Artist Statement

Why a story about the snail and the elephant?

The snail and the elephant have been protagonists of the degrowth movement for some time now. With the snail, small and slow, wise and solidal, we wanted to represent degrowth. With the elephant, greedy and careless, we represented the current economic system. For our project we imagined a conversation between the two systems, personified by the two animals. We too, like the animals in the fable, have had conversations in our sensory journeys about degrowth. We wondered and asked what a degrowth perspective meant. We have heard different stories and ideas.

We started with lengthy conversations aboutthe meaning of degrowth, we talked about the complexity of economic systems and strategies of greenwashing. We reflected on the necessity to understand the different perspectives on degrowth, depending on backgrounds, personal experiences but also socio-political ideals, taking ourselves as the prime examples.

Then, we decided to shift our focus to the topic of degrowth in the built and urban environment, as we figured out that some processes will not simply degrow or reverse by themselves – such as population growth.

The question for us was 'how to manage increasing population growth and the need for more housing while adhering to degrowth rationales?'. We started discussing and researching new development projects in Utrecht- an urban region experiencing significant population growth and housing limitations. We were specifically interested in the Merwede project (new neighborhood development located between Park Transwijk and Central Station) and Leidsche Rijn (major housing development on the west side of Utrecht).

We were interested in the complex interaction between any degrowth-oriented, or even sustainably-built infrastructure, and urban population growth - and especially trough the perspectives of land requirements, energy and resources (land development, possible destruction of natural landscapes, wasteful construction materials, marketing new housing products as sustainable - but primarily is a driver for economic growth and wealth concentration).

Based on some research and inputs from degrowth academics and practitioners, we also engaged with actual housing developers and sustainability consultants. We read portions of a book on Housing for Degrowth: Principles, Models, Challenges and Opportunities (Nelson & Schneider 2018) which included several insights on housing and degrowth. We then spoke with a representative from a sustainability consulting company responsible for coordinating the housing developers and ensuring some alignment in the projects to assist in the coordination of the planning of Merwede.

Merwede is expected to house 6000 new homes, including social housing, affordable units and market rate. The neighborhood also has an innovative/entrepreneurial component with office and collaboration space for small businesses that are working on sustainable products (from retail to construction). Though Merwede is “characterized by the following core elements: mobile, healthy and (socially) sustainable, green and highly urban,” and with a “focus point on sustainability and circularity” (merwede.nl/over) our hosting session provided more nuanced insights.

The municipality started planning for this neighborhood several years ago with focus on sustainability mostly with regards to energy neutrality. Our stakeholder suggested that the plans turned out to be too ambitious for this large project. For example, energy neutrality would mean an overabundance of solar panels. But this would mean solar panels (assuming the sustainability of the PVs) all over the building (less space for windows or amenities) so other energy sources are needed, such as heat pumps. Moreover, it became apparent that economic considerations continued to dominate any decision-making process along the way and often sacrificed real potentials for renewable resources or retrofitting of existing structures. This showed that even an initial public project necessarily seems to fall under competitive, price-oriented implementation options.

One of our stakeholder contacts from a more academic, activist perspective confirmed these common fallacies and regards the question of space as an already ongoing and exacerbating crisis for the Netherlands. While this requires shifts to new economic space-saving and low-energy activities, the relevant question for housing remains where affordability, resource-neutrality and inclusivity all need to be tackled.

Thus, housing will not just be like any other economic sector. It needs to be understood as an essential basic right for any individual, and deserves particular attention because of impacts on the environment.

While we took these first minor steps in understanding and questioning degrowth and housing, together and apart, a lot of clashes and limitations remained for us to visibly become active.

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Degrowth critiques the status quo of current capitalist economy. We invite you to rethink with us: ​

How can urban housing accommodate population growth while also being socially and ecologically regenerative?