The magic centre The Provo movement and sociocultural critiques on urban redevelopment in Amsterdam 1965-1970

What bonded the opponents of urban redevelopment in post-war Amsterdam was their aversion to the agenda’s detrimental side-effects, whether these concerned the social impacts of population displacement, increasing pollution or the demolition of historical structures. One of the first and most influential urban social movements to bring these critiques together was Provo, a motley crew of mostly young protesters from all walks of life. The first aim of this chapter is to determine how their call for the right to the city was translated into the representation and transformation of urban space. The arrival of a younger generation of urbanites and the indelible mark they left on the city’s cultural scene is researched in tandem, resulting in a new reading of urban modernity. The second aim is to identify the members of Amsterdam’s urban social movements, Provo in particular, and their alliances with political, cultural and media institutions. As will be shown, Provo’s cultural politics were largely aimed at visualizing and politicizing the negative consequences of urban redevelopment. Bringing theories on social movements and urban space together, this contribution offers a more comprehensive and multifaceted narrative of the emergence of Provo and similar urban social movements, focusing in particular on the culture wars they waged on Amsterdam’s political establishment.