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. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there were one billion slum residents and squatters globally. Squatting occurs worldwide and tends to occur when people find empty buildings or land to occupy for housing. It has a long history, broken down by country below.
Ruigoord is a village in the Houtrakpolder in the Dutch province of North Holland, situated within the municipality of Amsterdam. Until the 1880s, it was an island in the IJ bay, which was turned into a polder. In the 1960s, the municipality planned to extend the Port of Amsterdam. From 1972 onwards squatters occupied buildings and started a free zone. After resisting eviction in 1997, the area was legalized in 2000. The village is nowadays partially closed in by the port, and lies about 8 km east of Haarlem.
The OCCII is a venue for alternative and independent music at Amstelveenseweg 134, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Hotel Die Port van Cleve is a historical 4-star hotel on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal in Amsterdam. The hotel is situated in the centre of Amsterdam, immediately north of the Magna Plaza shopping centre, and west of the Royal Palace on the Dam Square.
The Dutch squatting ban refers to the law introduced on 1 October 2010, under which squatting in the Netherlands became de jure illegal. Criminalization had first been proposed in the 1970s, but was opposed by the Council of Churches. In 2006, a new plan was proposed and backed by parties including VVD and PVV. When the new law was introduced, squatters occupied the former head office of the fire brigade and there were riots in Amsterdam and Nijmegen. In 2011, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled that the legally forced end of squatting can only occur after an intervention of a judge. Between October 2010 and December 2014, 529 people were arrested for the act of occupying derelict buildings, in 213 separate incidents as a result of which 39 people were jailed.
The Vondelstraat riots were violent disturbances on Vondelstraat in Amsterdam, the Netherlands between squatters and the state in March 1980. It also involved the deployment of military tanks on the streets for the first time since World War II, and was one of the most serious disturbances involving squatters in the country.
ADM was a squat in the Port of Amsterdam, to the west of the city next to the North Sea Canal. The squat lasted from 1997 until its eviction in early 2019. Around 130 people lived on the terrain of 45 hectares in buildings, on boats and in vehicles.
Vrijplaats Koppenhinksteeg was a complex of buildings first squatted in 1968 in Leiden, the Netherlands. It took its name from the alley on which it was located and was run since the 1990s by the Vrijplaats Koppenhinksteeg Foundation. Various groups including Eurodusnie used the different spaces as a bar, café, a freeshop, a foundation to support undocumented migrants, an information centre, a library and a sports club. In 2010, the entire complex was evicted. From 2012 onwards a new space called the Vrijplaats Leiden was set up elsewhere.
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 demand access to social services such as medical care and housing. The group formed in 2012 and by 2015 contained over 200 migrants from around 15 countries.
The Oudezijds Voorburgwal, often abbreviated to OZ Voorburgwal, is a street and canal in De Wallen in the center of Amsterdam. It runs from the Grimburgwal in the south to the Zeedijk in the north, where it changes into the Oudezijds Kolk, which drains into the IJ.
The Entrepotdok, formerly Nieuwe Rapenburgergracht, is a canal in Amsterdam, and a street and row of former warehouses with the same name along the northeast side of the canal. They were constructed between 1708 and 1829, used for storage, squatted in the 1990s and are now converted into apartments. Entrepotdok is the largest inhabited warehouse complex in Amsterdam. The canal runs between the Kadijksplein and Sarphatistraat, and is parallel to Hoogte Kadijk, Laagte Kadijk, Plantage Doklaan and Natura Artis Magistra zoo.
Martelaarsgracht is a street and former canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The Spuistraat in downtown Amsterdam connects the Hekelveld to the Spui. It runs roughly north to south, parallel to the Singel and the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. At the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, the Spuistraat crosses the Raadhuisstraat and Paleisstraat. Originally the Spuistraat was a canal, the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal. The canal was filled up in 1867, and the street was then renamed.
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 is 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. By the 1980s, it had become a powerful anarchist social movement which regularly came into conflict with the state, particularly in Amsterdam with the Vondelstraat and coronation riots.
The Tabakspanden are a group of buildings standing on the Spuistraat in central Amsterdam, adjacent to the Keizerrijk and Wijdesteeg alleyways. Named after a former owner, the speculator Hendrik Tabak, they were mostly squatted from 1983 onwards, although the artist Peter Klashorst also rented an apartment and gallery space. The best known building was Spuistraat 199, known as the Slangenpand (Snakehouse) because of the large mural which covered the front exterior. In 2015, the squatters were evicted and the buildings were mostly demolished prior to redevelopment. The new project is known as De Keizer and has 69 apartments, a restaurant and a gallery. Two of the buildings are registered as rijksmonumenten.
The Ubica buildings are two adjacent buildings standing at 24 and 26 Ganzenmarkt, in central Utrecht, the Netherlands. Number 24 is a rijksmonument. The first recorded mention of the buildings is from 1319. After centuries of residential use, the buildings were bought by the Ubica mattress company in 1913 and used until a devastating fire in 1989. The buildings were then squatted for 21 years, before being redeveloped into a hotel and café-restaurant in 2014.
Vossiusstraat 16 is a squatted building in central Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is owned by the Russian billionaire Arkady Volozh, co-founder of Yandex Search and formerly head of Yandex, who was sanctioned as part of international reactions to the Russo-Ukrainian War. It was occupied in October 2022 to protest both Volozh's ownership and the housing crisis in Amsterdam. Volozh quickly took the squatters to court and lost his claim for possession since he cannot live in the property or enter the Netherlands; he appealed the decision and lost again. The squatters live in the building and have organised events there.
Tetterode is a complex of buildings in Amsterdam-West in the Netherlands. Built as the Amsterdam Type Foundry from 1902 onwards for the Tetterode print company, the site was left derelict in 1980. After plans were announced to demolish the buildings, they were squatted in 1981 and later legalized in 1986. Tetterode hosts or has hosted a range of activities including an art gallery, arts and crafts workshops, a citizens advice centre, a clothes shop, the Eddie the Eagle museum, a gay and lesbian disco, a hairdresser, a kindergarten, a stencil printers, a shoemaker and a theatre. In 2021 it celebrated its fortieth anniversary.
The death of Hans Kok occurred in the night of 24 October 1985, after he had been arrested in Amsterdam. The young squatter died in a police cell and the Dutch squatters movement believed he had been murdered. The following weekend, there were 40 arson attacks across the city and solidarity actions from other places. No prison officers faced charges; Kok's death has been memorialised in book, film and music.
