The City as Muse
These aforementioned urban heritage initiatives laid the groundwork for a three-year intensive community-based heritage and participation program, named the “City as Muse,” which began in 2010. In its first year Museum Rotterdam’s urban curator did extensive fieldwork among an intercultural women’s group, some of them single mothers, living in one of the poorer parts of Rotterdam. She interviewed them on a regular basis, made photographs and used their personal stories to set up a heritage agenda based on participation by these women. The women live in a Rotterdam neighborhood that used to be one of the landmarks of the post-war welfare society. However, this housing area proved not to be suitable as a living area for an intercultural society and is slated for redevelopment in a few years’ time. Upon learning the plans for the neighborhood, the women did not sit down passively and await their