Building Together Neighborhoods Where It Is Pleasant to Live and Thrive

Resilient Neighborhoods

The Resilient Neighborhoods Program focuses on the two post-war neighborhoods Pottenberg and Nazareth. Since the 1950s, these neighborhoods have developed as parish neighborhoods with a rich community life and involved residents. Due to various developments, the challenges in the neighborhoods are accumulating. This puts resilience under pressure. For various reasons, such as concerns about money, work, health, housing, and upbringing, residents experience less control over their lives and less self-reliance.

Through the Resilient Neighborhoods Program, the alliance partners help break through difficult situations and strengthen initiatives to increase the resilience of residents. Together with the residents, we build neighborhoods where it is good to live and thrive. The program stands for a long-term and integral cooperation to make a difference for current residents and the new generation in the neighborhoods.

Deputy Marc van Caldenberg is pleased with the broad cooperation. “It is great that as a province we contribute to a long-term cooperation in eight municipalities to build safe, social, and livable neighborhoods together with residents. This way, we build a sustainable and strong community where every person gets opportunities to develop.”
 

Milestones 

The program has a duration of 20 years and has recently officially started. In the past period, beautiful results have already been achieved.

The signing of the cooperation agreement takes place at the location of the brand new youth walk-in center in Pottenberg. There has been a need for a place for young people in the neighborhood for years. Now, with the help of Servatius, a nice place has been found at Silexstraat. The youth are working on the decoration and furnishing themselves through a learning and participation trajectory. At this location, young people from Pottenberg are given the opportunity, under the guidance of youth workers from Trajekt, to meet each other, play sports, and soon study. Workshops and training sessions will also be offered in due course to help young people improve their skills and competencies and work on their future.

“Young people need a meeting place in the neighborhood where they grow up; we are very happy that Servatius has offered us this space. This creates a nice place, right in the neighborhood,” says Trajekt.

Social Director Servatius Youssef El Otmani: “Together with the youth and Trajekt, we have created a place in the neighborhood where they truly feel at home. Their “own hangout” to grow, meet each other, and give something back to the neighborhood. This way, we build resilient neighborhoods together.”

On the day of the signing, two important milestones regarding the reconstruction of the Pottenberg neighborhood are celebrated: Woonpunt officially opens the new Mammoetflat and celebrates reaching the highest point of the Poortgebouw at Terra Cottaplein. This will provide 102 new apartments. In the plinth of the Poortgebouw, business spaces will be created, bringing more liveliness and a more varied range of facilities to the heart of Pottenberg. There will also be a community space through cooperation between Trajekt, Envida, and the municipality. This will become the permanent location of Buurtbrök. The project involves an investment of over 32 million euros.

Woonpunt director Wim Hazeu: “With the new construction of both Mammoetflat and the Poortgebouw, we give Pottenberg a new beating heart. Together with Envida and Trajekt, we will soon offer all Pottenberg residents supportive care and plenty of space for meeting in the heart of the neighborhood.”

“The Poortgebouw will be a place where living, care, and initiatives naturally come together,” says Envida. “With new, care-friendly apartments and a community plinth that we realize together, not only living space is created, but also a place where Pottenberg residents can meet, learn, and undertake. This plinth will be shaped together with residents: the space is facilitated by the involved organizations, but the strength lies in the ideas and initiatives of the residents themselves. This way, we build a vibrant place and a resilient community together.”

Alderman Frans Bastiaens: “The strength of this program lies in the interplay: residents who give direction with their ideas, energy, and involvement and partners who join hands.” Alderman Jeroen Hoenderkamp concludes: “Together we build neighborhoods where opportunities grow, where people feel at home, and where we help each other forward.”

Finally, on March 13, 2026, beautiful activities will take place within NLdoet. With POTTENBERGdoet and NAZARETHdoet, employees of the alliance partners together with volunteers from the neighborhood, primary school students, and the United World College roll up their sleeves to make the neighborhood more beautiful, greener, and cleaner.