Kraakverbod (mostly Dutch) (Page 3 of 4)

That's a good question. I don't have those numbers. For habitation the cities should have them, as for cultural events; I don't  think there is a single database of all of those. I agree with you that it would be a good idea to try to get those numbers; I wish there had been more attention to these factors in the big public debates on this.

Yes. I think that the real troublemakers Silver is refering to consists mainly of a group of maybe a few dozen people -if that- in Amsterdam that have little or nothing to do with the larger scene. As for "always getting the most out of a building" I should point out that it's chiefly the larger places (former government buildings, etc) that host most cultural events. Those tend to have the space for such things and the manpower. If you look at for example the ORKZ (Oud Rooms Katholiek Ziekenhuis, a former hospital) in Groningen; about 250 people live there, they host a performance space, a restaurant a cinema (a real one, with proper film reels, etc) and more. The people living there are expected to also volunteer to help out in organising these or help with maintaining the building and infrastructure. Another example is "De illusie" here in The Hague (a former ministry) which hosts a lot of performances, a radio studio, a recording studio, artist workspaces, etc. There are more places like that. These typically compare quite favourably to the subsidised spots for alternative music that the government organises, both in how active they are and in the quality of the performances presented.

Most of the time when a normal house is squatted you don't see that much of that kind of thing though there are exceptions. "Andergrond" in The Hague is a small gallery in a normal house-sized building that hosts exhibitions, sells records, frequently hosts experimental performances and sometimes shows videos. I have yet to see a low-quality event there and very few of the things they host would find a place elsewhere. That's recognised by they city as they get some subsidy but chiefly it's a labour of love. 

Places like that present that kind of thing throughout the year while the mentioned incidents (with the paint, etc) are fairly rare, as far as I know. However, fights with the police tend to get a lot more news exposure than a evening of electro-acoustical improvisation to open a exhibition of photographs and video-art. Typically when squatters organise cultural events these are things they feel are under-represented so often not things that get a lot of mainstream interest. The films that ORKZ shows in their "kraakbios" are typically the ones that the large local cinemas don't touch because they aren't commercially viable for them (think arthouse, manga, etc).

I think this leads to a slanted media image. Still no exact numbers but I don't think anybody is claiming all major cities have regular violent conflicts between squatters and the police as those simply don't happen that much.

I agree with you here. A similar role is filled by the "broedplaatsen", typically large empty buildings that the local government will make available to artists. These will also occasionally host exhibitions of their work, often combined with bands and DJ's. You could imagine that kind of thing being extended now. However even though kraken may not be the best solution, it is -right now- responsible for a huge chunk of the kind of event I mention above. I wouldn't be surprised if -for example- over half of the vegan restaurants in the country were organised by squatters (I'm not vegan either, but I do care about good food at low prices :-) ). There might be better solutions to both the question of space for cultural events, putting a halt to speculation on the housing market and the housing shortage in general and if one is found I'd be in favour of it. I just don't think we have seen one yet.

I again agree. What I would like to point out though is that if there is any party outside of the squatters themselves that has a more or less clear picture of the situation (numerically speaking) it will be the councils of the larger cities. These, perhaps surprisingly, are not at all in favour of the new law that is currently being passed.

Not the hard numbers you were looking for but at least a more clear picture.