Visions for Maastricht: For a “fair, equal, and liveable city”, with Floris Soeren

Vote!

Are you a European citizen, and are you registered in the municipality of Maastricht? Then, good news! You can vote in the upcoming local elections on March 18th! 

Our local coverage team invited candidates for interviews, and it aims to give keys to students to make their choice, without any editorial endorsement. 

Meet Floris Soeren, candidate in the 5th position on the list of the Labour Party ‘Partij van de Arbeid’ (PvdA). 

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The red, yellow, and green decorations at Café Paulus reminded us that Maastricht Carnival is just around the corner. Our interviewee of the day, Floris Soeren, a 19-year-old and real Maastrichtenaar, told us how important these traditions are to him. Since September, he has been acting for the Maastricht community as a civilian member of the City Council, where he participates in discussing issues about housing, student life, and other topics. This is what he told us during our talk. 

“I always believed that young people are not heard in politics as much as they should be.”

Maastricht Diplomat (MD): How did you choose to enter politics?

Floris Soeren (FS): I remember one of my teachers in elementary school who said that I should enter politics. So, if I might say, being a politician seems like a calling (laughs). More seriously, I refuse to accept that one’s birthplace can condition one's future life, and I want to give place to the young generation. These are the main issues that I want to defend in my political engagement. And this is also why I like PvdA, because they not only say things, but they do them as well. Indeed, I hate it when people speak very loudly and don’t get anything done. We listen to the people and act for them. You have to go out in the street and listen, because you can’t convince voters only with a TV spot. 

MD: What are the main challenges of being a young politician? 

FS: Young people are attracted to the right-wing, as recent election results show. PvdA doesn’t have a nice message for the people because we are more realistic. We acknowledge the issues and propose solutions to solve them. We tell the people the reality, and it is not always attractive. Right-wing “populist” parties tell the people what they want to hear. 

MD: At the national level, we often see a coalition between GL and PVDA. Why are GL and PvdA still separate at the local level?

FS: I expected that one! (laughs) Every municipality had the choice to decide on a union. 

In Maastricht, we have a history of tension between the two parties about being part of the coalition or not. Running separately was the choice of the party members, but we all want to remain a stable party. We want our cooperation to be strong, and it’s nice that we have 4 more years to work on this. 

MD: What are you most proud of from your actions or your party’s in the Gemeenteraad? 

FS: Personally, I am very proud of the decision we made regarding the new Limmel aan de Maas district. A couple of big corporations wanted to build a distribution centre where two industrial companies were settled. However, because of the housing crisis, Pvda and other parties argued and took the initiative, over the past 8 years, to prevent this from happening. And finally, last December, the municipality bought the land to make social housing. Our project is to show that we can build affordably. Money is made available to the people, and they can decide on the allocation of the money to specific projects. 

Looking briefly at the new “Limmel an de Maas” district, it is described as a ‘green’ area, built next to Noorderbrug, on the grounds of the former TregaZinkwit factories. The vision of the project is to create a community with workspaces, sports facilities, and social housing. “Thuis in Maastricht” website describes this as aneighborhood ‘ready for the future.’ 

“We talk about each other, but not with each other.”

MD: You want to make the citizens participate in the decision-making process. You even claim “Samen maken we Maastricht.” What will this look like concretely? 

FS: Today, we have 6 “wetterhouders” (‘ministers of the municipality.’). During the past 4 years, each area had its ‘wetterhouder’ who attended local events, and they were here to build contact with the population. However, we think that it should be easier for the people of Maastricht to access them and to ask for their help on behalf of the municipality. For example, they should be able to provide help for lonely or elderly people with administration or practical services like house cleaning. These “wetterhouders” should be reachable and here to help. It should also be easier for the municipality to solve the issues, create more contact, and decentralize its services. 

MD: Could you expand on your proposal of “youth councils”? 

FS: We already have a “children's council” that has meetings 5 times a year. They set their own agenda and put forward priorities. Last year, they talked about playgrounds in Maastricht! 

Also, we recently discussed the municipality's agenda for 2040, and we thought that young and high-school students should have a voice. We should discuss the future together.  

MD: When you say “Together”, do you also include international students? 

FS: People often complain about student-related issues (going out, bicycles…), but indeed, we need to be ready to talk about them together. International students create a community in Maastricht, but don’t really mingle with Dutch students or the locals. We need, in the municipality, to make sure that divisions don’t exist and to create cohesion. For example, the university or the municipality should offer language courses. It might sound like a small step, but it would be a great change to create new opportunities for living in Maastricht. 

MD: Students contribute to making Maastricht a lively city, but many of them leave the city after they finish their studies. What do you propose to prevent this from happening? 

FS: We have a lot of opportunities, but we don’t have ‘high-achieving’ jobs that can provide a good career that people dream of. We should stimulate the job market for students by improving train connections and making Maastricht a city open to the region. 

“It is an absolute necessity to improve student housing.”

MD: On this topic, how does Pvda want to improve the conditions and make living in Maastricht more attractive? 

FS: Maastricht has to deal with some environmental and heritage constraints. It is very difficult to change the local heritage of the city. There are some rules enacted by the municipality that create a strict framework and reduce the possibility of creating new houses. I agree that we should preserve the heritage of the city, but maybe the municipality should redesign these rules to make things easier. 

MD: Can’t we build new houses, if changing what exists is too difficult? 

FS: Yes, but we need to build what the people want and need. The municipality allows the building of luxury housing, but this is not what the people want. The municipality has the power to choose which projects are started, and we should choose projects that benefit the community, not increase the companies’ profit. PvdA wants to continue efforts to tackle the city’s segregation by addressing the sources of poverty instead of finding better solutions when people are in poverty. If you make the area better, you attract more people from different backgrounds. This goes through schools, public spaces, and new facilities. Changes are possible in the neighbourhoods, and we need to bring positivity there.

MD: How to link environment and housing? 

FS: Some neighbourhoods have been granted more subsidies to increase the greening of the city, and we see concrete results there. We also advocate for climate-neutral housing, and we think that the municipality should subsidise these buildings. It would increase the price of the houses, but it is a priority for the future of the city. Neighborhoods should be greener because heat really rises in summer. After all, we lack trees to absorb pollution.  

MD: Who will pay for this? 

FS: We have money reserves, and we think that the money should roll over. While we need to have money in case an emergency happens, we have money available to do some reforms today. Also, we need to look at where the money is going. If we take a good look at the bureaucratic organization, I am sure that we can find sources of money.

“We should preserve our local identity while including everyone.”

MD: You say that “Culture is by and for all Maastricht residents”, and that the people should have space to express their art and culture. Why is that important for the Pvda? 

FS: We have different types of local cultures from which we are proud, and we want to open them to everyone. For example, many Dutch citizens don’t understand the local culture of carnival, or don’t recognize the local language. One way to address this could be to accept that the dialect is spoken in childcare centres, so the children get familiar with it. 

MD: Do you mean that it should be accessible to all Dutch citizens, or also internationals? 

FS: Of course, international students should be taught what is happening in the city. The university has a role to play through the faculty intro days, where you can advertise what the local traditions are. Also, the municipality can participate in this. When you sign for your BSN and officially become a resident of Maastricht, they could deliver a bag with information about the local culture.  The city is becoming more international, which is a pride, but we should also preserve our local identity and include everyone. 

MD: You want to place youth in culture. What importance do you give to places like LBB and other environments for subcultures? 

FS: Our opinion has always been that LBB is an important place. If it gets demolished, we need to cherish the community that was created there in the past years, and we need to offer them stability and let this community flourish. At LBB, they did not have any certainty about their future. The municipality can give subsidies to these subcultures, but it has to deliver something positive to the city. Some kind of support from the municipality is necessary, whether it be subsidies or help in another form. 

MD: Another topic for students is the environment. You have an ambitious plan for a car-free city. Will you be able to make this a reality when you’re on the city council? 

FS: We would like to have a liveable city, but in the meantime, we acknowledge that accessibility depends on cars. Therefore, we need to find a middle ground to keep the inner city accessible. We need to have a lively inner city that flourishes, and sometimes it’s not accessible otherwise. 

MD: What could be alternatives to cars? 

FS: Of course, the bike is the best solution! Biking in the rain can be awful, so we also have public transport. Though they are somehow expensive, the municipality and the Province should offer a good alternative to cars. Still, some people need their cars to come to the city. Park & Ride Noord is a very good solution for tourists and students who come by car, as it is connected to the centre via bus and train, making the city accessible. Still, more P&R should be built, and we are working on making P1R Zuid, Oost, and West. 

MD: You mention that you want to improve the train connections in the region. Does it imply creating new lines, increase what already exists? 

FS: The 3 land train is good, but could be made more efficient. For example, it should be running 4 times in an hour, which is not the case today. So we have an existing facility, and this should be improved. 

MD: In one sentence, why should a (international) student vote for Pvda? 

FS: Vote for a student if you want student concerns to be represented in the Council! 

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We sincerely hope that this article helped you make up your mind! Feel free to send us any suggestions for topics or questions on our Instagram page (@thediplomatunsa).