derelict buildings or land without the permission of the owner. The modern squatters movement began in the 1960s in the Netherlands and became a powerful housing movement in the 1980s. At its height the squatters movement regularly came into conflict with the state, particularly in Amsterdam. Notable squats include ADM and Vrankrijk in Amsterdam, the Landbouwbelang in Maastricht, Grote Broek in Nijmegen, the Poortgebouw in Rotterdam, ACU in Utrecht and the Ruigoord village. Squatting was criminalised in 2010 and continues in diminished form.
