‘de kleine Chef’ (dkC) is based in an industrial zone called Nieuw Overvecht (NO). Most common reaction I get when sharing this location is: why on earth would you choose NO to start your espressobar & restaurant?
Overvecht clearly carries a somewhat negative image due a combination of (perceived) social tensions, safety issues and various non-legal activities. Sadly this perception is currently also shared by many of its occupants, resulting a level of resignation and passivity. And a loss of faith in the possibility to nudge this area to a more wholesome place.
In my view it is one of the areas in NL where you can clearly sense the source of the growing levels of segregation and polarization. It’s difficult to stay connected to yourself, each other and the universe when confronted impossibility or inability to participate in society as it develops.
In the local supermarket 70% of the customers pay cash due to lack of trust in digital money or access to a bank account. Many also revert to conspiracy theories to justify not being able to fully participate and to be able to still look at themselves truly in the mirror in the morning. Thereby distancing themselves even more.
The usual pattern on this ‘industrie terrein’ is that people come to their work address in the morning, do their thing and then leave to go back home. Meaning there is very little awareness of what other businesses are active, of who else is present and what is going on outside their work location. As a consequence there is also very little social coherence, connection and co-operation between it’s occupants.
Purpose of the dkC project is amongst others to upgrade my own resilience by focusing on improving the intensity and quality of my connections with the community around me. The distance between NO and my house is approximately 3 km.
Therefor my attempt to design an appealing overarching purpose for this part of Utrecht:
‘voor (aankomende) ondernemers is NO de plek in Utrecht
waar een unieke combinatie van diversiteit, ondernemerschap & creativiteit
zorgt voor een broedplaats waar mensen elkaar inspireren en ondersteunen
ook als je net even anders bent of als het even tegen zit’
