Community

meet the meentjes

We came together as people who needed housing, and as citizens who wanted to expand what housing can be: a place to live, a basis for care, a platform for shared resources, and an everyday practice of democracy. Today we are a multigenerational community with a majority from migration backgrounds — a deliberate effort against the homogeneity and exclusion that housing markets produce. Among us are a senior living group, families of many shapes, status-holder households and a wheelchair user. Living several ways of life under one roof, we reflect the multicultural city we live in. We do not present this as an achievement: diversity takes continuous work, and we still have a long way to go.

five living groups

+6Bengels
+5Gayas
+4Plan Be
+3Papavers
+2Fab 5

Each floor of the tower is a woongroep: four to six people with private rooms and a shared living room, kitchen and balcony. Each group organises itself and chooses its own members.

~50

residents, children included

0–65

years of age — with two babies born in 2026

~¾

from migration backgrounds

8

families with kids

6

cats

A large group of members posing outdoors in summer

Members on the empty plot with a de Nieuwe Meent banner

admissions

Before moving in, we held five admissions rounds over the years. There are currently no vacant places, and we do not keep a waiting list yet. Check Platform Wooncoöperaties Amsterdam for projects that are looking for new members. Or better, start your own cooperative!

self-organised chaos

There is no landlord and no caretaker company: we are both. The work happens in thematic workgroups that prepare proposals and carry out what we decide. Their spokespeople meet weekly as the spokescouncil. Shorter or cross-cutting jobs go to task forces with a clear mandate. The aim: accountability with autonomy, and no concentration of power or knowledge in too few hands.

We are developing our bylaws (huishoudelijk reglement) as a living document: a code of conduct, practical guidelines and an institutional memory, covering everything from house rules, renting and admissions to participation, the board and committees, and care and conflict resolution. We hope to open-source them in the future.

workgroups task forces

finance
legal & bylaws
community care
building management
admissions
media
process & facilitation
garden
do-it-together
programming
design & construction
children’s council

party planning
guest room
bike shed
cars & parking
internet & IT
laundry
safety & emergencies
energy and heating
mural
tool library
cleaning
keys and access
tours
warmbad unit
diversity & inclusion
co-budgeting
streamlining

networked commons

We did not build this alone, and we do not live here alone. These are the organisations we share the building with, the cooperatives we grow with, and the networks that support us.

in the building

Woonruimte Coöperatief
A non-profit cooperative founded by Time to Access and Kantelingen. It rents our corner and runs it as café, event space, co-working and workshop, and helps new housing cooperatives get built.
Noon
Coffee, books and culture on the station square, run by Nasim and Anouk with storyteller Sobhi, with a programme around Levantine and Palestinian culture.
Time to Access
Our architects, founded out of this project in 2019; their office is in Woonruimte.
Kantelingen
Jasper Klapwijk’s practice for finance and strategy in housing and care; our financial adviser.
Co-productief
Financial advice for self-build housing cooperatives, by Jelle Don.
Stroomversnellers
A non-hierarchical collective of trainers and facilitators for social movements, with an office at Woonruimte.
MeerEnergie
Neighbourhood energy cooperative working towards a gas-free Middenmeer.

other cooperatives in Amsterdam

NieuwLand
Self-managed housing in Amsterdam Oost, where our Sunday meetings began.
De Warren
Self-built cooperative on IJburg, the first of the city’s three pilots, completed in 2023.
Het Nieuwe Bajesdorp
The third pilot, next to the former Bijlmerbajes prison, completed in 2025.
De Torteltuin
40 homes on the Merdekagracht, IJburg.
Akropolis IJburg
31 homes on Centrumeiland, IJburg — 23 mid-rent and 8 social — completed in 2026.
De Bundel
132 homes in Nieuw-West, at least half for people already living or active in the area.
De Walvis
72 homes for nurses of the OLVG hospital.
Eureka!
100 homes in the Kolenkitbuurt, mostly mid-rent, financed in part with bonds; under construction.
Stroom
30 timber-built homes on Centrumeiland, IJburg, mostly mid-rent with some social rent; construction starting.
De Woonwolk
53 homes in a largely timber building of about 30 metres.
De Bonte Hulst
35 mid-rent homes in Buiksloterham, Noord; under construction, moving in 2027.
Samenwerking
Housing association from 1918 with about 900 homes, most of them listed monuments in Amsterdam Zuid.
Het Zwaluwnestje
An intergenerational rainbow cooperative of 40 homes in the Amstelkwartier, with family flats, shared housing and a communal kitchen and roof; under construction.

cooperative ecosystem

Platform Wooncoöperaties Amsterdam
The 18 Amsterdam housing cooperatives sharing knowledge and speaking up together.
!WOON
Advice and support for tenants, residents and cooperatives in Amsterdam.
Cooplink
National knowledge network for housing cooperatives.
Platform31
Knowledge and network organisation for urban and regional development.
Stichting Kapitaloceen
Raises loans to buy land that is never sold again, with at least half of it left to non-human life.
Amsterdam Alternative
Platform and newspaper of Amsterdam’s free spaces and self-organised initiatives.
Amsterdam Energie
The city’s energy cooperative: green, local electricity from members’ wind turbines and solar roofs, part of om | nieuwe energie.
eCommons
Builds, hosts and supports open-source digital tools, so that communities can manage their own data and collaboration.
Stichting Aralez
Amsterdam grassroots network for decolonial collaboration between organisations.
Woonbond
National tenants’ union, which also supports housing cooperatives.

gratitude

Many people carried this project for a while and then moved on. Thank you:

Alaa · Alejandra · Anne Friné · Appie · Arjan · Barbara · Bart · Bas · Binna · Daryll · Federico · Gina · Hanna · Hodan · Inti · Jesus · Jip · John · Josta · Julian · Karima · Karola · Khadija · Kieran · Laura B. · Laura P. · Lilia Kai · Lukas · Mara · Marije · Mariska · Marlesy · Miriam · Mouna · Nadia · Nadima · Nazima · Niell · Nisrine · Olga · Pieter · Radek · Rana · Reinilde · René · Romy · Sander · Sara · Shacham · Silke · Stephen · Thijs · Wouter · and many more.