Manifesto

Its location at sea makes The Hague particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Nitrogen emissions must be reduced to protect our beach and dune landscape (Natura2000 areas). Global warming is a major problem both nationally and globally. Therefore The Hague strives to be climate neutral in 2030 - but this requires courage and playing the long game. Because there is a lot that remains to be done to achieve this goal: more financial investments, more and better collaboration with residentents, and rising polarisation in the city must be prevented. The cheapest homes are now the worst insulated and therefore have the highest heating costs. That is why we give priority to isolating (social) rental housing in vulnerable areas to combat growing energy poverty (when more than 10% of your disposable income is spent on your energy bill). Other effects of climate change - such as heat islands and water nuisance - also disproportionately affect the poor within the city. The focus of the upcoming period must be on increasing green spaces and sustainability of the poorer neighbourhoods, in cooperation with the residents.

Housing is a fundamental right, yet we are currently facing an unprecedented housing crisis: there is a dire shortage of social and affordable housing, the waiting lists and homelessness are growing, and a large part of the population is increasingly losing money on renting or buying a home. This national housing crisis is also strongly felt in The Hague. It is all the more incomprehensible that so many social housing units in The Hague are threatened with demolition, such as the ones in Southwest and the Heesterbuurt. Additionally, there is still too little effort put into building social housing in the more expensive districts as well. Not just national, but locally as well, the council must take the lead in controlling the housing market. In the upcoming period, we will be building a lot more social housing with better distribution across the city. We will be introducing more measures to further curb the power of project developers and landlords. Homes are for people, not for profit!

The Hague is an international city and a highly diverse city with many people of colour that made The Hague to what it is now. But The Hague is also the most segregated city of The Netherlands. You see the inequality of opportunity and a class divide across all areas and all forms: in education, in health disparities, in housing poverty, transport poverty, energy poverty and liveability problems concentrated in the poorest parts of the city. The Corona pandemic has widened existing gaps, and municipal policy also contributes to this. Take the issue of the municipal waste disposal, in the past period - despite the attention from the council - has still not been resolved. In addition, the corona crisis has exposed the current direction of Hague's economic policy - aimed at the international knowledge economy and tourism - is not sustainable and does not guarantee employment and fixed jobs for residents. We will tackle all these issues with consistency and integrity. We want to give Hague people the opportunity to shape their own lives.

The corona crisis, like the climate crisis and the housing crisis, shows that the current neoliberal system is a deadend and social inequality will grow if radically different choices are not made. The pandemic has also shown us that we are indeed capable of organizing things completely differently in a short time.

Therefore:

Not 'back to the old normal', but working on a new normal: a sustainable and just future for everyone. Think global, act local, and vote Lijst 7 - Haagse Stadspartij!