The 2010 Burgermonitor

Do Amsterdammers like Amsterdam?

While Amsterdammers may have a reputation for grumbling - and when it comes to the Dutch weather they may have a point - on the whole they tend to have positive feelings towards the city and its civic institutions. That is the conclusion of the Department for Research and Statistics (O+S) of the municipality of Amsterdam.

Every year, O+S takes a survey, the Burgermonitor (Civic Survey), to gauge the attitudes of Amsterdammers towards their city, its politicians, and their fellow residents.

Respondents were asked if they feel at home in the city, about their attitudes towards the municipal government, and what they think of the administration of the city and its districts. For the 2009 Burgermonitor, 2,650 Amsterdammers aged 16 and older were surveyed between April and June 2010.

Here are a few highlights of these findings.

Political involvement

If there was a City Council election tomorrow, 75% of Amsterdammers say they would vote. Native Dutch citizens are more likely to head to the election booths than both western and non-western immigrants. Participation increases with age.

Trust in local politics and city officials

Trust in local politics has remained relatively consistent over the past five years, with only minor shifts in comparison with 2009. On a scale of one to five, with five representing absolute trust, the average score for trust in local politics is 2.9, the same as the year before.

Contact with city officials

71% of respondents had contact with a city official in 2010 and of these respondents, 73% were satisfied after the contact. As in previous years, respondents were more satisfied after a visit to a help desk than they were after a telephone conversation with a city official.

Attachment to the city

83% of respondents feel at home in Amsterdam. 87% of Amsterdammers born in the city report feeling at home compared to a slightly lower 81% of residents born outside of Amsterdam. At a district level, 88% of residents in the Centre District feel at home in the city whereas residents of Nieuw-west and Zuidoost report not feeling completely at home.

Top ten agenda

A recurring feature of the Burgermonitor is the question: 'If you were Mayor of Amsterdam, what would be the first matter you would tackle? Here are the top ten responses:

1. Criminality and safety

2. Keeping the city clean

3. Parking policy

4. Traffic, congestion and less roadworks

5. Reduce bureaucracy, regulations red tape

6. Housing

7. Public transport

8. Respect and tolerance in the city

9. The Noord-Zuid line

10. Less cars in the city

Social cohesion

74% of Amsterdammers feel that people in their neighbourhood interact in a positive manner. More than six out of ten feel at home with their neighbours.

69% of respondents are happy with the diversity of backgrounds of residents in their neighbourhood and 55% report that they have regular contact with their neighbours. In general, social cohesion is highest in the Centre District of Amsterdam and is lowest in Nieuw-West.

Contact with other ethnic groups

75% of Amsterdammers either work or undertake activities with people from a different background. 81% of Amsterdammers with an immigrant background have regular contact with someone with a native Dutch background. Contact with other ethnic groups tends to reduce with age, younger Amsterdammers more often have a mixed friendship group than older generations.

Perception of other cultural groups

34% percent of respondents perceive Moroccans in a negative light, a slight drop on the year before. 23% of respondents have a negative view of residents with an Antillean background and one in five Amsterdammers perceives East-European immigrants in a negative light.

Media access

While the internet continues to gain popularity as the main source of news and current affairs, 88% still turn on the television to keep up to date. The number of respondents who regularly tune into local news channel AT5 has dropped once again, to 63%. SALTO and MTNL are also losing popularity, but there was a slight rise in following of RTV Noord-Holland, up two percent from last year to 21%.

43% of Amsterdammers had a subscription to a newspaper in 2010 and roughly the same figure report that they occasionally buy an individual newspaper. However, 10% reports that they never read a newspaper. As in 2009, half of the respondents receive and read a local newspaper at home.

Since 2004, the number of Amsterdammers with access to the internet has risen steadily, with 88% of residents now having access to the internet at home. 94% of 16 to 24 years olds have internet access at home, dropping to 63% for those over 65 years of age. However, internet usage is most significantly on the rise amongst older Amsterdammers.

The popularity of social networking sites is also reflected in the Burgermonitor. 52% of Amsterdammers with access to the internet are registered on such a site with the most popular three being Hyves, Facebook and LinkedIn - each with their own specific groups of users.

More information

Check the Department for Research and Statistics website (Dutch) to download the full report (Dutch).